Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century
Edited by Hans Joachim Braun
The Johns Hopkins University Press,
Baltimore and London, 2002.
256 pp. Illus. Trade, 32.95US$.
ISBN 0-8018-6885-8.
Reviewed by Chris Cobb
San Francisco
ccobbsf@yahoo.com
This much needed collection of critical essays addresses sound art from
many new and interesting perspectives. While some of the authors have
taken on certain issues such as Hans Joachim Braun's " Movin'
On: Trains and Planes as a Theme in Music," others such as Andre
Milliard have delved deep into the meaning of recorded audio as a phenomena.
From reading this book, one gets the impression - that sound art
is rediscovered periodically but never really seems to find its place.
This is due to the fact that it always gets diluted by the pure abstraction
of art or the concrete nature of written music. In between, there are
numerous sub-genres and each has its passionate adherents. From the
earliest days of the the Theremin to contemporary DJ mix and scratch
compilations, there are plenty of examples of music that is not quite
music. And in the same vein, there are many artists who do sound art
as a side practice, or are influenced by nonmusic. Hans Joachim Braun's
" Movin' On: Trains and Planes as a Theme in Music,"
reveals the connection between the industrial age and the art produced
during that time. Many composers, Braun asserts, were effected by the
intensity of these big, loud machines that roared through towns. He
singles out Duke Ellington's "Daybreak Express" as "perhaps·the
greatest piece of train-inspired music." He mentions the birth
of both Swing and Jazz and the love of rhthym and wild time signatures
as being all connected.
My favorite essay is Andre Milliard's "Tape Recording and
Music Making." Here Milliard surprises us with an account of how
Chuck Berry was quick to purchase a tape recorder, upgrading apparently,
from his clunky old wire recorder. Milliard also mentions how Buddy
Holly's voice was subtly enhanced by his usage of tape effects
in the recording studio - in particular on Holly's ""Words
of love" from 1957, which gives the impression of several voices
in harmony." What I like about this collection is that there is
even room enough for over-the-top academia. I am speaking of Rebecca
McSwain's aptly titled "The Social Reconstruction of a Reverse
Salient in Electric Guitar Technology: Noise, the Solid Body, and Jimi
Hendrix." Her essay in 4 sections seeks to pick apart the history
of the guitar in the context of its existence as a tool for social expression.
While I am glad that such an important social issue is being addressed,
her essay shows just how hard it can be to approach music (or film for
that matter) as a critic or historian. After all, music, especially
that made with guitar, is inherently one thing: entertainment. Because
of this the essay often comes off as if this were her first encounter
with the guitar as an object. Interestingly, this is both painfully
academic and yet breathlessly devotional. An interesting marriage of
sentiments. Braun did a nice job of bringing together these 17 very
strong and personal voices, which in the end make for good, thought
provoking reading.