Electrifying Music: The Impact of Engineering on Music

ELECTRIFYING MUSIC The Impact of Engineering on Music War of the Currents AC DC NIKOLA TESLA THOMAS EDISON pro-AC curent (alternating) pro-DC current (direct) - battery power ...Wa sockt current .. Edison patents an electric phonograph 2015: Both win • DC powers laptops & electric cars • AC powers buildings • AC/DC noted on most plugged-in devices with adapters Tesla invents the Tesla coil Tesla hired by Paris branch of Edison Company; Edison calls Tesla's ideas "splendid' but 'utterly impractical" ACDC "Australian rock band AC/DC was named by guitarist Malcolm Young's sister based on the AC/DC current noted on her sewing machine." Engineers' Interaction with Musicians: Fire & Ice Audio Culture War: Innovators in the music industry come from many different backgrounds. Some possess formal scientific and musical backgrounds, while many do not. Which background is more effective? Experimenters Vs. Trained Engineers JOE MEEK ICE TOM DOWD • Tone-deaf, no rhythm, radar technician Invented: close-miking, flanging and spring reverb units Worked with: The Tornados, Tom Jones, Gene Vincent >On team of Manhattan Project special engineers who developed A-bomb > Few classes short of a Columbia degree (denied World War II "life credits") • Specialty at Atlantic Records: faders • Worked with: The Drifters, The Clovers, Ray Charles BOTH FIRE and ICE > 1970s Chief Engineer of Europa Sonar in Paris Mostly educated at John Hopkins as EE (left because professor didn't appreciate his gyrator blueprint) • Invented: Grammy-winning technical achievement of console automation systemization > Owns U.S. patent for a variable exponent averaging detector and dynamic range controller > Worked with: Billy Joel, Journey, Linda Ronstadt GEORGE MASSENBERG Legends of Music and Electronics RADIOHER REIE HANCO Led by Thom Yorke, one of the most influential singers of his generation • One of the most innovative and provocative > The most influential practitioner of modern jazz piano • Majored in electrical engineering at Grinnell College • His electrical engineering background influenced his experimentations in electronic jazz fusion > One of the first jazz pianists to work with electronic keyboards bands of the 1990s and 2000s Known for their fascination with music born out of computers, rather than guitars • Throughout their album Kid A, Jonny Greenwood used one of the earliest electronic instruments, "I showed interest in science even before I showed interest in music when I was a kid. My first major in college, I chose electrical engineering because I was afraid of choosing music for practical purposes" Herbie Hancock the ondes Martenot, in new ways never before seen. • On Radiohead's most revolutionary track, Idioteque, the band sampled Paul Lansky's "Mild Un Leise," an innovative computer-born piece of 1970s electronic music. It's C I'm wi the b DAFT PUNK • One of the biggest electronic music acts of the 90s and 2000s • Influenced by rock band AC/DC • Utilize vintage electronic equipment during music production: • Custom-built modular synthesizers • Vintage vocoders to manipulate pitch, vibrato and legato • Daft Punk's six sound engineers were • MIT Engineering Graduate • Composer, producer, engineer and musician for the rock band Boston • True passion is developing "rock gadgets" • Owner of 34 engineering patents • Founder of Scholz Research and Design, an audio-electronics company that built signal-processing equipment for musicians • Two of Scholz's inventions, the Power Soak and the Rickman headphone amp, are widely used by other rock musicians nominated for their work on "Random Access Memories" Moog Synthesizer: The Electronic Instrument that Changed Music COBERT MOO > First produced in 1964 by Robert Moog • Robert Moog was an electrical engineer and electronic music pioneer > Moog modular synthesizers are comprised of individual electronic modules and are housed in a Artists Influenced by the Moog Synthesizer • Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake and Palmer (early adopter) • Jimmy Destri of Blondie • Frank Zappa • Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys • The Bee Gees • The Beatles • The Monkees wooden frame Moog's utilize voltage to control the frequency of an oscillator, generating pitch as well as loudness Moog's are known as the most iconic synthesizers of all time Hear the Moog in action on this Spotify O playlist: Hey, What's That Sound: Moog Timeline of EE Inventions in Music 1908 EE Ralph Mueller, "Skipper of the Clipper," invents alligator clip 1931 1957. George Beauchamp (musician) + Adolph Rickenbacker (EE) formed Electro String Co. and Eric Krakow (EE) first invented the 8-string bass created the first marketable guitar 1960 electric guitar Name of their first guitar: "Frying • Guitars played by Beatles, Byrds, Les Paul • Other Electro String inventions: amplifiers used by Leo Fender, electric harp for Harpo Marx Raymond Litke (EE in the U.S.) created wireless microphone system • Used: from olympic trials to political ..