1.
Gramophone record
–
The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. The phonograph disc record was the medium used for music reproduction until late in the 20th century. It had co-existed with the cylinder from the late 1880s. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as compact cassette were mass-marketed, by the late 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the vinyl record left the mainstream in 1991. The phonograph record has made a resurgence in the early 21st century –9.2 million records were sold in the U. S. in 2014. Likewise, in the UK sales have increased five-fold from 2009 to 2014, as of 2017,48 record pressing facilities remain worldwide,18 in the United States and 30 in other countries. The increased popularity of vinyl has led to the investment in new, only two producers of lacquers remains, Apollo Masters in California, USA, and MDC in Japan. Vinyl records may be scratched or warped if stored incorrectly but if they are not exposed to heat or broken. The large cover are valued by collectors and artists for the space given for visual expression, in the 2000s, these tracings were first scanned by audio engineers and digitally converted into audible sound. Phonautograms of singing and speech made by Scott in 1860 were played back as sound for the first time in 2008, along with a tuning fork tone and unintelligible snippets recorded as early as 1857, these are the earliest known recordings of sound. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, unlike the phonautograph, it was capable of both recording and reproducing sound. Despite the similarity of name, there is no evidence that Edisons phonograph was based on Scotts phonautograph. Edison first tried recording sound on a paper tape, with the idea of creating a telephone repeater analogous to the telegraph repeater he had been working on. The tinfoil was wrapped around a metal cylinder and a sound-vibrated stylus indented the tinfoil while the cylinder was rotated. The recording could be played back immediately, Edison also invented variations of the phonograph that used tape and disc formats. A decade later, Edison developed a greatly improved phonograph that used a wax cylinder instead of a foil sheet. This proved to be both a better-sounding and far more useful and durable device, the wax phonograph cylinder created the recorded sound market at the end of the 1880s and dominated it through the early years of the 20th century. Berliners earliest discs, first marketed in 1889, but only in Europe, were 12.5 cm in diameter, both the records and the machine were adequate only for use as a toy or curiosity, due to the limited sound quality
Gramophone record
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Edison wax cylinder phonograph c. 1899
Gramophone record
Gramophone record
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Emil Berliner with disc record gramophone
Gramophone record
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Hungarian Pathé record, 90 to 100 rpm
2.
Transcription disc
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A transcription disc is a special phonograph record intended for, or recorded from, a radio broadcast. Sometimes called a broadcast transcription or radio transcription or nicknamed a platter, Transcription discs are most commonly 16 inches in diameter and recorded at 33 1/3 rpm. Also a potential source of confusion are RCA Victors Program Transcription discs,10 or 12 inch diameter 33 1/3 rpm records pressed in shellac and Victrolac vinyl in the early 1930s, Transcription discs are of two basic types, pressings and instantaneous discs. Pressings were created in the way as ordinary records. A master recording was cut into a wax or acetate disc. This was electroplated to produce a stamper from which a number of identical discs were pressed in shellac or vinyl in a record press. Although the earliest transcription discs were pressed in shellac, in the mid-1930s quieter vinyl compounds were substituted and these discs were used to distribute syndicated programming to individual radio stations. By late 1929, instantaneous recordings were being made by indenting, as opposed to engraving, in late 1934, a new type of instantaneous disc was commercially introduced. It consisted of a core disc coated with black cellulose nitrate lacquer. Later, during World War II, when aluminum was a war material. A recording lathe and chisel-like cutting stylus like those used to record in wax would be used to engrave the groove into this lacquer surface instead. Standard 16 inch transcription discs of the 1930s and 1940s usually held about 15 minutes of audio on each side, unlike ordinary records, some were recorded inside out, with the start of the recording near the label and the end near the edge of the disc. The label usually noted whether the disc was outside start or inside start, if there was no such notation, an outside start was assumed. Beginning in the mid-1950s, some transcription discs started employing the microgroove groove dimensions used by the 12 and 10 inch 33 1/3 rpm vinyl LP records introduced for use in 1948. This allowed 30 minutes to fit comfortably on each side of a 16-inch disc and these later discs can be played with an ordinary modern stylus or a vintage LP stylus. The earlier discs used a groove, nearer in size to the groove of a typical 78 rpm shellac record. The network ban on prerecorded material was lifted on the occasion of the crash of the airship Hindenburg in Lakehurst. A recording of the made for Chicago radio station WLS by announcer Herbert Morrison was allowed to be broadcast over the network by NBC
Transcription disc
–
Radio portal
3.
Master recording
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Mastering requires critical listening, however, software tools exist to facilitate the process. Mastering is a gateway between production and consumption and, as such, it involves technical knowledge as well as specific aesthetics. Results still depend upon the accuracy of speaker monitors and the listening environment, mastering engineers may also need to apply corrective equalization and dynamic compression in order to optimise sound translation on all playback systems. It is standard practice to make a copy of a recording, known as a safety copy, in case the master is lost. In the earliest days of the industry, all phases of the recording and mastering process were entirely achieved by mechanical processes. The cutting head, driven by the energy transferred from the horn and these masters were usually made from either a soft metal alloy or from wax, this gave rise to the colloquial term waxing, referring to the cutting of a record. Until the introduction of recording, master recordings were almost always cut direct-to-disc. Only a small minority of recordings were mastered using previously recorded material sourced from other discs, in the late 1940s, the recording industry was revolutionized by the introduction of magnetic tape. Magnetic tape was invented for recording sound by Fritz Pfleumer in 1928 in Germany, not until the end of World War II could the technology be found outside of Europe. The introduction of tape recording enabled master discs to be cut separately in time. From the 1950s until the advent of recording in the late 1970s. Once the studio recording on tape was complete, a final mix was prepared and dubbed down to the master tape. Prior to the cutting of the disc, the master tape was often subjected to further electronic treatment by a specialist mastering engineer. After the advent of tape it was found that, especially for pop recordings and this was done by making fine adjustments to the amplitude of sound at different frequency bands prior to the cutting of the master disc. Record mastering became a prized and skilled craft, and it was widely recognized that good mastering could make or break a commercial pop recording. As a result, the independent mastering studio was born, early independent mastering engineers included Doug Sax, Bob Ludwig, Bob Katz and Bernie Grundman and Denny Purcell. In large recording companies such as EMI, the process was usually controlled by specialist staff technicians who were conservative in their work practices. In the 1990s, electro-mechanical processes were largely superseded by digital technology, with digital recordings stored on disk drives or digital tape
Master recording
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Magnetic tape was commonly used to create master copies.
