Perfecting Sound Forever

Perfecting Sound Forever PDF Author: Greg Milner
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429957158
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 566

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Book Description
In 1915, Thomas Edison proclaimed that he could record a live performance and reproduce it perfectly, shocking audiences who found themselves unable to tell whether what they were hearing was an Edison Diamond Disc or a flesh-and-blood musician. Today, the equation is reversed. Whereas Edison proposed that a real performance could be rebuilt with absolute perfection, Pro Tools and digital samplers now allow musicians and engineers to create the illusion of performances that never were. In between lies a century of sonic exploration into the balance between the real and the represented. Tracing the contours of this history, Greg Milner takes us through the major breakthroughs and glorious failures in the art and science of recording. An American soldier monitoring Nazi radio transmissions stumbles onto the open yet revolutionary secret of magnetic tape. Japanese and Dutch researchers build a first-generation digital audio format and watch as their "compact disc" is marketed by the music industry as the second coming of Edison yet derided as heretical by analog loyalists. The music world becomes addicted to volume in the nineties and fights a self-defeating "loudness war" to get its fix. From Les Paul to Phil Spector to King Tubby, from vinyl to pirated CDs to iPods, Milner's Perfecting Sound Forever pulls apart musical history to answer a crucial question: Should a recording document reality as faithfully as possible, or should it improve upon or somehow transcend the music it records? The answers he uncovers will change the very way we think about music.

Perfecting Sound Forever

Perfecting Sound Forever PDF Author: Greg Milner
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429957158
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 566

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1915, Thomas Edison proclaimed that he could record a live performance and reproduce it perfectly, shocking audiences who found themselves unable to tell whether what they were hearing was an Edison Diamond Disc or a flesh-and-blood musician. Today, the equation is reversed. Whereas Edison proposed that a real performance could be rebuilt with absolute perfection, Pro Tools and digital samplers now allow musicians and engineers to create the illusion of performances that never were. In between lies a century of sonic exploration into the balance between the real and the represented. Tracing the contours of this history, Greg Milner takes us through the major breakthroughs and glorious failures in the art and science of recording. An American soldier monitoring Nazi radio transmissions stumbles onto the open yet revolutionary secret of magnetic tape. Japanese and Dutch researchers build a first-generation digital audio format and watch as their "compact disc" is marketed by the music industry as the second coming of Edison yet derided as heretical by analog loyalists. The music world becomes addicted to volume in the nineties and fights a self-defeating "loudness war" to get its fix. From Les Paul to Phil Spector to King Tubby, from vinyl to pirated CDs to iPods, Milner's Perfecting Sound Forever pulls apart musical history to answer a crucial question: Should a recording document reality as faithfully as possible, or should it improve upon or somehow transcend the music it records? The answers he uncovers will change the very way we think about music.

Do Not Sell At Any Price

Do Not Sell At Any Price PDF Author: Amanda Petrusich
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451667078
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
“A thoughtful, entertaining history of obsessed music collectors and their quest for rare early 78 rpm records” (Los Angeles Times), Do Not Sell at Any Price is a fascinating, complex story of preservation, loss, obsession, and art. Before MP3s, CDs, and cassette tapes, even before LPs or 45s, the world listened to music on fragile, 10-inch shellac discs that spun at 78 revolutions per minute. While vinyl has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years, rare and noteworthy 78rpm records are exponentially harder to come by. The most sought-after sides now command tens of thousands of dollars, when they’re found at all. Do Not Sell at Any Price is the untold story of a fixated coterie of record collectors working to ensure those songs aren’t lost forever. Music critic and author Amanda Petrusich considers the particular world of the 78—from its heyday to its near extinction—and examines how a cabal of competitive, quirky individuals have been frantically lining their shelves with some of the rarest records in the world. Besides the mania of collecting, Petrusich also explores the history of the lost backwoods blues artists from the 1920s and 30s whose work has barely survived and introduces the oddball fraternity of men—including Joe Bussard, Chris King, John Tefteller, and others—who are helping to save and digitize the blues, country, jazz, and gospel records that ultimately gave seed to the rock, pop, and hip-hop we hear today. From Thomas Edison to Jack White, Do Not Sell at Any Price is an untold, intriguing story of the evolution of the recording formats that have changed the ways we listen to (and create) music. “Whether you’re already a 78 aficionado, a casual record collector, a crate-digger, or just someone…who enjoys listening to music, you’re going to love this book” (Slate).

