Media Coverage

Each of the articles, press releases, reviews, and audio or video presentations listed below discusses a project or publication with which I've been involved in some way and/or incorporates me talking about something. Accuracy varies: caveat lector (vel auditor).

General

• Time-Traveling With Your Ears / Archaeologist of Sound—Ron Cowen, Science, 20 January 2012
• Bismarcks Stimme ist nur der Anfang—Dietmar Ostermann, Badische Zeitung, 4 February 2012
• L'archeologo del suono—Lara Rossi, Zanichelli/Aula di Scienze, 27 February 2012
• Ancient audio: The written sound—Glenn Fleishman,The Economist, 12 July 2011
• The Man Who Decodes the First Recorded Sounds / Clever Custom Software Used to Reconstruct First Recorded Sounds—Chaz Firestone, The Atlantic, 13 October 2010
• Modern Technique Delivers Centuries-Old Sound—Indiana University Alumni Magazine, Winter 2012: 19 [content available to IUAA members only, but there's an online index—scroll down to "Picture This: From Sight to Sound" for sound samples]

Release of Pictures of Sound: One Thousand Years of Educed Audio

• 'Pictures of Sound' resurrects sounds from centuries past—Randall Roberts, Los Angeles Times, 22 December 2012
• 7 Sound Recordings Made Before Thomas Edison—Matthew Perpetua, BuzzFeed, 6 March 2013
• Sonic Educers—Mark Pilkington, The Wire 346 (December 2012): 12.

Discovery and playback of an ink-on-paper print of Emile Berliner's late 1889 gramophone recording of "Der Handschuh"

• Listening to Records That No Longer Exist—Rebecca Onion, Slate, 4 April 2013
• Извлечение звука из фотографий пластинок—alizar, PVSM, 6 April 2013
• Vintage Vinyl: The World's Oldest Recording, Revealed—Leslie Shapiro, Sound and Vision Magazine, 13 September 2012
• IU media historian's find in stacks at Wells Library could represent oldest record in the world—Indiana University Communications, 19 June 2012
• Historian Creates Old Recording—Nona Tepper, Indiana Daily Student, 24 June 2012
• World's Oldest Recording Discovered—Nic Halverson, Discovery News, 26 June 2012
• This Is the Oldest Record In History—Scanned and Recreated From a Photo—Jesus Diaz, Gizmodo, 29 June 2012
• Software macht 120 Jahre alte Schallplatte wieder hörbar—Andreas Donath, Golem, 2 July 2012
• Crate-Digging IU Prof Turns Oldest Known Recording Back into Sound—Whet Moser, Chicago Magazine staff blog, 3 July 2012
• Seriously Vintage Vinyl—John Schaefer, Soundcheck blog, 7 July 2012

Identification and public release of recordings of Otto von Bismarck and Helmuth von Moltke at Thomas Edison National Historical Park

• Restored Edison Records Revive Giants of 19th-Century Germany—Ron Cowen, New York Times, 31 January 2012
• Sensationelle Tonaufnahmen: So klang Bismarck!—Katja Iken, Der Spiegel, 31 January 2012
• New Jersey museum finds recording of Otto von Bismarck—Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press, 5 February 2012
• Newly Discovered Edison Recordings Reveal the Enduring Nature of Technological Change—Laura B. Weiss, School Library Journal, 22 February 2012

Study and contextualization of experimental sound recordings of the Volta Laboratory played back and released through a collaboration of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Library of Congress

• Alexander Graham Bell's Voice, Animals in Space and More—Jennifer A. Kingson, New York Times, 30 April 2013, p. D2.
• 科學家首次在百年前老唱片聽到電話之父聲音—孝文, SINA via cnYES.com, 30 April 2013 (Note: 里克·菲斯特 = "Patelike Feisite").
• Alexander Graham Bell speaks, and 2013 hears his voice—Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters via Yahoo News, 29 April 2013. Also published in Spanish as Alexander Graham Bell habla, y en 2013 se escucha su voz,Terra España, 30 April 2013.
• We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now—Charlotte Gray, Smithsonian Magazine, May 2013 [published online 24 April]
• Smithsonian cracks code on never-before-heard sound recordings from 1885—Lesley Ciarula Taylor, Toronto Star, 21 February 2012
• Alexander Graham Bell's first sound recordings restored to life—James Holloway, Gizmag, 21 February 2012

Identification and public release of a talking doll cylinder from 1888 at Thomas Edison National Historical Park

• Early Talking Doll Recording Discovered—Thomas Edison National Historical Park press release, 6 July 2011
• Scientists Play World's Oldest Commercial Record—Ron Cowen, Science, 6 July 2011
• 123 years later, voice of Thomas A. Edison's talking doll is heard again—Stefanie Dazio, Star-Ledger, 14 July 2011
• 1888 Edison Recording May Be 1st Talking Doll Try—Josh Lederman, Associated Press (via Yahoo! News), 14 July 2011

Indiana University Bloomington Media Preservation Survey

• Study of media at IU Bloomington reveals critical preservation needs—IU News Room, 1 October 2009