Master recording
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Optimum Digital Levels with respect to the Full Digital Scale (dBFSD)
Master recording
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A common mastering processor for
dynamic range compression
4.
Magnetic tape
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Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording, devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders. A device that stores data on magnetic tape is a tape drive. Magnetic tape revolutionized broadcast and recording, when all radio was live, it allowed programming to be recorded. At a time when gramophone records were recorded in one take, it allowed recordings to be made in multiple parts, which were then mixed and edited with tolerable loss in quality. It was a key technology in computer development, allowing unparalleled amounts of data to be mechanically created, stored for long periods. Nowadays, other technologies can perform the functions of magnetic tape, in many cases, these technologies are replacing tape. Despite this, innovation in the technology continues, and Sony, over years, magnetic tape made in the 1970s and 1980s can suffer from a type of deterioration called sticky-shed syndrome. Caused by hydrolysis of the binder of the tape, it can render the tape unusable, the oxide side of a tape is the surface that can be magnetically manipulated by a tape head. This is the side that stores the information, the side is simply a substrate to hold the tape together. The name originates from the fact that the side of most tapes is made of an oxide of iron. Magnetic tape was invented for recording sound by Fritz Pfleumer in 1928 in Germany, based on the invention of magnetic wire recording by Oberlin Smith in 1888, pfleumers invention used a ferric oxide powder coating on a long strip of paper. This invention was developed by the German electronics company AEG, which manufactured the recording machines and BASF. In 1933, working for AEG, Eduard Schuller developed the ring-shaped tape head, previous head designs were needle-shaped and tended to shred the tape. An important discovery made in this period was the technique of AC biasing, due to the escalating political tensions, and the outbreak of World War II, these developments were largely kept secret. A wide variety of recorders and formats have developed since, most significantly reel-to-reel, the practice of recording and editing audio using magnetic tape rapidly established itself as an obvious improvement over previous methods. Many saw the potential of making the same improvements in recording television, television signals are similar to audio signals. A major difference is that video signals use more bandwidth than audio signals, existing audio tape recorders could not practically capture a video signal
Magnetic tape
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7-inch reel of ¼-inch-wide audio recording tape, typical of consumer use in the 1950s–70s
Magnetic tape
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Compact Cassette
Magnetic tape
–
Small open reel of
9 track tape
Magnetic tape
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Quarter inch cartridges, a data format commonly used in the 1980s and 1990s.
5.
Electroforming
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Electroforming is a metal forming process that forms parts through electrodeposition or electroplating on a model, known in the industry as a mandrel. Conductive mandrels are pre-treated chemically to allow subsequent separation of the finished electroform, conductive layers can be deposited chemically, or using vacuum deposition techniques. The outer surface of the forms the inner surface of the form. A thick layer of electroplating is applied until the plate itself is enough to be self-supporting. The mandrel is most often separated intact or dissolved away after forming, the side of the part that was in contact with the plating solution is less well defined, and that loss of definition increases with thickness of plating. In extreme cases, where a thickness of several millimetres is required, there is preferential build-up of material on sharp outside edges and corners. This tendency can be reduced by a known as periodic reverse, where the plating current is reversed for short periods during electroforming. The finished plated form can either be the part, or can be used in a subsequent process to produce a positive of the original mandrel shape. In the basic electroforming process, a bath is used to deposit nickel or other electroformable metals onto a conductive patterned surface. Once the deposited material has been built up to the desired thickness and this process allows high-quality duplication of the premaster and therefore permits quality production—at low unit costs with high repeatability and excellent process control. If the mandrel is made of a material it can be covered with a conductive coating. Technically, it is a process of synthesizing a metal object by controlling the electrodeposition of metal passing through an electrolytic solution onto a metal or metalized form. The object being electroformed can be a permanent part of the end product or can be temporary, and removed later, leaving only the metal form, new technologies have made it possible for mandrels to be very complex. In order to facilitate the removal of the electroform from the mandrel, because aluminum can easily be chemically dissolved, a complex electroform can be produced with near exactness. The main advantage of electroforming is that it reproduces the external shape of the mandrel within one micrometre, compared to other basic metal forming processes electroforming is very effective when requirements call for extreme tolerances, complexity or light weight. Electroformed metal is extremely pure, with superior properties over wrought metal due to its crystal structure. Multiple layers of electroformed metal can be bonded together, or to different substrate materials to produce complex structures with grown-on flanges and bosses. Tolerances of 1.5 to 3 nanometres have been reported, a wide variety of shapes and sizes can be made by electroforming, the principal limitation being the need to part the product from the mandrel
Electroforming
–
Electroforming process
6.
Record press
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A record press is a machine for manufacturing vinyl records. It is essentially a hydraulic press fitted with thin nickel stampers which are negative impressions of a master disc, labels and a pre-heated vinyl patty are placed in a heated mold cavity. Two stampers are used, one for each of side of the disc, the record press closes under a pressure of about 150 tons. The process of compression molding forces the hot vinyl to fill the grooves in the stampers, in the mid 1960s Emory Cook developed a system of record forming wherein the mold pressure was replaced by a vacuum. In this technique the mold cavity was evacuated and vinyl was introduced in micro-particle form, the particles were then flash-fused instantaneously at a high temperature forming a coherent solid. Cook called this disc manufacturing technology microfusion, a small pressing plant in Hollywood also employed a similar system which they maintained fused the particles more evenly throughout the disc thickness calling their product polymax. Both claimed the resultant disc grooves exhibited less surface noise and greater resistance to deformation from stylus tip inertia than convention pressure molded vinyl discs
Record press
–
Cutaway shot of one side of a 7" record mould with stamper fitted.
