Birth of the "Talkies": the Development of Synchronized Sound for Motion Pictures
Overview
The development and institution of synchronized sound brought about a total revolution in the artistic potential of motion pictures, but the history of sound film's development is also a testament to the forces of economics in the film industry.
Background
Films were never truly silent; by 1900, major theaters provided some form of musical accompaniment to motion pictures, whether through scores written for films and played out on large organs, or through the improvised accompaniment of a pianist or other musicians. Attempts were made to bring recorded sound to the film-going experience, but the only available technology were cylinders or discs of recordings, such as were used in the early Edison phonographs. (Thomas Alva Edison's [1847-1931] original phonograph used a tin-foil covered cylinder that was hand-cranked while a needle traced a groove on it.) These had substantial drawbacks in that they could only hold about four minutes of sound, the sound itself was difficult to amplify for a large audience, and synchronization with the action on the screen was almost impossible. Musical accompaniment, then, was limited to special performances in large theaters that could afford to hire live musicians.
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