does recorded sound pre-date the civil war? 150 years ago... a french inventor was recording sound waves onto ash powder... incredible : SAN FRANCISCO - At first listen, the grainy high-pitched warble doesn't sound like much, but scientists say the French recording from 1860 is the oldest known recorded human voice. The 10-second clip of a woman singing "Au Clair de la Lune," taken from a so-called phonautogram, was recently discovered by audio historian David Giovannoni. The recording predates Thomas Edison's "Mary had a little lamb" — previously credited as the oldest recorded voice — by 17 years. The tune was captured using a phonautograph, a device created by Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville that created visual recordings of sound waves. Using a needle that moved in response to sound, the phonautograph etched sound waves into paper coated with soot from an oil lamp. Giovannoni and his research partner, P...