A Brief History of Recorded Music Or, It Wasn't Always Digital

Timeline of Recorded Sound Firsts:

• 1840s  Player pianos*

Have you ever heard of a Player Piano?


http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=player+piano&&view=detail&mid=949173693757D6BACBEE949173693757D6BACBEE&FORM=VRDGAR

Below is a link to a player piano, playing The Sound of Music. It gives you a close look at the keys doing their thing and how the paper roll moves, how the words are printed off to one side. A different kind of Karaoke...

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=player+pianos+rock+music&&view=detail&mid=0BB3C58FAD08FEFEF6370BB3C58FAD08FEFEF637&FORM=VRDGAR

 

Very cool vid showing some history, and how a cylinder was used by Edison:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=history+of+recorded+audio&&view=detail&mid=5EFA19240EF025FDE7C55EFA19240EF025FDE7C5&FORM=VRDGAR

               This is a phonograph designed by Thomas Edison in 1877 that used cylinders instead of records

A video of the oldest recording made in 1860 by a Frenchman and recently recovered using modern technology--this recording was made by 'burning' sound waves onto paper! :

http://www.history.com/speeches/worlds-oldest-recording

• 1894    Gramophone records
• 1898    Wire recording
• 1919    Sound on film
• 1925    Cut records

Records were originally made to play at 78 rpm (revolutions per minute) and were made of a brittle, breakable, material called 'shellac.'

• 1940s  Reel-to-reel tape recording

• 1947    Dictabelts

These were vinyl belts used in offices: Someone could dictate a letter and the sound would 'record' onto the belt. A typist would take the belt and put it into a machine to hear, and then type up what was said.

• 1948   LP (Long Playing) record on vinyl

These were played on a record player: the records had a hole in the center. You would place the record on the spindle of the turntable, turn the player on, and set the arm on the record. The arm had a needle in it which sent the sound to the speakers. The record player usually had three speeds: 33-1/3, 45, and 78 for very old records.




An album (record) would have songs on both sides, and played at 33 1/3 rpm. They cost about $5.00. However, keep in mind a teen's allowance might be $5 a month. While thinner than shellac and not easy to break, vinyl records warp easily from heat: if you kept them in the sun or close to a heat source, they will curve out of shape, which ruins the sound.

• 1949   45 rpm record

These were singles, one song on either side. They cost about $1.00. They played at 45 rpm. You had to put an adapter in the center hole because it was too large to go on the spindle without it.

Adapter for 45s

This is what a record looks like when it's being played: The needle on the arm of the player is 'traveling' along the grooves of the record towards the hole in the middle. Hence, probably, the term "groovy."

In the 80s, DJs would usually have two players going at once and then move the turntable by hand to achieve the 'scratchy' sound popular at that time:

All recordings made by etching are actually one continuous spiral, whether on a cylinder or a vinyl record.

• 1958   Tape cartridge
• 1963    Tape cassette
• 1964    8 track tape

• 1967    Mini Cassette
• 1982    CD (Compact Disc)
• 2004    USB Flash Drive

Here is what a sound wave looks like when a computer analyzes it:

People buy about an equal amount of their music by download (such as ITunes) as they do actual CDs, about 11 million of each per year. We are also just listening to music online more and buying less of either type of music.


To learn how noise affects your hearing, see Triogenius April 6, 2015 (to your right in the Archives)

Some Happy music because it makes people want to dance........   http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dance+happy+minions&&view=detail&mid=70A147D370A82117D22470A147D370A82117D224&FORM=VRDGAR
  

Have A Safe Swim!!

Here are some tips for being safe at the beach or pool:

• Choose a beach or pool where there is a lifeguard. Your chances of drowning at a location where there is no guard are five times higher, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association.
• Learn to swim, and have your kids take swimming lessons as well. Often you can find lessons through community education or local schools, held at local pools. 
• Walk into the water if it is a new location for you. See if there are any drop-offs, and how soon the water becomes too deep for you to stand.

 

• Always jump into the water, feet first: don’t dive in head first. A neck injury can be very serious. You can jam your neck in such a way as to injure your spinal cord, causing paralysis that will be permanent. You can also hit your head hard enough to cause a brain injury.

•  Wear old tennis shoes or water shoes if the bottom of the lake is ‘sticky’ or muddy so that you can get better traction.

