Music Tech History Final

What have been the main three RPM formats used for discs?

78 RPM (10 in. shellac), 45 RPM (single), 33 1/3 RPM (vinyl LP)

What is the oldest known instrument?

A bone flute. A 40,000 year old flute made from the naturally hollow wing bone of a griffon vulture. Found near Ulm, Germany in 2008, researchers say "An early music tradition likely helped modern humans communicate and form tighter social bonds."

graphic notation

A graphic score tries to show the performer what is to be heard in a way they touches other senses like sight, and thereby hopes to invoke deeper meaning in the performer to be shared with the listener.

leitmotif

A leitmotif is a short musical phrase that is used to represent a certain character, place, or idea. Every time it recurs in an opera (or film) scene, it highlights for the audience the arrival of what or who it represents, and composers may adjust the musical phrase to illuminate deeper messages or emotions regarding that particular moment.

Harmonic / Overtone Series

A series of sounds within which the fundamental frequency of each of them is an integral multiple of the lowest fundamental frequency.

electroacoustic instruments

AKA "amplified" instruments, these instruments are electronically amplified. The sound generation is done through a speaker system. These instruments have moving parts and a passive oscillator. (eg. electric guitars, electric violins)

Why did Japan so rapidly adopt western music?

As Japanese music had traditionally been based on the use of string and wind instruments, this new Western band music appealed to Japanese ears. One reason the study and performance of Western music at court was so rapidly adopted was because of the increasing need to perform Western music during reception parties for foreign ambassadors.

motet

Began by the church as an application of newer text to old music, became new text and melody being layered over the original plainchant often set to popular secular songs (like French love poems)

Who could afford to own electronic music equipment during the 50s and 60s?

Big businesses, universities.

Who was the Hollywood singer and star who supported the advancement of tape recording in America?

Bing Crosby

In the earliest days of TV, what were the two types of show that featured foregrounded music?

Classical music and opera performances.

Who wrote the first successful opera?

Claudio Monteverdi with L'Orfeo in 1607.

Bullitt

Composer Lalo Schifrin does an expert job at highlighting the main character's thoughts, feelings, and actions with popular jazz, in spite of Bullitt's tendency toward few words.

Blade Runner

Composer Vangelis strove to utilize electronics in a way that went beyond what an orchestra could do, and not simply imitate or replace the symphonic sound.

What are the reasons older music played on TV in the earliest years?

Composers' professional rights organization ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers) displayed outright hostility toward the new television medium and placed restrictions on the licensing of their library of popular music for television broadcast. This forced television producers to seek not only the use of public domain music, but the licensing of music from Broadcast Music, Inc.'s (BMI) rival library, which largely consisted of older songs.

Clockwork Orange

Comprises excerpts from early Classical works as well as electronic covers of the same arranged and performed by Wendy Carlos.

Heron of Alexandira

Developed the keyboard mechanism of controlling the hydraulis.

What did the earliest computer notation interfaces looked like?

Early computer notation systems lacked the visual feedback or graphic interface we are accustomed to today and used a sort of programming code.

How were broadcast stations influential in supporting electronic music?

Electronic music studios like that housed in station WDR helped pave the way for electronics to develop into an instrument in its own right and for the music producer or technician to become a composer and performer (and vice versa)—performing the electronics in a way that was meant not for live performance, but for broadcast.

Streetcar Named Desire

First film to utilize a functional underscore based on visceral jazz styles

What examples have we seen that include elements of found sound? How about musical borrowing?

Found sound includes Pierre Schaeffer's Étude aux chemins de fer (Railway Etude), Steve Reich "It's gonna Rain" Musical borrowing includes Beatles "Revolution 9" (consists of Beatles studio takes), Charles Ives' works (interpolating melodies, "Flying Saucer" (utilizes samples of multiple songs

What two methods were used to capture sound before and after 1925?

From as early as 1853 until 1925, we captured sound acoustically, using a horn to funnel the sound waves to a diaphragm connected to a stylus. From 1925 onward, we captured sound electronically, using microphones.

What makes the technological development of the guitar unique when compared to other technological systems? (Hint: reverse salient turned into....what?)

Guitarists often encounter distortion, which was thought to be an issue. A solution is to make the body solid. However, musicians have reconceptualize the feed back issue and started embrace the issue of feedback and distortion in their music.

In the year 800, what did Charlemagne do?

He aggressively spread Gregorian chant throughout his empire to consolidate religious and secular power, requiring the clergy to use this new repertoire on the pain of death.

What did Reginald A. Fessenden do in 1906?

He made the first long-range transmission of voice and music from a station in Brant Rock, Massechussets./ the first public radio broadcast (the Largo from Xerxes).

What did Guglielmo Marconi introduce as an improvement to the current telegraph technology?

He sent the first "wireless telegraph" messages - coded signals sent via radio waves over the distance of about a mile.

What did George Thomas do?

