Music Technology

Sunday, 20 December 2015

EVOLUTION OF MUSIC TECHNOLOGY

Evolution of Music Technology (Questions):

Ans 1) We take the easy availability of music for granted.

Ans 2) People use to hear an orchestral piece of music once or twice.

Ans 3) The impact of the recording of music would change music itself forever.

Ans 4) Not only the listener was impacted by the recording but 20th century composers also took a liking to it.

Ans 5) During that time, recording speech but not music was considered most important.

Ans 6) Captain Bergerac was a real life writer.

Ans 7) Mary had a little lamb in 1987 by Thomas Alva Edison.

Ans 8) In the recording, the use of wrapped tinfoil was included in the diaphragm of the phonograph 
and the needle made the indents on the tinfoil which recorded the sound given in the long tube.

Ans 9) The needles which made low file recordings sometimes became rusted. In addition, once the wrapped tinfoil was removed, it was useless.

Ans 10) The use of wax cylinders came as an improvement in the 1880’s.
Ans 11) In the 1890’s, America’s invention, the jukebox took it by storm.

Ans 12) The choice of music (such as hymns, etc) in the posh classical music world turned their noses up at the ability to record.

Ans 13) The earliest surviving musical recording, epic oratorio in Israel, Egypt was made in the Crystal Palace in London.

Ans 14) The classical musicians were too slow to get on board straight away. Since the records lasted for two minutes, the long music recordings could not be fit in easily.

Ans 15) Gang recordings are where the same songs are recorded into different cylinders.

Ans 16) Emil Berlerner invented the Berlerner flat, rubber disk. Due to this, unlimited copies could be made.

Ans 17) The material, Shellac, replaced the rubber disks. They were made by crushed Belasian beetles.

Ans 18) The EMI company (gramophone) recognizable trait was not only because of it’s recordings but because of the dog. 

Ans 19) Grand Opera was the genre of music that was celebrating its golden age at the turn of the century.
Ans 20) Enrico Caruso was the most famous singer in the world. He is from Naples, a city in Italy. He began life in one of the poorest cities in Europe to a luxurious lifestyle.

Ans 21) 10 records were cut that made gramophone history.

Ans 22) Canio in Pagliacci was the world’s first million selling disc.

Ans 23) All the classical artists dropped their objections to recording because they realized that people would buy their records; making them rich in the process.

Ans 24) Alessandro Moresschi was the last living castrato. His recordings represented frightening performances.

Ans 25) Arrival of portable record players. This meant that music which used to be played in a concert hall is now being heard just about anywhere. Therefore, the gramophone allowed music to lose its original context.

Ans 26) Capturing the instrumental repertoire was difficult due to the crudeness of the recording machinery.

Ans 27) The recording done using an ancient gramophone has only the dominant or loud sounds but the low, subtle sounds are not present because they cannot be picked up by crude metal funnels of the instrument.

Ans 28)

·         The musicians were bunched up together around the recording horn.

·         Constructed a stroh violin which played loudly than a normal one.

·         Replaced weedy strings with beefy, wind brass instruments.

Ans 29) Mozart’s Overture: The Marriage of Figarro’s recording was placed in a gramophone where the strings are replaced by a brass band.

Ans 30) The impact of the electronic microphone was mostly noticed on popular music.

Ans 31) Sounds which were recorded by the electric microphone didn’t require loud bellowing into a funnel (part of the gramophone). This allowed singers to murmur intimately at the mike.

Ans 32) The power of the small, educated, relatively well-off audience. They could paly exactly what they choose to listen.

Ans 33) In 1948, they introduced a new material for recordings called Vinod. It was more resilient than shellac and could support a micro groove at a slow speed of 33 rpm. In addition, it also had more material.

Ans 34) Maria Callas was a female successor to Caruso. Vocal performances could be heard with absolute clarity.

