America on Record
A History of Recorded Sound

A history of sound recording from the nineteenth to the twenty first century, first published in 2006.

Andre Millard (Author)

9780521835152, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 December 2005

474 pages, 51 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.755 kg

'This is an excellent advertisement for an American Studies approach to past attitudes and mores that a less focused approach would lose: cultural history at its best.' History

With Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph, the beautiful music that was the preserve of the wealthy became a mass-produced consumer good, cheap enough to be available to all. In 1877 Edison dreamed that one day there would be a talking machine in every home. America on Record: A History of Recorded Sound, first published in 2006, provides a history of sound recording from the first thin sheet of tinfoil that was manipulated into retaining sound to the home recordings of rappers in the 1980s and the high-tech studios of the 1990s. This book examines the important technical developments of acoustic, electric, and digital sound reproduction while outlining the cultural impact of recorded music and movies. This second edition updates the story, describing the digital revolution of sound recording with the rise of computers, Napster, DVD, MP3, and iPod.

Preface
Introduction
Part I. The Acoustic Era: 1. The inventors
2. A phonograph in every home
3. The international industry of recorded sound
4. The music
5. Recorded sound in the Jazz Age
Part II. The Electrical Era: 6. The machines
7. Competing technologies
8. Empires of sound
9. Swing and the mass audience
10. High fidelity at last
11. Rock'n'roll and the revolution in music
12. The record
13. The studio
14. Perfecting studio recording
15. The cassette culture
Part III. The Digital Era: 16. The media conglomerates
17. Into the digital era
18. Consolidation and connectivity in the digital era.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History of the Americas [HBJK], Music recording & reproduction [AVX]