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TylerLent
Mrs.DeBock
English4Honors
3March2016
HowMusicProductionandSoundHasChangedOverTime
Inthelate1600s,aGermanmusicianinfluencedmanyfuturemusicians.Accordingto
JohannSebastianBach,AGermanmusicianbythenameofJohannSebastianBachhad
createdhundredsofmusicalcompositionsforindividualinstruments,choirs,andorchestras.The
organwashisspecialty.HisworkbroughtforthaclimaxtotheBaroqueperiod.TheBaroque
periodwasatimewhenmanynewformsandstylesweredeveloped.Thismanhasbroughtforth
inspirationandideastowardsthefutureofpeople.Mozart,anothercomposerfromAustria,is
consideredtobethegreatestmusicianofalltimeHisoutputespeciallyinviewofhisshort
lifewasenormous,including16operas,41symphonies,27pianoandfiveviolinconcerti,25
stringquartets,19masses,andotherworksineveryformpopularinhistime(Wolfgang
AmadeusMozart).Sadly,hediedattheageofthirtyfivefromunknowncauses,whichcuthis
brilliantmindtragicallyshort.Itisimportanttoknowthehistoryofmusicsoonecanalsoknow
thepresentandfutureofmusicandsound.
Thepianoisthemosticonicandpopularinstrumentforbothnewandexperienced
musicians.Somemaybesurprisedtoknowthatthepianoisactuallyapercussioninstrument.
AccordingtoPiano,amodernpianocontains88keysandcancoveramusicalrangeofover
sevenoctaves.Thewayapianoworksisthatawirestringconnectedtoeachindividualkeyishit
individuallybyfeltcoveredhammers.Thehammersgouptohitthewirestringwhenthe

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musicianpressesdownonakey.Anotherinstrument,theviolin,isastringedinstrumentthatis
playedwithabow.Theviolinhasaunique,highpitchedsound,andduetothisquality,...ithas
thelargestclassicalmusicrepertoireofanystringedinstrument.Violinsalsoarereferredtoas
fiddles(Violin).Perhaps
themostuniqueinstrument,whichwasdevelopedintheearly1900s
byaRussianmusician(whowasalsoascientist),isthetheremin.Unlikeotherinstruments,the
thereminisplayedwithoutanyphysicalcontact.Instead,ituseselectromagneticsignalstoform
atone,andaseparatesectionoftheinstrumentcontrolsthevolumeenvelope.Whatcanalsobe
changedisthevibrato(oscillationofpitch).Vibratoisdonebythemusicianoscillatinghisorher
handinthepitchsection.Theinstrumentcanalsomakepluckysoundssimilartoaharpsichord
bythemusicianbringinghisorherhanddownandthenupatafastpaceinthevolumesection.It
isimportanttoknowofinstrumentsofmusicsoonecanknowthepast,present,andfutureof
musicandsound.
Musictodayhasmanygenres,frominstrumentplayedmusicsuchasrocknrolland
ragtimetoelectronicdancemusic(EDM)suchasdubstepandhouse.Rockmusicemergedfrom
silenceinthe1950sand,accordingtoRock,rockmusicoriginatedintheUSduringthe50s
andspreadtoothercountrieswhospokeEnglishinthe60s.Itsoonbecamethesoundtrack
popularamongtheyouththroughouttheworld.Ragtimeisapianoplayedgenrethatinvolves
fast,complicatednotes.
Dubstepisagenrewithasyncopateddrumlinethatoftenhasrobotic
growls,electronicscreeches,arpeggiators,and,ofcourse,wubs,amongcountlessother
sounds.Housemusicisdifferent.AccordingtoHouseMusic,housemusicisahightempo
EDMstylethatoriginatedinIllinoisintheearly80sandsoonreachedaroundtheworld.
Instrumentscommonlyusedinhouseisapulsingbassbeat,drums,synthesizers,andsampling

