Sound Media : From Live Journalism to Musical Recording

"Sound Media" considers how music recording, radio broadcasting and muzak influence people's daily lives and introduces the many and varied creative techniques that have developed in music and journalism throughout the 20th century. Lars Nyre starts with the contemporary cultures of sound media, and works back to the archaic soundscapes of the 1870s. The first part of the book devotes five chapters to contemporary digital media, and presents the internet, the personal computer, digital radio (news and talk) and various types of loudspeaker media (muzak, DJ-ing, clubbing and PA systems).The second part examines the historical accumulation of techniques and sounds in sound media, and presents multitrack music in the 1960s, the golden age of radio in the 1950s and back to the 1930s, microphone recording of music in the 1930s, the experimental phase of wireless radio in the 1910s and 1900s, and the invention of the gramophone and phonograph in the late 19th century. "Sound Media" includes a soundtrack CD with 36 examples from broadcasting and music recording in Europe and the USA, from Edith Piaf to Sarah Cox, and is richly illustrated with figures, timelines and technical drawings.
Contents: Acknowledgements Soundtrack Figures 1. Theoretical Introduction to Sound Media Part I: The Present Time 2. The Acoustic Computer. Nervous experiments with sound media 3. Synthetic Music. Digital recording in great detail 4. The Mobile Public. Journalism for urban navigators 5. Phone Radio. Personality journalism in voice alone 6. Loudspeaker Living. Pop music is everywhere Part II: Backwards History 7. Tape Control. A revolution in music recording 1970s -- 1950s 8. The Acoustic Nation. Live journalism 1960s -- 1930s 9. Microphone Moods. Music recording 1940s -- 1930s 10. The Live Public. Experiments in broadcasting 1920s -- 1900s 11. The Repeating Machine. Music recording 1920s -- 1870s Literature Soundtrack Supplement Index