COURSE WEBSITE. LAB SECTIONS MEET THIS WEEK!

Transcription

1 Spinning Records 1

2 COURSE WEBSITE LAB SECTIONS MEET THIS WEEK! 2

3 ACOUSTICS AND AUDIO What is sound? How is it recorded? How is it synthesized? ELECTRONIC MUSIC HISTORY specific technologies musical ideas COMPUTER MUSIC PRODUCTION techniques for organizing sound using computers 3

4 music technology 4

5 TECHNOLOGY from the Greek technic meaning a method or manner of accomplishing a task technology is not only a things, but a processes as well It is bidirectional, in using new technologies we are changed by new technologies case study: recording and the record 5

6 Spinning Records 6

7 Impact of recording (and records) musical economic social cultural 7

8 Edison in 1888, listening to a phonograph Invented 1877 by Thomas Edison 8

9 PHONOGRAPH Invented 1877 by Thomas Edison could record and playback sound sound is no longer strictly a live event. It can be captured and replayed. sound is represented as a physical medium (Cylinder, Record, Tape, etc), material that can be manipulated. listen: I am the Edison Phonograph (1906) 9

10 ...I don't want the phonograph sold for amusement purposes, it is not a toy. I want it sold for business purposes only. Edison tin foil cylinders (1877) to wax cylinders (1888) 1888 first commercial phonographs in production Four inch cylinder could record 4 minutes commonly hand cranked 10

11 Vertical Cuts Hill and Dale 11

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13 GRAMOPHONE Emile Berliner in 1887 rotating disc, harder material, louder. Patent Introduced commercially spiral not a helix, lateral rather than vertical cuts 13

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15 Lateral Cuts Stylus moves horizontally 15

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17 CYLINDER VS. DISC (PHONOGRAPH VS. GRAMOPHONE) The cylinder permitted home recording and playback, disc only playback. The disc was cheaper, louder, and could be mass-produced. The cylinder had better fidelity, reproducing sounds more accurately. Between 1890 and 1910 pre-recorded discs out-sold recordable blank cylinders 17

18 RECORDING PROCESS 18

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20 ELECTRICAL RECORDING microphone/amplifier developments were accelerated by radio experiments during WWI first electrically recorded discs in 1925 electro-magnetic pickups replaced mechanical diaphragms resulting in greater dynamic range In the 1930s electrolas entered the home. 20

21 SOUND QUALITY Pre 1925 acoustical recording frequency response: Hz low dynamic range poor signal to noise ratio Post 1925 electrical recording frequency response: Hz higher dynamic range (30 db) much cleaner recording 21

22 RECORD FORMATS YEARS TYPE RECORDING TIME Cylinder 2-4 minutes s 78 rpm 3-5 min per side LP (33 1/3 rpm) mins per side album (12 ) rpm 4-6 per side (EP 7m) single (7 ) 22

23 JOHN CAGE 1939 Imaginary Landscape #1 - records of audio test tones played on two variable speed turntables, with percussion and piano. "It's not a physical landscape. It's a term reserved for the new technologies. It's a landscape in the future. It's as though you used technology to take you off the ground and go like Alice through the looking glass." - Cage 23

24 PIERRE SCHAEFFER 24

25 DIRECT DRIVE TURNTABLES 1969: Technics releases first direct drive turntable platter attached directly to the drive (no belts) Use of a slip-mat allows for manual adjustment of the playback speed Often includes speed slider, pitch (fine speed control), reverse, nudge 25

26 1970s DISCO DJs Francis Grasso credited with developing a mixing technique called slip-cueing 26

27 Dual Turntable Setup 27

28 DJ KOOL HERC 1967: Moves from Jamaica to the Bronx one of the pioneers of hip-hop mid 70s known for isolating the break, looping instrumental sections Along with Grandmaster Flash & Grand Wizard Theodore developed scratching techniques 28

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30 ROCKIT Herbie Hancock DJ Grand Mixer DXT 30

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33 DIGITAL TURNTABLES combining the practices and performance gestures of traditional turntables with the processing and memory of the computer a turntable controller control signal records scratching data 33

34 DJ Software 34

35 CHRISTIAN MARCLAY 35

36 Christian Marclay 36

37 Maria Chavez 37

38 Maria Chavez Book of Abstract Turntable Techniques! 38

39 Brian House 39

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