Ans 35) In 1950’s the recording industry went into overdrive. A lot of good music found its way on the disc. In 1960’s, Stereophonic hit the market and the repertoire expanded.

Ans 36) Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club made a special feature for the technique of stereophonic sound.

Ans 37) A 2hr piece of music has about 2000 edits.

Ans 38) Music in the modern age that played for a live audience or were to be recorded were two different things.

Ans 39) In a recording, the people hear the balance on the disc than in a live concert hall. It has increased technical proficiency of musicians. This leads to lack of risk taking and uniformity of performance.

Ans 40) Recordings standardized performance styles and repertoire.

Ans 41) Listening in the present is the triumph of the past over the present.

Ans 42) Fred Gaisberg travelled all around the world to record strange yet wonderful sounds of music from other cultures.

Ans 43) This broadened the minds and triggered the imaginations of composers.

Ans 44) Hungarian composer, Bela Barthok, recorded the music from his native country using a phonograph.

Ans 45) African music exerted its influence on European music.

Ans 46) David Fanshawe, an English composer, compiled records consisting of tribal music. He was trying to synchronize what he was hearing to this type of music.

Ans 47) He believes that all the music and people are interrelated with each other. We have a soul and that is the universe of music and retain the essence of pure music.

Ans 48) Black America gave brith to different styles of music such as jazz, hip-hop, rock & roll, jungle, blues and motel.

Ans 49) Stravinsky and Revel were some of the classical composers who were influenced by the sounds of black Americans.

Ans 50) Avant Garde composers were engaged in experimentations in sound and technology that would have a profound effect in popular music.

Ans 51) Steve Reich is brilliant because of digital sampling of the human voice.

Ans 52) Different trains:
·         Haunting and powerful provocation of his childhood and the reflection on the American Jewish experience.
·         Voices of the holocaust survivors describing their train tips that they were forced to take during the second world war.
·         Reconciliation of the painful memories of the past with the present.

Ans 53) He believes that the music of this era is somehow related to the folk music of our time.

Ans 54) Music historians believe today’s music to be the age of convergence.

Ans 55) Meltdown of previously rigid compartments and styles; the invention of recorded sound.

Ans 56) The four earlier big bangs were considered to be musical notation, opera, modern tuning and recording.

Ans 57) The next big bang of music could probably be the impact of the internet.


Monday, 12 October 2015

Music Technology used in making "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?"


In last class, we learnt about the different instruments of music technology that are used in the making of this song, 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?'. These are all the instruments used in the song and their functions:

  • Yamaha SPX990 Multi-effects unit: This machine is used to apply reverb and delay to tracks. It can also create echo effects, gated effects (which reduces steady noise sources) and has freeze programs that can do loop playback. 
  • Roland TR909 drum machine: It is a sound source for drum loops. Can store the entire songs with different sections, 16-step sequencer and a realistic, digital drum-kit. 
  • Emu Proformance piano sound module: Has two piano sources, one from an old Yamaha synth and another from Emu. 
  • Roland Juno 106: Synth bass sounds. It also produces the Chorus effect which are rich and expansive sounds combined together.
  • Yamaha SY22 and SY85 synthesizers: String/synth pad sounds. 
  • Akal S3200 sampler: This device samples the vocal sounds off the original record and any subsequent editing. 
Instead of using these types of music technology which are expensive, there is a software on the computer called Mixcraft which allows you to create effects and layering of sounds. There is also an app on my Ipad called Garageband which has a number of digital instruments you can play on and you can sample original sounds, etc. 


1st Reflection-  Moby 'Why Does My Heart'

In our music lesson, we have been given a task to perform the song 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad' by composer, Moby, without the use of music technology. We have been allocated into groups for this task. In my group, I have been assigned as a guitarist. Since, I have not played other instruments, i decided to practice and play the guitar but only the basics.