To Feel the Music

To Feel the Music PDF Author: Neil Young
Publisher: BenBella Books
ISBN: 1948836637
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
Neil Young took on the music industry so that fans could hear his music—all music—the way it was meant to be heard. Today, most of the music we hear is com-pressed to a fraction of its original sound,while analog masterpieces are turning to dustin record company vaults. As these record-ings disappear, music fans aren't just losing acollection of notes. We're losing spaciousness,breadth of the sound field, and the ability tohear and feel a ping of a triangle or a pluckof a guitar string, each with its own reso-nance and harmonics that slowly trail off intosilence. The result is music that is robbed of its original quality—muddy and flat in sound compared to the rich, warm sound artists hear in the studio. It doesn't have to be this way, but the record and technology companies have incorrectly assumed that most listeners are satisfied with these low-quality tracks. Neil Young is challenging the assault on audio quality—and working to free music lovers from the flat and lifeless status quo. To Feel the Music is the true story of his questto bring high-quality audio back to musiclovers—the most important undertaking ofhis career. It's an unprecedented look insidethe successes and setbacks of creating thePono player, the fights and negotiationswith record companies to preserve master-pieces for the future, and Neil's unrelentingdetermination to make musical art availableto everyone. It's a story that shows how muchmore there is to music than meets the ear. Neil's efforts to bring quality audio to his fans garnered media attention when his Kickstarter campaign for his Pono player—a revolutionary music player that would combine the highest quality possible with the portability, simplicity and affordability modern listeners crave—became the third-most successful Kickstarter campaign in the website's history. It had raised more than $6M in pledges in 40 days. Encouraged by the enthusiastic response, Neil still had a long road ahead, and his Pono music player would not have the commercial success he'd imagined. But he remained committed to his mission, and faced with the rise of streaming services that used even lower quality audio, he was determined to rise to the challenge. An eye-opening read for all fans of Neil Young and all fans of great music, as well as readers interesting in going behind the scenes of product creation, To Feel the Music has an inspiring story at its heart: One determined artist with a groundbreaking vision and the absolute refusal to give up, despite setbacks, naysayers, and skeptics.

Dust & Grooves

Dust & Grooves PDF Author: Eilon Paz
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
ISBN: 1607748703
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 577

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Book Description
A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.

The Revenge of Analog

The Revenge of Analog PDF Author: David Sax
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610395727
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
One of Michiko Kakutani's (New York Times) top ten books of 2016 A funny thing happened on the way to the digital utopia. We've begun to fall back in love with the very analog goods and ideas the tech gurus insisted that we no longer needed. Businesses that once looked outdated, from film photography to brick-and-mortar retail, are now springing with new life. Notebooks, records, and stationery have become cool again. Behold the Revenge of Analog. David Sax has uncovered story after story of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and even big corporations who've found a market selling not apps or virtual solutions but real, tangible things. As e-books are supposedly remaking reading, independent bookstores have sprouted up across the country. As music allegedly migrates to the cloud, vinyl record sales have grown more than ten times over the past decade. Even the offices of tech giants like Google and Facebook increasingly rely on pen and paper to drive their brightest ideas. Sax's work reveals a deep truth about how humans shop, interact, and even think. Blending psychology and observant wit with first-rate reportage, Sax shows the limited appeal of the purely digital life-and the robust future of the real world outside it.

