Technology and the performance of music (c)

     In recent years, technology has become an important and essential component for performing music. Whereas before, performers would have to rely on using just their instruments and amplification devices for performance, now there are many other things they can use to enhance their performance, whether it be pedals for instruments, different amplification types, or synthetic pads and electric drum kits.

     One example of an artist that uses this technology would be She Makes War. She's a solo performer, who uses a range of pedals and effects while performing to recreate her songs live. 

(the range of pedals that Laura Kidd, aka She Makes War, uses while performing live. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p01kqjw4)

     Her songs involve a selection of different instruments, for example electric guitar, ukelele and small drums. She uses a loop pedal to record these instruments separately when performing live, which gives the effect of having a band playing. She also uses the loop pedal to record backing vocals and harmonies to her live performance, which makes it sound like you're listening to a recorded song, instead of a live one. This is brilliant, I think, as without this software she wouldn't be able to recreate her songs live without a full band. 

    

     There are a wide range of different guitar pedals available, too, for guitarists who use a lot of different tones when performing live. Using pedals means that you can change the effects and tones on guitars much faster, and while you're playing (as you don't need to use your hands to press them). This means that many musicians now have more freedom to create their music, as they don't have to worry about how they can recreate their sound live. 

     One guitarist who uses pedals live is Andrew Groves (Arcane Roots). This is his set up below.

         (http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/article/5412-arcane-roots-tour-with-boss-pedals.html)

     The first pedal (on the far left) is the Boss Tera Echo pedal. This pedal is used for creating more ambient effects on the guitar, by using the echo and ambient settings and allowing the user to toggle between them. This is useful, as many of Groves' guitar lines in his songs require a more ambient guitar tone, which wouldn't be attainable easily without this pedal. 

    

     The second pedal (second from the left) is the Boss Super Octave pedal. This pedal is used to achieve polyphonic effects on the guitar or bass, or for distortion. Again, he uses this effect a lot in his songs, so using this pedal means that he can achieve this effect easily in a live environment, which is far easier than having to use a backing track. 

     The third pedal (second from the right) is the Boss Adaptive Distortion pedal. He uses this pedal to achieve accurate distortion tones, and this pedal is specialised to give minimum noise when playing high up on the neck. As a guitarist, Groves often plays much higher guitar lines, so a pedal like this is better for a player like him. This type of technology makes his tone sound clearer of unwanted noise, which he wouldn't be able to achieve as effectively without this pedal. 

     The fourth pedal (on the far right) is simply a chromatic tuner, which makes it easier and faster for guitarists to tune up when on stage. This means that switching between tunings can be done very quickly, so that more time can be spent playing music instead of waiting around for the guitarist to tune up. 

     Without the technology these pedals offer, Groves wouldn't be able to play his music as close to the recorded versions of his songs as he does.

     Technology has now also been developed that means that guitarists and bassists can now plug straight into a PA system for amplification. This means that they don't have to carry their own amplifiers to performances, which can be expensive and heavy to transport. This also makes setting up generally simpler and easier, and has become the main mode of amplification for many touring artists in recent years. 

     Recently, electronic drum kits have also been developed. These drum kits usually come with a control pad, which means that the volume and other factors of the drum kit can be altered. This may be a more ideal option for a home drum kit, as it's easier to keep it quiet (for the neighbours), but still be able to practise effectively. They are also generally more portable than regular drum kits, which is much better for touring musicians as, like amplifiers, drum kits are large and can be expensive or awkward to transport. 

   

((example of an electric drum kit by Pearl, which has been made to look like a normal drum kit. http://pearldrum.com/products/kits/electronic-drumsets/epro-live/))

     For artists and DJs that use a lot of samples and don't perform live with instruments, technology has been essential in their live performances. Dance artists can now turn up to venues with just their laptop and a mixing deck, and can be ready to perform. This means that it's much simpler for them to transport their things to venues, but also that it can be very detrimental if their equipment sudden stops working or is stolen

(artist Skrillex, with his equipment while performing http://stoneyroads.com/what-equipment-the-top-producers-use-to-deliver-their-music-live/)

Technology and the way in which we consume and listen to music (c)

     Since the late nineteenth century, music has become something that people have been able to listen to inside the home. In 1870, Thomas Edison invented the first sound recorder, which he called the 'phonograph'. It was originally designed for people to speak into, but people soon realised that it was much more efficient for recording music.

(original copy of the first photograph, http://www.tinfoil.com/tinfoil.htm)

     The metal cylinder in the middle of the device was the section that held the sound. This could generally only hold around four minutes of music, and was very, very brittle and very expensive. This meant that only really very rich people could afford to use them, so something else had to be invented to make music more accessible for people to listen to in their homes.

     This 'something' came around in 1887, when Emile Berliner invented the gramophone. The first gramophones played 7inch disks with lateral cut grooves, and became commercially successful in the 1890's. They had a hand mechanism, which mean that someone would have to wind the gramophone as the music played to keep it going. This meant that the music would only be played as fast as the person wound the gramophone, which meant that the quality would often leave more to be desired. Because of this, many people still preferred to use the phonograph, as it played at a more constant velocity.

