![]() They’re easily breakable.ĭespite this one fatal flaw, shellac was the main material source until vinyl came around in the 1940s. Although, there’s one downside to shellac. Shellac is easier to scratch than metal, and it resists moisture, making it an ideal candidate for music records. This resin can be scraped off, dissolved in alcohol, and reformed into liquid shellac. Lac bugs, or kerria lacca, are scaly bugs that secrete lac onto trees. Plastic wouldn’t be invented for another seven years, in 1907, and scientists were getting creative.Įnter, the female lac bug. Shellac: The Natural PlasticĪround the turn of the century, record companies (or soon-to-be record companies) were trying to design the perfect material to produce these new sound recordings on. These discs were initially made of glass and were later switched to zinc and eventually plastic. About ten years later in 1887, Emile Berliner improved upon the technology by creating recordings on flat discs, using his patented gramophone. ![]() The cylinder used to record this at the time was large and inefficient. With his first model ready to launch, he recorded himself, saying, “Mary had a little lamb.” Thus, these were the first words ever recorded on the phonograph. Their precursor was the phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877. Records were the second generation of voice recording technology.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |