History of Cinema Sound

Acoustic String Telephone

Jan 1, 1667

sounds transduced by an extended wire, invented by Robert Hooke (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Tr%C3%A5dtelefon-illustration.png)

Speaking Telegraph

Jan 1, 1844

conceptualized by Innocenzo Manzetti. (image: http://cdn.timerime.com/cdn-4/upload/resized/11674/137531/resized_image2_656a05bd5048f3176e5127500450b123.jpg)

Electromagnetic transmitter and receiver

Jan 1, 1854

Can be called Telephone, invented by Antonio Meucci (image by http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/38000/Antonio-Meucci-Alexander-Graham-Bell-38146.jpg)

Phonautograph

Feb 17, 1857

First device to record, but not play back sound, invented by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. (image: http://nesssoftware.com/home/asn/homepage/teaching/exp-lectureNotes/110127-phonautograph/images/scott_phonautograph_diagram.png)

"The horse does not eat cucumber salad" - Reis Telephone

Jan 1, 1861

Johann Philipp Reis manages to transfer voice electrically over a distance of 340 feet (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Johann_Philipp_Reis_telephone.jpg)

Tin foil - Wax cylinder Phonograph

Nov 21, 1877

Invented by Thomas Edison (Date is of first showing. Invention date is not known). Firstly was produced in tin foil, which had no durability, then swapped by way cylinder (image: http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/assets/img/data/3432/bild.jpg)

First Record

Jan 1, 1878

First record to be made, also by Edison. The record consisted on "Yankee Doodle" performed by Jules Levy (image: http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1009854!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpeg)

Boudet Microphone/Stereo Sound

Jan 1, 1881

Stereo effect accidentally created by Clement Ader monitoring telephone linked to microphones at the Paris Opera. (image: http://www.machine-history.com/sites/default/files/images/Microphone.preview.jpg)

1881

Jan 1, 1881

First ancestor of Headphones, which were used by telephone opperators. The inventor is uncluear, but is called Gilliland harness.

Cylinder Gramophone

May 6, 1886

Invention by Emile Berliner, the first disk player on retail (image: http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/recording.technology.history/images4/12040507va.jpg)

Electric motor-driven phonograph

Jan 1, 1888

Introduced by Edison (image: http://0.tqn.com/d/inventors/1/0/5/I/edisonposter1.jpg)

Kinetophone and sound sync to picture

Jul 1, 1893

Audio cylinder, motor-sync to a film projector placed inside a box with headphones, called the first "talking movie" (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Kinetophonebis1.jpg)

Electrophone

Jan 1, 1895

First comercialized headphones (image: http://coolmaterial.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/history-of-headphones-1895.jpg)

Production Sound

Jan 1, 1895

Dickson Experimental Sound Film was the first film with live recording on set, and was also the first motion picture made for the Kinetophone. (image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gA9wdykMpbI/T8J7qf1xQGI/AAAAAAAAAs4/_0Dp84luEeE/s1600/Dickson+Experimental+Sound+Film.jpg)

Magnetic Recording and Telegraphone

Jan 1, 1898

Valdemar Poulsen invented the Telegraphone, which was capable of recordng audio on a magnetic tape/steel wire (image: http://www.digicamhistory.com/Pouil%20tele%2014KB.jpg)

The Victor Talking Machine Company

Jan 1, 1901

Emile Berliner and Eldridge Johnson founded the company (image: http://www.victor-victrola.com/VictorLOGO.jpg)

Triode vacuum tube

Jan 1, 1906

Invention by Lee DeFores, the first electronic signal amplifier. (image: http://www.schubincafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/deForest11.jpg)

Condenser Microphone

Jan 1, 1917

The condenser microphone was introducedby Bell Telephone. (image: http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/recording.technology.history/images2/89145c.jpg)

RCA

Jan 1, 1919

RCA was founded (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/87/RCA_original_logo.png/200px-RCA_original_logo.png)

Radio Broadcasting Started in the U.S.

Oct 12, 1922

image: http://bio.bwbs.de/UserFiles/Image/1913-1920/Radio1922.jpg

Phonofilm

Apr 15, 1923

Lee De Forest, introduced the sound-on-film-process, recording electrical waveforms into parallel lines directly on the film strip, which were converted to waveforms when the movie were projected. (image: http://www.lessignets.com/signetsdiane/calendrier/images/mars/12/Phonofilm1927.jpg)

Electrical Recording

Mar 20, 1925

New mechanics on how to record and playback sound was introduced (image: http://www.stokowski.org/images/westrex_cutting_electrical_.jpg)

