It was on this day ...

[pegkerr]

Interesting tidbit from the Writers' Almanac:

It was on this day in 1877 that Thomas Edison announced that he had invented a new device for recording and playing back sound, which he called the phonograph. His hope was that it would replace stenographers in business offices, and that it would allow people to preserve the voices of family members who had died. He wrote, "It will annihilate time and space, and bottle up for posterity the mere utterance of man."

But most people who saw the early demonstrations of the phonograph found it spooky, as though it were playing back the voice of a ghost. Edison demonstrated it for the editors of Scientific American magazine, and the magazine later wrote, "No matter how familiar a person may be with the modern machinery, or how clear in his mind the principles underlying this strange device may be. It is impossible to listen to this mechanical speech without experiencing the idea that his senses are deceiving him."

For the first 10 years or so, most people remained uneasy with the phonograph. In order to help American customers feel more comfortable with the idea of playing back sound, the Columbia Phonograph Company commissioned a recording of marching music by John Philip Sousa's U.S. Marine Band. The idea was that Americans couldn't be spooked out by patriotic music, and those recordings became some of the first successful musical recordings ever sold.

But John Philip Sousa did not like the phonograph. He said, "The time is coming when no one will be ready to submit himself to the ennobling discipline of learning music. Everyone will have their ready made or ready pirated music in their cupboards."

Sousa was right. In 1900, most American homes had at least one musical instrument, and instead of buying records, people bought sheet music. But by the 1950s, almost all of the music being made in this country was being made by professional musicians, and few families gathered around pianos any more. Recording devices preserved the American folk music that by then had begun to die out, but it might never have died out at all if it hadn't been for recording devices.

I do have some sympathy for Sousa's point of view, much as I love recorded music. I took piano for three years, but abandoned it for ballet (which was eventually abandoned, too.) I really wish I could play Gaelic fiddle, and if my household ever gets enough money, I think I would like to take lessons. I do wish I could play a musical instrument. My mother, as I have mentioned before, has played cello for over 65 years.

Life has changed so much, but I think of how nice it would have been to have the sort of family evening gathered around music you saw in Jane Austen's time--there are scenes in the movies Emma and Sense and Sensibility depicting this. Ah well, I guess I will have to make do with the Minn-stf music circles. Which, come to think of it, is hardly "making due" at all, but instead a great pleasure.

Comments

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

I have a long rant about how open music circles, the musicians in Washington Square Park, piano bars, and such all help bring back the concept of music as an activity, as opposed to passive pleasure/sit back and let the experts make it, but I may have ranted it before.

[schnoogle.livejournal.com]

Everyone will have their ready made or ready pirated music in their cupboards.

Or in their computers, as the case may be...

[roz-mcclure.livejournal.com]

Celtic fiddle (and most folk styles, I imagine) playing is much better learned by ear than by sheet music. Availability of other players' recordings mean that lots of beginners can learn style and rhythm that's difficult to communicate otherwise.

I know quite a few friends who like to sit around the living room (or pub, or park, or wherever we can be reasonably noisy!) and play folk tunes, but I couldn't tell you where we'd be without recordings of other players to relate to. In an ideal world, we'd all be able to hear each other play in person, but that's hardly feasible!

On the other hand, I suspect further development of regional styles has been stifled because of recordings -- the "Sligo" or "Inverness" or "Cork" style that we play is probably the same as it was in the 1950s.

[lmarley.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed. One of the things I'm most grateful to my parents for, despite a ragged childhood experience, is that we had no television. For entertainment we (gasp!) read books, or we made music. Almost nightly! And so I learned to play guitar so we could sing our favorite folk songs, and I learned piano and the French horn. And all of us--even my nearly tone-deaf brother--sang our hearts out.

We still do. Get a few of us together in the kitchen and the next thing you know we're singing: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, or Winter Wonderland, or any of a dozen Christmas carols.

Television can be a great enemy, don't you think? A time suck. As the internet can also be!

[avengangle.livejournal.com]

To me, it sounds like Sousa was more worried about the state of the professional musician -- rather like Broadway trying to use recordings and keyboards rather than pit orchestras. That notwithstanding, there are hundreds of music schools in the US alone, producing a glut of professional musicians on all levels, so Sousa's fears are unrealized.

Regarding families who have evenings around music, it's not as uncommon as you might suspect, especially around the holidays. I play piano (as a matter of fact, I have a degree in it), so there's always a Christmas Carol Night in my parents' house.