7.
Nitrocellulose lacquer
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The term lacquer is used for a number of hard and potentially shiny finishes applied to materials such as wood. These fall into a number of different groups. This dries to a hard and smooth surface layer which is durable, waterproof. Asian lacquer is sometimes painted with pictures, inlaid with shell and other materials, or carved, as well as dusted with gold and given other further decorative treatments. In modern techniques, lacquer means a range of clear or coloured wood finishes that dry by solvent evaporation or a process that produces a hard. The finish can be of any level from ultra matte to high gloss. It is also used for paint, which is a paint that typically dries better on a hard. Lacquer is more durable than shellac and these ultimately derive from Sanskrit lākshā, which was used for both the Lac insect and the scarlet resinous secretion it produces that was used as wood finish. Lac resin was once imported in quantity into Europe from India along with Eastern woods. Lacquer sheen is a measurement of the shine for a given lacquer, different manufacturers have their own names and standards for their sheen. The most common names from least shiny to most shiny are, flat, matte, egg shell, satin, semi-gloss, urushiol-based lacquers differ from most others, being slow-drying, and set by oxidation and polymerization, rather than by evaporation alone. In order for it to set properly it requires a humid, the phenols oxidize and polymerize under the action of an enzyme laccase, yielding a substrate that, upon proper evaporation of its water content, is hard. These lacquers produce very hard, durable finishes that are beautiful and very resistant to damage by water, acid, alkali or abrasion. The active ingredient of the resin is urushiol, a mixture of various phenols suspended in water, the resin is derived from a tree indigenous to China, species Toxicodendron vernicifluum, commonly known as the Lacquer Tree. The fresh resin from the T. vernicifluum trees causes urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, the Chinese treated the allergic reaction with crushed shellfish, which supposedly prevents lacquer from drying properly. Lacquer skills became very highly developed in Asia, and many highly decorated pieces were produced, the earliest extant lacquer object, a red wooden bowl, was unearthed at a Hemudu culture site in China. By the Han Dynasty, many centres of production became firmly established. The knowledge of the Chinese methods of the process spread from China during the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, eventually it was introduced to Korea, Japan, Southeast
Nitrocellulose lacquer
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Lacquer box with inlaid
mother of pearl peony decor,
Ming Dynasty, 16th century
Nitrocellulose lacquer
–
Armorial screen
Nitrocellulose lacquer
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A Chinese six-pointed tray, red lacquer over wood, from the Song Dynasty (960–1279), 12th-13th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Nitrocellulose lacquer
–
Ming Dynasty Chinese
lacquerware container, dated 16th century.
8.
Cellulose acetate
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Cellulose acetate is the acetate ester of cellulose. It was first prepared in 1865, in photographic film, cellulose acetate replaced nitrate film in the 1950s, being far less flammable and cheaper to produce. In 1865, Paul Schützenberger discovered that cellulose reacts with acetic anhydride to form cellulose acetate, the German chemists Arthur Eichengrün and Theodore Becker invented the first soluble forms of cellulose acetate in 1903. For five years, the Dreyfus brothers studied and experimented in a manner in Switzerland. Unfortunately the outbreak of World War I postponed commercial development of this process, in November 1914, the British Government invited Dr. Camille Dreyfus to come to England to manufacture acetate dope, and the British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Co was set up. In 1917, after the United States had entered the war, War Department invited Dr. Dreyfus to establish a similar factory in the US. Both operations were run throughout the war. After the war, attention returned to the production of acetate fibers, the first yarn was of fair quality, but sales resistance was heavy, and silk associates worked zealously to discredit acetate and discourage its use. However, the nature of acetate made it an excellent fiber for moiré, because the pattern was permanent. The same characteristic also made permanent pleating a commercial fact for the first time, Cellulose acetate and cellulose triacetate are mistakenly referred to as the same fiber, although they are similar, their chemical compositions and formulae differ. Triacetate is known as a description or primary acetate containing no hydroxyl group. Acetate fiber is known as modified or secondary acetate having two or more hydroxyl groups, triacetate fibers, although no longer produced in the United States, contain a higher ratio of acetate-to-cellulose than do acetate fibers. Cellulose acetate film was introduced in 1934 as a replacement for the nitrate film stock that had previously been standard. Acetate film stock is used in some applications, such as camera negative for motion pictures. Since the 1980s, polyester film stock has become more commonplace, Acetate film was also used as the base for magnetic tape, prior to the advent of polyester film. Cellulose acetate magnetic tape was introduced by IBM in 1952 for use on their IBM726 tape drive in the IBM701 computer. It was much lighter and easier to handle than the metal tape introduced by UNIVAC in 1951 for use on their UNISERVO tape drive in the UNIVAC I computer. In 1956 cellulose acetate magnetic tape was replaced by the more stable PET film magnetic tape for use on their IBM727 tape drive, Cellulose acetate fiber is one of the earliest synthetic fibers and is based on cotton or tree pulp cellulose
Cellulose acetate
–
Acetate foil for
laminating
9.
