Yankee Doodle

Photo Credit: pawls.lib.ms.us

Did you know that the first sound recording of music was the recording of Jules Levy playing Yankee Doodle on a cornet? Jules Levy first started playing the cornet at the age of 17 and eventually became the most celebrated cornetist of the 1800s.

Jules Levy Photo Credit: able.hive.no/trumpet/levy

The process of recording onto a membrane or thin paper was invented in 1857 by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, but at that time, the sound could not be replayed. Later, magnetic recording was invented, but it was only used to record telephone messages. Inspired by a visit to Edison’s lab in New Jersey, Oberlin Smith worked to record Jules Levy’s Yankee Doodle onto a record.  

Sources:

First audio and video recordings

Jules Levy

History of Sound in Chronological Order