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valleylist(sm) v171 r.1 thursday 08.11.2011
high tech products companies consumers
NEWS
+ nypd launches social media unit track crime facebook and twitter + lucasfilm “yoda” statue big attraction for foreign tourists + billboard top 10 musicians of 2010 + lollapaluzza festival music’s big deal concert for the summer DIGITAL INSTRUMENTS AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC define popular music world wide. in fact the invention of electric musical instruments and recording technology opened the door to popular music.
is it all digital yet?
no not really.
instead world music is tending towards digital music instead of recorded music. listen to your favorite music on your mp3 player or apple ipod. around the house it’s probably still a cd or dvd player not used as much as it should. today’s modern music features digital synthesizer or voice processing technology. the result is a musical experience you’ve never encountered before.
“let me blow your mind” is the latest techno-funk refrain. musically.
digital music downloaded from the internet is becoming the pre-eminent form of popular music.
and it’s not just music. this week it’s the siggraph 2011 conference for digital artists world wide. september you’ll find everybody at the zero1 technology and art festival in san jose california.
there’s no replacing the real artist in either case.
the siggraph conference started this week with thousands gathering in vancouver. while the real attraction is the actual conference events other highlights include the computer animation festival and the computer art gallery. check yahoo for the latest latest siggraph videos.
zero1 biennenial art and technology event promises public art and lots of live performance. check the zero1 blog and press releases for the latest news.
joni mitchell is among the many musicians who have surprised the industry and fans with a unique musical sound. mitchell developed new recording techniques and technology to come up with the trademark bluesy-folk music. musicians have contributed a lot to the evolution of technology for live music and recording studios.
most famous among inventive musicians is ray kurtzwiel credited with inventing the electronic synthesizer. even more famous is les paul the guy who invented the electric guitar and revolutionized the music recording industry. along the way you’ll run into phil spector quincy jones and other producers who have totally revolutionized the music industry.
les paul musician and inventor of the electric guitar is the “valleylist” avatar this week. musicians world wide still use the “les paul” signature electric guitar considered gibson’s top of the line. it’s a light hardbody guitar with 2 or 3 electronic pickups. sammy hagar gold les paul boldly takes charge. it just looks perfect and sounds phenomenal. for some it’s a little too amped up. les paul designed it originally to play jazz guitar and perform guitar solos other’s could only dream of. it just gets bigger the more you talk about les paul. from amplifying the guitar to amplifying and microphoning all the instruments in the recording studio to designing new recording studio technology and ways of recording records it’s almost entirely a les paul kind of musical world during the early 1950′s.
then there’s the infamous “les paul and mary ford” television show a top 10 hit from 1950 to 1955. top 10 electronic musical instruments 2011 1.alesis micron analog modeling synthesizer 3.korg kaossilator pro tabletop synthesizer 6.korg x50 synthesizer keyboard 8.korg monotron 16-key synthesizer 10.theremin - – - – - source: top 10 geeky musical instruments top 10 fan based musical instruments
“the residents” showed me a new digital synthesizer years ago that “sampled” sounds and music and turned into an entire range of musical sounds. ever since the synthesizer has been an entirely digital device. afficiandos hold onto to their kurtzweil analogue synthesizer.
the headlines and products mentioned in this edition of “valley list” are included in the youtube playlist as are the favorite videos. analysis. digital instruments have become a normal part of life for musicians. yet nobody can match pete townsend’s rickenbacker guitar sound or jimmy page’s searing guitar solos on his gibson classic sg. grunge has a similar guitar heritage with nirvana then the foo fighters hitting the guitar chords as hard as possible. fender and gibson guitars. yet to actually go further and change the engineering behind amplified live electric guitar music takes a peculiar kind of individual.
for professional guitarists it’s an easy choice between putting a microphone on an acoustic guitar vs. using a super loud electric guitar. take it a few steps further and you end up with musicians like brian eno who claim that the recording studio itself is the musical instrument. most famous of these is phil spector who revolutionized music in the 1950′s with the “wall of sound”. everything after the “spector sound” was totally different. elvis came up with a sound and a recording technique of his own at sun studios. producers like quincy jones and jimmy jam have also revolutionized recording studio technology to achieve a new sound for many different artists.
a sound people didn’t know existed. something really new. something people will like.
at least “valleylist” electronic publishing is online and now so is movies film and video.
- – - – > music
the new “valleylist” planned titles – - people who lined it up planned new titles and sponsorship online actual publishing schedule online at http://calendar.yahoo.com/g_mcpaul pub date - – - # title - – - – - – - - [avatar] - – - - version thursdays 07.21.2011 – - – - 20_music [thomas alva edison] v168 07/28/2011 – - – - 21_digital radio satellite radio [howard stern] v169 08/04/2011 – - – - 22_digital music [shawn fanning] v171 08/07/2011 – - – - siggraph conference 08/11/2011 – - – - 23_digital instruments electronic music [les paul] v171 <- <- current edition 08/18/2011 – - – - 24_live music events [bill graham] v172 08/25/2011 – - – - 25_music for downloads [brian eno] v173 09/01/2011 – - – - 26_digital recording studio [ray kurtzweil] v174
planned new titles and sponsorship online actual publishing schedule online at http://calendar.yahoo.com/g_mcpaul conclusion. electronic music and all digital music is a very big evolutionary step. computer chips produce a flat sound. that’s what really happened at first. add more tube amplifiers and special effects to achieve a really good live sound. make it sound like a tube amplifier. live events rely on a digital masterboard to control all outputs of instruments most of them using tube and analogue amplifiers microphoned through the control boards. talk to almost any professional musician and they will tell you that they like that “live” sound.
in the recording studio it’s pinpoint control. precise mixing and blending of instruments sounds and nuances. don’t want to try to force musicians to abandon their favorite electric guitar moog synthesizer tube amplifier age old fender acoustic microphoned folk guitar or favorite marshall amplifier. they freak out.
add innovations from apple to digitally write and edit music on a computer and record back up tracks on the apple ipod and you have the beginnings of a different kind of digital revolution. writing editing live performing and studio recording of music with the help of digital technology.
live music and concert acts are almost all done with digitally enhanced tube and analogue equipment. the musicians need to sound human. digital technology is a control factor. it is now possible to achieve very precise control over all aspects of the musical moment or even the entire concert.
hybrid technology is the end result. the power of digital technology has been domesticated to serve the needs of singers and musicians.
not the other way around.
greg mckenna publisher valleylist
all rights reserved
- – - - “valleylist” is a free weekly internet newsletter focused on technology and politics emailed to 5 million readers every week. copyright greg mckenna. – -rss - - rss google rss google [adsense] rss yahoo rss msn rss bloglines rss wordpress - – - -
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“valleylist” v171 r.1 – - digital instruments and electronic music [les paul]
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