Vitaphone and Don Juan

Aug 6, 1926

Don juan was the first feature film to include sync Vitaphone sound into the film. The film had no dialogue, but had a soundtrack and sound effects (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/VitaphoneDemo.jpg)

The Jazz Singer

Oct 6, 1927

The first feature film to introduce sync dialog sequenced. It completelly changed the film industry, vanishing silent films as a standard. (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/JazzSingerpremiere.jpg)

Academy Award for Sound introduced

Jan 1, 1930

"The Big House" won best Sound Mixing and sound editing awards. (image: http://chaosmatisch.de/wp-content/uploads/Oscars/Poster/en/1930-2.jpg)

Stereo Recording

Mar 1, 1932

The first experimentations of stereo recording using 2 distinct microphones printing sound on separate grooves with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra at Philadelphia's Academy of Music. (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Philadelphia_Orchestra_at_American_premiere_of_Mahler's_8th_Symphony_(1916).jpg)

King Kong

Jan 1, 1933

First feature film which contained sound manipulation (image: http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090401124510/kingkong/en/images/4/46/King_Kong_1933.jpg)

FM Radio

Nov 8, 1933

FM Radio was introduced by Edwin Howard Armstrong. (image: http://www.barracudamagazine.com/gifs/armstrong-radio.jpg)

Surround Sound

Apr 1, 1934

Surround Sound was introduced by Modern Mechanix. It was also called 3D sound (image: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/ScienceAndMechanics/4-1934/solid_music/solid_music_0.jpg)

Magnetophon

Jan 1, 1935

The first tape recorder developed by engineers of the German electronics company AEG (Image: http://museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org/images/R2R/Magnetophon2.jpg)

Directional Microphones - Unidyne (Shure 55)

Jan 1, 1938

Directional cardioid microphone developed by Benjamin B. Bauer of Shure Bros (image: http://www.radioblvd.com/hampix/shure55.jpg)

Loud Speaker

Jan 1, 1938

RCA develops the first column loudspeaker. (image: http://www.otrr.org/4img/data/media/245/Its_Here_At_Davega_1938_RCA_Victor_Electric_Tuning.jpg)

Eight track sterophonic sound (Fantasound)

Aug 19, 1940

developed by William E. Garity and sound mixer John N.A. Hawkins for the Walt Disney studio for the film Fantasia. Is considered of one of the first impressions of what we know today as surround sound. (image: http://cdn2.dolimg.com/en-US/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ins_wwow_animation_fantasoundsoundtrack.jpg)

NTSC

Jan 1, 1941

National Television System Committee was created (image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e8X9XUqk5Qs/TdTuuoBIvLI/AAAAAAAAJDM/gRrWY6FZU5w/s1600/NTSC.gif)

Portable tape recorder

Aug 18, 1948

Introduced by Magnecord, called PT-6 (image: http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/recording.technology.history/images3/PDRM1999Dc.jpg)

Audio Engineering Society (AES) and LP

Nov 9, 1948

Columbia Records introduces the microgroove 33-1/3 rpm long-play vinyl record (LP) (image: http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/pictures/lp-life-10-11-1948-2-a-M0.jpg)

compact audio tape player (Cassete)

Oct 30, 1951

Cassete was introduced. (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Tdkc60cassette.jpg)

NTSC Color

Jan 1, 1953

Means that the sound track had to be slowed down by 0.1%. New speed was 59.94fps or 29.976fps for TV broadcast

Electromechanical Reverb

Jan 1, 1954

electromechanical reverberation plate introduced by EMT (image: http://www.audiomasterclass.com/i2/emt-plate-reverb.jpg)

Forbidden Planet

Aug 18, 1956

First all electronic film score (image: http://thatdutchfilmlover.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/poster-forbidden-planet_03.jpg)

NAGRA III

Jan 1, 1958

Stefan Kudelski introduces the Nagra III battery-operated transistorized field tape recorder, which with its "Neo-Pilot" sync system becomes the de facto standard of the film industry (image: http://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/normal/nagra-iii-232407.jpg)

Mixing console

Jan 1, 1961

Neve Electronics creates the first modern mixing console with the design of Rupert Neve (image: http://rupertneve.com/wp-content/i/5088-final400px.jpg)

Dolby Labs

May 1, 1965

Dolby Laboratories, company specializing in audio noise reduction and audio encoding/compression is created. (RIP Ray Dolby) (image:http://www.dolby.com/uploadedImages/Assets/Global/Images/About/04_RD_Lab_1.jpg)

Electronic Music Recording

Jan 1, 1967

Morton Subotnick's Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic music recording, is released (image: http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/10/30/mortonsubotnick_2_slide-bb85fad2330f3487b8da7992ac279543b6f187c0-s6.jpg)

Sense surround

Jan 1, 1974

Sense surround sound introduced in the movie EARTHQUAKE (image: http://s2.hubimg.com/u/6174745_f248.jpg)

First digital reverberation

Jan 1, 1975

EMT produces the first digital reverberation unit as its Model 250. (image: EMT produces the first digital reverberation unit as its Model 250.)

