Between air and electricity : microphones and loudspeakers as musical instruments

AcknowledgementsIntroduction1 Beyond the curtain: the "true nature" of microphones and loudspeakersAn empty stage: listening according to the KonzertreformA concert at home: the invention of sound reproduction technologiesStorage of air pressure wavesTransportation of air pressure wavesAmplification of air pressure wavesBetween air and electricity A standard, almost perfect amplifier and loudspeakerMicrophones and loudspeakers: the musical instruments of our age?The "true nature" of microphones and loudspeakers2 reproducing – supporting – generating – interacting: four approaches towards microphones and loudspeakersMade for music: concepts on musical instrumentsViolins, mixing desks and spoonsPiano lessons or a phonograph: how sound reproduction technologies entered the living roomThe instrumental phonograph and the reproducing radioSemantic acts of sound creationHearing voices through the noise: completely satisfactory recordings in 1902Electricity, bodies and diaphragmsReproducing: one sound system for all musicSupporting: the same sound but louderTransparent technologyThe record as a copy of the concert and the concert as a copy of the recordGenerating: music without musical instrumentsInteracting: resonance and resistance3 The sound of microphones and loudspeakersAcoustic feedback: an electro-mechanical oscillatorThe tuning fork: an early sine wave generatorTransforming sound into a researchable objectHermann von Helmholtz: tuning fork experimentsHermann von Helmholtz: tuning forks reproduce human vowelsThe tympanic principle and the tuning fork principleAlexander Bell: metal rods reproduce soundAlexander Bell: metal plates reproduce soundRichard Eisenmann: an electric piano with tuning forksGeorge Dieckmann: a piano string oscillatorBechstein-Siemens-Nernst-piano: piano, radio and gramophone through the same loudspeaker 4 movement, material and space: interacting with microphones and loudspeakersAcoustic feedback: from mistake to musicMOVEMENTQuintet by Hugh Davies: changing the distance between microphone and loudspeakerPendulum Music by Steve Reich: introducing silenceBird and Person Dyning by Alvin Lucier: listening as a performative actGreen Piece by Anne Wellmer: interacting with another sound sourceMikrophonie I by Karlheinz Stockhausen: amplification onlySpeaker Swinging by Gordon Monahan and Three Short Stories and an Apotheosis by Annea Lockwood: moving loudspeakersMATERIALcoffee making by Valerian Maly and 0'00'' by John Cage: everyday actions amplifiedInside Piano by Andrea Neumann: musical instruments and contact microphonesApple Box Double by Pauline Oliveros and Shozyg by Hugh Davies: new instruments through amplificationNodalings by Nicolas Collins: acoustic feedback through objectsRainforest by David Tudor: every loudspeaker a different voiceAptium by Lynn Pook, and Merzbow: the audible becomes feelableSPACEMusic for piano with amplified sonorous vessels by Alvin Lucier: interaction between microphones and small spacesLoudspeakers in brass instruments and focused loudspeakers: interaction between loudspeakers and small spaces …..sofferte onde serene… and Guai ai gelidi mostri by Luigi Nono: interaction between loudspeakers and performance spaceAcousmonium by François Bayle: loudspeaker orchestrasPerformances by Eliane Radigue and Der tönende See by Kirsten Reese: sound unified in space and dispersed in spaceAudible EcoSystemics by Agostino Di Scipio: closing the acoustic feedback loop again5 Composing with microphones and loudspeakersBeyond musical instruments: a hybrid of approachesThe Edison tone tests: no differenceNothing Is Real (Strawberry Fields Forever) by Alvin Lucier: a piano in a teapotWindy Gong by Ute Wassermann: singing through the gongsnare drum pieces by Wolfgang Heiniger: invisible beatingtubes by Paul Craenen: musicians, dancers and techniciansOpen Air Bach by Lara Stanic: speeding up a sonataResistances and resonances of microphones and loudspeakersThe future of microphones and loudspeakers: between air and electricityAppendixBiographiesBibliography