He's the first to marry images with live music performances. An "illustrated song" was presented in "The little Lost Child"

Kool Herc started a phenomenon in 1973 that would become this genre...

Hip-hop. Clive Campbell—better known as DJ Kool Herc—entertained the crowd at a block party in the South Bronx using two turntables and a guitar amp, breakbeat technique.

What was the main reason Conlon Nancarrow started writing music for player piano?

If a machine can play back exactly what he wanted, why not push it to the extreme to see and hear what happens? In doing so, he pushed the limits of music's very meaning and can be thought of as a composer who explored the possibilities of computer music before there were computers capable of such things.

What changed in Japanese education in 1872 that directly opened the door for Yamaha to begin mass production?

In 1872, Western music entered Japanese civilian life in more substantial ways when an effort to introduce a modern educational system brought Western curricula with it. Western music in Japan spread in parallel with Western school education.

What did Berliner invent between 1887 and 1893?

In 1887, the Berliner gramophone introduced the use of a wax disc on which sound could be inscribed

The Band Musa Brothers

Invented a hydropower organ, which played interchangeable cylinders automatically. Also invented what's probably the world's first programmable machine, the automatic flute player.

Tempest

It is believed to be the first stand-alone video game soundtrack. "Tempest" was one of the first games to utilize a new Atari chip designed primarily for sound generation. The chip had four separate channels, and the pitch, volume, and distortion values of each could be controlled individually.

performative quotation

It is impossible to recreate a quotation from a work by precisely the way it was originally performed. it is not merely the notes, rhythms, and other musical instructions that are displaced; it also includes the original ambience of the room in which the recording was done, the unique timbre of the instruments used, the breathing of the artist who performed it

Clint Mansell

Lacking any formal music theory education, the computer allows Mansell to track his thoughts, layer them in a sequencer, and immediately hear what his ideas sound like.

What were the 3 main factors of Yamaha's success?

Location (moderate climate, railroad, water and forest resources), working with both small and large businesses, and targeting school market.

Who built the intonarumori?

Luigi Russol. a mechanism to generate its specific noise, a power source for noise generation and a device to amplify and control the actual pitch of that noise.

What machine did RCA's acoustic lab develop, with the aim of replacing live musicians?

Mark systems. Mark I, a analogue computer, a room sized tone generator.

Why did Moog promote his synth with a keyboard controller?

Moog felt there was no better way to advertise the synthesizer to the general public than by photographing it being used with a standard musical keyboard. Moog made his synthesizer ubiquitous in society by attaching a familiar element to it—in a way, welcoming the everyday musician to explore using it.

In what way was the Moog synth considered by musicians to be a musical instrument, rather than just a machine?

Moog utilized a piano layout unlike the Buchla, which is more familiar to people when it came to advertising the instrument.

What are the effects of the internet and data-fication of streaming on today's music?

More hit songs are written with a team of writers and producers, music can be produced in multiple locations via file exchange, songs have multiple hooks, singles over albums, no need for a greatest hits album.

Why was distortion accepted so widely in America?

Musicians of country blues, early rock and roll, and jazz music started embracing distortion, using noise as art. Jimi Hendrix' Star Spangled banner performance changed how noise can be used as art. Sense of modernism, urbanism, voice to marginalized people.

What were the major changes that print culture brought to music and society?

Preservation of ideas (now passed down physically), comparison of ideas, new societal connections, new standards, viewing the past differently, setting a new course ahead, new roles for art and artists (intellect. prop. and ownership)

Xbox

Promised movie-like sound from its 64-channel audio processor. With Xbox's system, composers and sound designers were given an enormous amount of power to work with.

What was the machine in the 1960s called, that was basically a video jukebox?

Scopitone

Why is "Thriller" important?

Set a new standard that included storyline, high production value, Hollywood directors,

What are the 3 ways vibrato helped violinists overcome recording limitations?

Sound projection, obscuring intonation. and allowing for artistic expression on a non visual medium

neumes

Squiggles and dots scratched above the lyrics of chant meant to graphically indicate melodic gestures and tone-movements (not yet the specific pitches) within each syllable. Earliest examples of notated western plainchant in the 9th century.

What was the album success of 1968 that boosted the popularity of the Moog synthesizer?

Switched-On Bach by Moog musician Wendy Carlos.

What musical advances first appeared during the Renaissance?

Text painting (music that reflects the words being sung), considering the harmonic effect of chords, focusing on the harmonic drive toward cadences, embracing the interval of the third as a cadential interval, using bass register, employing rhythmic vitality. Written music for instrumentalists, triads, homophony, bass register and figured bass.

What was the electronic recording system developed by Bell Labs and first used in 1925 called?

The Westrax system, a key to the development of condenser mics. Expanded the recorded frequency range to a more natural spectrum.

What is the oldest known written music?

The clay tablets of Sumer. Found in the 1950s in Ugarit (now Southern Syria).

Starting in the 60s, this technology helped spread rock n roll to the masses in their cars

The compact cassette tape arrived in 1963 with the 8-track cartridge following it in 1964.

