Overview
This unique anthology assembles primary documents chronicling the development of the phonograph, film sound, and the radio. These three sound technologies shaped Americans' relation to music from the late nineteenth century until the end of the Second World War, by which time the technologies were thoroughly integrated into everyday life. There are more than 120 selections between the collection's first piece, an article on the phonograph written by Thomas Edison in 1878, and its last, a column advising listeners ""desirous of gaining more from music as presented by the radio."" Among the selections are articles from popular and trade publications, advertisements, fan letters, corporate records, fiction, and sheet music. Taken together, the selections capture how the new sound technologies were shaped by developments such as urbanization, the increasing value placed on leisure time, and the rise of the advertising industry. Most importantly, they depict the ways that the new sound technologies were received by real people in particular places and moments in time.
Reviews
Filled with great selections, Music, Sound, and Technology in America is a salutary addition to a media studies literature lacking in such sourcebooks. It provides a ready-made trove of primary source material to use in classroom discussions of historical interpretation and methodology. In addition, by juxtaposing materials on diverse aspects of sound, the editors avoid the persistent habit of segmenting sound studies by medium or mode. --Jonathan Sterne, author of The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction
Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of Music, Sound, and Technology in America, an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era... [T]he editors of Music, Sound, and Technology in America exhibit a canny ear for the electrifying echoes between then and now. - Andy Battaglia, Wall Street Journal A fascinating new book on early media... A delightful read. - Steve Ramm, In the Groove The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent 'aha!' moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age. - James M. Keller, Santa Fe New Mexican Taylor, Katz, and Grajeda have culled print and visual materials from the popular press, trade journals, and company archives that neatly capture the excitement of the new enterprises of radio, sound recordings, and film and the quandaries surrounding these media... Highly Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. - N. Newman, Choice Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents' scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users' expectations ossified... What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control. - Emily Bick, The Wire As a resource, the collection is very usable and particularly student-friendly. The introductions are insightful without being exhaustive, which encourages further inquiry and discussion by providing guidance and direction to sound studies, cultural studies, and technological studies. This approach creates a versatile collection that is not only useful for research and scholarship, but which is also strikingly teachable. - Victoria Willis, Popular Music and Society This is a much needed anthology... We owe the three editors a considerable debt for doing the necessary research and for organizing and explaining the value of what they have unearthed. - European Journal of Communication Music, Sound, and Technology in America provides a useful overview of the impact of technologies on American music and musical culture. It is a valuable resource, an engaging, well-organized anthology that will raise provocative questions for students of American cultural history. -Michele Hilmes, author of Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952 A fascinating new book on early media... A delightful read. -- Steve Ramm In the Groove As a resource, the collection is very usable and particularly student-friendly. The introductions are insightful without being exhaustive, which encourages further inquiry and discussion by providing guidance and direction to sound studies, cultural studies, and technological studies. This approach creates a versatile collection that is not only useful for research and scholarship, but which is also strikingly teachable. -- Victoria Willis Popular Music and Society Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of Music, Sound, and Technology in America, an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era... [T]he editors of Music, Sound, and Technology in America exhibit a canny ear for the electrifying echoes between then and now. -- Andy Battaglia Wall Street Journal Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents' scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users' expectations ossified... What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control. -- Emily Bick The Wire The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent 'aha!' moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age. -- James M. Keller Santa Fe New Mexican Taylor, Katz, and Grajeda have culled print and visual materials from the popular press, trade journals, and company archives that neatly capture the excitement of the new enterprises of radio, sound recordings, and film and the quandaries surrounding these media... Highly Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. -- N. Newman Choice Although the book is aimed at scholars and students (the book would work admirably as a reader for any number of courses in music, media studies, or history), Music, Sound, and Technology in America will appeal to nearly anyone who has an interest in exploring further the fascinating early history of phonography, cinema, and radio from the perspective of its founders, critics, and consumers. Truly a landmark documentary in every way, this collection should go a long way in stimulating further historical work in the field. -- Rob Haskins ARSC Journal
Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of Music, Sound, and Technology in America, an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era... [T]he editors of Music, Sound, and Technology in America exhibit a canny ear for the electrifying echoes between then and now. - Andy Battaglia, Wall Street Journal A fascinating new book on early media... A delightful read. - Steve Ramm, In the Groove The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent 'aha!' moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age. - James M. Keller, Santa Fe New Mexican Taylor, Katz, and Grajeda have culled print and visual materials from the popular press, trade journals, and company archives that neatly capture the excitement of the new enterprises of radio, sound recordings, and film and the quandaries surrounding these media... Highly Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. - N. Newman, Choice Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents' scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users' expectations ossified... What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control. - Emily Bick, The Wire As a resource, the collection is very usable and particularly student-friendly. The introductions are insightful without being exhaustive, which encourages further inquiry and discussion by providing guidance and direction to sound studies, cultural studies, and technological studies. This approach creates a versatile collection that is not only useful for research and scholarship, but which is also strikingly teachable. - Victoria Willis, Popular Music and Society This is a much needed anthology... We owe the three editors a considerable debt for doing the necessary research and for organizing and explaining the value of what they have unearthed. - European Journal of Communication Music, Sound, and Technology in America provides a useful overview of the impact of technologies on American music and musical culture. It is a valuable resource, an engaging, well-organized anthology that will raise provocative questions for students of American cultural history. -Michele