Susan Schmidt Horning. Chasing Sound

The hundred years after Thomas Edison invented the phonograph marked the rapid advance of sound recording technology and the creation of a new type of workplace to exploit these technologies. This book chronicles the history of the recording studio from its earliest incarnation in Edison's laboratory to the modern, multi-track studio with all the electronic facilities to create sound rather than just save it. Susan Schmidt Horning presents not only the technology but also the culture and art of studio recording. She does an excellent job of explaining the technology, she raises the important issues in the evolving culture of studio recording, and she wisely leaves the appreciation of the art to the reader. This is a story rich in technological innovations, some of which have been considered revolutionary, and it provides many examples of the ways that technology interacts with culture; the ability to control recording influenced the way that musicians and composers conceived the music they could record.

Acoustics · Art · Electrical engineering · Phonograph · Sound (geography) · Sound recording and reproduction · Studio · Visual arts · Chinese history and philosophy · Engineering · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies