Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century / Edition 1

by Hans-Joachim Braun

Overview

Technology has always been inseparable from the development of music. But in the twentieth century a rapid acceleration took place: a new "machine music" came into existence, electronic musical instruments appeared, and composers sometimes seemed more like sound technicians than musicians. In this book Hans-Joachim Braun and his co-authors offer a wide-ranging and fascinating look at the relationship of technology and modern music. Topics range from the role of Yamaha in Japan's musical development to the social construction of the synthesizer; from the player piano as precursor of computer music to the musical role of airplanes and locomotives; from the growth of one independent recording studio (from "Polka to Punk") to the origins of the 45–RPM record. Other chapters consider violin vibrato and the phonograph, Jimi Hendrix, and the aesthetic challenge of soundsampling. The book concludes with a look at the current situation, and perspectives for its future in electronic music.

Contributors: Barbara Barthelmes, Karin Bijsterveld, Hans-Joachim Braun, Martha Brech, Hugh Davies, Bernd Enders, Geoffrey Hindley, Jüergen Hocker, Mark Katz, Tatsuya Kobayashi, James P. Kraft, Alexander B. Magoun, Rebecca McSwain, Andre Millard, Helga de la Motte-Haber, Trevor Pinch, Susan Schmidt-Horning, and Frank Trocco.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801868856
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	09/16/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.88(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.86(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Hans-Joachim Braun is a professor of modern social, economic, and technological history at the Universität der Bundeswehr in Hamburg, Germany.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Keyboards, Crankshafts and Communication
2. Electronic Instruments
3. It all Began with a Broken Organ
4. The Social Contruction of the Early
5. My Soul is in the Machine
6. Music and the City
7. Monin On
8. A Servile Imitation
9. From Polka to Punk
10. The Orgins of the 45 rpm Record at RCA Victor
11. Tape Recording and Music Making
12. Musicians and the Sound Revolution
13. Aesthetics out of Exigency
14. The Social Reconstruction of a Reverse Salient in Electrical Guitar Technology
15. Sound Sampling
16. New Technology
17. Musical Education and the New Media

Editorial Reviews

A surprisingly good read, with a depth and coherence . . . Pays attention to both sound production and sound recording, as well as economic and social factors that have shaped the 20th century music industry . . . This is a very strong collection written by leading researchers in the field.
—Mark Clark, ICON, The Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology

An eclectic exploration of the relationship between electronics and music . . . The book covers fascinating and unusual ground, invoking artists as diverse as Orpheus and Guitar Slim to Fritz Kreisler, Conlon Nancarrow, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
—Electronic Musician

This much-needed collection of critical essays addresses sound art from many new and interesting perspectives . . . Braun did a nice job of bringing together these 17 very strong and personal voices, which in the end make for good, thought-provoking reading.
—Chris Cobb, Leonardo Reviews

From the Publisher

This much-needed collection of critical essays addresses sound art from many new and interesting perspectives . . . Braun did a nice job of bringing together these 17 very strong and personal voices, which in the end make for good, thought-provoking reading.

Leonardo Reviews - Chris Cobb

An eclectic exploration of the relationship between electronics and music . . . The book covers fascinating and unusual ground, invoking artists as diverse as Orpheus and Guitar Slim to Fritz Kreisler, Conlon Nancarrow, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Electronic Musician

A surprisingly good read, with a depth and coherence . . . Pays attention to both sound production and sound recording, as well as economic and social factors that have shaped the 20th century music industry . . . This is a very strong collection written by leading researchers in the field.

ICON, The Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology - Mark Clark

This much-needed collection of critical essays addresses sound art from many new and interesting perspectives... Braun did a nice job of bringing together these 17 very strong and personal voices, which in the end make for good, thought-provoking reading.

— Chris Cobb

Leonardo Reviews

A surprisingly good read, with a depth and coherence . . . Pays attention to both sound production and sound recording, as well as economic and social factors that have shaped the 20th century music industry . . . This is a very strong collection written by leading researchers in the field.
—Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology

Mark Clark

Braun (Universit<:a>t der Bundeswehr) presents 13 contributions by scholars in two fields of history<-->musicology and technology. Topics include the role of Yamaha in Japan's musical development, the social construction of the synthesizer, the player piano as a precursor of computer music, the musical role of airplanes and locomotives, the origins of the 45-RPM record, violin vibrato and the phonograph, Jimi Hendrix, the aesthetic challenge of sound sampling, and others. Originally published in 2000 as . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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