Unit 17

Question 1

How does digital technology work?

Answer 1

Electronic technologies convert sound waves into electrical signals, process the signals, then convert them back into sound. Digital technology adds an extra step: It encodes the waveform generated by the electrical signal into a binary format, then reverses the process for output. This encoding is accomplished by sampling the wave at regular intervals

Question 2

What are the benefits of encoding waveform data digitally? (3)

Answer 2

1. It eliminates signal degradation.
2. It became possible to maintain quality despite unlimited use.
3. the high sampling rate has enabled those working with computer audio to isolate musical events with extreme precision

Question 3

What 3 important technologies emerged in the early 80s?

Answer 3

Audio CD, MIDI, and sampling. Two others, computer audio and the Internet, took off around the turn of the century.

Question 4

Audio CD

Answer 4

An information storage medium in which lasers read digital data stored on a disc. The first CDs were expensive because the production process was seriously flawed. Only a small percentage of the CDs produced were good enough for release. The cost of CDs would remain somewhat high despite improvements in this process

Question 5

When were the first audio CDs produced?

Answer 5

1984

Question 6

MIDI

Answer 6

Musical Instrument Digital Interface- a protocol that enables digital devices such as instruments and computers to communicate.

Question 7

Why was the use of MIDI significant? (2)

Answer 7

1. It enabled a single person to simulate an orchestra, a rock band, or a swing band, using just one instrument.
2. MIDI devices could interact with sequencers.

Question 8

Sequencers

Answer 8

A device that enables a person to assemble a sound file track by track. Using a sequencer that can store eight tracks, a person can re-create the sound of a band: one track for the bass, another for the rhythm guitar, and so on. Sequencers can also be used to create loops.

Question 9

Loop

Answer 9

A short sound file that can be repeated or combined with other loops to create a background for a song. Loops are usually a standard length: eight beats (two measures), sixteen beats (four measures), and so on

Question 10

Sample

Answer 10

A small sound file. There are two basic kinds of samples in common use. This sound can then be replayed through some other device.

Question 11

What are the 2 types of samples?

Answer 11

1. A sample can be the recorded sound of a voice or group of voices, or an instrument or group of instruments, or some other sound.
2. Lifting short excerpts from existing recordings to use in a new recording. It has been a staple of rap background tracks since the technology became available.

Question 12

When did sampling technology become available?

Answer 12

Mid 1980s

Question 13

Computer audio

Answer 13

Originally, personal computers could not handle audio processing in real time. Around the turn of the century, the amount of times you could burn CDs increased (and is still increasing) drastically. There is almost nothing in the process of creating and producing a recording that cannot be done on a computer equipped with the right software and peripherals.

Question 14

Moore’s Law

Answer 14

1965 Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, predicted that the number of transistors on a computer chip would double every couple of years. This has mostly held true.

Question 15

When was the Internet opened to the private sector in the US?

Answer 15

1993. At this time, the first browser, Mosaic (Netscape) became available.

Question 16

When were the mechanics of the Internet fully in place?

Answer 16

2000. After this time, Internet access began to grow rapidly.

Question 17

Napster

Answer 17

Created by Shawn Fanning in 1999 as a peer-to-peer filesharing application. Shut down in 2001, but similar sites today offer an enhanced version of the preview clips on digital download sites such as iTunes and Amazon.

Question 18

iTunes/iPod

Answer 18

iTunes appeared in 2001 as an application for organizing and playing back audio files on a Mac computer; the first iPod was introduced a few months later. The iTunes Music Store opened in April 2003, offering tracks from the top record companies and, somewhat later, numerous independent labels. In less than five years, the iTunes Store had become the number one music retailer in the United States, but sales have dropped with the creation of streaming services.

Question 19

Facebook/MySpace

Answer 19

Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace took off in the latter half of 2000. Users shared their tastes in music on both. MySpace became less popular in 2005, which is when Facebook took off.

Question 20

When was YouTube founded?

Answer 20

2005

Question 21

What was the importance of YouTube?

Answer 21

It made everyone a potential video producer or distributor. Users of the site have uploaded not only their own music but also music videos, footage from live events, and audio recordings from their favorite acts, without much regard for copyright infringement.

Question 22

What is the importance of streaming services?

Answer 22

Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc. Streaming services took a while to gain traction because record companies were reluctant to license their music for such services. However, streaming is now the revenue stream showing the greatest growth.

