Byrne does not elaborate in later chapters, but recordings (and its transmission over radio) changed society by uniting peoples, speeding musical development, and (for instance, in Brazil) of overturning governmental policy of approved musical forms. Oddly, computerized editing of recordings to achieve perfection in tempo, pitch, and so forth proved imperfect to the ear and lacking in warmth and positive emotional value.

The ideal of recordings was and remains an actual live performance, particularly among classical music fans but the alternative worthy philosophy is the electronic creation of uniquely shaped sound itself, as with tape editing, synthesizers and digital programming, and electric instrument design.

The historical account is amusing when considering the delusions of reality instilled by each new device on the unconditioned and uneducated ear. One of his suits clearly had classic Japanese origins.Ĭhapters 3 and 4 return to musicology with an expansion of the role of technology, recording and playback. In his world travels, his encounter with Japanese and Balinese traditional music and theatre art had a profound influence on the development of his stage craft. The second chapter is an musical autobiographical section describing the evolution of his music and stage attire over the succeeding eras of rock. It almost fulfills expectations with both personal and general tidbits and theses that reward the reader, though for myself his personal examples are somewhat weaker. With such an interesting introduction, the book offers much promise. Expectations often lead to disappointment and the performance and performer suffers. The great revolutionary divide was recording technology, and musicians discovered that what works live does not necesarily achieve the same result on vinyl, tape, CD, or. Regarding huge gothic cathedrals, intimate nightclubs, and jungle camp sites, room reverberation, volume of space, and audience vocal ambience dictate modal versus scale works, instrument development, and performance dynamics. Byrne begins his wide-ranging historical, technological, psychological and sociological examination of music with a novel insight: architecture of musical venues shape composition and instrumental arrangements.

How music works book review