The PRAT Sampler, that is the Phono, Repeating, Audio, Track, Sampler, was found in the form of blueprint drawings, original instruction manual, and some company/personal papers of Edwin J Baird, dated back to 1916.Baird's innovation was not well documented, or immediately further developed, but did indeed lay the foundations - and was the precursor to all modern day multi-track audio recording.
The PRAT Sampler was of course a four track wax cylinder recording and sampling machine; developed for writers and composers, allowing them to create new music, loops and compositions without the need for a full band. This domestic looking artifact comprised an input horn, a length of musical pipe, a rotating shaft, four repeater arms and sound boxes, one recording arm and an output horn. Ediwn J Baird was surely a visionary, his invention a true treasure for us to find and resurect to its former glory.
you can watch a short film HERE.
sent to my by 'Noise Hacker'
1 comment:
Hi Audiolemon,
I tried looking at the video but it seems that the video has since been taken down?
This looked like a great post, akin to one I wrote about Marcel Duchamp's 'Nude Descending a Staircase' as a precursor to Autechre's 'Gantz Graf' video by Alex Rutterford.
http://www.memeshift.com/2008/09/24/marcel-duchamps-nude-descending-a-staircase-no-2/
The Museum of Lost Interactions looks great too!
Post a Comment