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machinesthatcanelectronicallyreproduceavoiceand/orsound.Itisimportanttoknowthe
stylesofmusictodaysothatonemayknowthefutureofmusicandsound.
ElectronicDanceMusic(EDM)ismadeusingsynthesizers.Synthesizersaremachinesthat
aredesignedtocreateawidevarietyofsoundusingatleastonetypeofsynthesis.Abasic
exampleofsynthesisiswhatisknownassubtractivesynthesis.WhenitcomestoImageLines
FMandSubtractivesynthplugin,Sytrus,AikensaidCallingSytrusanFMsynthisagross
oversimplification.Threemultimoderesonantfilters,eachwithitsownwaveshaper,canbe
arrangedinseriesorparallel,andoperatorscanfeedfiltersinanytypeofmix.Thus,Sytruscan
functionasthreelayered,twooscillatoranalogsubtractivesynthswithinasinglepatch,
producingwarmstringpadsyou'llneverhearfromaYamahaDX7.Anothermaintypeof
synthesisiswhatisknownasadditivesynthesis.AccordingtoImageLineSoftwareMorphine,
additivesynthesisstartswithoneormoreharmonicsthattheusercandrawmanuallyorbring
inexternaldatasuchasanaudioclip.AthirdtypeofsynthesisisFMsynthesis,orFrequency
Modulation.ImageLinesSytrusisanexampleofanFMsynth.AccordingtoImageLine
Sytrus2SoftSynth,Sytrushassixoperatorssetonaknobmatrixthatletseveryoperator(what
Sytruscallsoscillators)modulateanyotheroperator,oreventhemselves.Theknobscanalsobe
mutedwitharightclickforcomparisonofoptionswhenprogramming.Althoughtheknobs
cannotbeautomated(programmedtomoveontheirownasdecidedbytheoperator),the
operatoroutputlevelandthemodulationinputlevelcanbeautomatedwithinSytrusX/Y
modulationsection.ThemodulationmatrixthatSytruspossessesallowsprecisioncontrolofthe
individualmodulations,allowingforafargreatercontrolofsoundthanmostothersimilar

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plugins.Learningaboutthetypesofsynthesiscanespeciallyhelptheunderstandingofthefuture
ofsoundandmusic.
MostmodernmusicismadeinatypeofsoftwarecalledaDigitalAudioWorkstation,or
DAWforshort.TwoexamplesofDAWsoftwaresareAbletonLiveandFLStudio.Abletonlive
hasalotoffeatures,althoughthepriceforsaidfeaturescanbesteep.AccordingtoSasso,You
cangetallthepremiuminstrumentsaswellasEIC2andUnnaturalSelectionintheAbleton
Suiteboxedbundle($799)andtothesideofthereview,SassoalsosaidPurchasealternatives
arealittleperplexing.Accesstomultiplelibrariescouldbesmoother.AnotherDAWsoftware
isFLStudio.FLStudiohasmanyfeaturesaswell,likeAbletonLive.Amorenotablefeature
thatFLStudiopossessesistheabilitytoaddandeditautomationclips,amongotherthings.
AccordingtoAiken,therearethreewaysinwhichtoautomateparametersinsideofFLStudio
thefirsttwowaysistorecordtheautomationbyusingyourmouseorbymessingwithMIDI
hardware.ThiswillgetyouintotheEventsEditor,whereyoucanusethepenciltooltodrawthe
desiredautomationshape.Thethirdwaytodoautomationisbyaddinganautomationclipby
eitherrightclickingonapluginsparameterorgoingtotools,thenlasttweaked,thencreate
automationclip.ItisimportanttoknowaboutsomedifferentDigitalAudioWorkstations
(DAW)sothatmusicinthefuturecanbemade,musicfromthepastcanbecombinedwith
presentmusicandthemusicofthefuturealike.This,inturn,willhelpwiththeunderstandingof
thefutureofmusicandsound.
Inconclusion,musicstartedoutastribaldrumbeatsandwoodwindinstrumentsthatsoon
ledtosymphoniesandorchestrastoragtime,rockandroll,jazz,whichledtomoderngenreslike
dubstep,drumandbass(DnB),hardstyle,trap,electro,110funk,breakbeat,andmuchmore

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genres.Thefutureofmusiccanbepredictedbutnotaccurately.Onething,though,iscertain:
musicistheoneandonlyuniversallanguage.Itisimportanttoknowaboutthepast,thepresent,
andthefutureofmusic.

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