1.
RZA
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Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, musician, actor, filmmaker and author. A prominent figure in hip hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan and he has produced almost all of Wu-Tang Clans albums as well as many Wu-Tang solo and affiliate projects. He is a cousin of the late group-mate Ol Dirty Bastard and he has also released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital, along with executive producing credits for side projects. In addition to the Wu-Tang Clan and his releases, RZA was also a founding member of the horrorcore group Gravediggaz where he used the name The RZArector. Furthermore, he has acted in movies, including Coffee and Cigarettes, American Gangster, Gospel Hill, Life Is Hot in Cracktown, Ghost Dog, Funny People, Derailed, Due Date. He also appeared in the Showtime TV series Californication and his directorial debut is for the film he co-wrote and in which he plays the title role, The Man with the Iron Fists, also starring Russell Crowe. The magazine The Source placed him on its list of the 20 greatest producers in the magazines twenty-year history and he also made the Elite 8 in the search for The Greatest Hip-Hop Producer of All Time by Vibe. NME placed him on their list of the 50 Greatest Producers Ever, RZA was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He lived in North Carolina with his uncle from age three to seven, who encouraged him to read and study, RZA was introduced to hip hop music at the age of nine, and by eleven, was competing in rap battles. He relocated to Steubenville, Ohio in 1990, to live with his mother and he spent weekends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father ran a convenience store in the citys Hill District. RZA got involved with petty crime and drug-dealing, and was charged with attempted murder while in Steubenville and he was acquitted of the charge, giving him what he stated was a second chance. He is named after Robert Kennedy and John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his mother greatly admired the Kennedys, the RZA has called his given name an honorable name, given the legacy of both brothers Robert and John. Robert Diggs formed a rap group with his cousins Russell Jones and they enjoyed local success but never signed a record deal. Diggs later debuted on Tommy Boy Records in 1991 as a solo artist under the name Prince Rakeem, after a shoot-out in Ohio in 1992, he faced eight years in jail. When they said not guilty, my face stuck in a smile for three days, he recalled, I was just walking around town, thinking about my daughter and my wife. Right then I said goodbye to anything that would put me in that situation again, I was up on trial on an attempted murder charge. I was a fool, with all that knowledge in my head. Diggs formed a new group with his cousins and five other childhood friends and this group would be named Wu-Tang Clan, releasing their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang,36 Chambers in 1993
2.
Synthesizer
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A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates electric signals that are converted to sound through instrument amplifiers and loudspeakers or headphones. Synthesizers may either imitate instruments like piano, Hammond organ, flute, vocals, natural sounds like ocean waves, etc. or generate new electronic timbres. Synthesizers without built-in controllers are called sound modules, and are controlled via USB, MIDI or CV/gate using a controller device. Synthesizers use various methods to generate electronic signals, synthesizers were first used in pop music in the 1960s. In the 1970s, synths were used in disco, especially in the late 1970s, in the 1980s, the invention of the relatively inexpensive, mass market Yamaha DX7 synth made synthesizers widely available. 1980s pop and dance music often made use of synthesizers. In the 2010s, synthesizers are used in genres of pop, rock. Contemporary classical music composers from the 20th and 21st century write compositions for synthesizer, the beginnings of the synthesizer are difficult to trace, as it is difficult to draw a distinction between synthesizers and some early electric or electronic musical instruments. One of the earliest electric musical instruments, the telegraph, was invented in 1876 by American electrical engineer Elisha Gray. He accidentally discovered the sound generation from a self-vibrating electromechanical circuit and this musical telegraph used steel reeds with oscillations created by electromagnets transmitted over a telegraph line. Gray also built a simple loudspeaker device into later models, consisting of a diaphragm in a magnetic field. This instrument was a remote electromechanical musical instrument that used telegraphy, though it lacked an arbitrary sound-synthesis function, some have erroneously called it the first synthesizer. In 1897, Thaddeus Cahill invented the Teleharmonium, which used dynamos, and was capable of additive synthesis like the Hammond organ, however, Cahills business was unsuccessful for various reasons, and similar but more compact instruments were subsequently developed, such as electronic and tonewheel organs. In 1906, American engineer, Lee De Forest ushered in the electronics age and he invented the first amplifying vacuum tube, called the Audion tube. This led to new entertainment technologies, including radio and sound films, ondes Martenot and Trautonium were continuously developed for several decades, finally developing qualities similar to later synthesizers. In the 1920s, Arseny Avraamov developed various systems of graphic sonic art, in 1938, USSR engineer Yevgeny Murzin designed a compositional tool called ANS, one of the earliest real-time additive synthesizers using optoelectronics. The earliest polyphonic synthesizers were developed in Germany and the United States, during the three years that Hammond manufactured this model,1,069 units were shipped, but production was discontinued at the start of World War II. Both instruments were the forerunners of the electronic organs and polyphonic synthesizers
3.
Hip hop music
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It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop
4.
Recording studio
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A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are designed by an acoustician or audio engineer to achieve optimum acoustic properties. The engineers and producers listen to the music and the recorded tracks on monitor speakers and/or headphones. Major recording studios typically have a range of large, heavy, Isolation booths are small sound-insulated rooms with doors, designed for instrumentalists. This equipment may interfere with the recording process, Recording studios are carefully designed around the principles of room acoustics to create a set of spaces with the acoustical properties required for recording sound with precision and accuracy. This will consist of both room treatment and soundproofing to prevent sound from leaving the property. Even though sound isolation is a key goal, the musicians, singers, audio engineers and record producers still need to be able to see other, to see cue gestures. As such, the room, isolation booths, vocal booths. Some smaller studios do not have instruments, and bands and artists are expected to bring their own instruments, having musical instruments and equipment in the studio creates additional costs for a studio, as pianos have to be tuned and instruments need to be maintained. However, it makes it convenient for recording artists, as they do not have to bring in large. As well, less costly studio time is spent moving in gear, drummers bring their own snare drum, cymbals and sticks/brushes. The types and brands of equipment owned by a studio depends on the styles of music for the bands. A studio that mainly records heavy metal music will be likely to have large, powerful guitar amp heads, in contrast, a studio which mainly records country bands will likely have a selection of small, vintage combo amps. A studio that records a lot of 1970s-style funk may have an electric piano. General purpose computers have rapidly assumed a role in the recording process. A computer thus outfitted is called a Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW, other software applications include Ableton Live, Mixcraft, Cakewalk Sonar, ACID Pro, FL Studio, Adobe Audition, Auto-Tune, Audacity, and Ardour. While Apple Macintosh is used for most studio work, there is a breadth of available for Microsoft Windows. If no mixing console is used and all mixing is done using only a keyboard and mouse, the OTB is used when mixing with other hardware and not just the PC software
5.
Rapping
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The components of rapping include content, flow, and delivery. Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that rap is performed in time to a beat. Rapping is often associated with and an ingredient of hip-hop music. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre originated in Johannesburg, South Africa. Another form of rap that predates hip hop was boxer Muhammad Alis rhythmic poetry used to taunt his opponents in the 1960s and 1970s, rapping can be delivered over a beat, typically provided by a DJ, turntablist or Beatboxer, or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies an area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing. The word, as used to describe quick speech or repartee, the word had been used in British English since the 16th century. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning to converse, today, the terms rap and rapping are so closely associated with hip-hop music that many writers use the terms interchangeably. The English verb rap has various meanings, such as to strike, especially with a quick, smart, or light blow, as well to utter sharply or vigorously, to rap out a command. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives a date of 1541 for the first recorded use of the word with the meaning to utter sharply, vigorously and it is these meanings from which the musical form of rapping derives, and this definition may be from a shortening of repartee. A rapper refers to a performer who raps, by the late 1960s, when Hubert G. Brown changed his name to H. Rap was used to describe talking on records as early as 1971, on Isaac Hayes album Black Moses with track names such as Ikes Rap, Ikes Rap II, Ikes Rap III, Hayes husky-voiced sexy spoken raps became key components in his signature sound. Del the Funky Homosapien similarly states that rap was used to refer to talking in a manner in the early 1970s. Back then what rapping meant, basically, was you trying to convey something—youre trying to convince somebody, thats what rapping is, its in the way you talk. Rapping can be traced back to its African roots, centuries before hip-hop music existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Such connections have been acknowledged by modern artists, modern day griots, spoken word artists, mainstream news sources. Grammy-winning blues musician/historian Elijah Wald and others have argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s, Wald went so far as to call hip hop the living blues. A notable recorded example of rapping in blues music was the 1950 song Gotta Let You Go by Joe Hill Louis, not just jazz music and lyrics but also jazz poetry
6.
Master of ceremonies
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A master of ceremonies, abbreviated M. C. also called compère and announcer, is the official host of a ceremony, a staged event or similar performance. The master of ceremonies sometimes also refers to the officer during an official state function. Today, the term often connotes a master of ceremonies who presents performers, speaks to the audience, entertains people, in addition, the term also exists in various chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The term originated in the Catholic Church, the Master of Ceremonies is an official of the Papal Court responsible for the proper and smooth conduct of the elegant and elaborate rituals involving the Pope and the sacred liturgy. He may also be an involved in the proper conduct of protocols and ceremonials involving the Roman Pontiff, the Papal Court. Examples of official liturgical books prescribing the rules and regulations of liturgical celebrations are Cæremoniale Romanum, the office of the Master of Ceremonies itself is very old. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the most ancient ceremonials and rituals of the Catholic Church are the Ordines Romani, names of Masters of Ceremonies are known since the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. However, copies of books prescribing the forms of rituals, rites and it is reasonable to assume that the ceremonials themselves pre-date Gelasius. However, documentary evidence from the late Roman period is scarce or lost, the ceremonies and practices of the Byzantine emperors are also known to have influenced the papal court. At a large Catholic church or cathedral, the Master of Ceremonies organizes and rehearses the proceedings and he may also have responsibility for the physical security of the place of worship during the liturgy. At major festivities such as Christmas and Easter, when the liturgies are long and complex, the current papal Master of Ceremonies is Monsignor Guido Marini, who succeeded Archbishop Piero Marini. Masters of Ceremonies at weddings and private events also ensure the coordination of their event, became an alternative title for a rapper and for their role within hip hop music and culture. The term is used as a term of distinction, referring to an artist with good performance skills. An MC focuses on skills, lyrical ability, and subject matter, in any comedy show, the compère is the host of the evenings events, but the precise role and responsibilities will vary depending on the country, venue and style of event. The compère will normally do longer bits at the start of the show and after any interval and they may also be required to make announcements, such as birthdays, anniversaries and bar promotions. In some circles the title Master of Ceremonies is also known as Minister of Ceremonies, in the 1940 Disney film, Fantasia, Deems Taylor is the films Master of Ceremonies. Media related to Master of ceremonies at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Turntablism
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The mixer is plugged into a PA system for live events and/or broadcasting equipment (if the DJ is performing on radio, TV or Internet radio, so that a wider audience can hear the turntablists music. Turntablists typically use two or more turntables and headphones to cue up desired start points on different records, the word turntablist was originated by Luis DJ Disk Quintanilla. The new term coincided with the resurgence of hip-hop DJing in the 1990s, some turntablists use turntable techniques like beat mixing/matching, scratching, and beat juggling. Some turntablists seek to have recognized as traditional musicians capable of interacting and improvising with other performers. The use of the turntable as an instrument has its roots dating back to the 1930s, 1940s. Experimental composers used them to sample and create music that was produced by the turntable. Cages Imaginary Landscape No.1 is composed for two variable speed turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano and cymbal, edgard Varèse experimented with turntables even earlier in 1930, though he never formally produced any works using them. Examples of turntable effects can also be found on popular records produced in the 1960s and 1970s, creedence Clearwater Revivals 1968 self-titled debut album features a backspin effect in the song Walk on the Water. However, turntablism as it is known today did not surface until the development of hip hop in the late 1970s, Turntablism as a modern art form and musical practice has its roots within African-American inner city hip hop and hip hop culture of the late 1970s. Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash are widely credited for having cemented the now established role of DJ as hip hops foremost instrumentalist. Kool Hercs invention of break-beat DJing is generally regarded as the development in hip hop history. His influence on the concept of DJ as turntablist is equally profound, to understand the significance of this achievement, it is important to first define the break. Briefly, the break of a song is a musical fragment only seconds in length, Kool Herc introduced the break-beat technique as a way of extending the break indefinitely. This is done by buying two of the record, finding the break on each record, and switching from one to the other using the DJ mixer. Using that idea, Grandmaster Flash elaborated on Kool Hercs invention of break-beat DJing and came up with the quick-mix theory and he described it as being. like cutting, the backspin, and the double-back. Kool Hercs revolutionary techniques set the course for the development of turntablism as an art form in significant ways, most important, however, he developed a new form of DJing that did not consist of just playing and mixing records one after the other. The type of DJ that specializes in mixing a set is well respected for his/her own set of unique skills, the DJ would be examined critically by the crowd on both a technical and entertainment level. Grand Wizzard Theodore, an apprentice of Flash, who isolated the most recognizable technique of turntablism, [ Eshun
8.