Question 23

Digital Democracy

Answer 23

The advances in computer-based digital audio have put high-end music production within almost everyone’s budget. Online promotion is also less expensive: the cost and ease of creating and maintaining an attractive website continues to drop. For the aspiring creative artist, the financial investment is a small fraction of what it once was. For the consumer, it means anywhere there’s Internet there’s anytime access to millions of tracks for about 35¢ a day. And for the music industry, it means a stable and growing income stream. Digital technology has made it easier to make well-crafted music, both for those with well-developed musical skills and those with little or no skill.

Question 24

Electronica

Answer 24

The umbrella term for a large and varied family of musical styles: house, techno, trance, ambient, jungle, drum & bass, industrial dance, and many more.

Question 25

Musique concrete

Answer 25

“Concrete music”- Music created by using prerecorded sounds, founded by Pierre Schaeffer.

Question 26

Milton Babbitt and John Cage

Answer 26

Composers known for their conceptual music.

Question 27

Ambient music

Answer 27

Atmospheric music which emphasizes texture over rhythm: a kind of electronica. The first significant electronic style to emerge in popular music. Its early history includes Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, and Tangerine Dream.

Question 28

When did ambient music emerge?

Answer 28

The 1970s. It began to catch on in hybrid genres in the late 80s and early 90s

Question 29

Brian Eno

Answer 29

The father of ambient music. Eno’s early music shares common ground with the classical minimalist composers and was a bridge between the more esoteric world of classical electronic music and electronica in the popular tradition.

Question 30

What is the home of electronica?

Answer 30

The dance club. The dance scene that has nurtured the music since the early eighties has been an underground continuation of disco. There were still people who wanted to dance after disco died out.

Question 31

What 2 major club scenes emerged in the Midwest in the 80s?

Answer 31

House music in Chicago and techno in Detroit

Question 32

House music

Answer 32

An early techno style based originally in Chicago; it was a low-budget continuation of disco.

Question 33

Techno

Answer 33

Post-disco dance music in which most or all of the sounds are electronically generated. The work of 3 people- Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson. They delivered a stark, dark kind of dance music

Question 34

When did electronica migrate to Great Britain?

Answer 34

The mid 1980s. The event that brought the music, the culture, and the drugs up from the underground and into the public eye was the 1988 “Summer of Love,” a rave that went on for weeks.

Question 35

Rave

Answer 35

A huge dance party conducted in a large space: outdoors, an abandoned warehouse, or even a large club. Ecstasy and other “designer” drugs were very much part of the scene; they suppressed the need to eat or sleep.

Question 36

Medley

Answer 36

A group of songs connected by musical interludes. During the early years of the rock era, medleys were harder to create in the moment, because the identity of a song was more comprehensive. More than just the melody and harmony, it included every aspect of the song as preserved on the recording.

Question 37

Who transformed the practice of connecting songs into an art?

Answer 37

It was the DJ who transformed the practice of connecting songs into an art. A DJ with a two-turntable setup was able to mix a series of songs into a set, an unbroken string of songs.

Question 38

Mix

Answer 38

A series of songs or dance tracks seamlessly connected by a disc jockey.

Question 39

Set

Answer 39

A group of songs performed by a band or presented by a disc jockey. Popular and jazz musicians play a set of songs, then take an extended break. A DJ may mix songs into a set that provides continuous music for a half hour or more.

Question 40

What did DJs do?

Answer 40

They orchestrate the sequence of songs, how much they’ll use of each song, and the kind of transition they’ll use to give a sense of architecture to the set. It is in this context that they can respond to the dancers’ energy, building to a climactic moment or moments as the set unfolds.

Question 41

How does the “document” of music change in dance music?

Answer 41

In 60s rock and R and B, the record was the document- a full expression of the musician’s creative intent. In dance music, the musical unit is no longer the recording, but the set. Recordings are the building blocks of the set, like riffs are the building blocks of many songs.

Question 42

How does music for club use employ a different sonic spectrum?

Answer 42

Dance clubs typically have good sound systems, so producers can take advantage of the entire range of audible frequencies. Electronica styles typically make full use of this, especially low-end frequencies. This combination of a full sonic spectrum and relentless dance beat, all in an enclosed space, produces a kind of sensory inundation.

Question 43

How does the nature of the dance track change for dance music?

Answer 43

The dance track is often created with the idea that it is a component of a larger structure—the set—rather than an entity complete unto itself—the song. This makes it different from rock, where a song existed by itself.

