Audio from 123-year-old doll could be 1st commercial recording

A 12-second recording of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' from the first-ever talking doll could also be the first-ever commercial recording, experts have said.


The recently-recovered recording, captured on a ring-shaped cylinder phonograph, was produced for Thomas Edison's failed talking-doll business venture in 1888.


The recording eventually found its way to Jerry Fabris, museum curator of the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, who thought that the hopelessly bent, 123-year-old artifact was condemned to eternal muteness.


Then, a few years ago, Fabris saw engineer Carl Haber give a presentation on a new 3-D scanning technology for old records at a conference.


Fabris brought the tin recording, long since separated from the rest of the doll, to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where on May 11 Haber and another scientist successfully reproduced the audio.







"That was really exciting," Fabris said, of 'arguably the first commercial recording, the earliest documented example of anyone hiring someone to make records, to perform on records, that would then be sold.'


"I was hoping to hear Edison, but I was happy to hear any kind of voice," Fabris was quoted by CNN.


Patrick Feaster, a historian of the early phonograph, added that the recording has 'a number of different significances.'


"This was the very first case of a professional recording for an audience -- before it had really been done only for the novelty," Feaster said.


"This is the first instance of someone doing it to earn some money, and that's a pretty big first.


"It gives us a better understanding of the nature of the technical development of recorded sound; with this recording of the toy doll we have a much better sense of what these recordings sounded like," Feaster said.


Fabris added that the recording marks a key moment in the history of early sound technology.

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Evangeline Lilly joins The Hobbit

Evangeline Lilly and Barry Humphries have joined the cast of 'The Hobbit' movies, director Sir Peter Jackson has confirmed.

 

 

Evangeline Lilly has joined the cast of 'The Hobbit' movies.

The former 'Lost' actress has signed on to play a new character, Tauriel, but director Sir Peter Jackson refused to give any further details about the woodland elf.

The filmmaker revealed on his Facebook page: "Her name means 'daughter of Mirkwood' and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.)"

Also joining the cast for the start of the second block of shooting is Australian actor Barry Humphrie s- best known for his female comedic alter ego Dame Edna Everage – who will portray the Goblin King, with extensive use of motion capture technology.

Peter said: "We're looking forward to seeing him invest the Goblin King with the delicate sensitivity and emotional depth this character deserves."

Last week, it was announced Luke Evans and Benedict Cumberbatch had joined the cast of the two movies, playing Bard and Smaug respectively.

'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' and 'The Hobbit: There and Back Again' will be released in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Both releases will star Martin Freeman as the titular character.

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Hamilton ready to wave white flag on title hopes

One career Lewis Hamilton will not start from pole at the Canadian Grand Prix, promoting the dejected McLaren driver to all but wave the white flag before Sunday's race.
Twice a winner on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Hamilton arrived in Montreal hoping to put the brakes on Sebastian Vettel's blitz towards another driver's crown but after qualifying a disappointing fifth on Saturday, the Briton gave himself little chance of catching the Red Bull world champion.

"Vettel is gone, he is on his way," Hamilton told reporters. "They (Red Bull) are very, very hard for us to catch at this rate."

Hamilton, who became the sport's first black world champion in 2008, had an explosive outburst after the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago hinting at discrimination by stewards after receiving penalties and he struggled to contain his frustration again on Saturday.

Unable to disguise his bitter disappointment, a prickly Hamilton said he had done everything he could to get his McLaren further up the grid but that the car was just too slow.

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Start of Afghan transition on track for July: NATO

Plans are on track for Afghan forces to take charge of security in seven areas of Afghanistan from late July with a second phase of the handover starting in December, NATO commanders said on Thursday. Major-General Tim Evans, a senior British officer with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), on a video link from Afghanistan, said the first set of areas would start transferring from ISAF to Afghan control on July 20. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in March that seven areas would be included in the initial phase of transition, the first step in a long process due to end with the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014. Karzai has said the transition would begin in the Afghan month of Saratan, which runs from June 22 to July 22 on the Western calendar, but has not given an exact date. Lieutenant-General David Rodriguez, the second most senior US commander in Afghanistan, speaking on the same video conference with reporters, said the Afghan government was "walking through all the plans and preparations now" for the first phase of transition. Afghan authorities had begun "face-to-face meetings down at the local level" in preparation for the handover and were very satisfied with ISAF's plans to support the transition, he said. "They are already looking forward to the next group (of areas for transition) that will be announced in the fall and initiate the process in December," said Rodriguez, commander of day-to-day operations for the 150,000-strong NATO-led force. TROOP DRAWDOWN The move is part of NATO's strategy to hand over responsibility to an expanding Afghan force gradually, allowing reductions in foreign forces currently battling Taliban insurgents. President Barack Obama is expected to announce soon he will bring home a sizable number of the 100,000 US troops in Afghanistan starting in July. The relatively peaceful provinces of Bamiyan and Panjshir, the western city of Herat, areas around the capital Kabul and part of eastern Laghman province are among the first areas to be handed over. Also on the transition list are Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Lashkar Gah, capital of volatile southern Helmand province. Evans said the transition did not mean that all British troops in Lashkar Gah would suddenly leave in July. "We've got to make sure we still support the Afghan forces," he said. But if conditions allowed, troops from areas that had been handed over would be moved to help other areas progress toward transition, he said. Evans also said that the level of violence during this year's "fighting season" was likely to be "as high if not higher than last year" because ISAF forces were pursuing insurgents. NATO had anticipated that the insurgents might concentrate on areas singled out for transition to Afghan control, he said. Osama bin Laden's killing in a US raid in Pakistan last month has fueled calls in the United States for a faster drawdown of troops. Rodriguez said the al Qaeda leader's death had so far had no discernible effect on the ground, although he hoped bin Laden's influence on the Taliban would now decline.

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