The Explosion of Music On January 13 1910 legendary vocalist Enrico Caruso known as the Great Caruso was scheduled to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York Sitting in the lush red and gold colors of the opera house the audience buzzed with excitement to hear him sing Lee de Forest one of the early pioneers of radio was even more excited He wanted to record Caruso on the radio De Forest’s radio transmitter was set and ready to go Then the curtain rose de Forest hit a switch and history was made It was the first public radio broadcast in history Although there were no private radios in US homes at the time several locations in New York City set up public receivers Those interested could put 6 Chapter 1
Famous opera singer Enrico Caruso performed at the Metropolitan Opera more than 600 times 7
THE POWER OF THE MICROPHONE For much of human history vocal music was only as loud as the singer Singers had to project their voices singing loudly and clearly enough to be heard over an orchestra in a large concert hall full of people This singing required special training to maximize volume and projection With the invention of the microphone in 1876 it became possible to project a voice electronically Vocal training was no longer essential in order to be heard The microphone could project lighter more natural voices on earphones at these locations and hear Caruso sing Caruso was an international celebrity a musical superstar whose success outshined all other singers in his lifetime Caruso was also an early fan of technology One of the first musicians to record his music Caruso recorded his song Vesti la Giubba in 1902 for the phonograph Caruso’s song sold more than 1 million copies the first recording to do so 1 Music is often taken for granted today It is everywhere in the grocery store on our car radios in movies and television shows and on our computers phones and MP3 players With a click or the touch of a button we can now hear whatever we want an entire orchestra a rock concert with pounding bass or a new song written by an undiscovered artist on the other side of the world However for most of human history music has not been so readily available In the past music was not 8
recorded or written Once it was written few people had access to printed music Also few people owned instruments The very first instrument was the human voice and the very first music was passed from person to person by memory Music in Western Civilization Music spans all cultures and stems from humankind’s earliest beginnings It is a global phenomenon most likely far older than recorded history And music continues to evolve Western music focuses on music with roots in Europe and European-influenced countries around the world such as the United States Western music began in the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean including ancient Greece and Rome and then spread Background Music Within many public places such as malls dentist offices elevators and restaurants music can be heard This background music also called ambient music is a relatively recent phenomenon In the 1920s George Squier realized music could influence customers and employees For example soft arrangements of well-known songs could make customers stay in stores longer Squier founded Muzak a company that sold specially programmed music to businesses By 2000 ambient music was the most common kind of music heard worldwide Nicknamed elevator music ambient music is heard by more than 100 million listeners each day 2 9
