Music technology (electric): Difference between revisions

{{Hatnote|For all types of musical technologies, see [[Music technology]]; For electronic and digital music technology, see [[Music technology (electronic and digital)]]}}

[[File:Gibson sg Custom 1963.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A 1963 Gibson SG Custom [[electric guitar]] with its headstock leaning on a small [[guitar amplifier]], which contains a [[power amplifier]] and a [[loudspeaker]] in a wooden [[speaker enclosure|cabinet]].]]

Early electric piano recordings include [[Duke Ellington]]'s in 1955 and [[Sun Ra]]'s ''India'' as well as other tracks from the 1956 sessions included on his second album ''Super Sonic Jazz'' (aka ''Super Sonic Sounds''). The popularity of the electric piano began to grow in the late 1950s after [[Ray Charles]]'s 1959 hit record "[[What'd I Say]]", reaching its height during the 1970s, after which they were progressively displaced by more lightweight electronic pianos capable of piano-like sounds without the disadvantages of electric pianos' heavy weight and [[moving parts|moving mechanical parts]]. Another factor driving their development and acceptance was the progressive electrification of popular music and the need for a portable keyboard instrument capable of high-volume amplification. Musicians adopted a number of types of domestic electric pianos for rock and pop use. This encouraged their manufacturers to modify them for stage use and then develop models primarily intended for stage use.

 

 

===Electric guitar===

[[File:Kramer_XKG-20_sm.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A [[Kramer Guitars|Kramer]] XKG-20 electric guitar circa 1980.]]

 

Invented in 1931, the electric guitar became a necessity as [[jazz]] guitarists sought to amplify their sound in the [[big band]] format. Early proponents of the electric guitar on record included [[Les Paul]], [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]], [[Sister Rosetta Tharpe]], [[T-Bone Walker]], and [[Charlie Christian]]. During the 1950s and 1960s, the electric guitar became the most important instrument in [[pop music]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Technology, Volume 2 |first1=Colin |last1=Hempstead |first2=William E. |last2=Worthington |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2005 |isbn=1-57958-464-0|page=793 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wkIlnNjDWcC&pg=PA793}}</ref> It has evolved into an instrument that is capable of a multitude of sounds and styles. It served as a major component in the development of [[electric blues]], [[rock and roll]], [[rock music]], and many other genres of music.

[[File:Hammond c3 Emilio Muñoz.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A Hammond C-3 electric organ.]]

 

 

The organ was originally marketed and sold by the Hammond Organ Company to [[Church (building)|churches]] as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven [[pipe organ]], or instead of a [[piano]]. It quickly became popular with professional [[jazz]] musicians, who found it a cheaper alternative to the [[big band]]. [[Jimmy Smith (musician)|Jimmy Smith]]'s use of the Hammond B-3, with its additional harmonic percussion feature, inspired a generation of organ players, and its use became more widespread in the 1960s and 1970s in [[rhythm and blues]], [[rock music|rock]] and [[reggae]], as well as being an important instrument in [[progressive rock]].

 

 

Hammond-Suzuki continues to manufacture a variety of organs for both professional players and churches. Other companies, such as [[Korg]], [[Roland Corporation|Roland]] and [[Clavia]], have also achieved success in providing [[Clonewheel organ|emulations]] of the original tonewheel organs. The sound of a tonewheel Hammond can also be emulated using modern software such as [[Native Instruments]] B4.

 

===Electric bass===

 

The [[electric bass]] (or bass guitar) is a [[stringed instrument]] played primarily with the fingers or thumb, by plucking, [[Slapping (music)|slapping]], popping, strumming, tapping, thumping, or [[guitar pick|picking]] with a [[plectrum]], often known as a pick. The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an [[electric guitar]], but with a longer [[neck (music)|neck]] and [[scale (string instruments)|scale]] length, and four to six [[string (music)|strings]] or [[Course (music)|courses]]. The four-string bass, by far the most common, is usually tuned the same as the [[double bass]],<ref>Bass guitar/Double Bass tuning E1=41.20&nbsp;Hz, A1=55&nbsp;Hz, D2=73.42&nbsp;Hz, G2=98&nbsp;Hz + optional low B0=30.87&nbsp;Hz</ref> which corresponds to pitches one [[octave]] lower than the four lowest pitched strings of a guitar (E, A, D, and G).<ref>Standard guitar tuning E2=82.41&nbsp;Hz, A2=110&nbsp;Hz, D3=146.8&nbsp;Hz, G3=196&nbsp;Hz, B3=246.9&nbsp;Hz, E4=329.6&nbsp;Hz</ref> The bass guitar is a [[transposing instrument]], as it is notated in [[Clef#Bass clef|bass clef]] an octave higher than it sounds (as is the double bass) to avoid excessive [[ledger line]]s. Like the electric guitar, the bass guitar is plugged into an [[Bass instrument amplification|amplifier and speaker]] for live performances.

