BLOG POST #6 EOTO Presentations

     After completing an EOTO project of my own, I had the opportunity to observe my classmates and learn about their technology of choice. One student, Nyare, decided to do his project on records. I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation both informationally and visually. 

    Vinyl records have been making a comeback in more recent years and have been trending with the youth. While some are used for their intended purpose, people have found alternative uses for them; wall decorations, art projects, tableside tops, shelves, and even coasters! Although the market has greatly declined since its initial release, they are still used as collectibles and are valued by consumers. I myself am a target audience member for all things records which is why I found this project so interesting.       

                          

                                                                                             

                                                

                                                                    

    I learned a lot of new things from this presentation, one of them being that the first vinyl was not made out of vinyl but out of vulcanite and shellac. As their popularity grew and companies were experimenting more, polyvinyl became the ultimately concluded material- hence the name vinyl. By 1910 records were the definitive way to listen to music. Most families had a record player and a vinyl set in their homes. The first vinyl stored six minutes of music on them- with three songs on each side. Some smaller records only held one single song and were sold this way- this is where the term “single” was coined in the music industry. 

    Due to the lack of technology for editing and recording music in the 1950s, artists, bands, and orchestras had one shot to get the track right when recording. Otherwise, the entire record needed to be rerecorded. By the 1960s, cassettes were now the new portable music trend. Considering the fact that you cannot necessarily carry a record player and listen to music on the go, cassette tapes soon became a fad of the 60s. 

    Records are so important to the music industry because they established common music terms we still use today like “single” “track” and “masters”, they helped develop fanbases for artists who did not do live shows and provided a more convenient way to listen to music for its time. I know I will continue to purchase and listen to my vinyl records!