sound recorder

Sound recording and reproduction are together the most commonly used technologies in the Cluster Islands. Music and speech have always been an important part of the human experience, and methods of preserving both have existed since before the Volcanic Era.

History

The earliest sound recorder was a strip of metal cut into thin wires of different lengths all joined at the base, coiled and inserted into a hollow cylinder topped with a long funnel. Speaking into the funnel moved the wires corresponding to the frequencies in the voice, and the combined motion jostled a marking pen that left an oscillating streak on a piece of cloth drawn steadily past the device. These strips could only be read visually. Their purpose wasn't to store sounds to reproduce later, but to function as a signature for someone who couldn't write.
Modern sound recorders still work on the same principle, but in a much condensed space. A sound guide still focuses the voice, but instead of resonating reeds the focus is a tiny circle of flexible material. As the circle vibrates, a magnet attached to the back of it moves within of a coil of wire, sending lightning energy oscillating through the wire. That energy is read and converted into a storable signal. When reversed, the process recreates the original sound.

Social Impact

Before the widespread use of sound recorders, information had to be written out by hand or memorized. It's hard to take accurate notes during a fast-paced conversation, and memory is unreliable. A sentence of a few words can be recited perfectly immediately afterward, but the longer it remains in the memory the less accurately it is recalled.

Complexity

A sound recorder requires processing power, signal storage, and a lightning well to be able to complete the function of reproducing the recorded sound.

Discovery

Resonance, the basis behind sound recording, is a phenomenon known since antiquity. Percussion sticks are probably the first instruments humans ever played, and are the easiest to teach to young children.

Personally, I know I could not do my job without my sound recorder. Some time ago I had a long conversation with somebody who requested (reasonably) a waiting period before I transcribed it.
I just finished that transcription earlier today, and was struck by how little I accurately remembered. Being able to preserve a person's voice saves me from publishing mistakes introduced by faulty recollection. I don't think it's wrong to say that my sound recorder is doing as much work on this project as I am.

--Elan