jaklumen
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The new electronica item
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May 9 23:00 UTC 2002 |
This was in the previous music conference, but I have yet to figure
out how to link this item there (via Backtalk).
My intention is to cover a lot of ground here, and on a number of
levels. I may remember what was covered in the previous item, and I
may not.
http://www.bigbriar.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/archives.html?
L+scstore+hdgl2782ffee02ee+1044280942 is an excellent link that
provides a little bit of history regarding Leon Theremin and Robert
Moog. To be clear, Robert Moog was inspired by the invention of the
theremin, and went on to produce an early line of synthesizers that
bear his name. Big Briar, Inc. was founded by him in 1978 and the
above link is to the company website. Apparently, he is still making
Moog synths and theremins, although they seem marketed more to
collectors than performers.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/ is another huge gateway link
that provides more information than I could possibly cover here.
http://tilt.largo.fl.us/faq/synthfaq.html is one linked there, and the
section titled "11 notable synthesizers in history" is worth looking
at.
Besides synthesizers, electronica covers drum machines, MIDI, and
reverb machines, to start.
Notable pioneers in the field include Wendy (Walter) Carlos, Brian
Eno, and Kraftwerk.
Electronics seem to have changed music in an even larger way if the
concept is broaded to studio work and sound engineering. The very
obvious example of this that I can think of is the hand of the
producer and/or mix master: many pop hits are mixed and remixed, and
they are often musicians as well in that regard, providing alternate
instrumental tracks and sequences, although they are not marketed as
the musicians.
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jaklumen
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response 1 of 3:
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May 9 23:08 UTC 2002 |
Digital vs. analog is also a huge distinction in this genre, as far as
sound, although many musicians simply sample old analog sounds, and
higher bit-rates of sampling have improved mimicry of traditional
instruments. The limitations are clearest with stringed instruments.
Digital solutions seem to "clean up" the sound, which sometimes limits
the amount of reverb that acoustic stringed instruments would have.
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jaklumen
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response 2 of 3:
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May 20 10:53 UTC 2002 |
One solution that has been developed is electronic pickups on acoustic
instruments, especially for MIDI devices. Bruce Hornsby uses one
occasionally. I'm not sure how they're used in practice-- whether the
sound is changed in amplification, or there is some blending of the
natural sound with synthesized sound.
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