Tape echo, reverb, tape loops, tape speed.

The song Rain by the Beatles was recorded with a fast tape speed, a higher tempo, and a higher key. They did this with the bass, drums, and guitar. Then they rewound and slowed down the tape and recorded to vocals over the slower version.

In the song When I’m 64, they recorded it slower, and in a lower key. The sped up John’s voice so he sounded younger.

Transistors:

These take the place of vacuum tubes, and they are about the size of a tictac. People have developed miniaturized electronic devices with very little weight. The process of making them is highly automated, and this makes them cheaper to buy because everything is done by computers and merchandise isn’t hand made. There’s no arm up period for transistors, they have a lower power dissipation, and put out less energy (heat) than say tubes. They are highly reliable, and have an extremely long life. Some transistors can last over 50 years and they are insensitive to mechanical shock and vibrations. They can be called microphonic tubes.

The RCA electronic music synthesizer: This synth was used to compose music. Then Olson and Belar began to use it for sound generating and modifications. It was used as a means for preprogramming basic properties of tone, pitch, timbre, amplitude, envelope, glide, frequency filtering and reverb. All these parameters were preprogrammed on a punch card. The synthesizer was called Mark I. The output was direct to loudspeaker or turntable lathe. The Mark II had 1700 vacuum tubes, weighed 3 tons, was 7 feet tall, and 20 feet long. Waveforms to choose from were saw tooth, triangle waves, envelope shapers, frequency filters and reverb.

The Buchla synth replaced the RCA in 65.

Timbre distinguishes sound from different instruments. The same note sounds different on a bass versus a trombone because of the harmonic overtone series.

Cage strived to extract the emotion out of the music and emancipate it from western theory concepts.

Cage determined 5 components of sound:
1. Frequency – how often vibrations repeat throughout the process of compression and rarefaction.
2. Amplitude – is measured in dB, and refers to loudness.
3. Timbre – how we perceive a waveforms complexity, and color.
4. Duration – instruments have a limited ability to sustain sound, but electric instruments have an infinite durations and their duration can be used as a key element in composition and arranging.
5. Envelope – the attack, decay, sustain, and release of any sound

Synths generate different types of waves: Sine waves contain no harmonics. They are a smooth waveform and produce one tone. Square waves and Triangle waves contain only odd harmonics, giving them a more buzz like tone. White noise is random signal, what sounds like static on your TV.

Electro acoustic music – music that integrates sound from the natural world, with audio processing as well as synthesized sounds. People put much research into acoustic electro music and some devote their whole lives to the study.

The multiple vibration phenomenon consists of partials overtones and harmonics.