Hilmes, author of Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952 A fascinating new book on early media... A delightful read. -- Steve Ramm, In the Groove As a resource, the collection is very usable and particularly student-friendly. The introductions are insightful without being exhaustive, which encourages further inquiry and discussion by providing guidance and direction to sound studies, cultural studies, and technological studies. This approach creates a versatile collection that is not only useful for research and scholarship, but which is also strikingly teachable. -- Victoria Willis, Popular Music and Society Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of Music, Sound, and Technology in America, an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era... [T]he editors of Music, Sound, and Technology in America exhibit a canny ear for the electrifying echoes between then and now. -- Andy Battaglia, Wall Street Journal Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents' scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users' expectations ossified... What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control. -- Emily Bick, The Wire The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent 'aha!' moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age. -- James M. Keller, Santa Fe New Mexican Taylor, Katz, and Grajeda have culled print and visual materials from the popular press, trade journals, and company archives that neatly capture the excitement of the new enterprises of radio, sound recordings, and film and the quandaries surrounding these media... Highly Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. -- N. Newman, Choice Although the book is aimed at scholars and students (the book would work admirably as a reader for any number of courses in music, media studies, or history), Music, Sound, and Technology in America will appeal to nearly anyone who has an interest in exploring further the fascinating early history of phonography, cinema, and radio from the perspective of its founders, critics, and consumers. Truly a landmark documentary in every way, this collection should go a long way in stimulating further historical work in the field. -- Rob Haskins ARSC Journal
""What should we make of the strange matter of sound? From the start of human history until not so long ago, sound would have been a fleeting sign of something else, a presence or an event. Then, with the invention of contraptions like the phonograph, came a wave of recording technologies that would instill sound with a sense of permanence, as material evidence of something no longer there. Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of ""Music, Sound, and Technology in America,"" an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era."" Andy Battaglia, Wall Street Journal, July 31st 2012 ""Filled with great selections, Music, Sound, and Technology in America is a salutary addition to a media studies literature lacking in such sourcebooks. It provides a ready-made trove of primary source material to use in classroom discussions of historical interpretation and methodology. In addition, by juxtaposing materials on diverse aspects of sound, the editors avoid the persistent habit of segmenting sound studies by medium or mode."" Jonathan Sterne, author of The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction ""Music, Sound, and Technology in America provides a useful overview of the impact of technologies on American music and musical culture. It is a valuable resource, an engaging, well-organized anthology that will raise provocative questions for students of American cultural history."" Michele Hilmes, author of Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952 ""The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent 'aha!' moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age."" - James M. Keller, Santa Fe New Mexican ""Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents' scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users' expectations ossified... What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control.""- The Wire, 1st February 2013
"""What should we make of the strange matter of sound? From the start of human history until not so long ago, sound would have been a fleeting sign of something else, a presence or an event. Then, with the invention of contraptions like the phonograph, came a wave of recording technologies that would instill sound with a sense of permanence, as material evidence of something no longer there. Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of ""Music, Sound, and Technology in America,"" an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era."" Andy Battaglia, Wall Street Journal, July 31st 2012 ""Filled with great selections, Music, Sound, and Technology in America is a salutary addition to a media studies literature lacking in such sourcebooks. It provides a ready-made trove of primary source material to use in classroom discussions of historical interpretation and methodology. In addition, by juxtaposing materials on diverse aspects of sound, the editors avoid the persistent habit of segmenting sound studies by medium or mode."" Jonathan Sterne, author of The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction ""Music, Sound, and Technology in America provides a useful overview of the impact of technologies on American music and musical culture. It is a valuable resource, an engaging, well-organized anthology that will raise provocative questions for students of American cultural history."" Michele Hilmes, author of Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952 ""The editors have selected and assembled their material with perspicuity and wit, and anybody interested in the infancy of sound recording, cinema, and radio is guaranteed to experience frequent 'aha!' moments that transport them with a simple turn of phrase to the mind-set of an earlier age."" - James M. Keller, Santa Fe New Mexican ""Part history of technology, part reception studies, this anthology gathers advertisements, sales agents' scripts, personal accounts, editorials and letters from hobbyist journals of the early days of recorded sound... At its best, the selections convey an eyewitness sense of first reactions to new technologies, before users' expectations ossified... What shines through the book is how new technologies have opened up cultural battlegrounds for creativity, access and control.""- The Wire, 1st February 2013"
What should we make of the strange matter of sound? From the start of human history until not so long ago, sound would have been a fleeting sign of something else, a presence or an event. Then, with the invention of contraptions like the phonograph, came a wave of recording technologies that would instill sound with a sense of permanence, as material evidence of something no longer there. Measuring the cultural importance and metaphysical weirdness of that change is part of the project of Music, Sound, and Technology in America, an anthology of fascinating artifacts whose prosaic title belies its insights into the early years of the recorded-sound era. Andy Battaglia, Wall Street Journal, July 31st 2012 Filled with great selections, Music, Sound, and Technology in America is a salutary addition to a media studies literature lacking in such sourcebooks. It provides a ready-made trove of primary source material to use in classroom discussions of historical interpretation and methodology. In addition, by juxtaposing materials on diverse aspects of sound, the editors avoid the persistent habit of segmenting sound studies by medium or mode. Jonathan Sterne, author of The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction Music, Sound, and Technology in America provides a useful overview of the impact of technologies on American music and musical culture. It is a valuable resource, an engaging, well-organized anthology that will raise provocative questions for students of American cultural history. Michele Hilmes, author of Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952
