Mediating the muse Book

Insightful book. Covers a broad scope of musical styles and genres that have been shaped, influenced or simple come into existence because of recording technology. Very intriguing to read about 'gramophonmusik' and how the phonograph and phonautograph affected social and musical life in the early days. I was also quite fond of the author's stance towards copyright and his open-minded discussion of that particular subject. That soundfiles that can be consulted via the publisher's website are a nice addition, enriching and illustrating the many anecdotes and reviews in the book. It is clearly a book written from an American perspective, and it would be interesting to read a similar book from a different angle.

All in all, this book is very much recommended if you want to contemplate the huge impact recording technology has had, and still has, on how we consume sound and music nowadays. The impact goes a lot deeper than one might expect, shaping the sound and structure of jazz, for example, or stimulating the use of vibrato in classical music.

Thumbs up!