Technology and the Changing Social Role of Music

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Technology and the Changing Social Role of Music

• The role that music plays in society is largely a
  function of the
• music-related technology that is used.

• The role of music in American society has changed
• dramatically in the last 100 years.

• Recording technology is integral to the way in
  which we
• now perceive, listen to, create, and function
  around music.

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Music in a World Before Recordings

• Music was inextricable from the live performance.

• Listening to music was fundamentally a social
  activity.

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The Dawn of an Era The First Recording
Technology

• Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) invented a system
  for recording sound vibrations as engraved
• grooves in a wax cylinder in 1877.

• Shellac discs are developed in 1890s and
• become a standard medium for recording
• and distribution.

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The Dawn of an Era The First Recording
Technology

• As recorded music developed a significant base of
  interest, record players became common household
  objects and listening to recordings at home
  became a social activity.

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Early Musicians and Recording Technology

• Recordings become a successful and lucrative
• market for composers.

• Composers would need to cater their music to the
  constraints of the recorded format to become more
  commercially viable.

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Performers and Early Recording Technology

• As the recording industry became a more important
  market, musicians around the turn of the century
  catered their technique to fit the limitations of
  recording technology

• Bing Crosby and Les Paul
• use tape recording and splicing
• to create perfect radio shows
• by editing out mistakes.

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The Studio as a Creative Tool

• Pierre Schaeffer (1910-1995) pioneered the use of
  recording equipment and media in creating new
  compositions out of various pieces of sound.

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The Studio as a Creative Tool
Multi Tracking

• Layers (Tracks)

• Equalization

• Levels

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The Studio as a Creative Tool
Studio Effects

• Reverb
• Diffusion of sound that creates the impression
• of distance, space, or sustain.

• Delay
• Timed repetition of a sound that creates an
• echo.

• Flanging
• A swirling, undulating effect created by
  off-setting a sound from itself.

• Equalization/Filtering
• Used to control the volume of certain frequency
• ranges in a sound.

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The Studio as a Creative Tool

• Bands such as The Beatles pioneer the use of
  studio technique as a compositional method in the
  mid-60's.

• Music becomes valued as a listening experience.

• The new sound of popular music becomes the
  foundation of a music-oriented youth culture
  movement.

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Amplification Technology and Performance

• Performers such as Jimi
• Hendrix use amplification
• technology as a creative
• element of their live music.

• This expressive use of
• technology in performance
• has become an iconic part of
• American culture.

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Studio Technology and Musical Performance

• DJs (Disc Jockeys)
• manipulate existing
• recordings of sound and
• music in their live
• performances.

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Digital Technology and the Future Role of Music

• Amateur recording technology has continually
  become
• more powerful, affordable, and easy to use.

• There are many means of music distribution
  available to
• companies and amateurs.

• CDs

• Digital computer formats

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