Question 44

When did electronica begin to have a more mainstream presence?

Answer 44

The later half of the 1990s

Question 45

When did Moby experience a breakthrough in electronic music?

Answer 45

1999

Question 46

South Side (1999)

Answer 46

By Moby, electronica music. It owes much of its success to the incorporation of rock and rap elements. It’s a song, not a dance tracck.

Question 47

Deconstruction

Answer 47

Construction of a song out of several components, which can be digitally modified, added to, and otherwise manipulated to create other versions of the song.

Question 48

Moby

Answer 48

Electronica musician from the late 1990s

Question 49

Rap

Answer 49

A form of creative expression that uses musical sounds to help get its message across, but music is typically only one of several elements. Its most consistent features are poetry delivered intensely and rhythmically over a spare, rhythmically active musical accompaniment, usually generated by electronic sounds. Rap emerged as one artistic dimension of the hip-hop culture, along with break dancing and graffiti.

Question 50

What was the most direct antecedent of rap?

Answer 50

The toasting of the Jamaican DJs who ran mobile sound systems and kept up a steady stream of patter as they changed discs. Another antecedent of rap, one closer to home, was George Clinton’s funk.

Question 51

What city is home to rap?

Answer 51

The South Bronx

Question 52

Why is rap appealing?

Answer 52

Rap is “real”- rap gives us a window into life in the ghetto: the good, the bad, the ugly. It is music by and for its constituency. That rap has found a much wider audience is incidental to its original mission. The power comes from its emotional urgency. It also provides information and opinions for the inner city, viewpoints not available through conventional media.

Question 53

hip-hop

Answer 53

A term used to describe the African American culture from which rap emerged. Its artistic expressions include not only rap but also break dancing and graffiti. The implicit message of all 3 is “you can put us down, but you can’t keep us down.”

Question 54

Break dancing

Answer 54

A vigorous dance form associated with hip-hop music and culture. It is extremely athletic; its vigorous moves parallel the energy of the music to which it’s performed.

Question 55

Graffiti

Answer 55

Graffiti artists prepared their work much like a military campaign. They would plan the graffito through a series of sketches, scout out the train yards, sneak in and paint the cars, then sneak out. Their use of trains and buses as “canvases” suggests that graffiti was another way to get their message out of the ghetto.

Question 56

Grandmaster Flash

Answer 56

Rap artist, developed the array of turntable techniques that would revolutionize rap. Even more significantly, he translated these techniques into a radically new musical conception called a sound collage

Question 57

Sound collage

Answer 57

A compositional technique created by Grandmaster Flash in which sound clips of recorded material are cut and pasted together. He cut and pasted sound clips from recordings into his music. The clips could range in length from a fraction of a second to several seconds; in either case, Flash completely recontextualized them.

Question 58

“The Message” (Grandmaster Flash)

Answer 58

1982. With this song, rap moved from party music to social commentary. The other major innovation in “The Message” is the coordination of the musical setting with the message of the rap. There are many layers of activity, most of it generated on synthesizers and drum machines.

Question 59

What song made rap cross over to mainstream?

Answer 59

Rap crossed over to the mainstream with Run-D.M.C.’s version of “Walk This Way.” As with earlier rap songs, “Walk This Way” built the rap on a preexisting musical foundation, in this case, Aerosmith’s 1976 hit “Walk This Way.” This new version made the charts exactly a decade after the original, in 1986.

Question 60

When did rap become mainstream?

Answer 60

The new version of “Walk This Way” made the charts in 1986. In 1987, LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys emerged, and rap became popular in the suburbs

Question 61

Public Enemy

Answer 61

The most political rap act to emerge in the late 1980s. In “1 Million Bottlebags,” a track from their 1991 album, Public Enemy takes on everyone responsible for the problem. The rap is an indictment of alcohol abuse.

Question 62

“1 million bottlebags” (Public Enemy)

Answer 62

A rap that is an indictment of alcohol abuse. There are five kinds of sounds on the track: the rap, the spoken elements, the real-world sounds (for example, the bottle breaking), the rhythm tracks, and the pitched sounds, such as the siren screeches that mark the chorus. The absence of melody is a strength, not a shortcoming. Its presence would dilute the impact of the rap by softening the edge. The rhythm track is the glue holding the song together.

Question 63

How has the audience of rap changed over time?

