Repeated Takes: A Short History of Recording and Its Effects on Music [Paperback]

Michael Chanan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1859840124 | ISBN-13: 978-1859840122 | Publication Date: July 1, 1997

Repeated Takes is the first general book on the history of the recording industry, covering the entire field from Edison's talking tin foil of 1877 to the age of the compact disc. Michael Chana considers the record as a radically new type of commodity which turned the intangible performance of music into a saleable abject, and describes the upset which this caused in musical culture. He asks: what goes on in a recording studio? How does this affect the music? Do we listen to music differently from our forebears because of reproduction? Repeated Takes relates the growth and development of the industry, both technically and economically; the effects of the microphone on interpretation in both classical and popular music; and the impact of all these factors on musical styles and taste. This highly readable book also traces the connections between the development of recording and the rise of new forms of popular music, and discusses arguments among classical musicians about microphone technique and studio practice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Repeated Takes is an informed journey through the parts that other books rarely reach. It tells a story of technology, industrial change and corporate warfare. It is a fascinating book rich in reference." - Stuart Cosgrove, Channel Four Television

About the Author

Michael Chanan is a filmmaker, writer and teacher. He has written books on various aspects of film, including The Dream That Kicks and The Cuban Image. His most recent book is Musica Practica, a companion volume to Repeated Takes, which discusses the social practice of Western Music.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Verso (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859840124
• ISBN-13: 978-1859840122
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When music began to be recorded, everything changed, July 7, 1998

By 

Cap'n Pete (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Repeated Takes: A Short History of Recording and Its Effects on Music (Paperback)

This is a book about what audio recording has done to our minds, our culture, our economy, and most of all to our relationship with music. Along the way, Chanan gives an excellent short history of "phonography --" the art of recording sound, from 1902 when Caruso's voice was found to perfectly suited to drowning out surface noise, up to the '90s, when Chuck D of Public Enemy explains that the sound of New York City rap is "more of a headphone thing" because people in the Big Apple don't drive much. Songs from places where you need wheels, like Philadelphia or L.A. are made to be heard on car stereos instead.

The advent of the Edison cylinder, and later the 78 rpm disc, forever changed the fundamental relationship of musician, music, and listener. Prior to recordings, music was etherial, gone forever when the performance was over, and known only to those who were there. When music became a commodity, the performance was separated from a time and place. Moreover, it provided a way to "notate" musical forms (like the blues) that had been transmitted only in person.

Early on, it became apparent that there was big money to be made if one had a hit record -- Caruso personally made over $2 million between 1902 and 1921, when he died -- and corporations were quick to start what we now know as the Record Business. Chanan describes the confluence of technology, copyright law, and popular culture that has made the music scene what it is today: a massive multinational machine, that requires a steady stream of fresh, disposable product.

We are musically different creatures then our ancestors of a century ago. A hundred years ago, no one could have imagined music being used as aural furniture, as it is in an elevator, airport, or dentist's office. Not a single one of our great-great-grandparents ever had the experience of intimately *knowing* a performance as we do -- of having the first note of an overheard Motown song germinate inside your head with 20 years worth of memo! ries, and "hearing" every nuance of horn, snare, and reverb before they occur.

This isn't a book that one blows through in a hurry. I had to keep stopping to reread sentences and let them sink in, and adjust to some new perspective on a topic I thought I knew all about. My modest recording studio seems different now; somehow more powerful and more miraculous. I don't know if I'm a better phonographer for having read _Repeated Takes_, but I do know a lot more about the implications of pressing "Record."

5.0 out of 5 stars Repeated Takes Text Book, January 2, 2011

By 

Esthetitech - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Repeated Takes: A Short History of Recording and Its Effects on Music (Paperback)

Loads of information. Only wish I had the complimentary book, Musica Practica, for my research paper. Would have rounded out the information in Repeated Takes.