DJ
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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
9.
Scratching
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Within hip hop culture, scratching is one of the measures of a DJs skills. In the 2010s, both scratching and scrubbing can be done on digital audio workstations which are equipped for these techniques, christian Marclay was one of the earliest musicians to scratch outside of hip hop. In the mid-1970s, Marclay used gramophone records and turntables as musical instruments to create sound collages and he developed his turntable sounds independently of hip hop DJs. Although he is little-known to mainstream audiences, Marclay has been described as the most influential turntable figure outside hip hop, in 1981 Grandmaster Flash released the song The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel which is notable for its use of many DJ scratching techniques. It was the first commercial recording produced entirely using turntables, in 1982, Malcolm McLaren & the Worlds Famous Supreme Team released a single Buffalo Gals, juxtaposing extensive scratching with calls from square dancing, and, in 1983, the EP, Dya Like Scratchin. Which is entirely focused on scratching, another 1983 release to prominently feature scratching is Herbie Hancocks Grammy Award-winning single Rockit. This song was performed live at the 1984 Grammy Awards, and in the documentary film Scratch. The Street Sounds Electro compilation series which started in 1983 is also notable for early examples of scratching, at the same time as the DJ is moving the record back and forth, the DJ manipulates the crossfader of a DJ mixer. This creates a rhythmic sound that has come to be one of the most recognizable features of hip hop music. Over time with excessive scratching, the stylus will cause what is referred to as record burn to a vinyl record, when scratching, this crossfader is utilized in conjunction with the scratching hand that is manipulating the record platter. The hand manipulating the crossfader is used to cut in and out of the records sound, using a digital vinyl system consists of playing vinyl discs on turntables whose contents is a timecode signal instead of a real music record. The turntables audio outputs are connected to the inputs of a computer audio interface. The audio interface digitizes the timecode signal from the turntables and transfers it to the computers DJ software, there is not a single standard of DVS, so that each form of DJ software has its own settings. Some DJ software such as Traktor Scratch Pro or Serato Scratch Live support only the audio interface sold with their software, Vinyl emulation software allows a DJ to manipulate the playback of digital music files on a computer via a DJ control surface. DJs can scratch, beatmatch, and perform other turntablist operations that cannot be done with a conventional keyboard, DJ software performing computer scratch operations include Traktor Pro, Mixxx, Serato Scratch Live & Itch, Virtual DJ, M-Audio Torq, DJay, Deckadance, Cross. DJs have also used tape, such as cassette or reel to reel to both mix and scratch. Tape DJing is rare, but Ruthless Ramsey in the US, Tj Scratchavite in Italy, Sounds that are frequently scratched include but are not limited to drum beats, horn stabs, spoken word samples, and vocals/lyrics from other songs. Some DJs and anonymous collectors release 12-inch singles called battle records that include trademark, the most recognizable samples used for scratching are the Ahh and Fresh samples, which originate from the song Change the Beat by Fab 5 Freddy
10.
Drum machine
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A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums, cymbals, other percussion instruments, and often basslines. Drum machines are most commonly associated with electronic music such as house music. They are usually used when session drummers are not available or if the production cannot afford the cost of a drummer. Also, many modern drum machines can also produce sounds, as well as allowing the user to compose unique drum beats. In the 2010s, most modern machines are sequencers with a sample playback or synthesizer component that specializes in the reproduction of drum timbres. The invention could produce sixteen different rhythms, each associated with a pitch, either individually or in any combination, including en masse. Received with considerable interest when it was introduced in 1932. The next generation of rhythm machines played only pre-programmed rhythms such as mambo, tango, Chamberlin Rhythmate In 1957 Californian Harry Chamberlin constructed a tape loop-based drum machine called the Chamberlin Rhythmate. It had 14 tape loops with a head that allowed playback of different tracks on each piece of tape. It contained a volume and a control and also had a separate amplifier with bass, treble, and volume controls. The tape loops were of real acoustic jazz drum kits playing different style beats, with additions to tracks such as bongos, clave, castanets. First commercial product – Wurlitzer Side Man In 1959 Wurlitzer released a drum machine called the Side Man. The Side Man was intended as an accompaniment for the Wurlitzer organ range. The Side Man offered a choice of 12 electronically generated, predefined rhythm patterns with variable tempos, the sound source was a series of vacuum tubes which created 10 preset electronic drum sounds. Combinations of these different sets of rhythms and drum sounds created popular rhythmic patterns of the day, e. g. waltzes and these combinations were selected by a rotary knob on the top of the Side Man box. The tempo of the patterns was controlled by a slider that increased the speed of rotation of the wiper arm, the Side Man had a panel of 10 buttons for manually triggering drum sounds, and a remote player to control the machine while playing from an organ keyboard. The Side Man was housed in a cabinet that contained the sound-generating circuitry. Raymond Scott In 1960, Raymond Scott constructed the Rhythm Synthesizer and, in 1963, scotts machines were used for recording his album Soothing Sounds for Baby series
11.
Music sequencer
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This software also improved on the quality of the earlier sequencers which tended to be mechanical sounding and were only able to play back notes of exactly equal duration. Software-based sequencers allowed musicians to program performances that were more expressive and these new sequencers could also be used to control external synthesizers, especially rackmounted sound modules, and it was no longer necessary for each synthesizer to have its own devoted keyboard. As the technology matured, sequencers gained more features, such as the ability to record multitrack audio, Sequencers used for audio recording are called digital audio workstations. Many modern sequencers can be used to control virtual instruments implemented as software plug-ins and this allows musicians to replace expensive and cumbersome standalone synthesizers with their software equivalents. Today the term sequencer is used to describe software. Workstation keyboards have their own proprietary built-in MIDI sequencers, drum machines and some older synthesizers have their own step sequencer built in. There are still also standalone hardware MIDI sequencers, although the demand for those has diminished greatly due to the greater feature set of their software counterparts. Music sequencers are often categorized by handling data types, as following, or, the phrase samplers including Groove machines, etc. Also, music sequencer can be categorized by its construction and supporting modes, realtime sequencers record the musical notes in real-time as on audio recorders, and play back musical notes with designated tempo, quantizations, and pitch. For editing, usually punch in/punch out feature originated in the recording is provided. For detailed editing, possibly another visual editing modes under graphical user interface may be more suitable, anyway, this mode provides usability similar to the audio recorder already familiarized by musicians, and it is widely supported on software sequencer, DAW, and built-in hardware sequencers. Analog sequencers are typically implemented with analog electronics, and play the musical notes designated by a series of knobs or sliders corresponding to each musical note and it is designed for both composition and live performance, users can change the musical notes at any time without regarding recording mode. And also possibly, the time-interval between each note can be independently adjustable. Typically, analog sequencer is used to generate the repeated minimalistic phrases which is reminiscent of Tangerine Dream, on the bass machines, select a step note from a chromatic keypads, then select a step duration from a group of length-buttons, sequentially. In general, step mode, along with roughly quantized semi-realtime mode, is supported on the analog drum machines, bass machines. Software sequencer is a class of application software providing a functionality of music sequencer, the features provided as sequencers vary widely depending on the software, even an analog sequencer can be simulated. The user may control the software sequencer either by using the user interfaces or a specialized input devices. The early music sequencers were sound producing devices such as musical instruments, music boxes, mechanical organs, player pianos
12.
Phonograph
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The phonograph is a device invented in 1877 for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound. In its later forms it is called a gramophone. To recreate the sound, the surface is rotated while a playback stylus traces the groove and is therefore vibrated by it. In later electric phonographs, the motions of the stylus are converted into an electrical signal by a transducer. The phonograph was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison, while other inventors had produced devices that could record sounds, Edisons phonograph was the first to be able to reproduce the recorded sound. His phonograph originally recorded sound onto a sheet wrapped around a rotating cylinder. A stylus responding to sound vibrations produced an up and down or hill-and-dale groove in the foil, in the 1890s, Emile Berliner initiated the transition from phonograph cylinders to flat discs with a spiral groove running from the periphery to near the center. Later improvements through the years included modifications to the turntable and its system, the stylus or needle. The disc phonograph record was the dominant audio recording format throughout most of the 20th century, from the mid-1980s on, phonograph use on a standard record player declined sharply because of the rise of the cassette tape, compact disc and other digital recording formats. Records are still a favorite format for some audiophiles and DJs, vinyl records are still used by some DJs and musicians in their concert performances. Musicians continue to release their recordings on vinyl records, the original recordings of musicians are sometimes re-issued on vinyl. Usage of terminology is not uniform across the English-speaking world, in more modern usage, the playback device is often called a turntable, record player, or record changer. When used in conjunction with a mixer as part of a DJ setup, the term phonograph was derived from the Greek words φωνή and γραφή. The similar related terms gramophone and graphophone have similar root meanings, the roots were already familiar from existing 19th-century words such as photograph, telegraph, and telephone. In British English, gramophone may refer to any sound-reproducing machine using disc records, the term phonograph was usually restricted to machines that used cylinder records. Gramophone generally referred to a wind-up machine, after the introduction of the softer vinyl records, 33 1⁄3-rpm LPs and 45-rpm single or two-song records, and EPs, the common name became record player or turntable. Often the home record player was part of a system that included a radio and, later, from about 1960, such a system began to be described as a hi-fi or a stereo. In American English, phonograph, properly specific to machines made by Edison, was used in a generic sense as early as the 1890s to include cylinder-playing machines made by others
13.