Direct Metal Mastering
–
Records manufactured with this technology are often marked by a DMM logo on the outer record sleeve. Many current production high quality pressings, as well as standard production LPs from the 1990s, Neumann was responsible for manufacturing the actual DMM cutting equipment as part of their VMS80 series lathes. This preserves the original modulation details in the groove walls much better, the improved transient response, as well as the more linear phase response of DMM improve the overall stability and depth-of-field in the stereo image. In addition, disturbing adjacent groove print-through sounds are reduced in DMM, the cutting lathe for DMM engraves the audio signal directly onto a copper-plated master disc, instead of engraving the groove into a lacquer-coated aluminum disc. Examination of early DMM discs revealed what appeared to be a frequency modulation in the groove. In fact, there was no carrier tone and the modulation was simply caused by the vibration of the head as it was dragged through the copper disc. The DMM copper master disc can be plated to produce the number of stampers using the one-step plating process. Rather than having to electroform a master, mother and then stampers, bypassing the silvering process and two electroforming stages reduces the risk of introducing noise that can be generated in the electroforming process. In cases where hundreds of stampers may be required, the DMM disc is used as a mandrel to electroform a master and mother. Chemical passivation of the surface of each part precludes plating. Along with mechanical audio recording and vinyl LP pressing in general, since the sale of Neumann to German microphone manufacturer Sennheiser, Neumann no longer produces lathes or supplies parts. The lathes in use today are kept operational by independent service consultants, as well as cutting room personnel themselves, often by buying incomplete lathes, the DMM specification also includes a profile for the pressing of 12 records. To the naked eye, this profile has no obvious contour on the face of the giving the appearance of a totally flat faced record. The lack of obvious contour in the area on the face of the record closely replicates the original disc surface. Pressing records with this profile was mandatory for a record to bear the DMM logo, the best example of a DMM pressing can usually be found on the Teldec or EMI labels from the early-1980s. As at 2009 there are six or seven DMM cutting facilities left in the world - all located in Europe, the USA lost its last DMM cutting facility in 2005 with the demise of New York City based record manufacturer Europadisk LLC. Europadisks DMM lathe was sold at auction on 20-SEP-05 to the Church of Scientology for US $72,500, after further development, Teldec attempted to sell its DMM technology back to RCA, however RCA was not interested. Therefore, as a result, all DMM titles from RCA, although Neumann produced, demonstrated and promoted a successful prototype CD Mastering unit for DMM, it never went into commercial production
Direct Metal Mastering
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DMM copper disc sitting on the turntable of a Neumann AM131 lathe, built in the 1930s
10.
Electronic dance music
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Electronic dance music is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. EDM is generally produced for playback by disc jockeys who create seamless selections of tracks, called a mix, EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. In the United Kingdom and in continental Europe, EDM is more commonly called dance music or simply dance. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, following the emergence of raving, pirate radio, at this time a perceived association between EDM and drug culture led governments at state and city level to enact laws and policies intended to halt the spread of rave culture. By the early 2010s the term dance music and the initialism EDM was being pushed by the US music industry. Early examples of dance music include the disco music of Giorgio Moroder. During the early 1980s, the popularity of disco music declined in the United States, abandoned by major US record labels. European disco continued evolving within the mainstream pop music scene. European acts Silver Convention, Love and Kisses, Munich Machine, and American acts Donna Summer, in 1977, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte produced I Feel Love for Donna Summer. It became the first well-known disco hit to have a completely synthesised backing track, other disco producers, most famously American producer Tom Moulton, grabbed ideas and techniques from dub music to provide alternatives to the four on the floor style that dominated. The sound that originated from P-Funk the electronic side of disco, dub music. Much of the music produced during this time was, like disco, at this time creative control started shifting to independent record companies, less established producers, and club DJs. Other dance styles that began to become popular during the era include dance-pop, boogie, electro, Italo disco, house. In the early 1980s, electro emerged as a fusion of funk, also called electro-boogie, but later shortened to electro, cited pioneers include Zapp, D. Train, Sinnamon. Early hip hop and rap combined with German and Japanese electropop influences such as Kraftwerk, as the electronic sound developed, instruments such as the bass guitar and drums were replaced by synthesizers and most notably by iconic drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808. Early uses of the TR-808 include several Yellow Magic Orchestra tracks in 1980-1981, the 1982 track Planet Rock by Afrikaa Bambaataa, and the 1982 song Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye. In 1982, producer Arthur Baker with Afrika Bambaataa released the seminal Planet Rock which was influenced by the Yellow Magic Orchestra using Kraftwerk samples, Planet Rock was followed later that year by another breakthrough electro record, Nunk by Warp 9. In 1983, Hashim created an electro funk sound which influenced Herbie Hancock, the early 1980s were electros mainstream peak
Electronic dance music
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Roland TB-303: The
bass line synthesizer that was used prominently in
acid house.
Electronic dance music
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Typical tools for EDM production: computer, MIDI keyboard and mixer/sound recorder.
Electronic dance music
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An EDM festival in 2013 with over 100,000 attendees, exhibiting the large crowds and dramatic lighting common at such events since the early 2000s.
11.