 

 

==Electric sound recording and reproduction==

Electric sound recording and reproduction are electrical or mechanical techniques and devices for the inscription and re-creation of [[sound]] waves, such as spoken voice, singing, [[instrumental music]], or sound effects. Acoustic analog recording is achieved by a small [[microphone]] diaphragm that can detect changes in atmospheric pressure ([[acoustics|acoustic]] sound waves) and record them as a graphic representation of the sound waves on a medium such as a [[phonograph]] (in which a stylus senses grooves on a record). In [[magnetic tape]] recording, the sound waves vibrate the microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying [[electric current]], which is then converted to a varying [[magnetic field]] by an [[electromagnet]], which makes a representation of the sound as magnetized areas on a plastic tape with a magnetic coating on it. Analog sound reproduction is the reverse process, with a bigger [[loudspeaker]] diaphragm causing changes to atmospheric pressure to form acoustic sound waves. Electrically generated signals may also be recorded directly from devices such as an [[Pick up (music technology)|electric guitar pickup]], without the use of acoustic sounds or amplifiers in the recording process (other than the need for musicians to hear herself playing during [[recording session]]).

 

|description= This 1860 [[phonautogram]] by [[Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville]] is the earliest known recording of a person singing.}}

 

 

===Phonograph===

[[File:Alexander Graham Bell's Voice.ogg|thumb|Recording of Bell's voice on a wax disc in 1885, identified in 2013 [[Volta Laboratory and Bureau#Bell.27s voice|[more details]]] ]]

[[File:Emile Berliner with phonograph.jpg|thumb|Emile Berliner with disc record gramophone]]

 

 

===Electrical recording===

 

 

Sound recording began as a purely mechanical process. Except for a few crude telephone-based recording devices with no means of amplification, such as the [[Valdemar Poulsen|Telegraphone]],<ref>The earliest known surviving electrical recording was made on a [[Telegraphone]] magnetic recorder at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. It includes brief comments by Emperor Franz Joseph and the audio quality, ignoring dropouts and some noise of later origin, is that of a contemporary telephone.</ref> it remained so until the 1920s, when several recent radio-related developments in [[electronics]] converged to revolutionize the recording process. These included improved microphones and auxiliary devices such as electronic filters, all dependent on electronic [[Amplifier|amplification]] to be of practical use in recording. In 1906, [[Lee De Forest]] invented the ''Audion'' [[triode]] vacuum tube, an electronic valve that could amplify weak electrical signals. By 1915, it was in use in long-distance telephone circuits that made conversations between New York and San Francisco practical. Refined versions of this tube were the basis of all electronic sound systems until the commercial introduction of the first [[transistor]]-based audio devices in the 1950s.

 

===Magnetic tape===

 

[[File:Magnetic-tape-acetate-vs-polyester-backing.jpg|thumb|Magnetic audio tapes: acetate base (left) and polyester base (right)]]

 

 

Magnetic tape brought about sweeping changes in both radio and the recording industry. Sound could be recorded, erased and re-recorded on the same tape many times, sounds could be duplicated from tape to tape with only minor loss of quality, and recordings could now be very precisely edited by physically cutting the tape and rejoining it. Within a few years of the introduction of the first commercial tape recorder—the [[Ampex 200]] model, launched in 1948—American musician-inventor [[Les Paul]] had invented the first [[multitrack tape recorder]], ushering in another technical revolution in the recording industry. Tape made possible the first sound recordings totally created by electronic means, opening the way for the bold sonic experiments of the [[Musique Concrète]] school and avant garde composers like [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]], which in turn led to the innovative pop music recordings of artists such as [[Frank Zappa]], [[The Beatles]] and [[The Beach Boys]].

Magnetic tape enabled the development of the first practical commercial sound systems that could record and reproduce high-fidelity [[stereophonic sound]]. The experiments with stereo during the 1930s and 1940s were hampered by problems with synchronization. A major breakthrough in practical stereo sound was made by [[Bell Laboratories]], who in 1937 demonstrated a practical system of two-channel stereo, using dual optical sound tracks on film. Major movie studios quickly developed three-track and four-track sound systems, and the first stereo sound recording for a commercial film was made by [[Judy Garland]] for the [[MGM]] movie ''[[Listen, Darling]]'' in 1938.

 

 

 

Magnetic tape transformed the recording industry. By the early 1950s, most commercial recordings were mastered on tape instead of recorded directly to disc. Tape facilitated a degree of manipulation in the recording process that was impractical with mixes and multiple generations of directly recorded discs. An early example is [[Les Paul]]'s 1951 recording of ''[[How High the Moon]]'', on which Paul played eight overdubbed guitar tracks. In the 1960s [[Brian Wilson]] of [[The Beach Boys]], [[Frank Zappa]], and [[The Beatles]] (with producer [[George Martin]]) were among the first popular artists to explore the possibilities of [[multitrack recording]] techniques and effects on their landmark albums ''[[Pet Sounds]]'', ''[[Freak Out!]]'', and ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''.

*1927 : Pierre Toulon and Krugg Bass invent the Cellulophone

*1928 : René Bertrand invents the Dynaphone

*1929 : [[Nikolay Obukhov]] commissioned Michel Billaudot and Pierre Duvalie to design the Sonorous Cross

*1929 : Peter Lertes and Bruno Helberger developed the Hellertion

*1934 : [[Laurens Hammond]] created the first [[Hammond Organ]]

*1935 : [[Paul Tutmarc]] invents the [[electric bass]] (but the instrument does not attract buyers until [[Leo Fender]] developed the [[Precision Bass]] in the 1950s

 

==References==

{{Reflist}}

 

[[Category:Music technology]]