DJ mixer
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A DJ mixer is a type of audio mixing console used by DJs to make smooth transitions between different sound recordings as they are playing. The sources are typically record turntables, compact cassettes, CDJs, DJ mixers allow the DJ to use headphones to preview the next song before playing it to the audience. Most low- to mid-priced DJ mixers can accommodate two turntables or CD players, but some mixers can accommodate up to four turntables or CD players. A crossfader has the engineering design as a fader, in that it is a sliding control, but unlike faders. DJ mixers typically have phono preamplifiers to hook up turntables, DJ mixers are also used to create DJ mixes, which are recorded and sold. DJ mixers usually have controls for bass and treble of each channel. Some 2010-era DJ mixers have onboard electronic or digital effects such as echo or reverb. Some DJ mixers also feature a built-in USB sound card to connect to a computer running DJ software without requiring a separate sound card. DJ mixers typically have an input, so that a microphone can be plugged into the mixer. Some DJ mixers have a kill switch, the output from a DJ mixer is typically plugged into a sound reinforcement system or a PA system at a dance, rave, nightclub or similar venue or event. If the DJ is performing a mix for a station or television station. At club sets, some DJs may use a monitor speaker to hear the main mix. This monitor speaker can have its volume increased or decreased as needed, DJ mixers have a plug that is connected to the wall to supply electric power for the unit. DJ mixing played a key role in the development of hip hop music, in hip hop music and occasionally in other genres, the turntable is used as a musical instrument by DJs, who use turntables along with a DJ mixer to create unique rhythmic sounds. Manipulation of a record as part of the music, rather than for normal playback or mixing, is called turntablism, the basis of turntablism, and its best known technique, is scratching, pioneered by Grand Wizzard Theodore. It was not until Herbie Hancocks Rockit in 1983 that the movement was recognized in popular music outside of a hip hop context. In the 2010s, many hip hop DJs use DJ CD players or digital record emulator devices to create scratching sounds, nevertheless, DJ mixing also played a key role in disco music in the 1970s. In disco clubs, DJs would use mixers to transition from one song to another, one of the pioneers of DJ mixing equipment design was Rudy Bozak
14.
Sampler (musical instrument)
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The samples are loaded or recorded by the user or by a manufacturer. These sounds are played back by means of the sampler program itself. Because these samples are stored in digital memory, the information can be quickly accessed. A single sample may often be pitch-shifted to different pitches to produce musical scales, often samplers offer filters, effects units, modulation via low frequency oscillation and other synthesizer-like processes that allow the original sound to be modified in many different ways. Most samplers have polyphonic capabilities – they are able to more than one note at the same time. Many are also multitimbral – they can play back different sounds simultaneously, prior to computer memory-based samplers, musicians used tape replay keyboards, which store recordings on analog tape. When a key is pressed the tape head contacts the moving tape, to change sounds a new set of tapes had to be installed in the instrument. The emergence of the sampler made sampling far more practical. Bruce Haack built a digital sampler which he demonstrated on Mister Rogers Neighborhood in 1967, the home made synthesizer device included a built-in sampler which recorded, stored, played back and looped sounds controlled by switches, light sensors and human skin contact. EMS Musys system, developed by Peter Grogono, David Cockerell, the system ran on two mini-computers, Digital Equipment PDP-8s. These had 12,000 bytes of memory, backed up by a hard drive of 32k. EMS equipment was used to control the worlds first digital studio, the E-mu SP-1200 percussion sampler progressed Hip-Hop away from the drum machine sound upon its release in August 1987, ushering in the sample-based sound of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Akai pioneered many processing techniques, such as crossfade looping and time stretch to shorten or lengthen samples without affecting pitch, during the 1980s, hybrid synthesizers began to utilize short samples along with digital synthesis to create more realistic imitations of instruments than had previously been possible. Examples are the Korg M1, Roland U-110, Yamahas SY series, samplers, together with traditional Foley artists, are the mainstay of modern sound effects production. Using digital techniques various effects can be pitch-shifted and otherwise altered in ways that would have required many hours when done with tape, usually a sampler is controlled by an attached music keyboard or other external MIDI controller or source. Each note-message received by the sampler accesses a particular sample, often multiple samples are arranged across the keyboard, each assigned to a note or group of notes. Keyboard tracking allows samples to be shifted in pitch by an appropriate amount, each group of notes to which a single sample has been assigned is often called a keyzone, and the resultant set of zones is called a keymap. For example, in Fig 1, a keymap has been created four different samples
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Drum kit
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A drum kit consists of a mix of drums and idiophones most significantly cymbals but also including the woodblock and cowbell. In the 2000s, some also include electronic instruments and both hybrid and entirely electronic kits are used. If some or all of them are replaced by electronic drums, the drum kit is usually played while seated on a drum stool or throne. The drum kit differs from instruments that can be used to produce pitched melodies or chords, even though drums are often placed musically alongside others that do, such as the piano or guitar. The drum kit is part of the rhythm section used in many types of popular and traditional music styles ranging from rock and pop to blues. Other standard instruments used in the section include the electric bass, electric guitar. Many drummers extend their kits from this pattern, adding more drums, more cymbals. Some performers, such as some rockabilly drummers, use small kits that omit elements from the basic setup, some drum kit players may have other roles in the band, such as providing backup vocals, or less commonly, lead vocals. Thus, in an early 1800s orchestra piece, if the called for bass drum, triangle and cymbals. In the 1840s, percussionists began to experiment with foot pedals as a way to them to play more than one instrument. In the 1860s, percussionists started combining multiple drums into a set, the bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, and other percussion instruments were all played using hand-held drum sticks. Double-drumming was developed to one person to play the bass and snare with sticks. With this approach, the drum was usually played on beats one. This resulted in a swing and dance feel. The drum set was referred to as a trap set. By the 1870s, drummers were using an overhang pedal, most drummers in the 1870s preferred to do double drumming without any pedal to play multiple drums, rather than use an overhang pedal. Companies patented their pedal systems such as Dee Dee Chandler of New Orleans 1904–05, liberating the hands for the first time, this evolution saw the bass drum played with the foot of a standing percussionist. The bass drum became the central piece around which every other percussion instrument would later revolve and it was the golden age of drum building for many famous drum companies, with Ludwig introducing
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Electric bass
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The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb, by plucking, slapping, popping, strumming, tapping, thumping, or picking with a plectrum, often known as a pick. The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to a guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length. The four-string bass, by far the most common, is tuned the same as the double bass. The bass guitar is an instrument, as it is notated in bass clef an octave higher than it sounds to avoid excessive ledger lines. Like the electric guitar, the guitar has pickups and it is plugged into an amplifier and speaker on stage, or into a larger PA system using a DI unit. Since the 1960s, the guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music as the bass instrument in the rhythm section. While types of basslines vary widely from one style of music to another, many styles of music utilise the bass guitar, including rock, heavy metal, pop, punk rock, country, reggae, gospel, blues, symphonic rock, and jazz. It is often a solo instrument in jazz, jazz fusion, Latin, funk, progressive rock and other rock, the adoption of a guitar form made the instrument easier to hold and transport than any of the existing stringed bass instruments. The addition of frets enabled bassists to play in more easily than on acoustic or electric upright basses. Around 100 of these instruments were made during this period, around 1947, Tutmarcs son, Bud, began marketing a similar bass under the Serenader brand name, prominently advertised in the nationally distributed L. D. Heater Music Company wholesale jobber catalogue of 1948, however, the Tutmarc family inventions did not achieve market success. In the 1950s, Leo Fender, with the help of his employee George Fullerton and his Fender Precision Bass, which began production in October 1951, became a widely copied industry standard. This split pickup, introduced in 1957, appears to have been two mandolin pickups, the pole pieces and leads of the coils were reversed with respect to each other, producing a humbucking effect. Humbucking is a design that electrically cancels the effect of any AC hum, the Fender Bass was a revolutionary new instrument, which could be easily transported, and which was less prone to feedback when amplified than acoustic bass instruments. Monk Montgomery was the first bass player to tour with the Fender bass guitar, roy Johnson, and Shifty Henry with Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, were other early Fender bass pioneers. Bill Black, playing with Elvis Presley, switched from bass to the Fender Precision Bass around 1957. The bass guitar was intended to appeal to guitarists as well as upright bass players, following Fenders lead, in 1953, Gibson released the first short scale violin-shaped electric bass with extendable end pin, allowing it to be played upright or horizontally. In 1959 these were followed by the more conventional-looking EB-0 Bass, the EB-0 was very similar to a Gibson SG in appearance
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Composer
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A composer is a person who creates or writes music, which can be vocal music, instrumental music or music which combines both instruments and voices. The core meaning of the term refers to individuals who have contributed to the tradition of Western classical music through creation of works expressed in written musical notation, many composers are also skilled performers, either as singers, instrumentalists, and/or conductors. Examples of composers who are well known for their ability as performers include J. S. Bach, Mozart. In many popular genres, such as rock and country. For a singer or instrumental performer, the process of deciding how to perform music that has previously composed and notated is termed interpretation. Different performers interpretations of the work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen. Composers and songwriters who present their own music are interpreting, just as much as those who perform the music of others, although a musical composition often has a single author, this is not always the case. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or, in the 20th and 21st century, a culture eventually developed whereby faithfulness to the composers written intention came to be highly valued. This musical culture is almost certainly related to the esteem in which the leading classical composers are often held by performers. The movement might be considered a way of creating greater faithfulness to the original in works composed at a time that expected performers to improvise. In Classical music, the composer typically orchestrates her own compositions, in some cases, a pop songwriter may not use notation at all, and instead compose the song in her mind and then play or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in classical music. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music. In the development of European classical music, the function of composing music initially did not have greater importance than that of performing it. The preservation of individual compositions did not receive attention and musicians generally had no qualms about modifying compositions for performance. In as much as the role of the composer in western art music has seen continued solidification, for instance, in certain contexts the line between composer and performer, sound designer, arranger, producer, and other roles, can be quite blurred. The term composer is often used to refer to composers of music, such as those found in classical, jazz or other forms of art. In popular and folk music, the composer is usually called a songwriter and this is distinct from a 19th-century conception of instrumental composition, where the work was represented solely by a musical score to be interpreted by performers
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Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
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Audio engineer
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An audio engineer works on the recording, manipulating the record using equalization and electronic effects, mixing, reproduction, and reinforcement of sound. Audio engineers work on the. technical aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, pre-amp knobs, the physical recording of any project is done by an engineer. Many audio engineers creatively use technologies to produce sound for film, radio, television, music, electronic products and computer games. Audio engineers also set up, sound check and do live sound mixing using an audio console, research and development audio engineers invent new technologies, equipment and techniques, to enhance the process and art of audio engineering. They might also be referred to as acoustic engineers, audio engineers in research and development usually possess a bachelors degree, masters degree or higher qualification in acoustics, physics, computer science or another engineering discipline. They might work in consultancy, specializing in architectural acoustics. Alternatively they might work in companies, or other industries that need audio expertise. Some positions, such as faculty require a Doctor of Philosophy, in Germany a Toningenieur is an audio engineer who designs, builds and repairs audio systems. The listed subdisciplines are based on PACS coding used by the Acoustical Society of America with some revision, audio engineers develop algorithms to allow the electronic manipulation of audio signals. These can be processed at the heart of audio production such as reverberation. Alternatively, the algorithms might carry out echo cancellation on Skype, or identify, architectural acoustics is the science and engineering of achieving a good sound within a room. For audio engineers, architectural acoustics can be about achieving good speech intelligibility in a stadium or enhancing the quality of music in a theatre, architectural Acoustic design is usually done by acoustic consultants. Electroacoustics is concerned with the design of headphones, microphones, loudspeakers, sound reproduction systems, examples of electroacoustic design include portable electronic devices, sound systems in architectural acoustics, surround sound in movie theater and vehicle audio. Musical acoustics is concerned with researching and describing the science of music, in audio engineering, this includes the design of electronic instruments such as synthesizers, the human voice, computer analysis of audio, music therapy, and the perception and cognition of music. Psychoacoustics is the study of how humans respond to what they hear. At the heart of audio engineering are listeners who are the final arbitrator as to whether a design is successful. The production, computer processing and perception of speech is an important part of audio engineering, ensuring speech is transmitted intelligibly, efficiently and with high quality, in rooms, through public address systems and through mobile telephone systems are important areas of study. Producer, engineer, and mixer Phil Ek has described audio engineering as the aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, the turning of pre-amp knobs
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Microphone
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A microphone, colloquially nicknamed mic or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Several different types of microphone are in use, which employ different methods to convert the air pressure variations of a wave to an electrical signal. Microphones typically need to be connected to a preamplifier before the signal can be recorded or reproduced, in order to speak to larger groups of people, a need arose to increase the volume of the human voice. The earliest devices used to achieve this were acoustic megaphones, some of the first examples, from fifth century BC Greece, were theater masks with horn-shaped mouth openings that acoustically amplified the voice of actors in amphitheatres. In 1665, the English physicist Robert Hooke was the first to experiment with an other than air with the invention of the lovers telephone made of stretched wire with a cup attached at each end. German inventor Johann Philipp Reis designed an early sound transmitter that used a strip attached to a vibrating membrane that would produce intermittent current. Better results were achieved with the transmitter design in Scottish-American Alexander Graham Bells telephone of 1876 – the diaphragm was attached to a conductive rod in an acid solution. These systems, however, gave a poor sound quality. The first microphone that enabled proper voice telephony was the carbon microphone and this was independently developed by David Edward Hughes in England and Emile Berliner and Thomas Edison in the US. Although Edison was awarded the first patent in mid-1877, Hughes had demonstrated his working device in front of many witnesses some years earlier, the carbon microphone is the direct prototype of todays microphones and was critical in the development of telephony, broadcasting and the recording industries. Thomas Edison refined the carbon microphone into his carbon-button transmitter of 1886 and this microphone was employed at the first ever radio broadcast, a performance at the New York Metropolitan Opera House in 1910. In 1916, E. C. Wente of Western Electric developed the next breakthrough with the first condenser microphone, in 1923, the first practical moving coil microphone was built. The Marconi Skykes or magnetophon, developed by Captain H. J. Round, was the standard for BBC studios in London and this was improved in 1930 by Alan Blumlein and Herbert Holman who released the HB1A and was the best standard of the day. Also in 1923, the microphone was introduced, another electromagnetic type, believed to have been developed by Harry F. Olson. Over the years these microphones were developed by companies, most notably RCA that made large advancements in pattern control. With television and film technology booming there was demand for high fidelity microphones, electro-Voice responded with their Academy Award-winning shotgun microphone in 1963. During the second half of 20th century development advanced quickly with the Shure Brothers bringing out the SM58, digital was pioneered by Milab in 1999 with the DM-1001. The latest research developments include the use of optics, lasers and interferometers
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Tower block
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A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building. In some areas it may be referred to as an MDU, in the United States, such a structure is referred to as an apartment building or office building, while a group of such buildings is called an apartment complex or office complex. High-rise buildings became possible with the invention of the elevator and cheaper, the materials used for the structural system of high-rise buildings are reinforced concrete and steel. Most North American style skyscrapers have a frame, while residential blocks are usually constructed of concrete. There is no difference between a tower block and a skyscraper, although a building with fifty or more stories is generally considered a skyscraper. They also pose challenges to firefighters during emergencies in high-rise structures. Studies are often required to ensure that pedestrian wind comfort and wind danger concerns are addressed, in order to allow less wind exposure, to transmit more daylight to the ground and to appear more slender, many high-rises have a design with setbacks. In contrast with low-rise and single-family houses, apartment blocks accommodate more inhabitants per unit of area of land, various bodies have defined high-rise, Emporis Standards defines a high-rise as A multi-story structure between 35–100 meters tall, or a building of unknown height from 12–39 floors. According to the code of Hyderabad, India, a high-rise building is one with four floors or more. The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines a high-rise as a building having many storeys, most building engineers, inspectors, architects and similar professionals define a high-rise as a building that is at least 75 feet tall. The lower floors were occupied by either shops or wealthy families. Surviving Oxyrhynchus Papyri indicate that seven-story buildings even existed in provincial towns, in Arab Egypt, the initial capital city of Fustat housed many high-rise residential buildings, some seven stories tall that could reportedly accommodate hundreds of people. By the 16th century, Cairo also had high-rise apartment buildings where the two floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants. The skyline of many important medieval cities was dominated by large numbers of high-rising urban towers, the residential Towers of Bologna numbered between 80 and 100 at a time, the largest of which still rise to 97.2 m. In Florence, a law of 1251 decreed that all buildings should be reduced to a height of less than 26 m. Even medium-sized towns such as San Gimignano are known to have featured 72 towers up to 51 m in height, the oldest still standing tulou dates back from the 14th century. Tower blocks were built in the Yemeni city of Shibam in the 16th century. The houses of Shibam are all out of mud bricks, but about five hundred of them are tower houses
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Ghetto
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A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. The term was used in Venice to describe the part of the city to which Jews were restricted and segregated. The term has been applied in various contexts, the word ghetto comes from the Jewish area of Venice, the Venetian Ghetto in Cannaregio. However, there is no agreement among etymologists about the origins of the Venetian language term, by 1899 the term had been extended to crowded urban quarters of other minority groups. In Northern Ireland, towns and cities have long been segregated along ethnic, religious, Northern Irelands two main communities are its Irish nationalist/republican community and its unionist/loyalist community. Ghettos emerged in Belfast during the riots that accompanied the Irish War of Independence, for safety, people fled to areas where their community was the majority. They then sealed off these neighborhoods with barricades to keep out rioters or gunmen from the other side, many more ghettos emerged after the 1969 riots and beginning of the Troubles. In August 1969 the British Army was deployed to restore order, the government built barriers called peace lines. Many of the ghettos came under the control of such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army. One of the most notable ghettos was Free Derry, the existence of ethnic enclaves in the United Kingdom is controversial. By 2001, two London boroughs – Newham and Brent – had minority majority populations, and most parts of the city tend to have a diverse population, in France, a banlieue is a suburb of a large city. Banlieues are divided into autonomous entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80% of the inhabitants of the Paris area live outside the city of Paris, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews in the diaspora. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding authorities, a Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or neighborhood is Di yiddishe gas, or The Jewish street. Many European and Middle Eastern cities once had a historical Jewish quarter, Jewish ghettos in Europe existed because Jews were viewed as alien. As a result, Jews were placed under strict regulations throughout many European cities, the character of ghettos has varied through times. In some cases, the ghetto was a Jewish quarter with an affluent population. In other cases, ghettos were places of terrible poverty and during periods of growth, ghettos, had narrow streets and tall
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South Bronx
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The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As the name implies, the area comprises neighborhoods in the part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose. Formerly a deteriorating, poverty-stricken area, the South Bronx is now known for its hip hop culture, the geographic definitions of the South Bronx have evolved and are disputed but certainly include the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose and Port Morris. The neighborhoods of Belmont, Castle Hill, Crotona Park East, Highbridge, Hunts Point, Longwood, Morrisania, the South Bronx is part of New Yorks 15th Congressional District. The South Bronx is served by the NYPDs 40th, 41st, 42nd, 44th, the South Bronx was originally called the Manor of Morrisania, and later Morrisania. The Morris memorial is at St. Anns Church of Morrisania, Morris descendants own land in the South Bronx to this day. As the Morrises developed their landholdings, an influx of German, later, the Bronx was considered the Jewish Borough, and at its peak in 1930 was 49% Jewish. Jews in the South Bronx numbered 364,000 or 57. 1% of the population in the area. The term was first coined in the 1940s by a group of workers who identified the Bronxs first pocket of poverty, in the Port Morris section. Originally denoting only Mott Haven and Melrose, the South Bronx extended up to the Cross Bronx Expressway by the 1960s, encompassing Hunts Point, Morrisania, the South Bronx is a place for working-class families. Its image as an area developed in the latter part of the 20th century. There were several factors contributing to the decay of the South Bronx, white flight, landlord abandonment, economic changes, demographics, the Cross Bronx Expressway, completed in 1963, was a part of Robert Moses’ urban renewal project for New York City. The expressway is now known to have been a factor in the urban decay seen by the borough in the 1970s and 1980s. Cutting through the heart of the South Bronx, the highway displaced thousands of residents from their homes, the neighborhood of East Tremont, in particular, was completely destroyed by the Expressway. Others have argued that the construction of highways has not harmed communities. The already poor and working-class neighborhoods were further disadvantaged by the property value. Racially charged tension, during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, further contributed to middle-class flight, some neighborhoods were considered undesirable by homeowners in the late 1960s and the areas population began decreasing. In addition, post World War II, rent control policies have been proposed by one author as contributing to the decline, in either case, while desirable housing options were scarce, vacancies further increased
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DJ Kool Herc
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Clive Campbell, better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with originating hip hop music in the early 1970s in The Bronx, New York City. His playing of hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown was a both to the violent gang culture of the Bronx and to the nascent popularity of disco in the 1970s. Campbell began to isolate the portion of the record, which emphasized the drum beat—the break—and switch from one break to another. Using the same two turntable set-up of disco DJs, Campbell used two copies of the record to elongate the break. This breakbeat DJing, using hard funk and records with Latin percussion, campbells announcements and exhortations to dancers helped lead to the syncopated, rhymed spoken accompaniment now known as rapping. He called his dancers break-boys and break-girls, or simply b-boys, campbells DJ style was quickly taken up by figures such as Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash. Unlike them, he never made the move into commercially recorded hip hop in its earliest years, clive Campbell was the first of six children born to Keith and Nettie Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica. While growing up, he saw and heard the sound systems of neighbourhood parties called dancehalls, and he emigrated with his family at the age of 12 to the Bronx, New York in November 1967, where they lived at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Many landlords resorted to arson to recoup money through insurance policies, a violent new street gang youth culture emerged around 1968, and spread with increasing lawlessness across large parts of the Bronx by 1973. He began running with a crew called the Ex-Vandals, taking the name Kool Herc. Herc recalls persuading his father to buy him a copy of Sex Machine by James Brown, a record not a lot of his friends had. He and his sister, Cindy, began hosting parties in the recreation room of their building,1520 Sedgwick Avenue. DJ Kool Herc developed the style that was the blueprint for hip hop music, Herc used the record to focus on a short, heavily percussive part in it, the break. Since this part of the record was the one the dancers liked best, Herc isolated the break and prolonged it by changing between two record players. As one record reached the end of the break, he cued a second back to the beginning of the break. This innovation had its roots in what Herc called The Merry-Go-Round, Herc told The New York Times that he first introduced the Merry-Go-Round into his sets in 1972. From the Bongo Rocks break, Herc used a record to switch to the break on The Mexican by the English rock band Babe Ruth. Kool Herc also contributed to developing the style of hip hop by punctuating the recorded music with slang phrases, announcing, Rock on
25.