Disc jockey
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A disc jockey is a person who mixes different sources of pre-existing recorded music as it is playing, usually for a live audience in a nightclub or dance club or via broadcasting. DJs typically perform for an audience in a nightclub or dance club or a TV, radio broadcast audience, or in the 2010s. DJs also create mixes, remixes and tracks that are recorded for later sale, in hip hop music, DJs may create beats, using percussion breaks, basslines and other musical content sampled from pre-existing records. In hip hop, rappers and MCs use these beats to rap over, DJs use equipment that can play at least two sources of recorded music simultaneously and mix them together. This allows the DJ to create seamless transitions between recordings and develop unique mixes of songs, DJ equipment, notably the specialized DJ mixer, a small audio mixer with a crossfader and cue functions. The crossfader enables the DJ to blend or transition from one song to another, the cue knobs or switches allow the DJ to preview a source of recorded music in headphones before playing it for the live club or broadcast audience. Previewing the music in headphones helps the DJ pick the track they want to play. DJs may also use a microphone to speak to the audience, effects such as reverb to create sound effects, drum machines. The title DJ is also used by DJs in front of their real names or adopted pseudonyms or stage names as a title to denote their profession. Some DJs focus on creating a mix of songs for the club dancers or radio audience. Other DJs use turntablism techniques such as scratching, in which the DJ or turntablist manipulates the record player turntable to create new sounds. In many types of DJing, including club DJing and radio/TV DJing, there are several types of disc jockey. Radio DJs or radio personalities introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, club DJs select and play music in bars, nightclubs or discothèques, or at parties, raves, or even in stadiums. Mobile DJs travel with portable sound systems and play recorded music at a variety of events. Some mobile DJs also serve as the master of ceremonies at weddings or other events, directing the attention of attendees, there are also many competitions for DJs that specialize in different turntablism techniques, such as mixing, hip hop music-style scratching or other kinds of techniques. Other types of DJ use musical performance techniques that allow them to be categorized as performing musicians, hip hop DJs and are also often songwriters or music producers who use turntablism and sampling to create backing instrumentals for new tracks. In reggae, the DJ is a vocalist who raps, toasts, chants or chats over pre-recorded rhythm tracks, the individual who helps the DJ by selecting tracks or records to be played is called the selector. Many electronica artists and producers who work as DJs often perform music by combining turntablism with keyboards, digital musical instruments
Disc jockey
–
A DJ performing at an event
Disc jockey
–
Technics 1200 MK2, Technics 1210 MK2, and Pioneer DJM-500 shown in a common DJ configuration
Disc jockey
–
A DJ at Sundance Film Festival 2003
Disc jockey
–
A young woman plays a gramophone in an air raid shelter in north London (1940).
12.
Sound system (Jamaican)
–
In the context of Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music. The sound system is an important part of Jamaican culture and history, the sound system concept first became popular in the 1950s, in the ghettos of Kingston. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, in the beginning, the DJs played American rhythm and blues music, but as time progressed and more local music was created, the sound migrated to a local flavor. The sound systems were big business, and represented one of the few ways to make money in the unstable economy of the area. The promoter or DJ made his profit by charging admission and selling food and alcohol and it was also around this time that Jamaicas first superstar DJ and MC, Count Machuki, rose to prominence. Competition between these systems was fierce, and eventually two DJs emerged as the stars of the scene, Clement Coxsone Dodd, and Duke Reid. Besides the DJ, who rapped over the music, there was also a selector, the popularity of a sound system was mainly contingent on one thing, having new music. In order to circumvent the release cycle of the American record labels, initially, they produced only singles for their own sound systems, known as Exclusives or Dubplates—a limited run of one copy per song. What began as an attempt to replicate the American R&B sound using local musicians evolved into a uniquely Jamaican musical genre, as this new musical form became more popular, both Dodd and Reid began to move more seriously into music production. Coxsone Dodds production studio became the famous Studio One, while Duke Reid founded Treasure Isle, as sound systems continued to gain in popularity through the 1960s and 1970s, they became politicized in many instances. Many sound systems, and their owners, were labeled as supporters of a political party. Nevertheless, as a cultural and economic phenomenon, the system was affected by the vast socio-political changes taking place in Jamaica at this time. An important part of sound system culture is the sound clash, the Guinness Sounds of Greatness is one of many such clashes. The culture of the Sound System was brought to the UK with the immigration of Jamaicans in the 1960s and 1970s. Notable UK Sound Systems include Sir Coxsone Outernational Jah Shaka, Channel One, Aba Shanti-I, Jah Observer, Iration Steppas, Fatman International and Saxon Studio International. One of the first sound systems in the United States was Downbeat the Ruler, founded in Bronx, New York and these sound systems were the method in which these migrants were able to maintain their cultural connection with their roots. They broadcast the remixed samples of Reggae beats and created a music culture. This culture was separate from the population which relied on the radio to provide popular music
Sound system (Jamaican)
–
Genres
13.
Dubplates
–
The dub in dubplate is an allusion to the plates use in dubbing or doubling the original version of a track. These dubplates will often be either unreleased recordings or exclusive versions or remixes of existing recordings and they are often used as a market research tool to assess the probable sales of a tune once it is released, as they are far cheaper to produce than a pressed vinyl record. However, because the material of the disc is very soft, after about fifty plays the loss in sound quality becomes noticeable. Vinyl dubplates are a recently developed format which allow extremely durable recordings to be made and are suited to cases where no release is imminent. Although CD is now the preferred format for these recordings, the use of the word Dubplate to describe them has survived. These recordings are used for competing in a sound clash. Dubplate Specials are a tool in a sound clash – the more exclusive the better –. A notable example is the special of No, No, No recorded by Dawn Penn for a number of systems in the early nineties. The special recorded for Saxon Studio International sound system replaced the lyrics No, no, no, with No, no, no, cant test Saxon, referring to the invincibility of the sound system. The song became an hit, and Dawn Penn endorsed several other sound systems with the same lyrics. A list of currently operating dubplate cutting studios Ten of the baddest Roots Dubplates of all time – by Jah Warrior Dubplate Pressure – From Mixmag magazine
Dubplates
–
10" acetate discs with extra centre hole.
Dubplates
–
Dubplates of the three main sizes
14.
