Unit 4 - Evolution of Recording Mediums

FLAC or loseless-quality files, and potentially DNA

What are some possible replacements for music in the cloud?

The cassette tape

What became the dominant way to record music at home in the 1970s and 1980s because it was small, convenient, and easy to use, copy, and trade with friends?

Revolutions per minute

What does RPM stand for?

They took up less space, sounded better, and had two sides, which equaled twice the music.

Flat 78RPM disc records replaced wax cylinders. Give two reasons why.

A laser is either reflected or absorded by a series of pits and lands in the CD's aluminum layer. This generates binary data at a rate of 44,100 "pictures" of sound every second.

How do CDs play back music?

THey arrange magnetic particles on plastic tape.

How do reel-to-reel machines and tape recorders encode sound?

A needle vibrates from bumps cut in the groove, then sends the vibrations to an amplifier, which makes them louder.

How is music played back from a record?

ONly one groove- in the shape of a spiral

How many grooves are on a typical record or CD? How are they arranged?

Only one song, two to four minutes long

How many songs could fit on a wax cylinder and how long would it play?

The Jukebox

In the 1950s and 1960s, 45 RPMs became popular with Rock "N" Roll fans because they were cheap and small. What is the name of an automatic, mechanical DJ that would play these 45 RPM records one after another?

8-track cassette tape players

In the 1960s, Ford Motor Company began to encourage people to bring their favorite music on road trips by installing what in the cars?

Did not lose sound quality, was easier to store than tapes (flat), lasted longer, and could play lower and higher sounds

In the 1980s, the compact disc had several advantages. Name two.

Diamond

What is a tip of a record needle usually made of?

They store digital information in binary form (zeros and ones).

What is completely different about how CDs work compared to records or tapes?

Internet-based storage accessible anywhere-millions of MP3s available to computers, cell phones, car radios, and so on. Users pay one monthly fee to access all the music on Spotify, Beats Music, and Rdio.

What is meant by "music in the cloud" and "subscription service"? Give one example.

It could not be played back or heard until 2008!

What is unusual about the first audio recording ever made of a human (in 1860, by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville)?

The first computer (like the UNIVAC)

What other invention of the 1950s used tape recorders to store information?

They are 10 times smaller than CD files, so you can store hundreds of CDs on a tiny hard drive inside an ipod or MP3 player.

What specific advantages do MP3s have over CDs?

"Mary had a Little Lam"-a needle on a cylinder of tinfoil

What was the very first song that could be played back, recorded by Thomas Edison in 1877?

They played for about 45 minutes-they were named "LP" for Long Playing

Why did slower and larger 33 RPM records-called LPs-come to replace 78s?