Afrika Bambaataa
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Afrika Bambaataa is an American disc jockey from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of hip hop culture. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the originators of breakbeat DJing and is known as The Godfather and Amen Ra of Hip Hop Kulture. Through his co-opting of the gang the Black Spades into the music and culture-oriented Universal Zulu Nation. He was born to Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants, Bambaataa grew up in The Bronx River Projects, with an activist mother, as a child, he was exposed to the black liberation movement, and witnessed debates between his mother and uncle regarding the conflicting ideologies in the movement. He was exposed to his mothers extensive and eclectic record collection, gangs in the area became the law, clearing their turf of drug dealers, assisting with community health programs and both fighting and partying to keep members and turf. Bambaataa was a member of the Black Spades and he quickly rose to the position of warlord of one of the divisions. As warlord, it was his job to build ranks and expand the turf of the young Spades and he was not afraid to cross turfs to forge relationships with other gang members, and with other gangs. As a result, the Spades became the biggest gang in the city in terms of membership and turf. After Bambaataa won an essay contest that earned him a trip to Africa and he had seen the movie Zulu and was impressed with the solidarity exhibited by the Zulu in that film. During his trip to Africa, the communities he visited inspired him to one in his own neighborhood. He changed his name to Afrika Bambaataa Aasim, adopting the name of the Zulu chief Bhambatha and he told people that his name was Zulu for affectionate leader. Bambaataa formed The Bronx River Organization as an alternative to the Black Spades, inspired by DJ Kool Herc and Kool DJ Dee, Bambaataa began hosting hip-hop parties beginning in 1976. He vowed to use hip-hop to draw angry kids out of gangs, Cowboy of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, is credited with naming hip-hop, the term became a common phrase used by MCs as part of a scat-inspired style of rhyming. In 1982, Bambaataa and his followers, a group of dancers, artists and he saw that the hip hop tours would be the key to help expand hip hop and his Universal Zulu Nation. In addition it would promote the values of hip hop that he believed are based on peace, unity, love. He brought peace to the gangs, many artists and gang members say that hip hop saved a lot of lives and his influence inspired many overseas artists like the French rapper MC Solaar. He was a popular DJ in The South Bronx rap scene and became not only as Afrika Bambaataa
26.
Grandmaster Flash
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Joseph Saddler, better known as Grandmaster Flash, is a Bajan-American hip hop recording artist and DJ. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first hip hop act to be honored. Joseph Saddlers family migrated to the United States from Barbados, in the Caribbean and he attended Samuel Gompers High School, a public vocational school, where he learned how to repair electronic equipment. Saddlers parents played an important role in his interest in music and his parents came from Barbados and his father was a big fan of Caribbean and black American records. As a child, Saddler was fascinated by his fathers record collection, in an interview, he reflected, My father was a very heavy record collector. He still thinks that he has the stronger collection, I used to open his closets and just watch all the records he had. I used to get into trouble for touching his records, but Id go right back, Saddlers early interest in DJing came from this fascination with his fathers record collection as well as his mothers desire for him to educate himself in electronics. After high school, he involved in the earliest New York DJ scene. He is also a nephew to the late Sandy Saddler, a featherweight boxing champion. Grandmaster Flash carefully studied the styles and techniques of earlier DJs, particularly Pete Jones, Kool Herc, as a teenager, he began experimenting with DJ gear in his bedroom, eventually developing and mastering three innovations that are still considered standard DJing techniques today. Backspin technique, Early New York party DJs came to understand that short drum breaks were popular with party audiences. When the break finished on one turntable, he used his mixer to switch quickly to the other turntable, using the backspin technique, the same short phrase of music could be looped indefinitely. Punch phrasing, This technique involved isolating very short segments of music, typically horn hits, scratching, along with punch phrasing, exhibited a unique performative aspect of party DJing, instead of passively spinning records, he manipulated them to create new music. Scratching, more known among radio broadcasters as back-cueing, was devised in the late 1940s as a way to find the very beginning of the audio in the modulated groove of a vinyl record. Grandmaster Flash played parties and collaborated with such as Kurtis Blow. In the mid 1970s, he formed his own group, the original lineup consisted of Cowboy, Melle Mel and Kid Creole, and the ensemble went by the name Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs. Cowboy created the hip hop. He created the term while teasing a friend who had just joined the U. S. Army, Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance
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Beat (music)
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In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse, of the mensural level. In popular use, beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including, tempo, meter, specific rhythms, Rhythm in music is characterized by a repeating sequence of stressed and unstressed beats and divided into bars organized by time signature and tempo indications. Metric levels faster than the level are division levels. Beat has always been an important part of music, some music genres such as disco will in general de-emphasize the beat, while other such as funk emphasize the beat to accompany dance. The downbeat is the first beat of the bar, i. e. number 1, the upbeat is the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes, and hence anticipates, the downbeat. Both terms correspond to the direction taken by the hand of a conductor, an anticipatory note or succession of notes occurring before the first barline of a piece is sometimes referred to as an upbeat figure, section or phrase. Alternative expressions include pickup and anacrusis, the latter term was borrowed from the field of poetry, in which it refers to one or more unstressed extrametrical syllables at the beginning of a line. In music that progresses regularly in 44 time, counted as 1234,1234. The first beat of the bar is usually the strongest accent in the melody and the likeliest place for a change, the third is the next strongest. The second and fourth are weaker—the off-beats, subdivisions that fall between the pulse beats are even weaker and these, if used frequently in a rhythm, can also make it off-beat. The effect can be simulated by evenly and repeatedly counting to four. This is a technique of African polyrhythm that transferred to popular western music. According to Grove Music, the Offbeat is where the downbeat is replaced by a rest or is tied over from the preceding bar, the downbeat can never be the off-beat because it is the strongest beat in 44 time. Certain genres tend to emphasize the off-beat, where this is a characteristic of rocknroll. A back beat, or backbeat, is a syncopated accentuation on the off beat, in a simple 44 rhythm these are beats 2 and 4. A big part of R&Bs attraction had to do with the stompin backbeats that make it so eminently danceable, an early record with an emphasised back beat throughout was Good Rockin Tonight by Wynonie Harris in 1948. There is a back beat on Roll Em Pete by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner. A distinctive back beat can be heard on Back Beat Boogie by Harry James And His Orchestra, outside U. S. popular music, there are early recordings of music with a distinctive backbeat, such as the 1949 recording of Mangaratiba by Luiz Gonzaga in Brazil
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Sampling (music)
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In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, by the late 1960s, the use of tape loop sampling influenced the development of minimalist music and the production of psychedelic rock and jazz fusion. Hip hop music was the first popular music based on the art of sampling – being born from 1970s DJs who experimented with manipulating vinyl on two turntables and an audio mixer. Historically, sampling was most often done with a sampler — a specialized piece of hardware — but today, however, vinyl emulation software may also be used, and turntablists continue to sample using traditional methods. Often samples consist of one part of a song, such as a rhythm break, for instance, hip hop music developed from DJs looping the breaks from songs to enable continuous dancing. Samples can also consist of words and phrases, including those in non-musical media such as movies, TV shows. Sampling does not necessarily mean using pre-existing recordings, a number of composers and musicians have constructed pieces or songs by sampling field recordings they made themselves, and others have sampled their own original recordings. The use of sampling is controversial legally and musically, in the 1970s, when hip hop was confined to local dance parties, it was unnecessary to obtain copyright clearance in order to sample recorded music at these parties. Aside from legal issues, sampling has been championed and criticized. Hip-hop DJs today take different approaches to sampling, with critical of its obvious use. Some critics, particularly those with a rockist outlook, have expressed the belief all sampling is lacking in creativity, while others say sampling has been innovative and revolutionary. Those whose own work has been sampled have also voiced a variety of opinions about the practice. Once recorded, samples can be edited, played back, or looped, types of samples include, The drums and percussion parts of many modern recordings are really a variety of short samples of beats strung together. Many libraries of such beats exist and are licensed so that the user incorporating the samples can distribute their recording without paying royalties, such libraries can be loaded into samplers. Though percussion is an application of looping, many kinds of samples can be looped. A piece of music may have an ostinato which is created by sampling a phrase played on any kind of instrument, there is software which specializes in creating loops. Whereas loops are usually a phrase played on a musical instrument, Music workstations and samplers use samples of musical instruments as the basis of their own sounds, and are capable of playing a sample back at any pitch. Many modern synthesizers and drum machines also use samples as the basis of their sounds, most such samples are created in professional recording studios using world-class instruments played by accomplished musicians
29.
Eric B. & Rakim
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& Rakim are a hip hop duo from Long Island, New York, composed of Eric B. and MC Rakim. AllMusic wrote that during raps so-called golden age in the late 80s, & Rakim were almost universally recognized as the premier DJ/MC team in all of hip-hop. Eric Barrier was born and raised in the Elmhurst section of Queens and he played trumpet and drums throughout high school, and later switched to experimenting with turntables prior to graduation. The newly dubbed Eric B. soon began DJing for radio station WBLS in New York City, Barrier wound up meeting Alvin Toney, a promoter based in Queens. Griffin had begun writing rhymes as a teenager in Wyandanch and had taken the name Rakim as a result of his conversion to The Nation of Gods and Earths. Eric B. borrowed records from Rakims brother, Stevie Blass Griffin and began cutting them in the basement for Rakim, I took Fonda Raes Over Like A Fat Rat and said This is the bass line Im going to use for this record. Rakim spit the beer all over the wall and thought it was the funniest shit in the world, I told Rakim, just like you laughing now you going to be laughing all the way to the bank and be a millionaire one day because of this record. & Rakim decided to record together and came under the tutelage of Marley Marl, stories vary over who actually produced their first single, 1986s Eric B. Built on the Fonda Rea bass line sample, Eric B. later told AllHipHop, I took the records to Marley Marls house in Queensbridge, thats why hes not a producer, thats why he is not getting publishing. I just couldnt work the equipment because thats not what I did, the duo recorded its debut album, Paid in Full, at Power Play Studios in New York. In 1987, 4th & Bway Records issued the album, after the success of Eric B. is President, the album climbed into the Top Ten on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Eric B. would later admit that the album was rushed, the reason Paid In Full is so short is because we stood in the studio for damn-near a week. The whole album together in a week. Listen to the lyrics on it and listen to how short they are, thats because Rakim wrote it right there and wed been in the studio like for a whole forty-eight hours trying to get the album finished. Rakim agrees, used to write my rhymes in the studio and go right into the booth, when I hear my first album today I hear myself reading my rhymes - but Im my worst critic. Thats what I hear, though - because thats what it was, id go into the studio, put the beat down, write the song in like an hour, and go into the booth and read it from the paper. Marley Marl stated that his cousin MC Shan was an assistant engineer on tracks, including the single My Melody. MTV listed the album as the greatest in hip hop history, When Paid in Full was released in 1987, Eric B. the album was captivating, profound, innovative and instantly influential
30.
