Hill and Dale: The Edison technique and the transcription of phonographic records of cylinders

We present a review of the first sound recording/reproduction technique and examples of transcriptions of the main types of recording media manufactured commercially between 1889 and 1929. The transcriptions were performed with an apparatus using a mandrel coupled to a stepper motor, a pickup phono cartridge at the end of a pivoting arm, an audio interface and a computer, to transcribe the sound recorded on the cylinders in a digital format. The audios were identified in catalogs and are available on the web.