Soundbreaking: How Technology Changed Music Forever

Course Description

Throughout the vast majority of human history, listening to a piece of music required being within earshot of the performer, a real-time, never-to-be-repeated event. Over the last hundred or so years, however, that has all changed. The evolution in the way music is made has caused a shift in music consumption, from ephemeral experience to instant accessibility. We now live in a world where all the music that has ever been recorded is available to us whenever, and wherever, we like. Using the award-winning documentary, “Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music” as our main resource, we will look at the technical innovations and inventions of the modern age that changed music forever, through the lens of its creators, consumers, and performers — from the microphone and crooning; to the electric guitar and amplification; to the creative explosion of multitrack recording; to the advent of hip-hop, turntablism, and sampling; to the iPhone, Spotify, and music streaming.

Dates

Program Details

Taught By

David Gold