Perhaps a more interesting story is the Rhodes electric piano - initially invented by Harold Rhodes as a miniature piano to allow wounded servicemen to engage in music therapy lessons at their bedside, it became an iconic sound in jazz, rock and pop.
On a somewhat less cheerful note, a large proportion of sound recording and broadcast techniques wee pioneered by the Nazis. Hitler and Goebbels deeply understood the power of radio as a propaganda tool, so the regime invested heavily in technologies that would allow their voices to be heard across the Reich. They developed the first practical tape recorder[1], an extremely low-cost AM radio receiver[2] and an array of improved microphones, amplifiers and loudspeakers. The modern era of sound recording really started in 1945, when seized German technology and emigrant German engineers made their way to Britain and America[3].
The story of post-war magnetic tape recording is really really interesting. It dovetails into the history of silicon valley with the creation of AMPEX and all of the companies and engineers that sprung out of there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/04/arts/harold-rhodes-89-inv...
On a somewhat less cheerful note, a large proportion of sound recording and broadcast techniques wee pioneered by the Nazis. Hitler and Goebbels deeply understood the power of radio as a propaganda tool, so the regime invested heavily in technologies that would allow their voices to be heard across the Reich. They developed the first practical tape recorder[1], an extremely low-cost AM radio receiver[2] and an array of improved microphones, amplifiers and loudspeakers. The modern era of sound recording really started in 1945, when seized German technology and emigrant German engineers made their way to Britain and America[3].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetophon
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksempf%C3%A4nger
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_recorder#Commercializatio...