In this task, we have to rehearse this song 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?' using only acoustic instruments/voices without the use of music technology. we have utilised three instruments, the piano and the two bass guitars, in addition, a vocalist (a person who sings). In the first theme of the song "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad", i had to play these chords, eight times for each string, repeatedly with my percussion instrument (bass guitar) accompanied by the piano:

A minor, E minor, G, D.

For the second theme "These Open Doors", there are two types, Bx and By. Each theme is eight bars long made by looping over a two bar phrase:

1) Bx: C. A minor, C, A minor     (Repeated two bar phrase)
2) By: F, C, F, C    (Consists of major chords)



This is the rehearsal of the song "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" by my group. However, the length of the our rehearsal of song was 1 min 6 seconds whereas the length of the original song is 3 min and 57 seconds. At 0:17, the first theme starts which is "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" which is sung by a female vocalist in our group accompanied by the chord sequence (mentioned above) of the bass guitars, piano and the use of a tambourine. At 0:48, the second theme begins which is "These open doors" also sung by the female vocalist accompanied by the same instruments. At 1:06, the song ends.
Improvements:



We have improved our music recording from the last music class. This time, the video is 2 min long. At 0:06, the piano and guitar play the Bx chord sequence which is A minor, E minor, G, D. At 0:21, the chord sequence being played by the bass guitarist and pianist, is accompanied by a female vocalist singing "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?". At 0:52, the vocalist then sings "These open doors" accompanied by bass guitar and piano playing By major chords which are F,C,F,C. In addition a tambourine is being used. At 1:27, the vocalist goes back to 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" along with the piano only.Then at 1:43, the pianist plays solo and finishes at 2:00.

2nd Reflection throughout these lessons:

Throughout these lessons, i have enjoyed recording and playing an instrument. I feel that i have put a lot of effort in working on this task because this song was particularly interesting and wanted to find out how to play it without the use of music technology. If we had more time to compose and edit our performance, it would be an excellent music recording. In my process journal, i did the best i could to keep it up to date. i have explained the recordings, what chords are used and impact of technology on music. To improve, i would give my answers in a little more depth and knowledge. In addition, i learnt how to play a bass guitar but only the basics using strings G,D,A,E only. I wish that i could have learnt piano skills which can only be achieved by spending time playing the piano and browsing the Internet to give me tips on how to play this instrument. Overall, i think that my group has done a lovely rehearsal for this computerised version of  "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?".
Music Technology: 

Inquiry Questions:



Factual:
  • What is music technology?
Ans) The technology that helps us to make music via the use of electronic devices and computer software for playback, recording, composing, storing, mixing, analysing, editing and performance.

Conceptual:
  • How has music technology changed the way in which we develop and record sounds?
Ans) With the invention of gadgets such as laptops and the use of computer software in today's era, allows us to stream, record, compose and edit our own music. But it is not about the music and notes being played by new instruments, it's also the new technology that changes the way we think and approach music. It also changes the accessibility (such as Internet and high speed data transfer) of music for artists and every unique invention changes our aspect towards music. Because of this newly improved technology, we do not really need to use previous instruments such as acoustic guitar, drums, etc.  

Debatable:
  • Are we becoming too dependable on music technology?
Ans) In today's world, we are too reliable on the technology we use to compose our own music. Because of the music software and other technology, the editing and recording of music might take less time and more easier to make. Also, through this software, people can invent new ideas which never existed such as genres, effects, etc. Due to this, we have lost the passion and soul which drives us to compose our own music, however, it is efficient in composing music by adding sound effects, streaming parts of live music, editing, etc. 
  • Does music technology support or devalue live music making?
Ans) According to me, music technology devalues live music making. This type of technology has changed the way how it is composed and how we experience it from live music making to recorded sounds. We once thought of listening to this type of music as a special experience. But now, it has become an artificial composition due to music technology. This includes artists correcting their voices in the song, the editing, streaming of parts of another music and including it into their song. Due to this, we have lost the passion and soul which drives us to compose our own music