What was the overall effect of the technical changes done to acoustic instruments during the period of opera?

The evolution of the acoustic machines of the seventeenth century and forward were meant to make them heard across the space of large theaters. Influenced by the dramatic expression of opera's vocalists, instrumentalists strove to attain the same power, clarity, and control when performing such music on their own instruments, provoking changes in the physical mechanics of these acoustic machines.

What is the most important ancient music machine of the west?

The hydraulis, a water organ utilizing water, hydraulic, and air pressure to solve the problem of playing multiple flutes simultaneously by one musician. The ancestor of all keyboard instruments since it utilizes keyboard-like keys. it was an instrument of great social stars (used in theaters, ceremonies, weddings), but not as an expressive instrument (lyre, voice).

Music Industry Value Chain

The input of the music industry value chain is the creation of the music itself—including everything that might fall under the categories of Music Performance, Music Rights, and Sound Recording

Super Mario Bros.

The music and sound design by composer Koji Kondo raised the bar for future video games. By constantly shifting the tones and themes to match the action onscreen, Kondo achieved a new kind of play-sound-music synthesis.

electromechanical instruments

These instruments have moving parts and an active oscillator, meaning a regular frequency is being generated by the oscillator continuously once the machine is tuned on. (eg. the Hammond organ, operates using tone wheels)

electronic instruments

These instruments have no moving parts and an active oscillator (like electromechanical instruments). (eg. theremin, ondes martenot)

What was the defining element of both Moog and Buchla's synthesizers?

These modular synthesizers are smaller and more affordable than the first synthesizers.

What was the early "music video" series Warner Bros. developed 1930-1931?

They released a series of fi e musical shots between 1930 and 1931 called the "Spooney Melodies", mixing live footage of the singer/musician with Art Deco animation.

Why did RCA pursue the creation of the 45?

They'd determined that the Classical music crowd made up only a small fraction of the overall record market, and, again, they did not want to restrict listeners' options by forcing preassembled albums upon them. (Since

King Kong

This 1933 film became a landmark achievement in demonstrating the power music has in manipulating the emotions of a film-going audience. Utilized a click-track for orchestra to synch with timings and leitmotifs.

What was the purpose of the two-impression printing process?

To print the staff on music notes/symbols on one page, the lines of the staff were printed in a first impression and a separate impression consisting of musical designs are printed on top of the first impression.

What makes digital sampling different from traditional borrowing?

Unlike interpolating or borrowing an element of a song, digital sampling takes of part of a recording where one can put it into their song (usually done by DJs/song producers.

Where did music videos first grow popular in the 70s?

Variety/music chart television programming shows like UK's Top of the Pops and Australia Countdown and Sounds were influential in popularizing music videos.

What does "nonrivalrous" mean when speaking about the mp3?

When they are shared, exact copies are made, such that attaining a copy of the file for oneself does not harm the original ownership of that file.

Why did Ken Freeman pursue string synthesis? How did he accomplish the sound?

While a mellotron can replicate a string sound, it is damn expensive. Freeman addressed this issue by deciding to "build an organ with three sound generators, each modulated by a different vibrato oscillator, and that's how the string machine was invented". Through reverse engineering, he built a prototype for a String Synthesizer.

figured bass

a kind of musical notation in which numerals and symbols indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to the bass note they are placed above or below.

What music ensemble did Commodore Perry bring with him to Japan in 1853?

a military band (brass, winds)

What was combined with moveable type to print music during the late 15th century?

in addition to metal moveable type and the two impression process, there wrote also hand0engraved woodblocks used (woodblock printing).

electrophones

instruments that produce sound primarily by means of electricity

Why is the music industry considered high-risk?

its products demand high up-front investments and there is a high uncertainty about returns

What recording technology did the Germans perfect during WWII?

open reel (reel-to-reel) magnetic recording

What was the first device to trace sound waves on soot-covered paper?

phonoautograph (did not playback)

What did Edison invent in 1877 that used a tinfoil cylinder?

phonograph (recorded AND played back)

During the 50s, this technology helped spread rock n roll to the masses in their cars

radios

Which three primary music genres did technology (radio, TV, disc, and tape cassette) help spread during their time?

rock, blues, r&b

timbre

the distinctness of an instrument's sound (eg. what makes a violin sound like a violin as opposed to a saxophone)

Jazz Singer

the first feature-length film that played with synchronized music, sound effects, and dialogue. It was the first talkie.

Don Juan

the first feature-length film to use a mechanically synchronized music score and sound effects (but no dialogue)

Forbidden planet

the first film to utilize an all-electronic score

overtones

the frequencies sounding in integral ratios above the fundamental

fundamental frequency

the sinosudial component of a periodic sound wave having the same frequency as the periodic wave. simply known as "the fundamental"

How was expression mainly achieved by violinists BEFORE the 20th century?

vibrato should be hardly perceptible to the ear.... only prescribe vibrato on a very few of the highest notes...