Music and how we listen to it
Music has played a part in most of our lives. Way back in history music was an ever present entertainment. Through the centuries, music has always played a large part.
In the late 19th Century gramophones were invented but were only available to the upper classes.
The way we listen to music has changed beyond our wildest dreams. In the early 20th century if you wanted to listen to music you would go to a music hall for entertainment. If you wanted to listen to music at home you would gather around the piano. Most well to do homes had their own piano and the ladies would play for the gentlemen. Lower down the class system you would go to the local Inn or public house for some noisy entertainment!
In the late 1920’s we saw the advent of wireless and broadcasting. This brought news and music to many homes over the next twenty or so years. During World War II the wireless played a large part in many homes bringing news and rousing songs.
With the 1950’s music changed, the war was over and a new freedom dawned. Rock and Roll was here and it was here to stay! Vinyl records became even more popular and the old 78’s were replaced with 45’s and 33’s. By the 1960’s there was a musical revolution in full swing and with it an even greater desire to listen to music. Young people took the rock and roll and popular music to be there own. They would go to coffee bars to listen to music on juke boxes and tune in to pirate radio stations on their transistors. Transistor radios would often have an earpiece so you could listen on your own and without others hearing, this was the start of personal audio.
During the 1970’s you could listen to your music on cassette tape players and so the idea of personal music players really started to take hold. You could choose your own music as well as the radio. There was a down side to this. The music quality on a cassette tape would deteriorate with use and would often slip or get chewed up in the machine.
In the 1980’s compact discs became popular. They were better than the old vinyl records because they didn’t warp and they were easy to store. Because they were much smaller they became portable. The Sony Walkman was born and now we could listen to our music on our own Personal CD Player. In recent history this is probably the one thing that really changed the way we listen to music. Of course things have progressed further with MP3 players taking the limelight from the Walkman but the personal CD player was the iconic device that started the whole idea of personal audio as we know it today.
In the late 19th Century gramophones were invented but were only available to the upper classes.
The way we listen to music has changed beyond our wildest dreams. In the early 20th century if you wanted to listen to music you would go to a music hall for entertainment. If you wanted to listen to music at home you would gather around the piano. Most well to do homes had their own piano and the ladies would play for the gentlemen. Lower down the class system you would go to the local Inn or public house for some noisy entertainment!
In the late 1920’s we saw the advent of wireless and broadcasting. This brought news and music to many homes over the next twenty or so years. During World War II the wireless played a large part in many homes bringing news and rousing songs.
With the 1950’s music changed, the war was over and a new freedom dawned. Rock and Roll was here and it was here to stay! Vinyl records became even more popular and the old 78’s were replaced with 45’s and 33’s. By the 1960’s there was a musical revolution in full swing and with it an even greater desire to listen to music. Young people took the rock and roll and popular music to be there own. They would go to coffee bars to listen to music on juke boxes and tune in to pirate radio stations on their transistors. Transistor radios would often have an earpiece so you could listen on your own and without others hearing, this was the start of personal audio.
During the 1970’s you could listen to your music on cassette tape players and so the idea of personal music players really started to take hold. You could choose your own music as well as the radio. There was a down side to this. The music quality on a cassette tape would deteriorate with use and would often slip or get chewed up in the machine.
In the 1980’s compact discs became popular. They were better than the old vinyl records because they didn’t warp and they were easy to store. Because they were much smaller they became portable. The Sony Walkman was born and now we could listen to our music on our own Personal CD Player. In recent history this is probably the one thing that really changed the way we listen to music. Of course things have progressed further with MP3 players taking the limelight from the Walkman but the personal CD player was the iconic device that started the whole idea of personal audio as we know it today.
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