Silent Record Week – January 1, 2027

History of Silent Record Week

Recording sounds began in 1877, thanks to the invention of the phonograph. Technically, Thomas Edison is responsible for the bloom of the sound recording era. This era saw sound recorders physically etching analogs of sound waves onto a surface. However, these early devices have a recording limit within the audible sound spectrum. 1925 saw the advent of electrical recording equipment designed by Western Electric. A broader range of audible sound could now be recorded, amplified, filtered, and balanced electronically. This period was referred to as the Electric Era.

The Magnetic Era began in 1945, post the Second World War, when the allied powers were able to get their hands on the German invention of magnetic tape recording. This new technology was slowly adopted and eventually led to the invention of stereo-recording. Multi-track tape recording was eventually made possible. The present era of sound recording — the Digital Era — has borne witness to changes and the development of technology at a never-before-seen speed. Sound waves, for the first time ever, were not recorded as analogs of sound, but small, discrete samples of sounds. Sony, in collaboration with Philips, created the very first compact disk (C.D.) to store recorded sound. The C.D. took the recording world by storm till the beginning of the 21st century. The advent of digital audio files, though, has made audio C.D.s virtually obsolete. Today, people listen to music in a variety of ways, from using the latest streaming apps to classic vinyl records.

Silent records have been a thing for decades now. As the name suggests, these recordings are completely silent, offering buyers and listeners the chance to enjoy dedicated minutes of silent peace. January 11, 1960, saw one of the first silent concerts and recording sessions at the Cass Theater. The same year also saw the very first Silent Record Week, a year after jukeboxes in the University of Detroit began offering a selection of silent records.