Jan 22, 2018:

First day was kind of a shock. Admittedly, the GMU course catalog description was somewhat vague. I’d imagined something walking us from Guglielmo Marconi to Steve Jobs, with maybe a stopover at Bell Labs. Instead, this course looks at the progression of digital technology through the prism of popular music in the 20th century. Not just the technology of capturing, packaging, and delivering said music, but what sorts of music consumers are expected to enjoy based on age, race, and economic status.

Interesting approach, but I soon became concerned. The final project requires creating a musical composition using digital audio workstation (DAW). Disclaimer: I have a deep appreciation of music (all genres), but zero musical talent. Haven’t read sheet music since grade school. Know that feeling on the first day of a class when you get the urge to bail?

After giving an overview of the course and required texts, Professor O’Malley played a portion of a mid-20th century recording of Hank Williams, Sr., and it clicked for me. Before I was old enough for school, I was tagging along with my Dad as he loaded and maintained jukeboxes in and around my home town. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the 45 rpm records used in jukeboxes were discarded (or supposed to have been) after their time in the lineup. A sea of well-used 45 rpm records found their way to my record player. From Metal to Bluegrass, Gospel to R&B, the soundtrack of my life was something I could draw upon to learn about history. After being reassured that DAW software is nothing to worry about, I look forward to this unique approach to history.

Jan 24, 2018:

Those of us who arrived to class ahead of time were greeted by the legendary Mahalia Jackson singing the gospel. HIST 390 includes bumper music, a very nice feature.

Required reading/viewing for this class focused on audio compression, a digital manipulation of recordings that increases loudness at the expense of dynamic range. Other readings addressed additional trends in popular music that have degraded (in my opinion) its appeal in recent decades. The impossibility of the sound produced by audio compression was displayed from the conversational level of Frank Sinatra’s crooning in front of a live band to the neutered vocal amplitude swings of Adele and Katie Perry.

In discussing the “flattening” effect of audio compression, I was surprised to learn many in class didn’t view it as a negative practice. Age is only one aspect of perspective, but in this case probably the most influential. I can’t imagine Chuck Berry’s (and ELO’s cover of) “Roll Over Beethoven,” subjected to audio compression. However, I can understand some classmates’ view that music shouldn’t be obtrusive, to serve as background noise. It’s a matter of how one sees the role of music.

Insight goes both ways; there are no wrong answers, but the more answers we hear, the more we refine our own opinion. There is no substitute for the journey, the exchange of ideas. “Life is a Highway,” as Tom Cochrane wrote.