MAKE's Phil Torrone went to Japan to met with the folks at Gakken ("Sophisticated Science Kits for Adults") and shot this fun video of the Edison-Style cup phonograph kit.
From Gakken's Sophisticated Science Kit for Adults, this replica kit uses the same technology that Thomas Edison used, replacing Edison's waxed pipe and stylus, the kit uses a plastic cup and a needle, but the end results are the same! You record your own voice on a plastic cup -- and play it back! Here's how it works, your voice vibrates the air minutely when it gets into the horn. Then the vibration is conducted to the needle and is translated into a wavy movement of the needle and carves a groove onto the cup.
I have one of these Gaken kits too & it’s wonderful! I’ve never had my recordings play back as well as in the video but I’m glad to see how well it can work.
ARCmusic
I have one of these and love it! I put a sound sample up on our blog (back when we were running the “Anti iPhone Contest” contest) which gives a different sense of the toy’s capabilities. If anyone out there wants a better sense of what the cup kit sounds like, you can check it out here:
KindleFrom Gakken's Sophisticated Science Kit for Adults, this replica kit uses the same technology that Thomas Edison used, replacing Edison's waxed pipe and stylus, the kit uses a plastic cup and a needle, but the end results are the same! You record your own voice on a plastic cup -- and play it back! Here's how it works, your voice vibrates the air minutely when it gets into the horn. Then the vibration is conducted to the needle and is translated into a wavy movement of the needle and carves a groove onto the cup.