# Suppose there was a recording: what would you most like to see or hear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715 "2007-04-04T15:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/1 "2007-04-04T15:27:40Z")
Before the advent of recordings like movies, audio tape, video tape, maybe even photographs, artists tried to capture the essence of events and people for whatever reasons. Indulge your fantasies enough to place in some historic setting a recording device suited to the task of capturing and preserving exactly what you would most like to be able to replay and study. For purposes of this thread, there ought to be two categories to consider: 1. things that took place before the 1850’s so that only rudimentary photographs (if any) would have been available (based on this [Timeline of History of Photography](http://www.photo.net/history/timeline)) 2. things that have happened since that time, but no recordings (that we know of) exist from that time In addition to identifying the event or person being recorded, tell why this recording would matter to you. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/2 "2007-04-04T16:32:57Z")
I’d like to hear some of the things that Jesus said to anyone who wrote The Bible, just to see how close his actual words were to what was written down. Bonus points for Jesus if he translates them to English 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/3 "2007-04-04T16:39:06Z")
Any of the great speeches of history, really. I suppose I’d like to start off with Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/4 "2007-04-04T17:01:38Z")
I’m all about pre-historic sounds. Does that count? I want to know what kind of noises dinosaurs made. Did the T-Rex roar? Considering that birds are their most modern descendents, did any dinos sing? What did a woolly mammoth’s trumpet sound like? If it must be known human history, then I’d second hearing Jesus speak. Also: - Hearing Mozart conduct his own music - The debates of the Founding Fathers as the U.S. and its government were created - The greetings, songs and dances during a Potlatch among coast Pacific Northwest tribes ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/5 "2007-04-04T17:12:10Z")
You could spend all day thinking of stuff. You’d have to find out whether Jesus existed or not; if he did, it might be very instructive to find what, if any, of his actual words survived. Maybe a high-quality audiovideo record of the Battle of Agincourt; might settle a few arguments. We could see if Henry really gave any kind of speech. Multi-angle views of Oswald in the Book Depository window, aiming and firing every shot. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/6 "2007-04-04T17:25:56Z")
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 – I’d love a videotape of all of the secret deliberations. I recently discovered this photograph of [Dolley Madison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DMadison.jpg), which blows my mind, but I’d really like to be able to see James and the whole gang in action. And I see that **Beadalin** had the same idea. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/7 "2007-04-04T18:23:48Z")
I would absolutely love an in-the-audience video bootleg of the premiere of Stravinsky’s _The Rite of Spring_. And the penis that ensued. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/8 "2007-04-04T18:40:59Z")
Exactly how, where, and with whom Anne Boleyn’s second child (the one that was stillborn) was conceived. (yeah, I know, but this is one of those historical things that has fifteen theories, and dammit, it drives me CRAZY sometimes!) E. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/9 "2007-04-04T18:51:04Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] I’d like to hear some of the things that Jesus said to anyone who wrote The Bible, just to see how close his actual words were to what was written down. Bonus points for Jesus if he translates them to English 😉 [/QUOTE] Nitpicky, but all of the gospels were written long after Jesus, let’s say ‘left the mortal coil’ (one way or the other) and probably none of the authors had any direct contact with him. So, he most likely never said anything to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, as they wrote their accounts as long as 100 years after Jesus’ time. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/10 "2007-04-04T19:53:40Z")
I’d like to have heard the dialog spoken when John, Paul, and George told Brian Epstein he had to fire Pete Best, and then the actual firing. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/11 "2007-04-04T19:58:12Z")
I’d like to hear Jenny Lind sing. I’ve always wondered how much of it was actual talent, and how much of it was just hype. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/12 "2007-04-04T20:44:44Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Multi-angle views of Oswald in the Book Depository window, aiming and firing every shot. [/QUOTE] Don’t you mean Oswald _and the other guy_? 😃 I’d love to hear the first intelligible words spoken by modern man- I understand it kind of evolved over time, but the first recognizable words would be pretty cool. In English, since I don’t understand much of anything else. Prehistoric sounds would be cool too. Video of the disposal of Capone’s corpse, that type of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/13 "2007-04-04T20:59:12Z")
The first performance of _Measure for Measure_ at the Globe. (Actually, just about _any_ Renaissance play would be gold, but _Measure for Measure_ has a fairly major plot point that isn’t resolved in the dialogue, and I’m dying to know how Shakespeare’s company actually staged the last scene.) ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/14 "2007-04-04T22:28:13Z")
I can think of lots of things: -a video of the last few minutes the crew was onboard the Mary Celeste. -a video of Jack the Ripper with a clear face shot. -a video of O.J. Simpson, **if** he did it, of course. -a video of the field outside Roswell on the night the UFO supposedly crashed. -Jesus, of course. -a video of the object that hit the Earth way back when and spawned the moon (that would be a heck of a spectacle, I would think!). -etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/15 "2007-04-05T00:30:29Z")
[QUOTE=Fretful Porpentine] The first performance of _Measure for Measure_ at the Globe. (Actually, just about _any_ Renaissance play would be gold, but _Measure for Measure_ has a fairly major plot point that isn’t resolved in the dialogue, and I’m dying to know how Shakespeare’s company actually staged the last scene.) [/QUOTE] If you can get a shot of the playwright himself in your video, it would settle a certain longstanding controversy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/16 "2007-04-05T01:14:19Z")
Any audio / video recordings of a day in the life of Moctezuma and the Aztecs. Just to see what the buildings looked like in all their golden glory in Tenochtitlan; maybe catch a ball game, maybe a human sacrifice or two… Do I go back in time or do I just have the videos? If the former, definitely have some fresh pulque and some xocolatl. Mmm…xocolatl. And of course observe Cortes’ arrival and how much of his success was the flu vs. other factors. Heck, I could even brush up on my Nahuatl before I started watching. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/17 "2007-04-05T01:17:05Z")
A video and audio recording of L. Ron Hubbard saying something like, “Of course nobody’s really gullible enough to believe this horseshit, but what if we created…” ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/18 "2007-04-05T01:21:42Z")
I would like to see/hear a videotape of the debates of the first Continental Congresses of the United States. There were many topics debated back then that are important today. There were topics back then that are just as important (if not more) as in today’s standards. There are attitudes and social mores that have changed since then, and _that’s damn fine!_ [sub]That’s what amendments are for[/sub]. But I think an original understanding of how the Framers intended the government to function, and therefore shape the nation, is vital to understand how we can better the nation today, and in the future. To a degree, they codified their intent. But I think a lot of the discussion in Philadelphia contains a lot more intent than just the ink on the paper. Tripler And thanks to the freedom of the press (and the SDMB) I can edit this post to include a pre-sig which was my only original omission. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/19 "2007-04-05T02:13:39Z")
To my knowledge, there’s less than a minute left of audio recordings of Edwin Booth’s performances, five to eight minutes of Sir Henry Irving, and only a minute of film of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. It would be interesting to hear them perform. Virtually all radio broadcasts pre-1932 are lost, I’d like some of those to show up as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715/20 "2007-04-05T02:49:57Z")
I’d like a video of Khufus Pyramid during construction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suppose-there-was-a-recording-what-would-you-most-like-to-see-or-hear/398715.md?page=2)