A phonograph, also known as a gramophone or a record player, is a device that plays back recorded music. Except for the radio, phonographs were the only way for consumers to enjoy recorded music at home for nearly a century; in the 1980s, cassettes, compact discs, and other recording and storage methods began to supplant record players. Working record players, on the other hand, can be found in some homes, and they are the preferred tool of some musicians because they offer a level of flexibility that other music playback devices do not. Some people also prefer the sound of a phonograph record being played.
A grooved disc is placed on a turntable that rotates at a constant rate to use a phonograph. The needle, a stylus, is placed on the disc. The stylus moves in response to the grooves, which are actually recorded soundwaves, as the disc rotates. It is possible to hear the sound using a horn connected to the stylus. Speakers are connected to the needle in modern phonographs for additional amplification.
Various early attempts at the phonograph were documented in the 1800s, but Thomas Edison, who patented a working phonograph in 1877, is usually credited with being the first. Although the turntable had to be cranked hand, Edison’s phonograph had all of the basic components of later record players. Edison’s phonograph also used a cylinder rather than a disc to record sound; many early phonographs used cylinders, and disc recordings were not developed until the 1890s.
The phonograph’s history is quite fascinating. There was no way to record sound before the invention of phonographs; the development of methods to inscribe and play back these cylinders, and later discs, marked a significant shift in society. People could listen to music in the privacy of their own homes for the first time, without the need for a band. Although early phonographs were expensive and out of reach for the lower classes, they paved the way for the ubiquitous music playback devices that can now be found in the hands of people of all ages.
For those who still own record players, pressed discs of various musical performances are still produced and sold in specialty music and record stores. Although a number of features have been greatly improved since Edison’s time, Edison would probably be able to recognize a modern record player and spin a few tunes.