Paid in Full (album)
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Paid in Full is the debut album of American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on July 7,1987, by Island-subsidiary label 4th & Bway Records, the album peaked at number fifty-eight on the Billboard 200 chart and produced five singles, Eric B. Is President, I Aint No Joke, I Know You Got Soul, Move the Crowd, Paid in Full is credited as a benchmark album of golden age hip hop. Rakims rapping, which pioneered the use of rhymes in hip hop, set a higher standard of lyricism in the genre. The albums heavy sampling by Eric B. became influential in hip hop production, the record has sold over a million copies and the Recording Industry Association of America certified it platinum in 1995. In 2003, the album was ranked number 228 on Rolling Stone magazines list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Eric B. and Rakim met in 1985 after Eric B. looked for a rapper to complement his work at the New York City radio station WBLS. After Rakim responded to Eric B. s search for New Yorks top MC, Eric Bs friend, the first track they recorded, Eric B. Is President, was released as a single on the independent Zakia Records in 1986, after Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons heard the single, the duo were signed to Island Records and began recording the album in Manhattans Power Play Studios in early 1987. Rakim wrote his songs in one hour while listening to the beat. He then recorded his vocals in the booth by reading his lyrics from a paper, in 2006, Rakim revealed, When I hear my first album today I hear myself reading my rhymes but Im my worst critic. The duo completed the album in one week and they have said that they worked in 48-hour shifts and recorded in single takes in order complete the album within budget. In a 2008 interview with AllHipHop, Eric B. stated, o sit here and we were just doing records that felt good. The albums success led to a contract with Uni Records and MCA Records in 1988, & Rakim are credited as officially producing Paid in Full. Although Marley Marl claimed to have produced two tracks, Eric B. has argued that Marley Marl was only an engineer. In 2003, Eric B. alleged the duo had not been paid for their work, and filed a lawsuit against the Island Def Jam Music Group, Lyor Cohen. Rakims rhyming deviated from the rhyme patterns of early 1980s hip hop. His free-rhythm style ignored bar lines and had earned comparisons to Thelonious Monk, the New York Times Ben Ratliff wrote that Rakims unblustery rapping developed the form beyond the flat-footed rhythms of schoolyard rhymes
31.
Public Enemy (group)
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Public Enemy is an American hip hop group consisting of Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, Khari Wynn, DJ Lord, and the S1W group. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called them the most influential and radical band of their time, in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Public Enemy number 44 on its list of the Immortals,100 Greatest Artists of All Time, the highest ranking for a hip hop act. The group was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007, the band were announced as inductees for the 2013 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on December 11,2012, making them the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted. Carlton Ridenhour and William Drayton met at Long Islands Adelphi University in the early-1980s. M. C. Chuck D put out a tape to promote WBAU and to fend off a local MC who wanted to battle him. He called the tape Public Enemy #1 because he felt like he was being persecuted by people in the local scene and this was the first reference to the notion of a public enemy in any of Chuck Ds songs. The single was created by Chuck D with a contribution by Flavor Flav, around 1986, Bill Stephney, the former Program Director at WBAU, was approached by Ali Hafezi and offered a position with the label. Stephney accepted, and his first assignment was to help fledgling producer Rick Rubin sign Chuck D, according to the book The History of Rap Music by Cookie Lommel, Stephney thought it was time to mesh the hard-hitting style of Run DMC with politics that addressed black youth. With the addition of Flavor Flav and another local mobile DJ named Terminator X, according to Chuck, The S1W, which stands for Security of the First World, represents that the black man can be just as intelligent as he is strong. It stands for the fact that were not third-world people, were people, were the original people. Public Enemy started out as opening act for the Beastie Boys during the latters Licensed to Ill popularity, and in 1987 released their debut album Yo. Bum Rush the Show. Over the next few years, Public Enemy released It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet, and Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black. In addition to ushering in the age of hip hop, during this time, Public Enemy reached the height of their popularity, adulation. The group then separated from Def Jam and has since been producing, marketing. Their debut album, Yo. Bum Rush the Show, was released in 1987 to critical acclaim, the album was the groups first step toward stardom. In October 1987, music critic Simon Reynolds dubbed Public Enemy a superlative rock band, Nation of Millions. was the first hip hop album to be voted album of the year in The Village Voices influential Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1989, the returned to the studio to record Fear of a Black Planet. The album was supposed to be released in late 1989, but was pushed back to April 1990 and it was the most successful of any of their albums and, in 2005, was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. Fight the Power is regarded as one of the most popular and it was the theme song of Spike Lees Do the Right Thing
32.
Fear of a Black Planet
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Fear of a Black Planet is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy. It was released on April 10,1990, by Def Jam Recordings, for the album, Public Enemys production team The Bomb Squad sought to expand on the dense, sample-layered sound of the groups 1988 record It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Having fulfilled their creative ambitions with that album, Public Enemy aspired to create what lead rapper Chuck D called a deep. Their songwriting was inspired by the controversy surrounding member Professor Griff. Fear of a Black Planet features elaborate sound collages that incorporate varying rhythms, numerous samples, media sound bites, recorded during the golden age of hip hop, its assemblage of reconfigured and recontextualized aural sources preceded the sample clearance system that later emerged in the music industry. Fear of a Black Planet explores themes about organization and empowerment within the community, social issues affecting African Americans. The records criticism of racism, White supremacy, and the power elite was partly inspired by Dr. Frances Cress Welsings views on color. A critical and commercial success in 1990, Fear of a Black Planet sold two million copies in the United States and received reviews from critics, many of whom named it one the years best albums. Its immediate success contributed significantly to the popularity of Afrocentric and political matter in hip hop. Since then, it has been viewed as one of hip hops greatest and most important records, as well as being musically and culturally significant. In 2003, Fear of a Black Planet was ranked number 300 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and in 2005, the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry. In 1988, Public Enemy released their second album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back to critical and commercial success and their musics dense textures, provided by the groups production team The Bomb Squad, exemplified a new production aesthetic in hip hop at the time. It Takes a Nations success helped raise hip hops profile as both art and sociopolitical statement, amid criticism of the genre. It helped give hip hop a critical credibility and standing in the music community after it had been largely dismissed as a fad since its introduction at the turn of the 1980s. In promoting the record, Public Enemy expanded their live shows, amid controversy, Chuck D was given an ultimatum by Schocklee and Stepheny to dismiss Griff from the group or the production deal would fall through. He fired Griff in June, but he rejoined and has since denied holding anti-Semitic views. Several people who had worked with Public Enemy expressed concern about Chuck Ds leadership abilities, Def Jam director of publicity Bill Adler later said that the controversy partly. To follow-up It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, according to Chuck D, they sought to make a more thematically focused work and to condense Dr
33.
Dr. Dre
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Andre Romelle Young, better known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, Dre was previously the co-owner of, and an artist on, Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Knoc-turnal,50 Cent, The Game and Kendrick Lamar. He is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, in 1996, he left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced an album titled Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath in 1996. During the 2000s, he focused on production for other artists, Dr. Dre signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002 to his record label respectively, while contributing production on their albums. He has won six Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Dr. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, The Wash and Training Day. Rolling Stone ranked Dre at 56 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time, Young was born in Compton, California, the first child of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name, Romelle, is derived from his fathers amateur R&B singing group and his parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried and had three children, sons Jerome and Tyree and daughter Shameka, in 1976, Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. Young is the cousin of producer Sir Jinx and he attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll in a program at Northrop Aviation Company. Thereafter, he focused on his life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years. Young fathered a son with Cassandra Joy Greene named Curtis, Curtis was brought up by his mother and first met his father 20 years later, when Curtis became rapper Hood Surgeon. Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, he attended a club called Eve After Dark to watch many DJs. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name Dr. J, based on the nickname of Julius Erving, at the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N. W. A. Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio. In this studio, Dre and Yella recorded several demos, in their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled Surgery, with the lyrics calling Dr. Dre to surgery serving as the chorus to the song
34.
The Chronic
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The Chronic is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15,1992, by his own record label Death Row Records, Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood. The album is named after a term for high-grade cannabis. It was Dr. Dres first solo album after he had departed from hip hop group N. W. A, on The Chronic, he included both subtle and direct insults at Ruthless and its owner, former N. W. A member Eazy-E. Although a solo album, it features appearances by Snoop Dogg. Dr. Dres production has been noted for popularizing the G-funk subgenre within gangsta rap, the Chronic was ranked at #138 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The production on The Chronic was seen as innovative and ground-breaking, unlike other hip hop acts that sampled heavily, Dr. Dre only utilized one or few samples per song. Its the benchmark you measure your album against if youre serious, in between are wide-open spaces that hold just a rhythm guitar, sparse keyboard chords. Pareles observed that the songs were smoother and simpler than East Coast rap, until this point, mainstream hip hop had been primarily party music or angry and politically charged, and had consisted almost entirely of samples and breakbeats. Dr. Dre ushered in a new style and lyrics for hip hop. The beats were slower and mellower, samples from late 1970s, by mixing these early influences with original live instrumentation, a distinctive genre known as G-funk was created. The albums lyrics caused controversy, as the subject matter included sexism. It was noted that the album was an amalgam of inner-city street gangs that includes misogynist sexual politics. All the N. W. A members were addressed on the album, Eazy-E and Ice Cube were dissed on the second single Fuck Wit Dre Day, Dr. Touré of The New York Times remarks that While Snoop delivers rhymes delicately, the content is anything but. Growing up poor, often surrounded by violence, and having served six months in the Wayside County jail outside of Los Angeles gave Snoop Dogg experiences upon which he draws. Snoop Dogg later commented on the reality of his lyrics, stating My raps are incidents where either I saw it happen to one of my close homies or I know about it from just being in the ghetto, I cant rap about something I dont know. Youll never hear me rapping about no bachelors degree and its only what I know and thats that street life. Three singles were released from the album, Nuthin but a G Thang, Fuck wit Dre Day, Nuthin but a G Thang was released as the first single on January 19,1993
35.
