# Unhearable, Or, People Who Should Have Audio Recordings Surviving, But Don't **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916 "2005-02-08T01:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/21 "2005-02-09T03:33:43Z")
**ralph124c** : Frank Lloyd Wright died in 1959, and there are many sound recordings of his speeches and radio interviews, even television programs with him. From the catalog of the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives: > [@](#): > > Recordings, some with transcriptions, of several speeches by and one interview with architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Included are discussions with students at his home and studio, Taliesin near Spring Green, Wis., June 18, 1950 and July 1951, a speech at New York to the Junior American Institute of Architects in June 1952, and other brief presentations. . . ; a 1958 interview with Wright on the radio program _The Creative Mind_. . .; a speech given Sept. 14, 1955 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago on the inauguration of the Wright furniture line . . .; and a Feb. 10, 1955, speech by Wright at a testimonial dinner organized to help pay Taliesin’s property taxes, containing remarks on the need for personal architecture and on the architect as a visionary in society. I was very surprised to hear his voice from a lecture he gave — I expected some declamatory voice full of 19th century humbug, but he actually sounded very Midwestern and unaffected. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/22 "2005-02-09T03:58:29Z")
The Museum of Broadcast Communications, in Chicago, has a copy of the 1953 NBC television program _A Conversation With Frank Lloyd Wright_. Movie star Rudolph Valentino died in 1926, during the silent era. But he did record two songs in 1923, _Kashmiri Love Song_ and _El Relicario_, both of which can be heard on the _100 Years of Cinema_ CD. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/23 "2005-02-09T04:16:59Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Somebody mentioned mark Twain…do recordings of his voice actually exist? > -Nikola Tesla > -Dr. Sun Yat-Sen > -Dr. Erwin Schrodinger > -Theodore Von Karman > -Frank llloyd Wright > I’d be grateful if somebody knows if such recordings exist! [This site](http://www.teslasociety.com/missing.htm) suggests that both vocal and video recordings of Tesla were made, but that the Tesla Society considers them all to be “missing”. At least two gramophone recordings of a 1924 speech by [Sun Yat-sen](http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/118261.htm) are in the possession of a collector. The Chinese leader had a “sonorous but kind” voice. The authenticity of these documents has been questioned, but not disproven. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/24 "2005-02-09T19:09:50Z")
In the BBC link, they mention rumored recordings of Abraham Lincoln. Who died in 1865. _WTF?_ My understanding is that sound recording was invented in 1877 (at least, by Edison). Has anyone heard anything more about these purported Lincoln recordings? And/or how they could have been created before 1877? Are advocates claiming there was another technology, by a forgotten inventor? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/25 "2005-02-09T19:13:52Z")
Sloppy writer, sloppy fact checker. It just made me laugh. Yes, the lost Lincoln recordings are right next to the lost Lincoln newsreel footage. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/26 "2005-02-09T19:22:35Z")
There are recordings of the last Tsar, Nicholas II on clay disks and possible some other audio snippets, and from what I have heard, historians are trying their hardest to get them digitized and available. The destruction of Queen Victoria’s audio recordings is one that kills me-she’s said to have had a beautiful voice. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/27 "2005-02-09T19:42:12Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Any extant recordings of C. S. Lewis? I know he broadcast some talks on BBC radio around WWII. It would be interesting to hear how he sounded, particularly since I’ve heard he was the inspiration for Treebeard’s booming voice in _The Lord of the Rings_. There are some clips here: [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/multimedia/audio.html](http://cslewis.drzeus.net/multimedia/audio.html) I wouldn’t call this booming. However, he probably spoke more quietly for the recordings. ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/28 "2005-02-09T20:30:02Z")
This is a very good site to find many voice recordings. It’s the big version of the site of the President’s voices cited by **Walloon**. [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/index.cfm](http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/index.cfm) **ralph124c** There are several recording of Frank Lloyd Wright including one with Hugh Downs. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like they are available on-line. But if you happen to be in East Lansing MI, you could stop by the library at Michigan State University and give them a listen. The coolest thing about the voice library was that when I was an undergrad, I could use them as sources. Hearing Oppenheimer talk sure beats reading about it. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/29 "2005-02-09T20:43:23Z")
