Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded MusicIn 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. |
From inside the book
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... vinyl record, we live in the galactic ripples. Our prehistory is frozen sound. Or maybe a compact disc is a better model for who we are. Unlike a phonograph's stylus, which moves from the disc's edge to its center, the laser that reads ...
... vinyl LP played on a Caliburn is a copy of a master disc that was created by a stylus responding to the vibrations created by the sound of a master tape. During playback, the Caliburn's stylus traces these analog grooves to recreate an ...
... vinyl disc—made and played using electrical analog methods—against the supposed corruption of even the most carefully manufactured compact disc played on the most sophisticated CD player. Edison was on the wrong side of history ...
... vinyl—a mechanical reality that even $90,000 cannot completely eliminate—would be a giveaway. Although the sound of the live Springsteen album Fremer put on uncannily recreated what it's like to be in the middle of a loud rock show—the ...
... vinyl, on disc, as a ghostly collection of ones and zeros that we send around the world. We do what we can to make it sound right and then we hear the sound flow from the speakers and we call it perfect. Acoustic/Electrical.
Contents
From the New World | |
Digital | |
Death and Other Dispatches from the Loudness | |
Liner Notes | |
Notes | |
Acknowledgments | |
Notes | |