Alex Ross (music critic)
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Alex Ross is an American music critic. He has been on the staff of The New Yorker magazine since 1996 and he wrote the books The Rest Is Noise, Listening to the Twentieth Century and Listen to This. Ross is a 1986 graduate of St. Albans School in Washington, D. C. having previously attended the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia. He is a 1990 graduate of Harvard University, where he studied under composer Peter Lieberson and was a DJ on the classical and underground rock departments of the radio station. He earned a Harvard A. B. in English summa cum laude for a thesis on James Joyce, from 1992 to 1996 Ross was a music critic at The New York Times. He also wrote for The New Republic, Slate, the London Review of Books, Lingua Franca, Fanfare and he first contributed to The New Yorker in 1993 and became a staff writer in 1996. His first book, The Rest Is Noise, Listening to the Twentieth Century, the book was also shortlisted for the 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction. His second book, Listen to This, was released in the U. S. in September 2010 by Farrar, Straus and he has received a MacArthur Fellowship, three ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for music writing, and a Holtzbrinck fellowship at the American Academy in Berlin. In 2012 he received the Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music at the pèlerinages Art Festival in Weimar, in 2016, he was awarded the Champion of New Music award by the American Composers Forum. Alex Ross married director Jonathan Lisecki in Canada in 2006, articles, a blog, and a book
36.
Kurtis Blow
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Kurt Walker, professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a record label. The Breaks, a single from his 1980 debut album, is the first certified gold rap song. Throughout his career he has released 15 albums and is currently an ordained minister, originally from Harlem, Walker began DJing under the name Kool DJ Kurt. He was also a disco performer, Walker changed his name to Kurtis Blow at the suggestion of Russell Simmons, copying the pattern from Eddie Cheeba. In 1979, aged twenty, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to be signed by a label, Mercury. Its follow-up, The Breaks, also sold over half a million copies and he was also the first rapper to perform overseas. He released ten albums over the eleven years. His first album was Kurtis Blow, while his second was the Top 50 pop album Deuce, Party Time featured a fusion of rap and go-go. Ego Trip included the hits,8 Million Stories, AJ Scratch and his 1985 album, America, garnered praise for its title tracks music video. From this album, the song If I Ruled the World became a Top 5 hit on Billboards R&B chart, towards the end of the 1980s, his recording career waned and he moved into production. Besides his own work, Kurtis has been responsible for hits by The Fat Boys, Run began his career billed as The Son of Kurtis Blow. Lovebug Starski, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Full Force, Russell Simmons and Wyclef Jean all have produced by, or collaborated with. Former label mates René & Angela had their R&B chart topping debut Save Your Love was produced by him, along with Dexter Scott King, Walker co-ordinated King Holiday, a song to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, released in January 1986. His acting performances and music coordination in several films includes Leon Kennedy’s Knights of the City, as host and co-producer for Das Leben Amerikanischer Gangs, an international film productions focus on the West Coast gang scene, Kurt crossed international waters for inner city justice. As host and associate producer for Rhyme and Reason Kurtis gave an account of the status of hip hop. Kurt has spoken out emphatically against racism and he was an active participant in the Artists Against Apartheid record “Sun City”. Kurt has worked with Rev. Jesse Jacksons Operation Push and National Rainbow Coalition in Chicago, Kurt has also worked with Rev. Al Sharptons Action Network in New York City
37.
Fairlight CMI
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It was one of the earliest music workstations with an embedded digital sampling synthesizer. It rose to prominence in the early 1980s and competed in the market with the Synclavier from New England Digital, after his classmate, Peter Vogel, graduated from high school in 1975, Ryrie showed him Wendy Carlos album Switched-on Bach, which was produced with a Moog synthesizer. Ryrie had always wanted to make a better than the Moog. In December of that year, he and Vogel formed a company intended to manufacture digital synthesizers. It was called Fairlight, which the name came from the hydrofoil ferry passing before Ryries grandmothers home in Sydney harbour and they had initially thought of making an analogue synth that was digitally controlled, given that the Moog was much more difficult to control. After the six months that followed involving the two in the companys basement failing to come up with ideas, they met Motorola consultant Tony Furse, despite this, the machine was unable to create harmonic partials, therefore the sounds that came from the synth were sterile and unimaginative. As a last-minute attempt of producing a digital synthesizer that could make complex patches, Vogel recalled in a 2005 interview about how he came up with this concept, I had this random idea late one night, probably in 1978. I thought that if we took a sample of an instrument and had a look at the harmonics we could get an idea of how to synthesise it. We were already making interesting sounds but we were still a way from getting it to sound like a real instrument. So I hooked an analogue-to-digital converter up to the radio and sampled maybe a second of some piano piece, then I wondered how it would sound if I played it back without doing anything. So I played it back at different pitches and it sounded remarkably like a piano and this had never been done before. By todays standards it was a pretty awful piano sound, so I rapidly realised that we didnt have to bother with all the synthesis stuff. Just take the sounds, whack them in the memory and away you go, however, Vogel has said that the low quality of the sounds was what gave them their own character. Its Music Composition Language feature was frequently criticized, with reviewers calling it too difficult for empirical users. Other primitive aspects included its limited amount of RAM and its green, still, Vogel was unsure if there would be enough interest in the product. In the summer of 1979, Peter Vogel went to the home of English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, until that time everything that captured sound had been tape-based. The Fairlight CMI was like a more reliable and versatile digital Mellotron. Peter was completely thrilled, and instantly put the machine to use during the week that Peter Vogel stayed at his house
38.
Roland TR-808
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The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, often referred to simply as the 808, is a drum machine introduced by the Roland Corporation in 1980 and discontinued in 1983. It was one of the earliest programmable drum machines, with which users could create their own rather than having to use presets. Unlike its nearest competitor, the expensive and sample-based Linn LM-1 Drum Computer. Launched at a time when music had yet to become mainstream. It was succeeded in 1984 by the TR-909, over the course of the decade, the 808 attracted a cult following among underground musicians for its affordability, ease of use, and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, booming bass drum. It became a cornerstone of the electronic, dance, and hip hop genres, popularized by early hits such as Marvin Gayes Sexual Healing and Afrika Bambaataa. At the time, drum machines were most often used to accompany home organs, Lewis was known for performances using electronic instruments he had modified himself, decades before the popularization of instrument hacking via circuit bending. He made extensive modifications to the Ace Tone drum machine, creating his own rhythms and wiring the device through his organs expression pedal to accent the percussion, unique at the time. Lewis was approached by Ace Tone president and founder Ikutaro Kakehashi, in 1972, Kakehashi formed the Roland Corporation and hired Lewis to help design drum machines. By the late 1970s, microprocessors were appearing in such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer. In 1978, Roland released the CompuRhythm CR-78, the first drum machine with which users could write, save, with its next machine, the TR-808, Roland aimed to develop a drum machine for the professional market, expecting that it would mainly be used to create demos. Though the engineers aimed to emulate real percussion, the prohibitive cost of memory drove them to design sound-generating hardware instead of using samples, Kakehashi deliberately purchased faulty transistors to create the machines distinctive sizzling sound. Roland engineer Makoto Muri credited the design of the voice circuits to Mr. Nakamura. The 808 generates 16 different sounds in imitation of acoustic percussion, bass drum, snare, toms, conga, rimshot, claves, handclap, maraca, cowbell, cymbal, and hi-hat. It is completely analog, meaning its sounds are generated via hardware rather than sampled, users can program up to 32 patterns using the step sequencer, each with a maximum of 768 measures, and place accents on individual beats, a feature introduced with the CR-78. Users can also set the tempo and time signature, including unusual signatures such as 5/4, the machine has multiple audio outputs and a DIN sync port to synchronize with other devices, considered groundbreaking at the time. The 808s sounds do not resemble real percussion, and have described as clicky and hypnotic, robotic, toy-like, spacey. Fact described them as a combination of tones and white noise
39.
Planet Rock (song)
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Planet Rock is a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. The song featured Marvella Murray, Yvette Murray, Melissa Johnson, in November 2004, Planet Rock placed at number 240 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and number 10 in About. coms Top 100 Rap Songs. Planet Rock peaked at four on the soul chart and number forty-eight on the Hot 100. Produced by Arthur Baker, Planet Rock blends synthesizer and vocoder sounds with breakbeats and it was influenced by electropop pioneers Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra, funk pioneer George Clinton, and artists such as Gary Numan. The melody features parts of Kraftwerks Trans Europe Express, the use of the TR-808, however, gives the beats in Planet Rock a distinctive sound. The Japanese counting part Ichi, ni, san, shi was used in Numbers as well as YMOs Rap Phenomena, Planet Rock also features a brief synthesizer arrangement of the whistling melody from Ennio Morricones For a Few Dollars More soundtrack. The record was recorded in the NYC upper eastside Intergalactic Studios, the three had scheduled the next recording session for a band that would become the Washington Squares. Ever accommodating, Arthur told them that things would move if they assisted him with the backup vocals. The voices singing rock it dont stop it on Planet Rock are in fact those of the Washington Squares, Afrika Bambaataa has acknowledged Kraftwerk, but has explicitly expressed that their contributions to his works, his overall style and aesthetic have been over-emphasized. The influence of Planet Rock can still be heard in hip-hop subgenres such as G-funk and in the work of such as Timbaland and The Neptunes. Planet Rock Planet Rock Planet Rock Engineer - Bob Rosa, Jan D. Burnett Executive Producer - Tom Silverman Mastered By - Herb Powers Jr, in 2008, it was ranked number 21 on VH1s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Cybotrons Juan Atkins cited Planet Rock as an influence on his Detroit techno sound in the 1980s, in the Black Star cover of Slick Ricks Childrens Story, Mos Def criticizes a fictitious DJ for the overuse of sampling the classics. In 1998, Afrika Bambaataa produced a remix combining electro and house elements, called Planet Rock 98. The song was remixed by Paul Oakenfold for the 2001 film soundtrack album Swordfish, the band, altogether with the repeating line Just hit me, is quoted by James Murphy in the final rant of the LCD Soundsystem single Losing My Edge. In Street Jams, Electric Funk Part 1, review of Planet Rock from Allmusic John Topleys Weblog, Thirty Years of Fairlight Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
40.
