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History of electric guitars
History of electric guitars
How electric guitar works
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Introduction More than any other instrument, the electric guitar has shaped and redefined music in the last century. Although popular culture did not pay much attention to it when it was first introduced in the 1930s, it has since become equated with the very essence of rock and roll music. On an international level, the electric guitar is by far "the most famous instrument to come out of the United States" (howstuffworks.com). Background Inventors have been playing with the idea of electrically powered musical instruments since the 1800s, but "the first attempts at an amplified instrument did not come until the development of electrical amplification by the radio industry in the 1920s." One pioneer of the electric guitar, Lloyd Loar, worked as an engineer at the Gibson Guitar Company. In 1924, he developed and electric pick-up to amplify the viola and the string bass. This pick-up consisted of a magnet and coil that received vibrations through the string when it was plucked. These early inventors strived to boost the natural sound of the guitar, but they found that the signal was too weak with the pick-up method they were employing at the time. The solution was a more direct approach, in which "the electromagnet registered string vibrations from the strings themselves." This proved successful and the electric guitar as we know it was born. The first commercially available model, the Frying Pan, was spearheaded by George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker in 1932. Physics Behind Electric Guitars: Introductory Ideas: Before delving into the core physics of electric guitars, some basic information must be understood. These ideas will be discussed more thoroughly later on in this secti... ... middle of paper ... ...ing either linear mass density and/or tension in the string. It is desirable to play a guitar with nearly uniform tension from string to string, thus strings are of varying masses. References Brain, Marshall. How Electric Guitars Work. http://stuffto.howstuffworks.com/electric-guitar.htm accessed 11-20-2004 Hokin, Sam. The Guitar. The Physics of Everyday Stuff. http://www.bsharp.org/physics/stuff/guitar.html accessed 11-20-2004 Jonas, Seth. How Electric Guitar Pickups Work. http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae331.cfm accessed 11-20-2004 Khanal, U. Dynamics of Strings with Gaussian Density and Tension. Modern Physics Letters A. Vol 15. Iss 10. p675. 7p. via EBSCOhost 11-20-2004 http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,url,uid&db&an=6620320 Stewart, James. Calculus. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2003.
There are certain musicians that come along that shift a culture, attitude, or future musicians. Another musician that went on influence future generations and considered one of the greatest guitar players in the world is Eddie Van Halen.
During the 1950s, many rhythm and blues (R&B) artists, who were of African American descent, used the piano as their main choice of instrument,such as Little Richard. His music had that rock 'n' roll exuberance, soulful voice, and in your face shouting that is a common ingredient in rock today (“History of Rock & Roll-The 1950s”). An example, is the sound of his energetic piano riffs from “Tutti Frutti” . However, when Chuck Berry translated those “boogie woogie” riffs from the piano to the electric guitar, it just set the standard to how rock and roll should sound (“History of Rock & Roll-The 1950s”). The electric guitar riffs that Chuck Berry played, just sounded more upbeat and moving than anything that can be done on a piano. It was his guitar playing that ultimately left a large influence in the coming
Although Thomson set up the first electric system, it was Edison who invented the phonograph in eighteen seventy-seven. Editors at Scientific American, who were some of the first to experience Edison's newest creation, were startled. "The machine began by politely inquiring as to our health, asked how we liked the phonograph, informed us that it was very well, and bid us a cordial good night." (RCA Online 2)
According to Peter E , his original program included transcriptions from Tárrega , as well as his own transcriptions of Bach and others. However, based on Clinton, George , many "serious" musicians believed that Segovia would be laughed off of the stage, because the guitar could not play classical music at that time. In order to refute their argument, Segovia astounded the audience with his perfect techniques and impressive performing skills. After that, Segovia shared the view he had of the guitar being a concert instrument. "First, no string instrument offers such complete harmonic potential; second, it is light and can be transported effortlessly from one place to another; and thirdly, its sound is naturally melancholic and beautiful." From that concert, he also found out the only problem with the concert guitar performance, which is that the guitar could not produce enough sound to fill the hall. So over the coming years, Segovia would supervise luthiers to experiment through thousands of new woods and designs for the body of the guitar, thereby increasing its natural amplification, and do more practice simultaneously, to make his performing technique go further. With the advent of nylon strings during the World War II, the guitar could produce more consistent tones, and also being able to project the sound much farther. The range of the sound transmission problem was solved gradually. In 1928, Andrés Segovia’s first concert in New York had been a huge success, which also led him to more offers for appearances in America and Europe, from then on, the great, meaningful journey of Andrés Segovia and his guitar was
Aptly named the Rock & Roll Generation, the 1950's saw the birth and rise to prominence of rock-n-roll and rockabilly (an early style of rock-n-roll). However, this musical revolution would never have been possible without the invention of the electric guitar by Les Paul in 1952 (1). The solid-body electric guitar produced a distinct sound unlike any other instrument during that time; as a result, it was this unique sound that rock-n-roll music developed its entire foundation upon. Today, Les Paul’s guitar (now owned by the popular guitar company Gibson) remains one of the most famous electric guitars not just in the America, but also in the world, along with the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster. With the advent of the electric guitar, Carl Perkins was a pioneer in the establishment of rock music, and his particular ...
Leon Theremin first came up with the idea for the theremin when in high school. He noticed that depending on how close a person stands to a Tesla coil, the coil hums at different pitches. After its inveiling in 1921, Theremin toured his instrument around Russia, sparking the curiosity of almost everybody who saw it. The theremin made its way to America in 1928, where it gained more popularity. In 1929, RCA bought the rights to manufacture the instrument.
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace,” said legendary American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In the 1960’s Jimi Hendrix, along with many other musical artists, greatly influenced numerous people. His unorthodox method of playing and how well he played the guitar would become his trademark for many years to come. Arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music, Hendrix expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar and pioneered explosive possibilities of the instrument. His innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback, and controlled distortion created a new musical form.
The inner workings of the turntable may seem complex at first but after reading this paper it should become clear that, like all things, the record player works on basic principals of physics. In fact, the turntable is remarkable in that the basic physical principles behind it are quite simple. Some of these will be explored here. Please enjoy your visit.
Many manufactures began making electric bass guitars in the 1960s due to the explosion of rock music. The Fender Jazz Bass, also known as the Deluxe Bass,...
... Physics." .::. The Pysics of Electric Guitars :: Physics. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. .
As the increasing popularity of the guitar, guitar performance has been developed into a discipline, and is still being carried forward. At the beginning of the 1920s, a musician, a composer and the most important a guitarist, Andrés Segovia, was getting to be known as one of the greatest guitarists and the grandfather of the classical guitar. He spent his whole life learning, exploring and improving the classical guitar. Many people believe that, without his efforts, the charm of the guitar would still be covered, and the instrument would never appear in a concert stage.
The electric guitar has greatly impacted how music was played in the past, the present, or the future. Players can be creative and achieve a great sound from the wide variety of guitars, pickups, pedals, or amps. Whatever type of music you enjoy, everyone should appreciate the importance of the electric guitar.
Wendkos, Zach. “The Evolution of the Electric Guitar”. 21 May 2010. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
The cylinder phonograph proved to be successful, but the problem with the machine was that the tin foil only allowed a few uses. With the help of another great inventor, new advances could be made to improve this invention. The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, had set up a laboratory for his cousin, Chichester Bell and Charles Tainter. Bell a...
Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix's meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language continues to influence a host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang.