Musacks

So, after much procrastinating, I decided to post again. Until about thirty seconds ago, I had no idea what I was gonna talk about this week, so I'm gonna pull this one out of my ass. This weeks subject: music (brought to you by Faderwave Radio).

So, yeah, music. Boy has it come a long way. From a few guys banging stuff and wailing to XM and Sirius satellite radio and all these pop singers that dare to call themselves talented.

I'll begin with the drum. It's probably the simplest of all musical instruments, and probably one of the most used. Everyone knows about how the Africans used drums to communicate, but that function wasn't only used by the Africans. Sri Lankans used drums as far back as 2500 years ago. They have always been used by militaries, as recently as the 19th century, to relay orders to infantry (to you drummers out there, the flam was developed to lengthen the sound so that it could be more noticeable at long distances). These days, however, drums are used primarily as a means of rocking out.

String instruments, however, possibly predate recorded history. Carvings have been found in India that date back over 5,000 years. It is apparent that string instruments have always been a part of human culture, from the Arabian sitar to the 1976 Gibson SG. (Such a nice guitar...)

But pish-posh, that's neither here nor there. That was then. What do we have today? Today, my friends, we have the electric guitar, synth-pop, and the coup de grace of musical evolution, Electronic Dance Music, or EDM. The first synthesizer was not, as some people know, invented by the late Robert Moog. In fact, it was invented 130 years ago in 1876 by a man named Elisha Gray. While working on the telephone, Gray discovered that he could control the sound created by an electromagnetic circuit. His machine could only produce one note. In the early 20th century, there were several machines that could produce music electronically. These machines ran off analog computers, and thus each sound could only be created by manually readjusting the vacuum tubes of the device. In the 60s we were introduced to the modular synthesizer, the most popular one being the Moog, created by Robert Moog in 1964.

The Moog revolutionized music, as it could actually be used by musicians outside of the studio, due to its smaller size. I could go on and on with this little history lesson, but that wouldn't be very entertaining, would it? Let's just leave it at this: Synths gradually got smaller and more versatile. That should just about cover it.

Anyway, the synthesizer is a bittersweet tool. While it has given us the glories of EDM and all its forms, it has allowed the rise of no-talent sensations, who mask their lack of talent with electronic noise (Akon, I'm looking at you). In a way, I blame pop music for the downfall of Western civilization. Nowadays, we spend all our time watching the hijinks that Brittney and that lot get up to.

*le sigh*

Anyway, that's all I feel like typing. As always, if I've said something that is totally wrong, don't feel bad when you call me a dumbass. Just let me know what's up, and I promise I won't hate you forever. Hopefully, this update gives you a better sense of what to expect out of me, when it comes to writing style (or lack thereof). Be sure to leave comments so I know that you read! They don't have a counter on the actual blogs. Until next week...