Nunk (song)
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Nunk the first single by the group Warp 9, released on Prism Records in 1982, was written and produced by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher. The song appeared as a vocal and instrumental version on the groups 1983 debut album Its a Beat Wave on Prism Records, new York City radio station WKTU featured Nunk in a commercial to promote the stations signature sound of emerging hip hop. By 1982, the sound had become the trend on the street. Drum machines, especially the Roland TR-808 lowered the cost of production, providing opportunities for producers to create. Nunk was code for NUNK= N-ew wave + f-UNK, the record was characterized by a robotic chant, syncopated rhythms and arcade-sounding, sci-fi influenced synths from funky keyboard riffs to eerie string lines. The producers, Lotti Golden and Richard Scher produced dub mixes and instrumental versions of Nunk creating club and remix possibilities
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Warp 9
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Described as the perfect instance of hip hops contemporary ramifications, Warp 9 was the brainchild of writer-producers Lotti Golden and Richard Scher. The duo wrote and recorded under the moniker Warp 9, a project at the forefront of the electro movement. Warp 9 evolved from a concept into a band when Prism Records expressed interest in releasing Nunk as a single. Golden & Scher invited drummer Chuck Wansley and percussionist Boe Brown to perform the male vocals, later, a female vocalist was added to the group, Ada Dyre performed vocals and rhymes for Warp 9s second single, Light Years Away. The group released two albums, Its a Beat Wave, a street themed testament exploring the topics of science fiction, hip hop and mixing, and Fade In, Fade Out, a soul R&B oriented montage. Warp 9s image is best described on the cover of their 12 single Light Years Away, with Milton Brown, Chuck Wansley, brian Chin of Billboard called Nunk a very skillful pastiche of a whole passel of recent street and fusion sounds, along with a simple rap. Nunk was a watershed for electro music, next to Planet Rock, the songs title Nunk, announced the groups musical direction—a fusion of funk and new wave, i. e. NUNK= N-ew wave + f-UNK. Fusing elements from electro-pop, rock, Latin, Afro-Cuban, and hip hop is integral to Warp 9, Warp 9s third single, Beat Wave is best described by David Toop, Their commitment to a medium generally considered junk food is disarming. Fitzpatrick continues the analogy, The genius of Warp 9 is how they took what was considered a music and invested it with real emotion. Although the sound of the Roland 808 was the basis for Warp 9s rhythm tracks, Golden, for example, on Warp 9s second single, Light Years Away, the Roland TR-808 beats were offset by conga drums. Golden and Scher used both male and female hip hop combined with solo and group vocals, an innovative approach in early electro hip hop. Scher played all of the instruments on the Warp 9 recordings, both Golden & Scher worked out the arrangements together, with Golden contributing to the background vocals along with the group. In preparation for the vocals, Golden would sing the guide vocals which were replaced by Warp 9 members on the final recordings. One exception is Master of the Mix where all of the background vocals are performed by Golden. The lyrics to the aforementioned 12, Master of the Mix can be considered autobiographical, in that they provide insight into the philosophy of production
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Lotti Golden
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Lotti Golden is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, poet and artist. A cult icon of the late 1960s, Golden is best known for her 1969 debut album, Motor-Cycle on Atlantic Records which captured womens liberation and motorcycle soul in one psychedelic swoop. Winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for songwriting and RIAA certified Gold and Platinum awards as a writer/producer, Golden has written and produced Top 5 hits in the US, Lotti Golden was born in Manhattan to Sy Golden and Anita Golden, the elder of two daughters. Goldens parents, a handsome and fashionable pair, were avid jazz aficionados. Golden soaked up the sounds of Billie Holiday and John Coltrane from any early age developing a passion for music. Golden grew up in Brooklyn, New York where she attended Canarsie High School, Golden was awarded the National League of Pen Women Prize for poetry and went on to attend Brooklyn College. A birthday gift from Goldens parents at age eleven would chart her future course, Golden studied classical guitar and voice, but soon found her niche as a singer-songwriter, utilizing her abilities as both wordsmith and vocalist. By the age of fourteen Golden was making forays into Manhattan, singing on sessions and peddling her songs to publishers, landing her first cover by Patti LaBelle. This would become the basis of her Atlantic Records debut LP, what is common to them – to Joni Mitchell and Lotti Golden, to Laura Nyro, Melanie, and to Elyse Weinberg, are the personalised songs they write, like voyages of self-discovery. On an album of restlessly epic roadhouse suites Golden uses the story-based format, Goldens coming of age saga is likely the first rock concept album by a female recording artist. Golden writes of a season in hell she somehow manages to survive and its an extraordinary evocation of a life-style… and one girls plunge into and out of it. Golden signed a deal as a staff writer with Saturday Music during her junior year of high school. One afternoon as Golden was leaving a demo session, the owner, writer/producer Bob Crewe heard her singing in an elevator. Golden told Crewe she was working on material for her own album, intrigued, Crewe set up a meeting, When Lotti brought her material to Crewe in 1967, he exclaimed, Good God, who are your friends. The release of Motor-Cycle in 1969 generated media interest in Golden, in addition to features in national publications, Lotti Golden was identified as a fashion trendsetter by Vogue, making several appearances in the magazine. Though Golden made no TV appearances, she is referenced in the commentary on television The Glass Teat. Still, Golden had concerns about the side of her career. The hard part is trying to make yourself heard, the promotion, side One,1. Motor-Cycle Michael,2. Gonna Fays,3. A Lot Like Lucifer
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Electro (music)
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Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, and funk. This is the distinction between electro and previously prominent genres such as disco, in which the electronic sound was only part of the instrumentation. It also palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie for being less vocal-oriented, following the decline of disco music in the United States, electro emerged as a fusion of funk and New York boogie. Early hip hop and rap combined with German and Japanese electropop influences such as Kraftwerk, 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. By the mid 1980s, the genre moved away from its electronic and funk influences, using harder edged beats and rock samples, Electro became popular again in the late 1990s with artists such as Anthony Rother and DJs such as Dave Clarke. A third wave of popularity occurred in 2007, Electro has branched out into subgenres, including Electrocore and Skweee, which developed in Sweden and Finland. From its inception, one of the characteristics of the electro sound was the use of drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808. As the genre evolved, computers and sampling replaced drum machines in electronic music and it is important to note, that although the electro of the 1980s and contemporary electro both grew out of the dissolution of disco, they are now different genres. Classic electro drum patterns tend to be electronic emulations of breakbeats, with a kick drum. The difference between electro drumbeats and breakbeats is that electro tends to be mechanical, while breakbeats tend to have more of a human-like feel. The definition however is somewhat ambiguous in nature due to the uses of the term. The Roland TR-808 drum machine hit the market in 1980, defining early electro with its immediately recognizable sound, staccato, percussive drumbeats tended to dominate electro, almost exclusively provided by the TR-808. As an inexpensive way of producing a sound, the TR-808 caught on quickly with the producers of early electro because of the ability of its bass drum to generate extreme low-frequencies. This aspect of the Roland TR-808 was especially appealing to producers who would test drive their tracks in nightclubs and its unique percussion sounds like handclaps, open and closed high-hat, clave and cowbell became integral to the electro sound. A number of songs in the early 1980s employed the TR-808, including Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing, ” Cybotron’s “Clear, ” and Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock. ”The Roland TR-808 has attained iconic status. Through the use of samples, the Roland TR-808 remains popular in electro, most electro is instrumental, but a common element is vocals processed through a vocoder. Additionally, speech synthesis may be used to create robotic or mechanical lyrical content, as in the iconic Planet Rock, although primarily instrumental, early electro utilized rap
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Juan Atkins
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Juan Atkins is an American musician. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, specifically Detroit techno along with Derrick May, the three, sometimes called the Belleville Three, attended high school together in Belleville, Michigan, near Detroit. Born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of a promoter, Juan Atkins learned how to play bass, drums. After moving to rural Belleville, Michigan, Atkins met Derrick May, the three were among the few black students at their school, and would later be known as the Belleville Three, and the originators of Detroit Techno. At the age of sixteen, Atkins heard electronic music for the first time, in late-1990s interviews, he recalls the sound of synthesizers as being like UFOs landing. He soon had his first synthesizer and abandoned playing funk bass and he bought his first analogue synthesizer, a Korg MS-10, and began recording with cassette decks and a mixer for overdubs. He subsequently taught Derrick May to mix, and the pair started doing DJ sets together as Deep Space and they took their long mixes to Mojo, who began to play them on his show in 1981. Atkins, May, and Saunderson would continue to collaborate as Deep Space Soundworks, even starting a club in downtown Detroit for local DJs to spin, the 1982 single Cosmic Cars also did well. Cybotron recorded their album, Enter, and were soon signed to Fantasy Records. One track, Clear, struck out in the direction that Atkins would pursue with what would later be called his techno music, the song took Kraftwerk-like electronic elements and fused them with club music. Atkins considered Cybotrons most successful single, Techno City, to be a unique, in 1985, Atkins left the group due to artistic differences with bandmate Rik Davis. Davis wanted the group to pursue a musical direction closer to rock, Atkins began recording as Model 500 in 1985 and founded the Metroplex label. His friends Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson all recorded singles on the label, Atkins first single as Model 500, No UFOs, was a hit in Detroit and Chicago. He followed it with a series of landmark techno tracks, earning him the nickname the godfather of techno, within a few years, Atkins work was re-released in Europe. Over the years, Atkins has also released works under the name Infiniti, Infiniti consists of Juan Atkins and he explained the difference in a 2007 interview, Model 500 is really a continuation of Cybotron. Thats one thing that Ive always stayed the course with and Ive always wanted to not deviate when I do stuff with Model 500, in the past year its probably what Cybotron would have done had the partners not split. Its more song-oriented with melodies, not just dance track - thats always been my experiences with Model 500. Now if I do stuff under the name Infinity, that would be the more form of pure techno
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Missy Elliott
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Melissa Arnette Missy Elliott, often known professionally as Missy Misdemeanor Elliott, is an American rapper, dancer, and record producer. Following several collaborations and guest appearances, she launched her career in 1997 with her debut album Supa Dupa Fly. The album debuted at three on the Billboard 200, the highest-charting debut for a female rapper at the time. Elliotts following album Da Real World, produced the singles Shes a Bitch, All n My Grill, with the release of Miss E. So Addictive, Under Construction, and This Is Not a Test, Elliott established an international career that yielded hits including Get Ur Freak On, One Minute Man,4 My People, Gossip Folks, and Work It. The latter won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance, Elliott went on to win five Grammy Awards, melissa Arnette Elliott was born on July 1,1971, in Portsmouth, Virginia. She is the child of mother Patricia Elliott, a power-company dispatcher, and father Ronnie. Elliott grew up in a church choir family, and singing was a normal part of her youth. At the age of four in 1975, she wanted to be a performer, in later years, she feared no one would take her seriously, because she was always the class clown. While her father was an active Marine, the family lived in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Elliott blossomed during this part of her life. She enjoyed school for the friendships she formed though she had little interest in school work and she would later get well above average marks on intelligence tests, and she was advanced two years ahead of her former class. Her move in grades caused isolation, and she purposely failed, when her father returned from the Marines, they moved back to Virginia, where they lived in extreme poverty. Life in Virginia saw many hardships, Elliott tells of domestic abuse by her father. She refused to stay over at friends homes out of fear that, on her return home, when Elliott was eight, she was molested by a cousin. In one violent incident, Ronnie Elliott dislocated his wifes shoulders and, during another, at fourteen, Elliotts mother decided to end the situation, she fled with her daughter under the guise of taking a joyride on a local bus. In reality, the pair had found refuge at a members home where their possessions were stored in a loaded U-Haul truck. Elliott tells that she feared her father would kill them both for leaving and she later stated, When we left, my mother realized how strong she was on her own, and it made me strong. It took her leaving to realize, Elliott graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1990
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