First Sounds initiative releases new information about Scott phonautograms, including the discovery that our initial playback of "Au Clair de la Lune" was at twice the correct speed, and that the recording was not of a young girl but—probably—of Scott's own voice

• Earliest Known Sound Recordings Revealed. Researchers unveil imprints made 20 years before Edison invented phonograph—Ron Cowen, Science News, 29 May 2009
• The Oldest Oldie, Revisited—Jody Rosen, Slate, 4 June 2009
• Voices From the Past: IU Sound Historian Has World's Oldest Known Recording—Nicole Brooks, Bloomington Herald-Times, 15 June 2009
• Découvertes sur le premier enregistrement sonore connu—Isabelle Trocheris, La Figaro, 19 June 2009
• The Oldest Sound Recording Pre-Dating Edison—Bertrand Teo, Indiana Alumni Magazine, November/December 2009

The release of (and research behind) Debate '08: Taft and Bryan Campaign on the Edison Phonograph

• The First Sound Bites. The presidential campaign, 1908-style. Hear early phonograph recordings—Ron Cowen, Science News, 26 September 2008
• Running On Wax Cylinders. The 1908 presidential campaign on a then-new medium—Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal, 11 October 2008

First Sounds initiative's discovery and playback of Scott's phonautogram of "Au Clair de la Lune," as recorded on 9 April 1860

• Researchers Play Tune Recorded Before Edison—Jody Rosen, New York Times, 27 March 2008
• Vingt ans avant Edison, un Français avait inventé la gravure sonore— Isabelle Trocheris, La Figaro, 28 March 2008
• French Recording May Be World's First—Jason Dearen, Associated Press, 28 March 2008
• Physicists convert first known sound recording—David Perlman, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 March 2008
• Klingt wie ein gewürgtes Küken. Die Originalaufnahme eines Liedes aus dem Jahre 1860 ist in aller Ohren. Patrick Feaster hat sie als Erster gehört. Wir haben mit dem Wissenschaftler gesprochen—Ulrich Stock, Die Zeit, 2 April 2008
• IU research team uncovers oldest sound recording to date—Nicole Vargas, Indiana Daily Student, 15 April 2008

Release of Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890s

• There Once Was a Record of Smut—Jody Rosen, New York Times, 8 July 2007

Demonstration of wax cylinder recording with Martin Fisher

• Wax cylinder recordings to be discussed today—Jenny Kobiela, Indiana Daily Student, 7 November 2003

Radio/Video/Podcasts

24 April 2013: Smithsonian discovers Alexander Graham Bell recording. The cardboard disc was dated April 15, 1885 and first discovered by an Indiana University sound historian.—Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News

16 April 2013: Wenn Bilder tönen—Arndt Peltner, Sendungsporträt, Radio SRF (Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen); also 23 April 2013 as Klang aus Bildern: Rekonstruktion von alten Grammophon-Aufnahmen, Radiofeuilleton: Elektronische Welten, Deutschlandradio Kultur.

5 April 2013: Using technology to bring lost sound back to life—interview by Patt Morrison, Off-Ramp, Southern California Public Radio

14 January 2013: A la recherche du son perdu—Radio Télévision Suisse

28 June 2012: Oldest sound recording resurrected (video)—Reuters

26 June 2012: IU Historian Recreates Oldest Gramophone Record From Print—Mia Partlow, WFIU / Indiana Public Media

June 2012: Feaster revives oldest audio recordings (video)—Indiana University Communications; also on YouTube

6 January 2012: Phonautogram, with David Giovannoni and Carl Haber, Studio 360, NPR

16 June 2011: Resurrecting Voices or Finding Forgotten Home Recordings, Artisan Ancestors podcast (Episode 24) with Jon Kay

24 April 2011: Early Recording Technology, Theremin, Scopes Monkey Choir (Episode 26)

2010: 75th Anniversary Special, Talking Books—Insight Radio (station of the Royal National Institute of Blind People)

2010: Lightning in a Bottle, produced by Chris Trimmer, Cognitive Dissonance, CFRC (sound file hosted by the Third Coast International Audio Festival)

15 June 2009: Oldest Sound Recording (video)—Herald-Times News Room, via YouTube

1 June 2009: Reconsidering Earliest-Known Recording, interview by Robert Siegel, together with David Giovannoni—All Things Considered, NPR

1 November 2008: David Rabin, The Presidential Debates of '08—1908, That Is—All Things Considered, NPR

4 April 2008: 1860 "Phonautograph" is Earliest Known Recording, interview by Ira Flatow—Talk of the Nation, NPR

27 March 2008:Sound Recording Predates Edison Phonograph, interview by Laura Sydell, together with David Giovannoni—All Things Considered, NPR

16 June 2007: Old, Lewd Recordings Released On CD, interview by John Ydstie, together with David Giovannoni—Weekend Edition, NPR

23 January 2007: Researching Cal Stewart, Part 2, interview with Jerry Fabris—Thomas Edison's Attic, WFMU

9 January 2007: Researching Cal Stewart, Part 1, interview with Jerry Fabris—Thomas Edison's Attic, WFMU

20 April 2006: Laura Sydell, Early Reenactment Captured Horror of 1906 Quake—Morning Edition, NPR