> [@F. U. Shakespeare](#): > > In the BBC link, they mention rumored recordings of Abraham Lincoln. Who died in 1865. > > _WTF?_ > > My understanding is that sound recording was invented in 1877 (at least, by Edison). > > Has anyone heard anything more about these purported Lincoln recordings? And/or how they could have been created before 1877? > > Are advocates claiming there was another technology, by a forgotten inventor? Or what? There was actually a discussion of this before, in the improbably titled, [SWEET JABBERING JESUS ON SPEED! The BBC has an imbecile on staff!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=268267). Somewhat unlikely, yes, but not so much as you might think. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/30 "2005-02-09T20:51:23Z")
> [@F. U. Shakespeare](#): > > In the BBC link, they mention rumored recordings of Abraham Lincoln. Who died in 1865. > > _WTF?_ > > My understanding is that sound recording was invented in 1877 (at least, by Edison). > > Has anyone heard anything more about these purported Lincoln recordings? And/or how they could have been created before 1877? > > Are advocates claiming there was another technology, by a forgotten inventor? Or what? In 1857 an inventor named Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville patented a device he called the “phonoautograph.” This device recorded sound waves as lines on paper. He didn’t invent a playback mechanism. There are rumors that Lincoln’s voice was recorded on a phonoautograph, but no one has ever found such a recording. If the recording were found it could be played back optically using the technology described in the BBC article. You can read about the phonoautograph [here](http://history.acusd.edu/gen/recording/scott.html). You can read more about the optical playback technology developed at Lawrence Berkeley Labs [here](http://www-cdf.lbl.gov/%7Eav/). Carl Haber, one of the two LBL scientists who developed the optical playback system, is giving a public lecture at Berkeley High School on February 16. You can read about it [here](http://www.lbl.gov/friendsofscience/talks/). ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/31 "2005-02-09T22:14:56Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > -Dr. Erwin Schrotinger There is at least one recording of Schrodinger that survives, made in London for the BBC in May 1949. This was a talk on “Can Electrons Think?”, as part of a series called “Frontiers of Science”. Walter Moore, his biographer, describes his impression of it as follows: > [@](#): > > His voice had a tenor pitch without much timbre, and he spoke clearly, formally, and precisely. Only the very occasional exotic vowel revealed that English was not his native tongue … A recording was also made of him delivering the same talk in German. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/32 "2005-02-09T23:43:33Z")
At somepoint, someone posted a link on the Boards to a site where a guy claimed to have written software which would allow you to _lay an LP on an ordinary scanner_, scan the album, and then listen to the album on your PC. You could download the software for free on his site. I never tried it, so I don’t know if it worked or not, but the mention of the phonoautograph reminded me of it. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/33 "2005-02-10T00:24:38Z")
I remember that! The Wired story is [here](http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,57769,00.html?tw=wn_story_related), and includes a link to [the inventor’s site](http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~springer/). ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/34 "2005-02-10T00:34:00Z")
Kaiser Bill was interviewed for a U.S. radio broadcast, in English, about 1941. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/35 "2005-02-10T23:14:37Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Somebody mentioned mark Twain…do recordings of his voice actually exist? \ > -Frank llloyd Wright > I’d be grateful if somebody knows if such recordings exist! According to the review for [this videocassette](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003XALA/104-3212208-1379121?v=glance), it contains a clip of a TV interview with FLW. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/36 "2005-02-11T02:31:51Z")
I’m surprised that so far no one has mentioned Buddy Bolden, the New Orleans trumpeter who was one of the first jazz musicians. There are rumors that he once made a cylinder, but no such recording has ever been found. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916/37 "2005-02-11T03:20:38Z")
Shhhh! [It](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=200898)’s supposed to be a _secret!_ > [@Jeff Lichtman](#): > > I’m surprised that so far no one has mentioned Buddy Bolden, the New Orleans trumpeter who was one of the first jazz musicians. There are rumors that he once made a cylinder, but no such recording has ever been found. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhearable-or-people-who-should-have-audio-recordings-surviving-but-dont/288916.md?page=1)