Drum and bass
–
Drum and bass is a genre and branch of electronic music which emerged from rave and oldschool jungle scenes in England during the early 1990s. The style is characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, sampled sources. The popularity of drum and bass at its peak ran parallel to several other homegrown dance styles in the UK including big beat. Drum and bass incorporates a number of scenes and styles, a major influence on jungle and drum and bass was the original Jamaican dub and reggae sound. Another feature of the style is the syncopation of the drum tracks breakbeat. Drum and bass subgenres include breakcore, ragga jungle, hardstep, darkstep, techstep, neurofunk, ambient drum and bass, liquid funk, deep, drumfunk, funkstep, sambass, dnbnoise, from its roots in the UK, the style has established itself around the world. Drum and bass has influenced other genres like hip hop, big beat, dubstep, house, trip hop, ambient music, techno, rock. Drum and bass is dominated by a small group of record labels. The major international labels have shown very little interest in the drum. But rave music tended to feature stronger bass sounds and a faster tempo beats per minute than that of early house music and it is important to note when discussing the history of drum and bass that prior to jungle, rave music was getting faster and more experimental. Professional DJ and producer C. K. states, There was a progression as far as the speed of music is concerned, anyone buying vinyl every week from 1989 to 1992 noticed this. By 1994, jungle had begun to gain popularity and fans of the music became a more recognisable part of youth subculture. However, this developed in tandem with the positive reputation of the music as part of the wider rave scene. As the genre became more polished and sophisticated technically, it began to expand its reach from pirate radio to commercial stations. It also began to split into subgenres such as jump-up. The popularity of drum and bass at its peak ran parallel to several other homegrown dance styles in the UK including big beat. But towards the turn of the millennium its popularity was deemed to have dwindled as the UK garage style known as speed garage yielded several hit singles. London DJ/producer C. K. says, It is often forgotten by my students that a type of music called garage house existed in the late 1980s alongside hip house, acid house and other forms of house music
Drum and bass
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The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, produced 1980–1984, had a bass drum sound which became very important in Drum and bass.
Drum and bass
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Pendulum playing the Valve Sound System with MC IC3 at the Tuesday Club, Sheffield 05/03/06
Drum and bass
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Aphrodite in 2009 at
Pirate Station, the world's largest drum and bass festival, in Moscow.
Drum and bass
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Congo Natty, a ragga jungle artist
15.
Dubstep
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Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, England. It emerged in the late 1990s as a development within a lineage of related styles such as 2-step garage, dub, techno, drum and bass, broken beat, jungle, and reggae. In the United Kingdom the origins of the genre can be traced back to the growth of the Jamaican sound system party scene in the early 1980s, the music generally features sparse, syncopated drum and percussion patterns with bass lines that contain prominent sub bass frequencies. The earliest dubstep releases date back to 1998, and were featured as B-sides of 2-step garage single releases. These tracks were darker, more experimental remixes with less emphasis on vocals, a very early supporter of the sound was BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who started playing it from 2003 onwards. In 2004, the last year of his show, his listeners voted Distance, Digital Mystikz, simultaneously, the genre was receiving extensive coverage in music magazines such as The Wire and online publications such as Pitchfork, with a regular feature entitled The Month In, Grime/Dubstep. Interest in dubstep grew significantly after BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs started championing the genre, towards the end of the 2000s and into the early 2010s, the genre started to become more commercially successful in the UK, with more singles and remixes entering the music charts. Music journalists and critics noticed a dubstep influence in several pop artists work. The music website Allmusic has described Dubsteps overall sound as tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals. According to Simon Reynolds, Dubsteps constituents originally came from different points in the 1989—99 UK lineage, bleep n bass, jungle, techstep, Photek-style neurofunk, speed garage,2 step. Reynolds comments that the traces of pre-existing styles worked through their intrinsic sonic effects but also as signifiers, Dubsteps early roots are in the more experimental releases of UK garage producers, seeking to incorporate elements of drum and bass into the South London-based 2-step garage sound. These experiments often ended up on the B-side of a label or commercial garage release. Similar to a vocal garage hybrid – grime – the genres feel is commonly dark, tracks frequently use a minor key, other distinguishing features often found are the use of samples, a propulsive, sparse rhythm, and an almost omnipresent sub-bass. Some dubstep artists have incorporated a variety of outside influences. Dubstep rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled or incorporating tuplets, the tempo is nearly always in the range of 138–142 beats per minute, with a clap or snare usually inserted every third beat in a bar. In its early stages, dubstep was often more percussive, with influences from 2‑step drum patterns. A lot of producers were experimenting with tribal drum samples, such as Loefahs early release Truly Dread. One characteristic of certain strands of dubstep is the bass, often referred to as the wub
Dubstep
–
Musical score of the above recording.
Dubstep
–
Mala of
Digital Mystikz.
Dubstep
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The Big Apple Records shop, in
Croydon,
South London.
Dubstep
–
Dubstep producer
Skream, one of the most widely known names on the scene since the beginning of the Dubstep movement.
16.
Vinyl emulation software
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This has the added advantage of using turntables to play back audio recordings not available in phonograph form. This method allows DJs to scratch, beatmatch, and perform other turntablism that would be impossible with a conventional keyboard-and-mouse computer interface or less tactile control devices, the technology is also mainly referred to as DVS for Digital Vinyl System. Vinyl emulation normally uses special vinyl records which are played on conventional turntables, the vinyl is a recording of analog audio signals often referred to as timecode. The turntables audio output - the timecode recording - is routed into an analog-to-digital converter and this ADC may be a multi-channel soundcard or a dedicated external USB or firewire audio interface box, DJ controller device or compatible mixer. The ADC sends digital time code information to the software, which translates the signal into corresponding changes in the playback speed. The audio file will react as if were pressed directly onto the record, the result is digital audio playback that sounds like music manipulated by an analog vinyl recording. However, there is always a delay between the needles reading of the time code and the softwares playback of the audio. The delay time is treated as a figure of merit for vinyl emulation products, a shorter delay allows the DJ to have better response and control of the music and is usually not noticeable by the user or listener. In some countries, for example Finland, a digital DJ license is required to legally play copyrighted music with vinyl emulation software, final Scratch was the first vinyl emulation software sold publicly. Since its release in 2001, many software and hardware packages have been developed and marketed. Technical Information and Tips on Torqs Vinyl Control System by Chad Carrier, steven Carrolls history of digital vinyl and patent claims. The Spacedeck project developed by Chris Bauer in 1998
Vinyl emulation software
–
A close-up of a time-coded vinyl record
17.