           

(gramophone with a hand mechanism. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gramophone-Record-Player-78-vinyl-Phonograph-square-/321099682881)

     However, a motor was added in 1896, which meant that people would no longer have to wind the gramophone up themselves. This improved the quality of the music, as it could now be played at a more consistent speed, and so it beat the phonograph and became the music player of choice. 

     

     Up until around 1960, there were very few developments in how people consumed music. These developments included things like records having increased playback quality, a longer duration of play, a more constant play speed (thanks to the motor), slower play seeds and larger disks that could contain more music. 

     

     In the 1960's, however, more portable methods of listening to music were invented. There were two new main formats; cartridges and cassettes. This led to a brief battle between the two, as both had their merits. Cartridges could allow 4 channel stereo sound, which is similar to the more modern surround sound, and these were less perishable than cassettes. 

(examples of cartridges.http://www.recording-history.org/HTML/8track6.php)

     Cassettes won this brief battle though, due to their ability to do more. The use of cassette tapes became the first way that people in the home could record themselves. They could record sounds onto the tapes, which could then be played on cassette players. Mini cassettes were introduced for use in dictaphones and answering machines. 

(cassette tapes.http://scraphacker.com/mix-tapes-revisited/)

     CD's were introduced in 1982, and by 1985, CD sales had overtaken vinyl records, and became the domestic music format of choice. However, early problems with skipping due to vibrations meant that portable cassettes were still the preferred portable format of the time. The first CD player was made by the now famous company Sony. The main advantages of these CD players were that the CDs had improved quality and durability to other formats. Digital audio then became the norm, with minidiscs introduced for personal recordings, with the added feature of being able to edit them. 

(example of a minidisc next to a CD. http://seekknowledgeeveninchina.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/corporations-philips/)

     MP3 was developed in 1991. The improvement of home computing technology allowed for ripping and burning MP3s to CDs. This is where pirating music first began, although it wasn't prevalent enough then to seriously affect the music industry. 

     Portable audio really lifted of in the noughties though, with the Ipod being released by Apple in 2001. These Ipods had a 5GB HDD, holding around 1000 songs, which was incredible at the time. Since then, Apple has led the surge of portable music players and music sold to be played on them via their Itunes website. In 2011, Itunes reached 15 billion song sales since it began. It has a catalogue of over 28 million tracks, and 300 million sales in October 2011 alone. 

     32% of the worldwide trade revenues in 2011 were for digital sales, which is a huge, huge amount compared to previous years. It's truly incredible how just a few years can make a difference to the music industry, but these figures really show how much all of this has moved online in recent years. 

Technology and the creation of music (c)

     As technology has progressed throughout the years, more and more ways have been developed for dealing with the creation of music. As most things, this has both a positive and negative impact on the industry as a whole, depending on who is asked. Either way, it has been an essential part of the creation process for millions of musicians over the past thirty years, successful or otherwise.

     The main and largest development in technology that has come to affect the creation of music is the invention of recording-based software packages. In the last ten years, we've seen computers and laptops develop significantly, and so their capacities are now much greater. With just one laptop/computer and one of these software packages, an artist could write, record, edit, mix and master a whole album and release it from their home.

An example of this would be the artist Daniel Bedingfield. In 2001, his single 'Gotta Get Thru This' reached number 1 in the UK charts, followed by his album reaching number 2 in 2002. The whole album was recorded at his own home, using recording software on his laptop. He made it all for next to no money at all, mainly using a synthesiser that his family bought him. He later went on to sign with a huge label, and has since had other songs in the charts.

     This is fantastic for smaller, more independent musicians, as it means that they don't have to pay thousands of pounds to record their music in a recording studio with a producer. If someone has the skills required to use it properly, the can produce their whole album themselves, which works out much cheaper generally as it only requires a computer program. Although these programs can be quite expensive, the cost is generally lower than the cost of recording in a studio. Some, such as 'Logic Pro X' (https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/), will only cost the user around $200, whereas others can cost a lot more, such as Pro Tools (http://shop.avid.com/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=9900-65220-00) which can cost up to $700.

     This does mean, however, that many recording studios, especially smaller, more local ones, would suffer great loses. For a long time, recording bands and mixing and mastering music for them was the main source of income for a lot of smaller studios. Since the beginning of the 21st century, people started to get a hold of these computer programs, and so less and less people are willing to pay hundreds of pounds to go to a studio and record their music.

     This means that many of them have had to resort to other means of making money. Take 'The Mushrooms' recording and rehearsal facilities in Birmingham, for example. They have become aware of the sudden decline in people using facilities like theirs to record, so now they offer the chance for people to record songs with friends as part of a birthday party deal. They may make less than they would if they had bands and artists frequently coming in to record their music, but at least they put their studios to use, and make enough money to get by as a studio.