The Forgotten History of Repetitive Audio Technologies

Abstract

In the literature dedicated to twentieth-century music, the early history of electronic music is regularly presented hand in hand with the development of technical repetitive devices such as closed grooves and magnetic tape loops. Consequently, the idea that such devices were ‘invented’ in the studios of the first great representatives of electronic music tends to appear as an implicit consequence. However, re-examination of the long history of musical technology, from the ninth-century Banu Musa automatic flute to the Hammond organ of the 1930s, reveals that repetitive devices not only go right back to the earliest days of musical automation, but also evolved in a wide variety of contexts wholly unconnected from any form of musical institution. This article aims to shed light on this other, forgotten, history of repetitive audio technologies.

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“…Cut-and-paste looping in a DAW environment provides a straightforward way of generating both small-and large-scale repetitive structures. Nor was looping on tape historically unprecedented-many sound-generating devices of the pre-electronic era were designed to provide automated repetition (Levaux 2017).…”

Composing with Analog Tape in a Post-Digital Age

“…Cut-and-paste looping in a DAW environment provides a straightforward way of generating both small-and large-scale repetitive structures. Nor was looping on tape historically unprecedented-many sound-generating devices of the pre-electronic era were designed to provide automated repetition (Levaux 2017).…”

Acid Patterns: How people are sharing a visual notation system for the Roland TB-303 to create and recreate acid house music

“…This repetition of the melodic elements is directly linked to the way in which melodic sequences were programmed into the seminal instrument of acid house music: the Roland TB-303. Repetitive audio technologies have existed since the early ninth century (Levaux 2017). These repetitive musical devices used rotating drums, cylinders and pins to program melodic sequences into instruments such as flutes, organs and church bells (Levaux 2017).…”

“…Repetitive audio technologies have existed since the early ninth century (Levaux 2017). These repetitive musical devices used rotating drums, cylinders and pins to program melodic sequences into instruments such as flutes, organs and church bells (Levaux 2017). With technological advancements came new sequenced instruments such as pianolas programmed with paper and punch cards and the Ariston organette with zinc discs (Levaux 2017).…”

“…These repetitive musical devices used rotating drums, cylinders and pins to program melodic sequences into instruments such as flutes, organs and church bells (Levaux 2017). With technological advancements came new sequenced instruments such as pianolas programmed with paper and punch cards and the Ariston organette with zinc discs (Levaux 2017). By the 1950s the first electronic music sequencers made use of electro-mechanical components, while others made use of lightbulbs and photo-cells (Brandstätter, Brandstätter and Sommerer 2016).…”