Boston public radio examines the history of how we see recorded sound.

WBUR 90.9 in Boston has launched Stylus, “an experiment in sound, music, and listening.” February’s edition is subtitled “Seeing and Illustrating music,” and its worth the 12-minute listen.

Along with audio clips that detail the history of the waveform, from the earliest ones (first captured by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville in 1860) to modern ones on SoundCloud, Stylus includes some great photos of early wave form analyses.

Listen to A Brief History of the Waveform below; head to the Stylus tumblr for more info.