REPRODUCED FROM THEOCCASIONAL
PeterQ vortrup FounderofAudio Note(UK) ByRafeArnot
Since the dawn oftim e m usichasplayed an im portantpartin hum an life,whetherat the top orbotom ofsociety,people have participated,and listened to m usic in its m anyform sasithasdeveloped through countles generationsto the presentday.
So here we are, just over 120 years after the invention of sound recording, and how m uch furtherhave we realygot? W henlooking backoverthepastcenturyofaudio developm ents it is interesting to note that im provem ents in technique have nothappened sim ultaneously in al branches ofthe ‘tree’that m akes up the m usic reproduction chain,as we know ittoday.Ratherit‘jum ps’where one part hassuddenlym oved forward,onlyto leave other parts of the chain badly exposed. I could m ention severalexam ples ofthis,butsufice to saythata veryclearexam ple waswhen we went from 78rpm records to 33rpm m icrogroove LPs. The replayhardware lefta lotto be desired,and eventualy this inadequacy led to a severe reduction in the qualityofthe software.
Instrum ents have developed to alow increasingly com plex,and expres ive m usicform suntilthe peak wasreached som etim e in the laterpartofthe 19th century, coinciding with Thom as Alva Edison’s invention of recorded sound. Before suc es fuly inventing recorded sound,Edison m usthave arived at a fundam ental realization that sound can be entirely characterized in two dim ensions. His first cylindricalrecording wasnothing m ore than a rough approxim ation ofthe changesin am plitude pres ure (caused by the m odulation of his voice), ploted against a constant tim e base (generated by the steady turning ofa crank). Crude as his technique may have been, sound was recorded, and recognizablyproduced forthe firsttim e in history. The lim iting factor in Edison’s first experience was nothisidea,buthishardware;furtherim provem ents could onlycom e from refinem entsin technique.
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