- -. Pan" conventions • Later version: marketed as "Vega Mike" 1961 Bob Pease - graduated MIT as an EE • Designed: partially solid-state amplifiers, LM331 voltage-to- frequency converters, LM337 voltage regulators Most Often Used: analog music synthesizers • Analog = basis for audio recordings from Edison (1877) to 1980s • Application: radio, TV, movies, 1964 Robert Moog + Herb Deutsch invent Moog synthesizer • Robert Moog - EE + Ph.D. in engineering and physics • Age 14: built a "theremin" (other-worldly wireless rock concerts musical instrument, operated by the musician waving hands like a conductor) • Best Creation: a music studio staple - Minimoog model D synthesizer 1982 Comeback: Eric Barbour (EE) creates complete vacuum-tube modular synthesizer 1995 2002 CDs finally shifted musical world from analog to digital - just to have audiophiles shift it back over time 2013 Comeback: Analog returns with Minimoog Voyager Comeback: Dylan's Fender Stratocaster sets international guitar- selling record: $965,000 (beat Eric Clapton's 2004 FS sales record by $5,500) NJIT. Sources http://energy.gov/articles/war-currents-ac-vs-dc-powver http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/brothers-buil-acde http://africarm.org/the-true-first-man-in-the-world-to-invent-a-seven-string-bass-guitar-2164/ http://www.rickenbacker.com/history_eariy.asp http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/04/17/acds-long-way-top-rock-n-roll http://www.ti.com/ww/en/bobpease/ http://www.cnet.com/news/first-there-was-analog-sound-then-digital-whats-next/ http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics- technology/o http://www.oes.org/aeshc/docs/audio.history.timeline.html hetp://moogfoundation.org/about/humble-visionary http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-theremin-a-strange-instrument-with-a-strange-history/ hetp://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2071/08/aligator_clip_was_invented_by.html Attp://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct04/articles/rocketscience.htm https://books.googie.com/books?id=5xWOKHENLMC&pg=PAT78(pg=PA17&dq=efectrical+engineers+who+are+al so-musiciansasource=b{&ots=uzdFgcaf50&sig=APKYZNMbdghzqQwovmXUW_(FEM&h=en&sa=X8ei=unWiV bB4gyoQTFOYHQBg&ved=OCGWQ6AEWCONV=onepagesg=electrical%20engineers%20who%20are%20onko%20 musicians&f-false Attp://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/musicmanjisp http://www.synthtopia.com/content/204/07/28/eric-barbour- bringing-vacuum-tube-madness-to-electronic-music/ http://mentalfioss.com/articie/30140/acdc-tesio-edison-feud http://hehub.musiciansfriend.com/ive-soOund-buying-guides/cutting-loose-a-wiretess-system-buying-guide http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/dec/22/father-autistic-son-lights/ http://theinspirathionroom.com/dail/2005/miller-ite-christmas-lights/ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12- O6/entertainment/sns-rt-us-auction-dykan-20131206_I_vit-quinto-bob-dylan-auction-record http://moogfoundation.org/moog-a-history-in-recordings-early-moog-jazz/ http://www.moogmusic.com/legacy/history-page-turned-tunes Attp://www.moogmusic.com/sight-and-sound/product_demo/50th-anniversary-mong-modular-synthesizer http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/02/moog-synthesisers http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Music/2012/0523/Bob- Moog-6-artists-who-were-infkuenced-by-his-technology/ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/daft-punk/biography Attp://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-daft-punk-reveal-secrets-of-new-album-20130413 Attp://www.katimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-daft-punk-engineers-20140123-story.htminpoge=1 Attps://alum.mit.edu/news/AlumniProfiles/Archive/Tom_Scholz -2769-2C_SM-2770 New Jersey Institute of Technology wonalogue-electronics-sees-a-revival-in-the-music-industry/53593/