The Jewish Inventor Who Set the Stage for the Modern Recording Industry
Though most music is digital in the 21st century, the recording industry would likely not be the behemoth that it is without the involvement of Emile Berliner, a physicist and inventor on a par with the legendary Thomas Edison. A contemporary of Edison’s, Berliner contributed important discoveries in a wide range of disciplines, from sound to rotary flight to floor coverings and acoustic tile. Born in Hanover, Germany in 1851, one of thirteen children, Berliner left school at the age of fourteen to help support his family. When he was 19, he convinced his parents to allow him to emigrate to America, where he had a job offer in a dry goods store, working mostly as a traveling salesman. After three years with the dry goods store, he took a job as a cleaning person in the laboratory of Constantine Fahlberg, who first developed saccharine as a sugar substitute. His experience in the lab convinced him that he wanted a career as a scientist and inventor.
Berliner Improves the Transmitter on the Early Telephone
In 1876, Berliner was working in Washington, D.C., and attended a demonstration of the recently patented telephone. Intrigued by the device, but believing its transmitter to be ineffective, Berliner toyed with upgrades in the privacy of his rooming house, even though he had no formal training in physics or electricity. He developed a new type of microphone for the telephone, known as a “loose contact” transmitter, which substantially enhanced the quality of sound by using loosely packed carbon particles (called “rods”) to create electrical resistance. Berliner then submitted a patent caveat, a now obsolete notice to the patent office, seeking to obtain protection for his improvement to the transmitter (he filed the caveat himself, without any assistance from a patent lawyer). A representative of the American Bell Telephone Company examined the device and the company subsequently bought all patent rights from Berliner and hired Berliner into their research and development department.
The validity of Berliner’s patent was ultimately challenged by Thomas Edison, with the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in Edison’s favor in 1901. However, the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently ruled against the government’s efforts to invalidate the patent, allowing the Bell Company, which had purchased the patent rights in 1878, to keep its patent rights.
The Gramophone Creates the Modern Recording Industry
In 1877, Edison famously demonstrated the cylinder phonograph, playing back a recording of “Mary Had A Little Lamb” to visitors at his Menlo Park lab. The cylinders, though, were difficult to use and mass-produce, and did not have good sound quality. Berliner successfully developed a coated flat disc, essentially the precursor to the modern LP record, as well as the gramophone, which allowed for the disc to be played. He obtained a patent in 1887, but the gramophone and discs were not available to the public until 1894.
The introduction of the gramophone and flat discs fueled an explosion in the recording industry, as the discs were relatively easy to mass-produce. The discs were made of hard rubber and difficult to break and offered much better sound quality. They could also be stored in a relatively small space. Although Edison challenged the patent protection of the disc technology, the market ultimately sided with Berliner and the ease and efficiency of the flat discs.
Berliner’s Other Inventions
Berliner’s naturally inquisitive mind led him to experiment with other inventions:
- In the early 1880s, while still on the payroll at Bell, he filed for a patent on a type of flooring that he dubbed “Parquet Carpet.” Patent rights were eventually granted in 1899 and 1900.
- A couple years after the Wright Brothers’ historic flight at Kitty Hawk, Berliner turned his attention to manned flight, taking inspiration from Da Vinci’s drawings of rotary flying machines. He developed one of the first working prototypes of a helicopter, one that was able to lift two adult men into the air (though still tethered to the ground).
- Berliner, who had a passion for classical music and opera, and often attended plays, lectures and sermons, observed that many venues had poor acoustics. He subsequently developed the first acoustic tiles, which helped amplify and transfer sound.
Gutterman’s and Gutterman Warheit—Providing Comprehensive Funeral and Burial Services for More than 130 Years
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