Survey of Media

Survey of Media PDF Author: Stacey O. Irwin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040107710
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
An accessible and exciting new textbook that provides students with an in-depth historical and conceptual understanding of the nature and function of media in society. Stacey O. Irwin contextualizes media objects and experiences – including cinema, TV, phones, gaming, radio and podcasting, journalism, publishing, advertising, and more – into three descriptive sections: screens, sounds, and synergies. The text examines how technology is enfolded into the cultural process of contemporary media experience, exploring topics such as social media, augmented reality and other trends from the metaverse. It also reflects on the impact of legacy media and highlights instrumental moments in media history along the way. By examining media history from the perspective of future decision-making, this textbook explores how media technologies have a positive and negative sociocultural impact. This provides students with a more accessible entry point to the topic, and readers are left with a well-rounded understanding of media and the interplay between media, culture, technology, and society. Each chapter concludes with things to consider and additional takeaways to enhance student learning. This is an essential text for students taking classes such as Introduction to Mass Media, Survey of Media, Media History, Media and Society, and Media Culture.

The Audio Expert

The Audio Expert PDF Author: Ethan Winer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135184007X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 809

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Book Description
The Audio Expert is a comprehensive reference book covering all aspects of audio, with both practical and theoretical explanations. It is written for people who want to understand audio at the deepest, most technical level, but without needing an engineering degree. The Audio Expert explains how audio really works in much more depth than usual, using common sense plain-English explanations and mechanical analogies, with minimal math. It uses an easy to read conversational tone, and includes more than 400 figures and photos to augment the printed text. However, this book goes beyond merely explaining how audio works. It brings together the concepts of audio, aural perception, musical instrument physics, acoustics, and basic electronics, showing how they’re intimately related. It also describes in great detail many practices and techniques used by recording and mixing engineers, including video production and computers. This book is meant for intermediate to advanced recording engineers and audiophiles who want to become experts. There’s plenty for beginners too. One unique feature is explaining how audio devices such as equalizers, compressors, and A/D converters work internally, and how they’re spec’d and tested, rather than merely describing how to use them. There’s plenty of myth-busting and consumerism too. The book doesn’t tell readers what brand power amplifier to buy, but it explains in great detail what defines a good amplifier so people can choose a first-rate model wisely without over-paying. Most explanations throughout the book are platform-agnostic, applying equally to Windows and Mac computers, and to most software and hardware. Many audio and video examples are included to enhance the written text. The new edition offers many updates and improvements throughout. New sections on coding an equalizer, comparing microphone preamps, testing results of loudspeaker isolation devices, new online video content on music theory, plus incorporated chapters on MIDI basics, computers, video production, plus new myth-busters, and much more!

Billboard

Billboard PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.

The Music Business and Recording Industry

The Music Business and Recording Industry PDF Author: Geoffrey P Hull
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136911111
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
The Music Business and Recording Industry is a comprehensive music business textbook focused on the three income streams in the music industry: music publishing, live entertainment, and recordings. The book provides a sound foundation for understanding key issues, while presenting the latest research in the field. It covers the changes in the industry brought about by the digital age, such as changing methods of distributing and accessing music and new approaches in marketing with the Internet and mobile applications. New developments in copyright law are also examined, along with the global and regional differences in the music business.

The Routledge Handbook of Nostalgia

The Routledge Handbook of Nostalgia PDF Author: Tobias Becker
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040106919
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 802

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Book Description
The Routledge Handbook of Nostalgia serves as a guide to the complex and often contradictory concept of nostalgia, as well as the field of “nostalgia studies” more broadly. Nostalgia is an area of intense interest across several disciplines as well as within society and culture more generally. This handbook brings together an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers to survey the current landscape and identify common trends, achievements, and gaps in existing literature. Comprising 45 chapters, the volume covers the following topics: Disciplinary perspectives of nostalgias including philosophy, history, literature, and psychology. Conceptual aspects of nostalgia including homesickness, temporality, affectivity, and memory. Historical and political dimensions such as afro-nostalgia, populism, feminism, and queer nostalgia. Spatial and material aspects of nostalgia including ruins, regionalism, and objects. Media-related nostalgia such as analogue and digital nostalgia, reboots, revivals, gaming, and graphic novels. Essential reading for students and researchers working in nostalgia studies, this book will also be beneficial to related disciplines such as philosophy, anthropology, geography, history, and literature; cultural, media, heritage, museum, and film studies courses; and more generally for readers interested in how the past is represented and used in the present.