• Alcohol obviously affects your judgment and reaction time, but did you know that it can also alter your body temperature? Check this out from the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics:

Contrary to what is believed, alcohol may make you feel warmer but it actually lowers the temperature of the body. When alcohol enters the blood, it causes the blood vessels to widen. More blood flows to the skin's surface. The drinker's body temperature drops as the increased blood flow to the surface allows body heat to escape. People who drink alcohol in cold weather to get warm actually accomplish the opposite. Thus, if you hop into a lake to cool off when you have had alcohol, you will get even colder.

• Statistics at the Center for Disease Control show that of all drowning victims, 80% are male, and children ages 1 to 4 swimming in ‘kiddie’ pools at home make up 30% of all childhood accidental deaths.

For further data you can check out their website:

http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html#prevented

• Be sure to use life jackets when riding in a boat – Put Them On!
• Other toys to use in the water such as Fun Noodles, ‘water wings,’ and inflatable rafts are not a substitute for a life jacket. You can let your child play in the water wearing a life jacket, but don’t use that as an excuse to pay no attention. When it comes to playing in water, You should always be no more than an arm's length from your children.

Wear sun block that is waterproof, and re-apply every 2 hours. Make sure the lotion is not past its expiration date. You need to apply approximately 1/4 cup of sunblock in order for it to be effective.

Enjoy the summer, and be safe!

Ice Cream!

Summer!! Time for ice cream.


It's likely that ice cream has been around for thousands of years in some form or another. We know it was made in the 1500s in Europe, and by the 1700s it was introduced in the U.S.


Ice Cream Trivia: The University of Guelph in Toronto, Canada, teaches Ice Cream Science.

There was a long-standing myth that Thomas Jefferson introduced it to America, but while it was served in his home, he wasn't the first one to do so.


Here is the recipe his French chef used:
Thomas Jefferson's Vanilla Ice Creammakes about 4 pints (2 quarts, 1/2 gallon)
6 yolks of eggs
1/2 lb sugar (1 1/4 cups)
2 bottles (quarts) of good cream (4 pints)
1 vanilla bean
Mix the yolks and sugar together. Put the cream on a fire in a casserole, first putting in a stick of vanilla. When near boiling, take it off and pour it gently into the mixture of eggs and sugar. Stir it well. Put it on the fire again, stirring it thoroughly with a spoon to prevent it's sticking to the casserole. When near boiling, take it off and strain it thro' a towel. Put it in the Sabottiere* then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served. Put into the ice a handful of salt. Put salt on the coverlid of the Sabotiere and cover the whole with ice. Leave it still half a quarter of an hour. Then turn the Sabottiere in the ice 10 minutes open it to loosen with a spatula the ice from the inner sides of the Sabotiere. Shut it & replace it in the ice open it from time to time to detach the ice from the sides when well taken (prise) stir it well with the spatula. Put it in moulds, justling it well down on the knee. Then put the mould into the same bucket of ice. Leave it there to the moment of serving it. To withdraw it, immerse the mould in warm water, turning it well till it will come out and turn it into a plate.

*The Sabottiere is the inner cannister of what we now know as an ice cream maker.


Here's what a basic homemade ice cream recipe includes now:

See what's listed on an ice cream label.                                                                  

                                                                          A serving is 1/2 a cup? That's cute.
Here's how ice cream is made in a factory:

 

• 1. Mixing of ingredients: This will include milk or cream, but also various ingredients to make it smooth. It may also include eggs for richness. The mixing step is most important, to get rid of ice crystals that would break it down.
• 2. The mixture is homogenized and pasteurized: It's heated to kill any bacteria present
• 3. Colors and flavors are added to the mixture
• 4. It is aged: the ice cream is allowed to cool to 40 degrees F for four hours or overnight, this helps it freeze better so it is smoother
• 5. Freezing the mixture
• 6. Adding sauce ingredients, such as caramel or chocolate syrup
• 7. Hardening
• 8. If the ice cream will be shaped into bars or put into cones, it's done now
• 9. Packaging

 In a factory, sometimes the vats hold up to 3000 gallons.

For more about how it's made, check this out: https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/ice-cream1.htm

In 2002, more than $20 Billion was spent on ice cream. California is #1 in ice cream sales.