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The Invention Thomas Edison invented the Phonograph in 1877. He made a
machine that How Phonographs Work Phonographs play records made by analog disc recordings. An analog (which means likeness) of the original sound waves were stored as jagged waves in a spiral groove on the surface of a plastic disc. As the disc went around on the phonograph, a needle called a stylus moved along the groove. The waves in the groove caused the stylus to vibrate. These vibrations then were turned into electric signals that were changed back into sound by speakers. Parts of a Phonograph There are six main parts of the phonograph. These parts are:
The Turntable The Drive System The Stylus The Cartridge The Tone Arm The Amplifier
How Music Machines Have Changed Over the Years
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The phonograph is a machine that plays records.
Phonographs are also called record players. Until
the mid 1980's, they were the most popular machine for
listening to music on. Today, most people have replaced their record
collections with CD's and CD players. Some people still use phonographs
to play their records.
could record sound on a piece of tinfoil wrapped around a small
metal cylinder, and then replay the sound. The cylinder then went around
on its axle that was turned with a hand crank. A needle attached to a
vibrating disc was placed against the cylinder. When someone spoke into
the mouthpiece, the sound waves made the disc and needle vibrate. The
vibrations made the needle make dents in the tinfoil on the cylinder. To
play back the sound, another needle was attached to the cylinder. As the
cylinder went around the dents in the foil made the needle and diaphragm
vibrate. The vibrations made sounds pretty much like the original
sound. This was made without electrical energy and was called acoustic
recordings.
Now in the year 2000, the machines that we use to listen to
music on are mostly CD players. CD players use a laser to read the music
off a disk, and phonographs used a needle. The needles could skip on the
album and ruin it. CD's are much better because they can't get ruined as
easily and the sound is much clearer.
