No, not really a set of turntables for Edwardian DJs but in fact the Chronophone – an early sytem for synchronising sound and film, invented by Leon Gaumont and demonstrated in his Gaumont Palace theatre in 1910. Since gramaphone records only played long enough to accompany 200 feet of film, the dual-platter system allows records to be swapped to give a more-or-less continuous soundtrack.

Interestingly, the system used a compressed-air amplifier (sufficient to deliver sound to an audience of 4000), which is how I stumbled upon it. I’ve been looking into purely fluidic sound systems and will hopefully be posting (more…)