Editing Phonograph (section)

===Early machines===
[[File:Edison phonograph 1912.jpg|thumb|upright|Phonograph cabinet built with [[Edison Portland Cement Company|Edison cement]], 1912. The clockwork portion of the phonograph is concealed in the base beneath the statue; the amplifying horn is the shell behind the human figure.|alt=|left]]
Edison's early phonographs recorded onto a thin sheet of metal, normally [[Tin#Applications|tinfoil]], which was temporarily wrapped around a [[helix|helically]] grooved [[cylinder (geometry)|cylinder]] mounted on a correspondingly [[threaded rod]] supported by plain and threaded [[Bearing (mechanical)|bearings]]. While the cylinder was rotated and slowly progressed along its [[axis of rotation|axis]], the airborne [[sound]] vibrated a [[diaphragm (acoustics)|diaphragm]] connected to a stylus that indented the foil into the cylinder's groove, thereby recording the vibrations as "hill-and-dale" variations of the depth of the indentation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-sound-recordings/history-of-the-cylinder-phonograph/ |title=Article about Edison and the invention of the phonograph |publisher=Memory.loc.gov |access-date=2016-08-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819131636/https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-sound-recordings/history-of-the-cylinder-phonograph/ |archive-date=2016-08-19 }}</ref>