User:Jogawa/Megaphone



A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable cone-shaped horn held to the mouth to magnify and direct the human voice. Naturally, the human voice spreads evenly in all directions. The megaphone concentrates the sound towards one direction and amplifies the voice. Megaphones can be acoustic or electronic with a microphone, amplifier, and loudspeaker built in to allow further amplification of the voice.

Etymology
The earliest written record of the word dates back to Thomas Edison's invention of the modern megaphone in 1878. It is believed that Edison himself coined the term from the Greek megas "great" and phone "voice".

History
Far before Edison's invention, the idea of the megaphone had existed as early as 6th century BC in Greek amphitheatres, where actors wore masks with large mouth openings for amplification. Sailors, hunters, and military commanders had also used primitive forms of the megaphone since ancient times to communicate longer distances.

The originator of the modern more efficient megaphone is debated by historians between the two inventors, Samuel Morland and Athanasius Kircher. Inspired by the legends of Alexander the Great gathering his army from as far as eleven miles away using a large horn, inventors — though it is now believed that Alexander's horn was a wind instrument and did not carry his voice — sought of ways to project the human voice further. In 1671 Morland published his Tuba Stentoro-Phonica, in which he described what he called the speaking trumpet, a wide-mouthed trumpet made of copper. His invention allowed the human voice to be heard as far as a mile and a half away. However, Kircher had published works on a similar device used for amplifying the hearing rather than the voice in his 1650 Musurgia Universalis, and claimed priority to the invention.

The next milestone came in 1878 with Thomas Edison's invention of the megaphone. Edison's megaphone was a stationary device with two ear-trumpets and one speaking-trumpet that could carry conversations with someone as far as two miles away. Though Edison's invention was dissimilar to the megaphones of today, the name has become the most associated for the device.

The megaphone existed without much change in general construction until the invention of the first electronic megaphone. In 1954, the Japanese TOA Corp. developed the first electronic megaphone, the EM-202. The TOA EM-202 was a commercial success and the electronic megaphone claimed widespread popularity.

How it works
The acoustic megaphone amplifies sound by directing sound towards one direction and matching the impedance of the sound to the air. By matching the impedance of the human voice to the impedance of the air, the human voice transfers through the air at maximum efficiency, causing it to sound louder to the listener.

Uses


Since its invention, the megaphone has been used in many fields for its ability to address large crowds. It has been used in protesting, political campaigning, sporting events, film directing, cheerleading, and music amongst other things.

Film Directing
Cecil B. DeMille was the first director to use a megaphone on set. Since DeMille's utilization, many film directors have used the megaphone as a means of communicating with the actors and the crew, and it has become iconic for the field.

Cheerleading
In the 1880's Princeton University became the first to use the megaphone to support their football team. After John Campbell of the University of Minnesota created the first organized cheerleading squad and adopted the use of the megaphone in 1898, the megaphone became a staple of cheerleading.

Music
In the past, vocalists often used acoustic megaphones as a means of amplification, but the technique dwindled with the development of the microphone in the 1920s. Even after the invention of the microphone, American singer Rudy Vallée made the megaphone a trademark of his live performances, and some artists still utilize the megaphone today to emulate old-fashioned bands of the past.

Several vocalists have used the electronic megaphone, most often in live performances, for the unique effect it creates on the voice. Some examples include:
 * Tom Waits
 * Scott Weiland
 * Michael Stipe