Transcript Early 20th Century

Music
Technology
th
Early 20 Century
Listening
th
20
Early
Century
The 5 styles
we are going to
cover in this section are:
Jazz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyTTX6Wlf1Y
Black Keys Improvisat
Walki
ng
Bass
in L.H
Synco
pation
in R.H
Ragtime
Ragtime Piano
Synco
pated
R.H
Vamp
in L.H
Blues
C
Majo
r
Swing
Country Music
Technologic
al
Developmen
ts
Player pianos
A player piano is a self playing piano
containing a mechanism inside that
operates the piano action via preprogrammed music that is recorded on
perforated paper.
These are often associated with ragtime
music.
http://video.mit.edu/watch/player-piano-revealed-calibration-and-test-8828/
Wax Cylinders
The Phonograph Cylinder was created by Thomas Edison in 1877.
This was the earliest creation for recording sound.
Wax cylinders were originally just called ‘records’. They are hollow cylindrical objects
that have an audio recording engraved on the outside surface.
This sound was then reproduced when played on a mechanical
cylindrical phonograph.
To recreate the sound, the surface is rotated while a
playback stylus traces the groove and is therefore vibrated by it,
very faintly reproducing the recorded sound.
In early acoustic phonographs, the stylus vibrated
a diaphragm which produced sound waves which were coupled
to the open air through an acoustic horn.
The wax coating meant that the cylinders could be shaved down
and reused.
Gramophone
Record
A gramophone record is an analogue sound
recording medium consisting of a flat disc with
an inscribed modulated spiral groove starting
near the periphery and ending near the centre of
the disc.
The Gramophone disc record was the primary
medium used for music reproduction until late
in the 20th century, replacing the Wax
Cylinders.
Vinyl LP
At the time the LP was introduced, records were originally made
out of a shellac compound which was very noisy. These required a
much larger groove therefore making the records larger in size.
This played at 75rpm (revolutions per minute) limiting the playing
time to only 5 minutes per side.
The new product was a 10 or 12inch fine grooved vinyl record and
was played with a smalled tipped ‘micro-groove’ stylus at a speed
of 33½ rpm.
This meant the record could play for up to 20 minutes on each side.
Although the LP was especially suited to classical music because of
its extended continuous playing time, it also allowed a collection of
ten or more typical pop music recordings to be put on a single disc.
45 rpm record
The 7-inch 45 rpm record was introduced in 1949
by RCA as a smaller, more durable replacement for
the 78 rpm discs. The first 45 rpm records
were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the
disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the
1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in
stereo by the early 1970s.
These could hold as much sound as the 12” 78rpm
records but were much smaller and more attractive.
Juke Box
Coin operated boxes and Player pianos were the first forms
of automated coin-operated musical machines.
A jukebox is a partially automated music playing device,
usually a coin operated machine, that will play a patron's
selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox
has buttons with letters and numbers on them that, when
entered in combination, are used to play a specific selection.
These instruments used paper rolls, metal disks, or metal cylinders to play a musical selection
on the instrument, or instruments, enclosed within the device. In the1890s these devices were
joined by machines which used actual recordings.
These are mainly associated with Rock & Roll, but the
popularity extends back further to the Swing era.
Solid Body
Electric Guitar
There are some common characteristics of solid body electric guitars. They typically
have six strings although there are some seven- and eight-string models. Most have
at least a volume and tone control. If they have more than one guitar pickup they
have a switch that allows them to switch between the different pickups.
A pickup device is a transducer that captures mechanical vibrations from string
instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts them to an electrical signal that
is amplified, recorded, or broadcast.
These were first needed during the Swing era when Big Bands began to incorporate
more brass. An early attempt was made known as a resonator guitar but it did not
meet the requirements.
Electric Organ
An electronic organ was derived
from the harmonium, pipe
organ and theatre organ.
Electricity arrived on the organ
scene in the first decades of the 20th
century, but it was slow to have a
major impact.
In place of reeds and pipes, Robb and Hammond introduced a set of rapidly spinning magnetic wheels,
called tonewheels, which excited transducers that generated electrical signals of various frequencies
that were mixed and fed through an amplifier to a loudspeaker.
Most Hammond organs have two 61-note (5-octave) manuals. Each manual is laid out in a similar manner
to a piano keyboard, except pressing a key results in the sound continuously playing until it is released.
There is no difference in volume regardless of how heavily the key is pressed, so overall volume is
controlled by a foot pedal (also known as a "swell" or "expression" pedal)
Hammond organs come with a wooden pedal board played with the feet, for bass notes.
The sound on a tonewheel Hammond organ is varied through the manipulation of drawbars. A drawbar is a
metal slider that controls the volume of a particular sound component, in a similar way to a fader on
an audio mixing board. As a drawbar is incrementally pulled out, it increases the volume of its sound. When
pushed all the way in, the volume is decreased to zero.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hopUp1qBbJ4
Reel to Reel
Magnetic Tape
Reel-to-reel/open-reel (audio) tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in
which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within
a cassette.
Magnetic tape revolutionized broadcast and recording.
It was invented for recording sound in 1928 in Germany, and was based on the magnetic wire
recording of 1898.