Acetate
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An acetate /ˈæsᵻteɪt/ is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with an alkaline, earthy, or metallic base. Acetate also describes the base or ion typically found in aqueous solution. The neutral molecules formed by the combination of the acetate ion, the simplest of these is hydrogen acetate with corresponding salts, esters, and the polyatomic anion CH3CO2−, or CH3COO−. Most of the approximately 5 billion kilograms of acid produced annually in industry is used in the production of acetates. In nature, acetate is the most common building block for biosynthesis, for example, the fatty acids are produced by connecting the two carbon atoms from acetate to a growing fatty acid. When part of a salt, the formula of the ion is written as CH3CO2−, C2H3O2−. Chemists abbreviate acetate as OAc− or, less commonly, AcO−, thus, HOAc is the abbreviation for acetic acid, NaOAc for sodium acetate, and EtOAc for ethyl acetate. The abbreviation Ac is also encountered in chemical formulas to indicate the acetate ion. This abbreviation is not to be confused with the symbol of actinium, for example, the formula for sodium acetate might be abbreviated as NaAc, rather than NaC2H3O2. Although its systematic name is ethanoate, the common acetate remains the preferred IUPAC name, the acetate anion, −, is one of the carboxylate family. It is the base of acetic acid. Above a pH of 5.5, acetic acid converts to acetate, CH3COOH ⇌ CH3COO− + H+ Many acetate salts are ionic, examples of acetate complexes include chromium acetate and basic zinc acetate. Commercially important acetate salts are aluminium acetate, used in dyeing, ammonium acetate, a precursor to acetamide, all three salts are colourless and highly soluble in water. Acetate esters have the general formula CH3CO2R, where R is an organyl group, the esters are the dominant forms of acetate in the marketplace. Unlike the acetate salts, acetate esters are often liquids, lipophilic and they are popular because they have inoffensive, often sweet odors, they are inexpensive, and they are usually of low toxicity. Almost half of acetic acid production is consumed in the production of acetate, precursor to polyvinyl alcohol. The second largest use of acid is consumed in the production of cellulose acetate. In fact, acetate is jargon for cellulose acetate, which is used in the production of fibres or diverse products, Cellulose acetate can be found in many household products
Acetate
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Acetate
18.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
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Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
–
The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
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Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
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Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
19.
Brian Epstein
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Brian Samuel Epstein was an English music entrepreneur, best known for managing the Beatles. Epstein first discovered the Beatles in November 1961 during a lunchtime Cavern Club performance and he was instantly impressed and saw great potential in the group. Epstein was rejected by all major recording companies in London, until he secured a meeting with George Martin. In May 1962, Martin agreed to sign the Beatles, partly because of Epsteins conviction that the group would become internationally famous, the Beatles early success has been attributed to Epsteins management style, and the band trusted him without hesitation. In addition to handling the Beatles business affairs, Epstein often stepped in to mediate disputes within the group. The Beatles unquestioning loyalty to Epstein later proved detrimental, as the band rarely read contracts before signing them, Music publisher Dick James and his partner Charles Silver owned 51-percent of the company, Lennon and McCartney each owned 20%, and Epstein owned 9%. By 1969, Lennon and McCartney had lost control of all publishing rights to ATV Music Publishing, still, Epsteins death in 1967 marked the beginning of the groups dissolution and had a profound effect on each Beatle. In 1997, Paul McCartney said, If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, Epstein was Jewish, his grandfather Isaac Epstein was from Lithuania and had arrived in Britain in the 1890s at the age of eighteen. His grandmother Dinah was the daughter of Joseph and Esther Hyman, the Hymans had six more children. Isaac Epstein married Dinah Hyman in Manchester in 1900, in 1901, Isaac and Dinah were living at 80 Walton Road, Liverpool with Isaacs sister Rachael Epstein, above the furniture dealership that he founded. Dinah and Isaacs third child was Harry Epstein, Brian Epsteins father, eventually the family moved to a larger home at 27 Anfield Road, Liverpool. After Harry and his brother Leslie had joined the family firm, Epstein and Sons and enlarged his furniture business by taking over adjacent shops at 62/72 Walton Road to sell a range of other goods, such as musical instruments and household appliances. They called the expanding business NEMS, which offered lenient credit terms, Epsteins mother Malka was also involved in the Hyman furniture business, which also owned the Sheffield Veneering Company. In 2003, the home on Anfield Road was converted into a Beatles-themed hotel called Epstein House. Epstein was born on 19 September 1934 in Rodney Street, Liverpool, Harry and Queenie also had another son named Clive who was born 22 months after his older brother. During World War II, the Epsteins moved to Southport—where two schools expelled Epstein for laziness and poor performance—but returned to Liverpool in 1945, the Epsteins lived at 197 Queens Drive, Childwall in Liverpool, and remained there for the next 30 years. Epsteins parents moved him from one boarding school to another, including Clayesmore School in Dorset and he spent two years at Wrekin College in Shropshire, where he was taught the violin. He started work at his familys business on a £5 per week wage, after returning to Liverpool, he was put in charge of the Clarendon Furnishing shop in Hoylake and was made a director of NEMS in 1955
Brian Epstein
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Brian Epstein receives
Edison Award for Beatles at Grand Gala du Disque 1965
Brian Epstein
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The telegram that Epstein sent to
Mersey Beat newspaper in Liverpool to announce that he had secured the Beatles their first recording contract
Brian Epstein
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24 Chapel Street, London, where Epstein lived, and later died
Brian Epstein
–
The
Daily Mirror Headline: "EPSTEIN (The Beatle-Making Prince of Pop) DIES AT 32"
20.
The Beatles
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The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960
The Beatles
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The "Fab Four" Beatles lineup in 1964 Top: Lennon, McCartney Bottom: Harrison, Starr
The Beatles
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Abbey Road Studios main entrance
The Beatles
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McCartney, Harrison, Swedish pop singer
Lill-Babs and Lennon on the set of the Swedish television show Drop-In, 30 October 1963
The Beatles
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The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964
21.
