ToneHammer has released a new freebie sample library that captures the world's oldest audio recordings.

The non-profit organization First Sounds has restored the earliest human audio recordings to a listenable state. Invented in the 1850s by French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, these "Phonautograms" predate Thomas Edisons' earliest recordings by nearly two decades.

Tonehammer sampled one of these recordings to create Tonehammer Phonautogram:

In the spirit of celebrating the past and present day sonic pioneers who brought this piece of history to us, we converted one of the sets into a playable instrument. We chose the D Major scale recording titled "Gamme de la Voix – Vocal Scale (May 17, 1860)", since it made for the most direct and flexible instrument.

The 5MB download includes Kontakt, EXS24 and SFZ formats, as well as a set of synthetic drum sounds made from the same source material. In the Kontakt version, the modwheel controls subtle vibrato and tremolo effects.

Link:

• Tonehammer

James Lewin

Twitter @podcasting_news

< More From: TONEHAMMER

• Tonehammer Bites The Dust 18-Jul-11
• Tonehammer Announces Ambient Guitar 27-Jun-11
• Washing Machine As A Musical Instrument 25-May-11
• Angelic Choir Now Available 11-Feb-11
• Angelic Choir Available For Pre-Order 21-Dec-10

Even more news...