How the phonograph transformed the arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How the phonograph transformed the arts - Essay Example The phonograph changed music from being a group experience to a personal thing since listening to music by some musicians was available on demand.   The phonograph allowed the recording of music that gave room for analysis of music. The development helped people to copy songs and listen to them again and again (Bearman, 2013). Although some quarters believed the development was a cultural disaster, the truth is that many people could listen to different types of music than they could have at any other time. There was also an impact on the musicians for they were compelled to think in a different way concerning how they wrote songs. Over the years, artists and professionals from different fields have subverted, abused and transformed the phonograph. Some of the notable public figures and institutions that have subverted the use of phonograph include Christian Ernest Marclay, Laurie Anderson, and NASA (the Voyager Golden Record). The irony behind the invention of phonograph history is that the device was not made with the intention of being used for music. Edison planned to use the cylinder as a device for business communication that could substitute the expensive use of stenography. The cylinder was also targeted at preserving in eternity the voices of people who had died (Kenney, 2003). Christian Ernest Marclay got an interest in record manipulation when he discovered a Batman record in a street. The interest was engaged when he listened to the pops, clicks and loops that came out of the record (Horwatt, 2013). At the point of the downfall of the phonograph as a medium of music, Marclay discovered a disposable material that could be used. Marclay’s interest in the performance of rock compelled him to move to the direction of the phonograph itself as an instrument of music. His experiments with the phonograph happened at a crucial time in the history of the technology since hip hop led to the Renaissance of the turntable into an