Collins, Ch. 2 Recording Technologies and Music

Glenn Gould’s meticulous performance of J. S. Bach, Keyboard Concerto No. 1 (BWV 1052) live in 1960

 

And in the studio in 1983

 

 

An orchestrion (and its musical score)

 

Playing music on a player piano

 

Edison’s phonograph

 

A mechanical (acoustic) recording session

 

A modern composition for Stroh instruments

The tape splicing process

 

Look how many splices were done in this recording (watch for white pieces of splice tape passing by)

 

A tape deck modified to create an echo effect

 

More tape effects: flanging

 

Les Paul with Mary Ford demonstrating multitrack recording

Les Paul making creative uses of changing tape recording/playback speed

 

The first musique concrète, PIerre Schaeffer’s Études de bruits (1948)

 

Beatles, “Tomorrow Never Knows” (1966), with accompaniment, fills, and a “solo” all created from tape loops, and lead vocals sung through a Leslie rotating speaker (from a Hammond organ).

 


Additional media (relevant to this chapter but not critical for the test):

Popular songs that use the reel flange effect:

  • Jimi Hendrix, “Bold as Love”
  • Tears for Fears, “Head Over Heels”
  • Doobie Brothers, “Listen to the Music”
  • The Eagles, “Life in the Fast Lane”