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ROTH FAMILY FOUNDATION Music in America Imprint Michael P. Roth and Sukey Garcetti have endowed this imprint to honor the memory of their parents, Julia and Harry Roth, whose deep love of music they wish to share with others. This publication has been supported by a subvention from the Gustave Reese Publication Endowment Fund of the American Musicological Society. The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Music in America Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Associates, which is supported by a major gift from Sukey and Gil Garcetti, Michael Roth, and the Roth Family Foundation. CAPTURING SOUND H O W CAPT T U E C R H N I O N L O G G Y S UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS H A S O C H U A N N G E D D M BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON U S I C tz mark ka University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England “The Entertainer” written by Billy Joel © 1974, JoelSongs [ASCAP]. All rights reserved. Used by permission. © 2004 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Katz, Mark, 1970–. Capturing sound : how technology has changed music / Mark Katz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-520-24196-7 (cloth : alk. paper)— ISBN 0-520-24380-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sound recording industry. 2. Music and technology. I. Title. ml3790.k277 2005 781.49—dc22 2004011383 Manufactured in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10987654 321 The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free (TCF). It meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper). FOR BETH AND IN MEMORY OF BILL We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art. paul valéry A recording is one thing, a concert is another, and never the twain shall meet. John Pfeiffer The machine is neither a god nor a devil. H. H. Stuckenschmidt CONTENTS Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. CAUSES 8 2. MAKING AMERICA MORE MUSICAL The Phonograph and “Good Music” 48 3. CAPTURING JAZZ 72 4. AESTHETICS OUT OF EXIGENCY Violin Vibrato and the Phonograph 85 5. THE RISE AND FALL OF GRAMMOPHONMUSIK 99 6. THE TURNTABLE AS WEAPON Understanding the DJ Battle 114 7. MUSIC IN 1s AND 0s The Art and Politics of Digital Sampling 137 8. LISTENING IN CYBERSPACE 158 Conclusion 188 Notes 193 References 237 CD Tracks and Permissions 263 Index 265 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author’s spouse is traditionally acknowledged “last but not least.” But in my book, Beth Jakub comes first, for there is no one to whom I am more indebted. For more than a decade she has read nearly every draft of everything I have written on this subject, and has never failed to give an honest and perceptive critique, even if I might have preferred otherwise. But Beth has been much more than an excellent editor. Her genuine inter- est in this topic, her faith in me, and her unflagging support quelled my doubts and buoyed my spirits throughout this long process. I cannot imag- ine getting to this point without her. Like Beth, William DeFotis was with me at the beginning. Sadly, he could not see me through to the end. Bill, a composer, conductor, clar- inetist, scholar, and professor at the College of William and Mary, super- vised my undergraduate thesis, the project in which I first explored the ideas behind Capturing Sound. He was a generous and kind mentor, and it is absolutely clear that I would not have become a musicologist were it not for him. After a long struggle with multiple sclerosis, he died in February 2003. His last moments were spent listening to a recording of Mahler’s Symphony no. 9; I consider this his last lesson to me about the power of music and recording. Over the course of this project, three schools were home to me, first as a student and now as a professor; at each, my work benefited from many people. At the College of William and Mary, in addition to Bill DeFotis, Katherine Preston and George Harris advised me on my thesis and kept up the conversation long after I left Williamsburg. At the University of Michigan, my dissertation committee—James Borders, Andrew Mead, xi Kendall Walton, Glenn Watkins, Roland John Wiley, and especially my advisor, Richard Crawford—shepherded me through the doctoral pro- gram, helping me become a better thinker, writer, and musician. I finished Capturing Sound while a member of the musicology faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Special thanks go to my col- league John Spitzer, who read the entire manuscript and provided valu- able feedback; Director Robert Sirota and Dean Wolfgang