The Evolution of Music Technology

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The Evolution of Music Technology
In the world today there are many ways to record and make music. It didn’t always use to be this way. People for the longest time did not have means of recording. With the invention of electricity recording became more readily available. With the invention of the tape player, MIDI, auto tune and MP3’s the music industry would not be in the place it is now without these things.
Digital tape recorders have made a huge difference in the music industry. In her article "Now, Digital Records" Ann Livermore discusses digital recording “The difference between conventional and digital recording is the production process. Conventional records are copies of recordings originally made on magnetic tape. After a recording session, a "master tape" is reworked in the studio until it approximates what engineers, producers and performers conceive as the true sound” (Livermore). This describes how the conventional process and digital recordings are made. Because of the advancement and discovery that was made on magnetic tape the music industry has been able to exist. She goes on to say “This final "cut" is then transferred to a disk that becomes the master from which the standard vinyl record is pressed. But the tape itself is an imperfect copy of sound waves, not an accurate re-creation of them - and when they are converted into electronic impulses, then back to sound with the aid of amplifiers and speakers, quality gets lost in the translation” ( Livermore). This gap in translation is a huge part of the sound quality that happens and has made the quality poor in a tape. The tapes then are made by converted this is the process. “Records made from such tapes distort the sound at the high and low ends of the range...

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...ample, thirteen hours of mp3 files can now be stored on a cd compared to traditional digital audio only allow for seventy-four minutes. mp3 files not only provide an efficient means of storing audio information but also for transmitting it. It is here that most discussion concerning mp3s is centered. Prior to a court order closing down online music distributor Napster in 2001, mp3 users were able to traffic and trade favored songs, artists and genres with other users with a speed and an ease that were previously unknown. Intervention from the music industry, however, has attempted to halt this activity, with copyright infringement cited as the legal rationale”( GÜNDÜZ).
As stated before the music industry has effected and evolved throughout time. The influences of the digital tape recorder, MIDI, auto tune and MP3’s the world of music would be totally different.

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