Also, out of all five Bennet sisters, only Mary is willing to play in public, and it's acknowledged that she isn't that good. (Yes, Lizzy plays for a few people, but not for a dance, and she thinks she isn't good at all.) In Regency-era historicals, there are always jokes (Quinn's Smith-Smythes) about musical evenings like you describe with supremely untalented performers, making the whole ordeal excruciating for anyone with an ear (which the heroes always have). So family musicale evenings are really only fun if someone's decent, or if no one has a good ear. :) But if they are, you're right -- it's a lovely way to spend an evening away from the television set. (Odds are, if your family's large enough, SOMEONE can play SOMETHING well enough to make a fun evening.)

[dreamcoat-mom.livejournal.com]

As a contemporary worship director in the ELCA, the trend I'm seeing is of fewer young people emerging as fully competent musicians. When we were of high school age (I'm in my mid-forties now) within our school of 500 students, there were probably twenty or so of us who could play piano well. By that I mean being able to read a grand staff and play a piece of music by sight. Now that number has dwindled in that same high school to two.

Recorded music may be the culprit in part, but the other half of the equation is the sheer volume of stimuli and opportunities presented to young people these days. It's not uncommon, for instance, for one child to be involved in football, the school play, band, choir, church activities, the a/v club, and outdoor/wilderness sports. (I just described my son.) He's an able percussionist, but certainly not accomplished. He can carry a tune, but I wouldn't exactly say he "sings." If he were to pursue music with the same fervor with which he approaches a video game, he'd be incredible, but his interests are so fragmented that he simply doesn't have the time or inclination.

The payoff is that kids are often more well-rounded than we were. The we/they mentality between "jocks" and "band nerds" has virtually disappeared in our little school district, which is refreshing and wonderful. The sad reality, however, is that everybody does everything, but far fewer attain excellence in anything. Our church is down to a few keyboardists/organists, all over the age of 40. We don't have one young person in our midst who can even sight read a simple hymn, and we have only one teenager with developed vocal talents, whose sight reading/harmonizing skills are pretty shaky at best.

It makes me sad, because the making of music has made my life rich beyond measure, and I wish all of those friends, connections, experiences and emotionally fulfilling moments for the next generation. Here's to hoping the pendulum swings before it's too late. Thanks for a great discussion topic, Peg.

[pazlazuli.livejournal.com]

"almost all of the music being made in this country was being made by professional musicians, and few families gathered around pianos any more."

I just watched Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility the other day and the same thought crossed my mind.

I have to find the boys a new piano teacher (they took piano for a couple of years, but have not in the last 3), but boy, musical education is expensive...

[tizianaj.livejournal.com]

Perhaps as an evolution from the phonograph, many people are now insisting on "perfect" digitally produced music rather than what can be played by an actual musician.

A case in point: several years ago I directed a variety show, which took place on an annual basis. In previous years a person with a computerized music program had provided all of the musical accompaniment, but when it was my turn to do the show he was not available. This did not worry me too much because I had an excellent concert pianist willing to play, as well as a couple of other musicians. However, people seemed to be of the opinion that I should cancel the show if the music couldn't be "perfect" i.e. computer generated. These people of course weren't musicians themselves.

I play the flute and the saxophone - not terribly well, but I know and appreciate the dedication and sacrifice necessary if someone wants to play a musical instrument. In my experience, those who have not at least attempted to play a musical instrument have no real concept of what we go through to perform competently, let alone well. No, they want their music to be perfect, and live musicians sometimes make mistakes, and so they are rejected.

The ironic (and sad) thing is that most of them wouldn't know if something was perfect or not.

[tesla-aldrich.livejournal.com]

Musical taste, talent, and ability aren't binary; there are continua of both innate aptitude and level of proficiency.

For myself (and my family) I'm trying to enjoy what I have and work to improve. I have no particular innate ability, but I've taken guitar lessons in the past, and although I'm not taking them now, I keep playing. I intend to start lessons again when I have the money and time for it.

One of the most satisfying experiences I've known is that of sitting around with friends and family making music. We're not perfect, but it's easy to overlook that while we're all trying to sound good together.

[elfundeb.livejournal.com]

In our family recorded music facilitates family music evenings we could not otherwise enjoy. As a child I begged for a piano, but we couldn't afford one, so neither I nor my siblings ever learned to play. Nevertheless, at holiday gatherings after dinner my brother selects music from his CD collection (mostly show tunes and standards) and the three siblings stand up and sing, dance and make merry while our spouses watch in mild amusement (though my own spouse gets a pass, as he could not carry a tune in a bucket).