The inspiration for this post comes from reading about the artist Beck's new album format. (I will tell you about that later).
As a child in the early 80s i was brought up on listening to Vinyl records and cassette tapes. At an early age i loved listening to music. I remember listening to the band Queen (plus various other 70's bands and artists). Queen were probably the first band that i liked.
During this time i remember being in my grandad's car and for the first time seeing a 8 track cartridge (The album was by Acker Bilk. Clarinet player). I have to say i only ever heard 8 track cartridges in my grandad's car.
As it got toward the late 80's i was brought my first ever cassette player. As with vinyl records the cassette player became very popular. How many of you remember recording music with a cassette player? lol. Also the fact that you could easily fast forward or rewind to find the song you wanted to play. However, sometimes this did not work as it should. The amount of times the cassette would get stuck in the player :( I have to say on a few occasions i had to use scissors to cut the tape out which obviously ruined the tape completely. Bye bye cassette :(
The early 90's i got my first ever cd player. This was even better. You could now pick and choose the songs you wanted to hear more easily. Random play etc. Again this proved to be another popular music format. (I still listen to cds today).
As time moved on toward the late 90's, cassettes were not as popular. Mine were eventually put into a shoebox and transferred into the attic (which is where they probably are today.lol. I will never really want to throw them away). Cds were still very popular. Although a new format was starting to appear in music shops. The mini disc. Im afraid i don't really think this format ever really took off did it? They seemed very expensive at the time.I think there was only a certain amount of artists that released mini disc as well as cd. (One of my ex housemates at college had a mini disc player as part of a hi-fi. Only only 3 mini disc albums). I was still happy with my cd collection.
Now in the 00's although we still have cds, we also have mp3, aac etc. Its the downloading years. With mp3 players, ipods, smartphones etc. It is now easier than ever to access the album or song you want. You can download any music 24/7, not just when the record store opens. (Although record stores are sadly closing more and more due to this).
Technology now is moving on. Computers are becoming a lot more popular. Some artists eg. Nine Inch Nails, DJ Carl Cox etc have released albums and music on a usb stick. Could this become a popular format in the future? Who knows? Only time will tell.
In 2011 a new format came along. The first was for Bjork's "Biophilia" album. Its an interactive app. I have to say a lot of thought and creativity has gone into making this. A game, music, visuals etc. Who would of thought? Im impressed.
Its now 2012 and after talking about various different formats i will now tell you about the a new format that to me really is somewhat different. Its for Beck's new album which is due late 2012. It will consist of around 108 pages. 108 pages? What are you talking about ? I hear you say. Well its going to be released as sheet music. Thats right. Sheet music. You can't listen to sheet music. I know. The idea is that you play the music yourself. Hmmmmm! Im not entirely sure about this concept. Will it catch on? Im starting to have doubts. However in the future i could be proven wrong.
So there you go. Audio recordings to sheet music. What formats will we be using in the future? As i've said before. Only time will tell.
As a child in the early 80s i was brought up on listening to Vinyl records and cassette tapes. At an early age i loved listening to music. I remember listening to the band Queen (plus various other 70's bands and artists). Queen were probably the first band that i liked.
During this time i remember being in my grandad's car and for the first time seeing a 8 track cartridge (The album was by Acker Bilk. Clarinet player). I have to say i only ever heard 8 track cartridges in my grandad's car.
As it got toward the late 80's i was brought my first ever cassette player. As with vinyl records the cassette player became very popular. How many of you remember recording music with a cassette player? lol. Also the fact that you could easily fast forward or rewind to find the song you wanted to play. However, sometimes this did not work as it should. The amount of times the cassette would get stuck in the player :( I have to say on a few occasions i had to use scissors to cut the tape out which obviously ruined the tape completely. Bye bye cassette :(
The early 90's i got my first ever cd player. This was even better. You could now pick and choose the songs you wanted to hear more easily. Random play etc. Again this proved to be another popular music format. (I still listen to cds today).
As time moved on toward the late 90's, cassettes were not as popular. Mine were eventually put into a shoebox and transferred into the attic (which is where they probably are today.lol. I will never really want to throw them away). Cds were still very popular. Although a new format was starting to appear in music shops. The mini disc. Im afraid i don't really think this format ever really took off did it? They seemed very expensive at the time.I think there was only a certain amount of artists that released mini disc as well as cd. (One of my ex housemates at college had a mini disc player as part of a hi-fi. Only only 3 mini disc albums). I was still happy with my cd collection.
Now in the 00's although we still have cds, we also have mp3, aac etc. Its the downloading years. With mp3 players, ipods, smartphones etc. It is now easier than ever to access the album or song you want. You can download any music 24/7, not just when the record store opens. (Although record stores are sadly closing more and more due to this).
Technology now is moving on. Computers are becoming a lot more popular. Some artists eg. Nine Inch Nails, DJ Carl Cox etc have released albums and music on a usb stick. Could this become a popular format in the future? Who knows? Only time will tell.
In 2011 a new format came along. The first was for Bjork's "Biophilia" album. Its an interactive app. I have to say a lot of thought and creativity has gone into making this. A game, music, visuals etc. Who would of thought? Im impressed.
Its now 2012 and after talking about various different formats i will now tell you about the a new format that to me really is somewhat different. Its for Beck's new album which is due late 2012. It will consist of around 108 pages. 108 pages? What are you talking about ? I hear you say. Well its going to be released as sheet music. Thats right. Sheet music. You can't listen to sheet music. I know. The idea is that you play the music yourself. Hmmmmm! Im not entirely sure about this concept. Will it catch on? Im starting to have doubts. However in the future i could be proven wrong.
So there you go. Audio recordings to sheet music. What formats will we be using in the future? As i've said before. Only time will tell.