Future NPR critic Bob Mondello reflects on the past while reminiscing about his father, Tony Mondello. Watching The History of Sound, a period drama set partly in 1919, made Bob think about his father’s birth year. The film features two music conservatory students, David and Lionel, who meet in a New England bar. David, played by Josh O’Connor, has an encyclopedic knowledge of folk songs. Paul Mescal’s Lionel stumps him with “Silver Dagger” and sings it proving its authenticity. This interaction kindles a romance.
They embark on a journey to Maine to record folk songs using 1919’s state-of-the-art equipment: wax cylinders, a metal cone, and a diamond-tipped stylus. The locals are astonished by the concept of preserving sound, which until then vanished as it was created. This event struck Bob as a monumental innovation.
YouTube brought folks astonishment, akin to a Gilded Age miracle.
Bob, working with sound throughout his career, considers how sound was first recorded. In the 1850s, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded sound using a phonautograph, capturing sound waves on soot-covered paper. He didn’t play them back, akin to a seismograph for earthquakes. Digital technology now allows playback of these recordings. In 2008, the First Sounds research team played back an 1860 “phonautogram” of “Au Clair de la Lune.”
In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. His voice etched into tin foil became retrievable, a miracle preserving the essence of individual voices. His first recording, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” demonstrated this innovation. Edison foresaw his invention would preserve music, family memories, or pair with telephones. By 1919, his company progressed to wax cylinders. That same year, Bob’s father was born. Despite a lifetime in sound, Bob never recorded his father, who passed away in 2007 before smartphones popularized such recordings. Bob only had a final brief voicemail, now also lost.
The History of Sound stirred emotions. Lionel, the movie’s character, couldn’t locate the wax cylinders connected to his memories until he was in his eighties. Lionel discovered that David, his lost love, recorded his own voice, offering a poignant memory through “Silver Dagger.” This struck a chord with Bob.
Seeking his father’s voice, Bob remembered his father presented a case at the Supreme Court. Recordings might exist due to court records from the 1950s. Bob’s friend found a recording: a 1963 Supreme Court session where Bob’s father spoke. This triggered memories of his father’s preparation for court in formal morning dress. The recording revealed a voice younger and confident, different from Bob’s last memories.
Hearing his father’s voice after decades impacted Bob deeply, recalling homework assistance and swim meet encouragement. Memories of simple questions like why the sky is blue surfaced with that voice. Despite the recorded case losing against the government, the experience for Bob was priceless. Hearing that voice felt like a gift, thanks to inventions by Edison and Scott de Martinville, and ongoing technology advancements that have enabled Bob’s career and connected voices over time.