Changes in music technology

By Sophie

Record players

• The record player was invented by a man called Thomas Edison.• It was invented in 1877.• The record player is also known as a ‘Phonograph’.• Thomas Edison was more interested in the science bits of the record player than

the music bits, so advances on the original design were left to others. • The record player went through many changes throughout its history . Thomas

Edison's record player played using tin foil wrapped around a cylinder with sounds recorded on dents in the tin foil.

• Record players that had wax-covered cylinders came in the 1880’s, and the first record player to use a disc (initially made of zinc) arrived in 1887.

Gramophones

• The first listening device (which was called the gramophone) was invented by a man called Emile Berliner.

• The gramophone was invented in 1887.• Emile Berliner was the first inventor to stop recording

on cylinders and start recording on records.• The first records were made of glass, later zinc, and

eventually plastic.

Music tapes

• The Music tape was invented by the company ‘Philips’.• The music tape was invented in 1963.• The music tape was originally for recording your voice,

but in 1966, the Mercury Record Company thought people would like it more if it could play music.

• The music tape was very popular because it was a lot smaller compared to the gramophones and record players. It was also very popular because it was portable.

Compact disk (CD)• The CD was invented by James Russell.• The CD was invented in 1965.• If you could stretch out into a straight line all the data

(information) stored on a CD, it would reach for over 6.5 km in length.

• CDs are made mostly of a plastic called polycarbonate plastic.• The CD is read by a laser which allows it to be read with only the

laser beam touching the information (the sound).• It was originally designed to hold 60 minutes of music, but then

they were later redesigned to hold 74 minutes in order to hold the entire "9th Symphony" by Beethoven.

IPod

• The IPod was invented by a man called Steve Jobs.• The IPod was invented in 2001. • Over 40% of the money Apple makes comes from

selling the iPod. • By 2006, 41 million iPods had been sold.• An IPod can hold as many as 40,000 songs.• The IPod does not sand for anything, it was chosen

by a man called Vinnie Chieco. He got the inspiration from the movie ‘2001’.

Listening devises timeline

1887

Gramophone

1877

Record player

1963

Music tape

1965

Compact disk (CD)

2001

IPod

Overall... The technology in listening devises has changed in many ways, from being big and chunky, to being small, portable, and faster.

Bibliography• http://inventors.sciencedaily.com/q/320/7628/When-was-the-Gramophone-invented• http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventions/a/gramophone.htm• http://www.ehow.com/facts_4867198_who-invented-record-player.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph• http://www.ehow.com/facts_4898422_who-invented-cassette-tape.html• Google• Google images• http://eil.com/explore/guide/cd_facts.asp• http://blog.mixonic.com/2011/10/seven-fun-facts-about-cds/• http://www.ehow.com/facts_4567602_on-cds.html• http://13-fun-facts.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/13-fun-facts-about-your-ipod.html• http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/ipod-faq/how-many-songs-does-

ipod-hold-capacity.html• http://ipod.about.com/od/introductiontotheipod/f/ipod_stands_for.htm