Editing Phonautograph (section)

== Rediscovery ==
In 2008, a team of researchers known as the [[First Sounds Project]] successfully played back Scott de Martinville’s phonautograms for the first time.<ref>"First Sounds Project." [https://www.firstsounds.org/]</ref><ref>Rosen, Jody. "Researchers Play Tune Recorded Before Edison." ''The New York Times,'' March 27, 2008. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/arts/27soun.html]</ref> Using high-resolution optical scanning and digital analysis, they were able to convert the soot tracings into audible sound without damaging the original artifacts. Among the recordings was a brief excerpt of "Au Clair de la Lune," dating from 1860, which became the earliest known recording of a human voice.<ref>NPR. "Oldest Known Recording Played." ''Morning Edition,'' March 28, 2008. [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89169893]</ref>This breakthrough revealed that Scott had captured sound nearly two decades before [[Thomas Edison]]’s invention of the [[phonograph]], prompting a reevaluation of the early history of sound recording.