What’s also interesting is to think that, before sound recording, the only way you would ever hear music was by going to a concert or playing it yourself. I know it’s obvious, but as a music student I find it really fascinating. There’d be no repeated listening to your favourite pieces, and for big orchestral music, you could only hear pieces that your local orchestra decided to play, when they decided to play it. And when the gramophone disc became popular, it could only play for a few minutes at a time, so you’d have this big intrusive break in the middle of most of your pieces where you had to get up and change disc. For classical music at least, the performers would often speed up or slow down the piece so that they could reach a natural pause at the end of the disc.
And also a very good way of passing the time. And, of course, if you were a middle-class or higher woman, you needed to be able to play piano or sing (but not anything that might ‘distort the face or body’ – true story) to add to your list of accomplishments and bag yourself a rich important husband. Of course, you couldn’t TELL anyone you were awesome at the piano, because that would be unattractively immodest.
Alas, poor cassette. There are people, many people I know of, who collect vinyls, but I’ve never heard of anyone who collects cassettes. They’re forgotten.
Um. The most overwhelming music event for last few decades was visiting in Queens author of books devoted to Chalyapin. He let me to listen not even vinyl, but one sided preelectric victrola record of Chalyapin on a grammofon with non electrical but sprung power.
It was equal to presence oof the singer in the room. Life voice, goosebumps of physical sound.
The next step- electical… 78…33…every step of historical logic did cut the wonderful vibrations – poor cassettes sound and finally – damn CD which officially are cutting the overtones from both sides of scale (low and high).
Finally what: I wonder when we are back to heavy fragile shellock (are spell it I am on cell phone- dictionary has no wpords)-to enjoy high art. Though the degradation of singing went parallel way… I wonder if really all human fields are degradation: food; fabrics;Handwriting!!! Reading etc etc etc
What’s also interesting is to think that, before sound recording, the only way you would ever hear music was by going to a concert or playing it yourself. I know it’s obvious, but as a music student I find it really fascinating. There’d be no repeated listening to your favourite pieces, and for big orchestral music, you could only hear pieces that your local orchestra decided to play, when they decided to play it. And when the gramophone disc became popular, it could only play for a few minutes at a time, so you’d have this big intrusive break in the middle of most of your pieces where you had to get up and change disc. For classical music at least, the performers would often speed up or slow down the piece so that they could reach a natural pause at the end of the disc.
*musicologist geek-out, sorry*
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This is why so many middle-class people learned to play music, I guess. It was their only opportunity to listen to it.
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And also a very good way of passing the time. And, of course, if you were a middle-class or higher woman, you needed to be able to play piano or sing (but not anything that might ‘distort the face or body’ – true story) to add to your list of accomplishments and bag yourself a rich important husband. Of course, you couldn’t TELL anyone you were awesome at the piano, because that would be unattractively immodest.
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Alas, poor cassette. There are people, many people I know of, who collect vinyls, but I’ve never heard of anyone who collects cassettes. They’re forgotten.
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This pie chart is arguably the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen.
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Um. The most overwhelming music event for last few decades was visiting in Queens author of books devoted to Chalyapin. He let me to listen not even vinyl, but one sided preelectric victrola record of Chalyapin on a grammofon with non electrical but sprung power.
It was equal to presence oof the singer in the room. Life voice, goosebumps of physical sound.
The next step- electical… 78…33…every step of historical logic did cut the wonderful vibrations – poor cassettes sound and finally – damn CD which officially are cutting the overtones from both sides of scale (low and high).
Finally what: I wonder when we are back to heavy fragile shellock (are spell it I am on cell phone- dictionary has no wpords)-to enjoy high art. Though the degradation of singing went parallel way… I wonder if really all human fields are degradation: food; fabrics;Handwriting!!! Reading etc etc etc
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