Soundfield microphone

Jan 1, 1975

Michael Gerzon conceives of and Calrec (England) builds the "Soundfield Microphone," a coincident 4-capsule cluster with matrixed "B-format" outputs and decoded steerable 2- and 4-channel discrete outputs. (image: http://www.soundfield.com/soundfield/images/mic_array.jpg)

Dolby Pro Logic

Jan 1, 1976

"Dolby Pro Logic is a surround sound processing technology designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround. Dolby Surround Stereo was originally developed by Dolby Laboratories in 1976 for analog cinema sound systems" (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Dolby-Surround-Pro-Logic.svg/120px-Dolby-Surround-Pro-Logic.svg.png)

First 16 bit digital recording

Jan 1, 1976

Dr. Stockham of Soundstream makes the first 16-bit digital recording in the U.S. at the Santa Fe Opera. (image: http://www.schubincafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Stockham.jpg)

VHS

Sep 1, 1976

Launched by JVC (Image: http://www.1001hifi.com/uploads/1/2/5/6/1256385/9983678_orig.jpg?168)

Discovision (Laser Disc)

Dec 15, 1978

First commercial optical disc storage medium (image: http://www5.pcmag.com/media/images/283706-laserdiscs-1978.jpg)

Digital Revoulution

Jan 1, 1982

Sony introduces the PCM-F1, intended for the consumer market, the first 14- and 16-bit digital adaptor for VCRs. It is eagerly snapped up by professionals, sparking the digital revolution in recording equipment.
In the image: Bob Moog: http://jcsites.juniata.edu/faculty/rhodes/dap/images/Bob_Moog3.jpg

THX

Jan 1, 1983

"THX is a trade name of a high-fidelity sound reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. THX stands for Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment. THX was developed by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company Lucasfilm in 1983 to ensure that the soundtrack for the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, would be accurately reproduced" (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/THX_logo.svg/20

DAT

Jan 1, 1987

Digital Audio Tape (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Dat_cartridge.jpg)

Digidesign Soundtools

Jan 1, 1989

Digidesign launches the first digital audio workstation system, Sound Tools, for the Apple Macintosh. The company refers to it as "the first tapeless recording studio" (image: http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/storage/1989-digidesign-sound-tools-530-85.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1306253559056)

Digidesign Pro Tools

Jan 1, 1991

Digidesign releases the first Pro Tools multitrack system, marking a significant advance in digital audio. This integrated software and hardware system (digital audio workstation) is among the most popular for audio production for television, music, and film. (image: Digidesign releases the first Pro Tools multitrack system, marking a significant advance in digital audio. This integrated software and hardware system (digital audio workstation) is among the most popular for audio production for

First distance recording

Jan 1, 1993

In the first extensive use of "distance recording" via ISDN, producer Phil Ramone records the "Duets" album with Frank Sinatra. (image: http://www.citi.columbia.edu/books/japan_isdn.jpg)

Prosumer Multitrack console

Jan 1, 1994

Yamaha unveils the ProMix 01, the first "affordable" digital multitrack console. (image: http://www.xtimeline.com/__UserPic_Large/73393/evt100916074400039.gif)

Dvd

Dec 1, 1995

The DVD specification finalized for the DVD movie player and DVD-ROM computer applications. (image: http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2004/10/24_ef0b54e18ad6cfa6658849590728c53c.jpg)

R-DAT

Jan 1, 1996

R-DAT recorders are introduced in Japan. (image: http://orders.mediadistributors.com/Library/images/Products/Rdat.jpg)

DVD

Jan 1, 1999

Audio DVD Standard 1.0 agreed upon by manufacturers. (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Sony_DVD%2BRW.jpg)

Blu-Ray

Apr 10, 2003

First distributed Blu-Ray system (image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Blu-ray_disc_%28BD-RE%29.JPG)

Dolby Surround 7.1

Jun 18, 2007

7.1 surround sound standard was introduced (image: http://www.brownbagfilms.com/images/blog/legacy-files/2010/07/Dolby-Surround-EX-copy.jpg)

Dolby Atmos

Apr 1, 2012

The first generation cinema hardware, the "Dolby Atmos Cinema Processor" supports up to 128 discrete audio tracks and up to 64 unique speaker feeds. (image: http://www.dolby.com/uploadedImages/Assets/Global/Images/Cinema/Dolby_Theater_Clean.jpg)