Pictures are doing the rounds of an Edwardian-era mixer and cross-fader.

The ‘Chronophone’ system was devised back in 1910 in France by engineer Leon Gaumont. His contraption was designed for use in the cinema as a means of synching up images and sound, and could amplify music to a volume suitable for 4000 people. Since gramophone records had a fairly limited playing time, Gaumont allegedly developed the system as a means of providing an uninterrupted soundtrack to a full-length motion picture.

At first, we thought this story might be a put-on, with everything from the barmy prototype to the slightly-too-good looking supplementary documentation bellowing “hoax”. But even the most cursory bit of investigation reveals that Gaumont was a key player in the development of cinema, and that he owned the patent to the ‘Chornophonographe’ – so the story checks out. Head over to Dangerous Minds to enjoy some titillating close-ups of the machine.