Perfecting Sound Forever

Perfecting Sound Forever

Author: Greg Milner

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2009-06-09

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 1429957158

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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.


Sound Recording

Sound Recording

Author: David Morton

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2006-03-10

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780801883989

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How did one of the great inventions of the nineteenth century—Thomas Edison's phonograph—eventually lead to one of the most culturally and economically significant technologies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? Sound Recording traces the history of the business boom and the cultural revolution that Edison's invention made possible. Recorded sound has pervaded nearly every facet of modern life—not just popular music, but also mundane office dictation machines, radio and television programs, and even telephone answering machines. Just as styles of music have evolved, so too have the formats through which sound has been captured—from 78s to LPs, LPs to cassette tapes, tapes to CDs, and on to electronic formats. The quest for better sound has certainly driven technological change, but according to David L. Morton, so have business strategies, patent battles, and a host of other factors.


America on Record

America on Record

Author: Andre Millard

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-12-05

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 9780521835152

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This study provides a history of sound recording from the acoustic phonograph to digital sound technology. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.


Record Cultures

Record Cultures

Author: Kyle Barnett

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 0472131036

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"The 1920s was a crucial decade for the recording industry. Large record companies existed, but across the nation there were dozens of small, independently owned and regionally-oriented labels like Black Swan, Champion, Paramount, Gennett, Starr, Okeh, and others which catered to specific genres and audiences that were at the time outside the commercial mainstream: jazz, "race records," "old time" or "hillbilly" music, local religious music traditions, and exotica from abroad that the metropolitan record companies did not-yet-see as profitable. Kyle Barnett's book seeks to tell the story of the first big wave of consolidation of the record industry, when larger labels began to take an interest in what the smaller labels were doing, the growing pains that resulted in mainstream companies having to adapt their culture to promoting artists from the margins-poor or working class "hillbillies," African-Americans-and how the coming of the Depression threatened to turn back the clock of the industry's growth. In hindsight, the evolution of the recording industry toward consolidation looks inevitable, but there is no good, synthetic history of this crucial period that gives due credit to the development of the industry, both commercially and culturally"--


Dan Alexander Audio

Dan Alexander Audio

Author: Dan Alexander

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2021-01-21

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 1538142023

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Dan Alexander Audio reveals the origins and history of vintage recording gear, told by the man who coined the term. It discusses the products of 22 manufacturers, illustrated with over 450 never-before-published photographs in full-color and reprints of original manufacturers’ sales brochures from the author’s collection. This book features: A list of over 7,500 pieces of vintage gear Dan Alexander sold from 1979 until 2000, including prices, serial numbers, and buyer A complete list of microphone types distributed by Telefunken from 1928 until 1980, including technical information on mics by Neumann, Akg, Schoeps, Rft, and Geffel A complete list of Trident A and B range console 40 pages on Neve modules and consoles Helios product information and photographs information sourced from Dick Swettenhams' personal sales binder.


Alan Parsons' Art & Science of Sound Recording

Alan Parsons' Art & Science of Sound Recording

Author: Julian Colbeck

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 2014-09-01

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 1480397237

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(Technical Reference). More than simply the book of the award-winning DVD set, Art & Science of Sound Recording, the Book takes legendary engineer, producer, and artist Alan Parsons' approaches to sound recording to the next level. In book form, Parsons has the space to include more technical background information, more detailed diagrams, plus a complete set of course notes on each of the 24 topics, from "The Brief History of Recording" to the now-classic "Dealing with Disasters." Written with the DVD's coproducer, musician, and author Julian Colbeck, ASSR, the Book offers readers a classic "big picture" view of modern recording technology in conjunction with an almost encyclopedic list of specific techniques, processes, and equipment. For all its heft and authority authored by a man trained at London's famed Abbey Road studios in the 1970s ASSR, the Book is also written in plain English and is packed with priceless anecdotes from Alan Parsons' own career working with the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and countless others. Not just informative, but also highly entertaining and inspirational, ASSR, the Book is the perfect platform on which to build expertise in the art and science of sound recording.


Magnetic Recording

Magnetic Recording

Author: Eric D. Daniel

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 1998-08-31

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780780347090

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"The first magnetic recording device was demonstrated and patentedby the Danish inventor Valdemar Poulsen in 1898. Poulsen made amagnetic recording of his voice on a length of piano wire. MAGNETICRECORDING traces the development of the watershed products and thetechnical breakthroughs in magnetic recording that took placeduring the century from Paulsen's experiment to today's ubiquitousaudio, video, and data recording technologies including taperecorders, video cassette recorders, and computer harddrives. An international author team brings a unique perspective, drawnfrom professional experience, to the history of magnetic recordingapplications. Their key insights shed light on how magneticrecording triumphed over all competing technologies andrevolutionized the music, radio, television and computerindustries. They also show how these developments offeropportunities for applications in the future. MAGNETIC RECORDING features 116 illustrations, including 92photographs of historic magnetic recording machines and theirinventors." Sponsored by: IEEE Magnetics Society


TASCAM

TASCAM

Author: Randy Alberts

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9780634011566

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(Book). TASCAM: 30 Years of Recording Evolution is an informative, archival book devoted to the company's groundbreaking product line and the people who created it. Recalling the company's perennial leadership role in the music and pro audio industries ("firsts" include the 1/2-inch 8-track recorder, the Portastudio and the digital DA-88) with a glimpse towards the future, this book warmly portrays key past and present employees by re-visiting the landmark products they've built together since 1974. Quotes from respected musicians and producers who have trusted TASCAM gear for seminal recordings including Bo Diddley, Jim Keltner and Alan Parsons are sprinkled throughout this timeline-based book. Learn how TASCAM products changed the way musicians captured their ideas and empowered a new generation of songwriters and engineers. "Wow! The first classic piece of TASCAM gear I had was the first 4-track Portastudio. That thing allowed me to put so many classic P-Funk song ideas down that I can't even count 'em." Bootsy Collins, Bassist/Songwriter


Hi-Fi

Hi-Fi

Author: Gideon Schwartz

Publisher: Phaidon Press

Published: 2019-10-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780714878089

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A beyond-cool look at the world of high-end audio design for passionate collectors, obsessive audiophiles, and design fans At a time when sales of vinyl records have hit a 25-year high, and analog technologies are providing the kind of extraordinary audio experiences that our increasingly digital world has started to remove, Hi-Fi is essential reading. This unique book explores just how, when, and why the world fell in love with the look, feel, and sound of top-of-the-line audio equipment. Hi-Fi traces this fascinating evolution from the 1950s to today (and tomorrow), taking readers right up to the current renaissance of all things analog and the emergence of cutting-edge designs for die-hard audiophiles.