Answer 63

As the 1980s began, the audience for rap was small and almost exclusively black. As the 1990s began, the audience was much larger. It has continued to grow through the 1990s and into the twenty-first century

Question 64

What is the main musical reason for rap’s expanded audience?

Answer 64

The incorporation of melodic material.

Question 65

Gangsta rap

Answer 65

A form of rap which emerged in the late 80s and expressed the violence of inner-city life. The success of artists such as NWA, Ice T, Dr. Dre, and others escalated the territorial animosity from rival gangs within a community to the communities themselves. Bad blood developed between West Coast gangsta rappers and New York hip-hop artists; both groups used lyrics to dis the opposing camp. The violence portrayed in the lyrics often spilled over into real life.

Question 66

Other than violence, what were the other controversial aspects of gangsta rap?

Answer 66

Raps were often pornographic and misogynistic, and richly scatological. Most recordings routinely earned the “parental advisory” label from the RIAA. For suburban whites, gangsta rap seemed like forbidden fruit and represented a world they hadn’t actually experienced

Question 67

Why did gangsta rap cross over to mainstream?

Answer 67

Because of a musical decision to work pop elements into hardcore rap. It first appeared in the music of New York hip-hop artists such as Notorious B.I.G. and Nas, and quickly spread to the west coast, shown by Tupac Shakur’s “California Love,”

Question 68

“California Love” (1996)

Answer 68

Tupac and Dr. Dre. The track shows how rap found a mainstream audience in part by bringing in non-rap elements. It begins with a striking processed vocal riff; the instrumental introduction that follows spotlights the bass. The next section features a melody with an accompaniment that becomes the main chorus of the song. The rap lyrics offer a sizable dose of gangsta rap. There are references to violence, gangs, prostitution, etc.. But the prevailing mood, in both words and music, is party hard.

Question 69

Eminem

Answer 69

One of the most successful rap artists of the 2000s. He eventually earned the respect of African-American hip-hop audiences and was mentored by Dr. Dre. He could easily have been a child of the ghetto: raised by a single mom; moving around constantly; dropping out of school, etc.

Question 70

“Love The Way You Lie” (2010)

Answer 70

Eminem. In this track, he partnered with R&B star Rihanna; she sang the chorus, and his raps provided the verse. The track exemplifies the synergy that can result when rap and song are combined. Rihanna’s sung chorus, which opens the track and is repeated throughout, is the hook that anchors the track in listeners’ ears. The high pitch of Eminem’s delivery energizes the violent contrasts in his rap, which in turn resonates with the violence in the relationship

Question 71

MC

Answer 71

A music artist and/or performers who usually creates and performs vocals for his/her own original material.

Question 72

Def Jam

Answer 72

Def Jam Recordings is an American multinational record label based in Manhattan, New York City. Def Jam has focused predominantly on hip hop, pop and urban music

Question 73

Sugarhill records

Answer 73

Sugar Hill Records was an American record label specializing in hip hop music that was founded in 1979, located in New Jersey

Question 74

Sugarhill gang

Answer 74

The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop trio. Their 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight” was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Question 75

Death row records

Answer 75

It was an American record label founded in 1992 by Dr. Dre, released albums by West Coast based artists

Question 76

Queen Latifah

Answer 76

American rapper that released her first album in 1989

Question 77

Cypress Hill

Answer 77

American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They are the first hip-hop group to have sold multi-platinum and platinum albums, popular in the 90s

Question 78

Lauryn Hill

Answer 78

American rapper

Question 79

Moog

Answer 79

American synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina. It was founded in 1953.

Question 80

Theremin

Answer 80

The theremin is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the thereminist.

Question 81

Krautrock

Answer 81

Krautrock is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, electronic music, and avant-garde composition among other sources

Question 82

Rhythim is Rhythim

Answer 82

Derrick May- electronic musician credited with pioneering techno music in the 1980s along with collaborators Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson

Question 83

Frankie Knuckles

Answer 83

American DJ, record producer and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music in Chicago during the 1980s

Question 84

Drum machine

Answer 84

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones.

Question 85

Tonto’s expanding head band

Answer 85

British-American electronic music duo consisting of Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. Despite releasing only two albums in the early 1970s, the duo were influential because of their session and production work for other musicians and extensive commercial advertising work.

Question 86

Switched-On Bach

Answer 86

Switched-On Bach is the debut album by the American composer Wendy Carlos (1968). collection of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by Carlos and Benjamin Folkman on a Moog synthesizer.