The Velvet Underground
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The Velvet Underground was a rock band formed in New York, America, by singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. The provocative subject matter, musical experimentation, and often nihilistic attitudes explored in the work would prove influential in the development of punk rock. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the band No.19 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 by Patti Smith. The foundations for what would become the Velvet Underground were laid in late 1964, singer/songwriter/guitarist Lou Reed had performed with a few short-lived garage bands and had worked as a songwriter for Pickwick Records. Reed met John Cale, a Welshman who had moved to the United States to study classical music upon securing a scholarship. Cale had worked with experimental composers Cornelius Cardew and La Monte Young, Youngs use of extended drones would be a profound influence on the bands early sound. Cale was pleasantly surprised to discover that Reeds experimentalist tendencies were similar to his own, the pair rehearsed and performed together, their partnership and shared interests built the path towards what would later become the Velvet Underground. Reed and Cale recruited Sterling Morrison—a college classmate of Reeds at Syracuse University—as a replacement for Walter De Maria, Reed and Morrison both played guitars, Cale played viola, keyboards and bass and Angus MacLise joined on percussion to complete the initial four-member unit. This quartet was first called the Warlocks, then the Falling Spikes, MacLise made a suggestion to adopt the title as the bands name. The band immediately and unanimously adopted the Velvet Underground as its new name in November 1965, the newly named Velvet Underground rehearsed and performed in New York City. Their music was much more relaxed than it would later become, Cale described this era as reminiscent of beat poetry. When he briefly returned to Britain, Cale attempted to give a copy of the tape to Marianne Faithfull, hoping shed pass it on to Mick Jagger, nothing ever came of this, but the demo was eventually released on the 1995 box set Peel Slowly and See. Manager and music journalist Al Aronowitz arranged for the groups first paying gig—$75 to play at Summit High School, in Summit, New Jersey, opening for the Myddle Class. When they decided to take the gig, MacLise abruptly left the group, protesting what he considered a sellout, he was unwilling to be told when to start. Angus was in it for art, Morrison reported, MacLise was replaced by Maureen Moe Tucker, the younger sister of Morrisons friend Jim Tucker. Her rhythms, at once simple and exotic, became a part of the groups music. The group earned a regular paying gig at the Café Bizarre, in 1965, after being introduced to the Velvet Underground by filmmaker Barbara Rubin, Andy Warhol became the bands manager and suggested they use the German-born singer Nico on several songs. Warhols reputation helped the band gain a higher profile and he helped the band secure a recording contract with MGMs Verve Records, with himself as nominal producer, and gave the Velvets free rein over the sound they created
The Velvet Underground
–
1993 promotional photo. From left to right:
Sterling Morrison (at back),
Maureen Tucker,
John Cale and
Lou Reed
22.
EBay
–
EBay Inc. is a multinational e-commerce corporation, facilitating online consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales. It is headquartered in San Jose, California, eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble. Today it is a business with operations in about 30 countries. The company manages eBay. com, an auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods. It previously offered online money transfers, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay from 2002 until 2015, the website is free to use for buyers, but sellers are charged fees for listing items and again when those items are sold. The AuctionWeb was founded in California on September 3,1995 by French-born Iranian-American computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as part of a personal site. One of the first items sold on AuctionWeb was a laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained, Im a collector of broken laser pointers and this was revealed in Adam Cohens book, The Perfect Store, and confirmed by eBay. Reportedly, eBay was simply a hobby for Omidyar until his Internet service provider informed him he would need to upgrade to a business account due to the high volume of traffic to his website. The resulting price increase forced him to start charging those who used eBay and it resulted in the hiring of Chris Agarpao as eBays first employee to handle the number of checks coming in for fees. Jeffrey Skoll was hired as the first president of the company in early 1996, growth was phenomenal, in January 1997 the site hosted 2,000,000 auctions, compared with 250,000 during the whole of 1996. The company officially changed the name of its service from AuctionWeb to eBay in September 1997, originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyars consulting firm. Omidyar had tried to register the domain name echobay. com, but found it already taken by the Echo Bay Mines, in 1997, the company received $6.7 million in funding from the venture capital firm Benchmark Capital. Meg Whitman was hired as eBay President and CEO in March 1998, at the time, the company had 30 employees, half a million users and revenues of $4.7 million in the United States. EBay went public on September 21,1998, and both Omidyar and Skoll became instant billionaires, eBays target share price of $18 was all but ignored as the price went to $53.50 on the first day of trading. As the company expanded product categories beyond collectibles into almost any saleable item, in February 2002, the company purchased iBazar, a similar European auction web site founded in 1998, and then bought PayPal on October 3,2002. By early 2008, the company had expanded worldwide, counted hundreds of millions of registered users,15, after nearly ten years at eBay, Whitman decided to enter politics
EBay
–
eBay headquarters in
San Jose, California
EBay
–
Pierre Omidyar, founder and chairman of eBay
EBay
–
eBay North First Street satellite office campus (home to PayPal)
EBay
–
eBay Office in Toronto
23.
Fonopost
–
Fonopost, or Phonopost, was an experimental postal service in Argentina to record a persons voice and deliver the resulting recording by mail. The service was demonstrated at the Postal Union Congress in Buenos Aires in 1939, special mobile recording vans were used to make the recordings which used 8 inch 78rpm acetate gramophone records. As a service approved by the Universal Postal Union, Fonopost was not restricted just to Argentina, the approved status of Fonopost was removed at the Tokyo U. P. U. Phonopost service, Its Introduction and Development in the Argentine Republic, Fonopost by Harry M. Konwiser in Stamps,6 July 1946
Fonopost
–
A 1939 Fonopost stamp from Argentina.
24.
Wayback Machine
–
The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
Wayback Machine
–
Wayback Machine