Justen, who helped fund my research and the production of the accompanying CD; Sean Finn, who mastered the CD; Aeja Killworth, my research assistant, and the staff of the Arthur Friedheim Library. And I really cannot say enough to thank the scores of students who, perhaps without realizing it, shaped, challenged, and enriched my work; I sometimes wonder who really teaches whom. One of the real joys of this project is that I have gotten to meet many of the people I have written about, among them some truly gifted per- formers, composers, producers, and impresarios. They include Yehudi Menuhin, Camille Yarbrough, Norman Cook, Paul Lansky, A-Trak, I.Emerge, Sugarcuts, Supa Dave, Rob Swift, the members of Rotoglow, John Pfeiffer, and Christie Z-Pabon. It is after meeting and talking with these people that I often find it hard to believe that I actually get paid to do what I do. A variety of scholars—many of whom I am pleased to call friends— have generously shared with me their time and expertise, and have acted as guinea pigs, sounding boards, advocates, and devil’s advocates. I hope the following is not too incomplete a list: Tamar Barzel, Amy Beal, Hans- Joachim Braun, Mark Clague, Jennifer DeLapp, Martin Elste, Patrick Feaster, Judith Fiehler, Kyra Gaunt, David Gramit, Ellie Hisama, Susan Schmidt Horning, William Howland Kenney, Ralph Locke, Andre Millard, Felicia Miyakawa, Robert Osberg, Timothy Taylor, Mark Tucker, Paul Wiebe, and Amanda Winkler. Will Crutchfield, whom I met only recently, deserves special mention, for it was his 1990 New York Times arti- cle “Historical Playing Styles: Myth and Reality” that first sparked my thinking about what I later came to call phonograph effects. It has been a great pleasure to work with the University of California Press over the past several years. Former music editor Lynne Withey, who has since become director of the Press, approached me when I was still a xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS student, and encouraged me from the start. Mary Francis, Lynne’s suc- cessor, has been a wonderful editor—attentive, sympathetic, and insight- ful. I am particularly fortunate that Mary is also a fine musicologist, and this book is all the better for it. Moreover, Mary was able to secure four thoughtful and sharp-eyed readers both inside and outside the Press— Christopher Burns, Scott Norton, Jack Talbott, and Philip Yampolsky— all of whom offered constructive feedback on the manuscript in its vari- ous stages. The final stages of this process were aided by the excellent edit- ing, proofreading, and indexing of Kitty Allen, Anne Canright, Stephanie Fay, and Erin Marietta. Some of the material in this book has been published in earlier versions. My thanks to the University of Illinois Press, Wolke, and Taylor and Francis for permission to adapt “Making America More Musical through the Phonograph, 1900–1930,” American Music 16 (1998): 448–75; “Aesthetics out of Exigency: Violin Vibrato and the Phonograph,” in I Sing the Body Electric: Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century, ed. Hans-Joachim Braun (Hofheim, Ger.: Wolke, 2000), 186–97; and “Hindemith, Toch, and Grammophonmusik,” Journal of Musicological Research 20 (2001): 161–80. Finally, I gratefully acknowledge my family for their love, support, and tolerance. I mention tolerance because from an early age I tested the effects of recording on them, simultaneously testing the limits of their patience. On long car rides I often got to hold the family’s little tape recorder, and because I liked classical music (a good thing, it was thought) I was allowed to play my favorite pieces over and over and over again. And I did so, not only because I liked the music, but because I knew full well that it drove my sister and brothers crazy. I just hope Capturing Sound shows them that my interest in music and recording was not born completely out of spite. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii INTRODUCTION Several years ago a friend asked me to explain the subject of this book, then in its early stages of development. Opting for a dramatic approach, I pulled a CD at random from a nearby shelf and brandished it in front of me. “This,” I declared, “has changed the way we listen to, perform, and compose music.” My friend squinted at the CD, gave me a quizzical look, and asked, “That did?” “Yes!” I answered with gusto. Seeming unconvinced, he clarified his question. “Van Halen changed the way we listen to, per- form, and compose music?” Maybe, but that was not my point. My claim was that the technology of sound recording, writ large, has profoundly transformed modern musi- cal life.