I Just finished reading John Culshaw's 1967 charming and often funny account of the studio recording of Wagner's Ring, "Ring Resounding". I had picked it up several years ago but when I realized he wasn't going to give manufacturers and model numbers of gear I lost interest (typical, shallow engineer, I know).
Then, a few weeks ago, I watched some YouTube clips from a BBC documentary about the recording, "The Golden Ring", which led me to give the book another try. This time it took and I found this tale of music, personalities, and a most exciting time in the development of audio technology very engaging.
But here's what struck me. In the epilog Culshaw ruminates on the transformational role of audio and video technology in the consumption of music, and art in general. He predicts, correctly, the widespread use of sound reinforcement in music-drama -- his term for opera and musical theater. But, more remarkably, he predicts streaming of audio and video.
"The listener, or viewer, or whatever one calls him, will either be able to play his own tapes or records over such a system to produce sound and vision, or he will be able to command such a performance to take place by dialing some code through which a computer will channel the performance to him. Nobody has quite worked out how he will pay for this, but history has shown that once a demanded facility becomes technically possible, it takes no time at all to figure out how to charge for it."
Well, he was right about the first part anyway.
Sadly, Culshaw died in 1980 at the age of 55 and never saw his vision fully executed.
I do intent to rent the BBC documentary.
--Frank
Then, a few weeks ago, I watched some YouTube clips from a BBC documentary about the recording, "The Golden Ring", which led me to give the book another try. This time it took and I found this tale of music, personalities, and a most exciting time in the development of audio technology very engaging.
But here's what struck me. In the epilog Culshaw ruminates on the transformational role of audio and video technology in the consumption of music, and art in general. He predicts, correctly, the widespread use of sound reinforcement in music-drama -- his term for opera and musical theater. But, more remarkably, he predicts streaming of audio and video.
"The listener, or viewer, or whatever one calls him, will either be able to play his own tapes or records over such a system to produce sound and vision, or he will be able to command such a performance to take place by dialing some code through which a computer will channel the performance to him. Nobody has quite worked out how he will pay for this, but history has shown that once a demanded facility becomes technically possible, it takes no time at all to figure out how to charge for it."
Well, he was right about the first part anyway.
Sadly, Culshaw died in 1980 at the age of 55 and never saw his vision fully executed.
I do intent to rent the BBC documentary.
--Frank