page_title: Sound recording and reproduction
section_title: Cultural effects
hierarchical_section_title: Sound recording and reproduction / Cultural effects
caption_attribution_description: Secretary Michael R. Pompeo briefs the traveling press en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
context_page_description: Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording.
  Acoustic analog recording is achieved by a microphone diaphragm that senses changes in atmospheric pressure caused by acoustic sound waves and records them as a mechanical representation of the sound waves on a medium such as a phonograph record. In magnetic tape recording, the sound waves vibrate the microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying electric current, which is then converted to a varying magnetic field by an electromagnet, which makes a representation of the sound as magnetized areas on a plastic tape with a magnetic coating on it. Analog sound reproduction is the reverse process, with a bigger loudspeaker diaphragm causing changes to atmospheric pressure to form acoustic sound waves.
  Digital recording and reproduction converts the analog sound signal picked up by the microphone to a digital form by the process of sampling.
context_section_description: The development of analog sound recording in the nineteenth century and its widespread use throughout the twentieth century had a huge impact on the development of music. Before analog sound recording was invented, most music was listened to by hearing a live performance, or by singing or playing a song or piece. Throughout the medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and through much of the Romantic music era, the main way that songs and instrumental pieces were "recorded" was by notating the piece in music notation. While music notation indicates the pitches of the melody and their rhythm, the notation is not like a 2010-era sound recording. Indeed, in the Medieval era, Gregorian chant did not indicate the rhythm of the chant. In the Baroque era, instrumental pieces often lack a tempo indication and usually none of the ornaments were written down. As a result, each performance of a song or piece would be slightly different.
  With the development of analog sound recording, though, a performance could be permanently fixed, in all of its elements: pitch, rhythm, timbre, ornaments and expression. This meant that many more elements of a performance would be captured and disseminated to other listeners. The development of sound recording also enabled a much larger proportion of people to hear famous orchestras, operas, singers and bands, because even if a non-wealthy person could not afford to hear the live concert, she or he might be able to afford to buy the recording. The availability of sound recording thus helped to spread musical styles to new regions, countries and continents. The cultural influence went in a number of directions. Sound recordings enabled Western music lovers to hear actual recordings of Asian, Middle Eastern and African groups and performers, increasing awareness of non-Western musical styles. At the same time, sound recordings enabled non-Western music lovers to hear the most famous North American and European groups and singers.
caption: Many members of the media use recorders to capture remarks
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