Haunted by the Dynamophone

 At a Certain Point, a man had a haunting Idea about broadcasting Sound:

Thaddeus Cahill: Electric Music

Let's quickly describe the device he imagined first, the Telharmonium:

Cahill built a large, quite a few tons heavy transformer bank (The Mark I weighed 7 tons. The Mark II weighed almost 200 tons). It is considered the first electromechanical musical instrument dating from c. 1896. Electric tubes were neither invented than transistors, so this was the only contraption he could use to generate electric music sounds. He considered it as an electric organ.

As amplifiers also were not invented yet, he invented some kind of loudspeakers (basically horns with an electrically driven diaphragm, today known as "Tweeter") for live performances, which were attended and received quite well, for example by Mark Twain.

Cahill also seems to be the inventor of additive synthesis, as he added so-called "color wheels" to his contraption, which did the job.

But then, Thaddeus Cahill developed another, revolutionary idea:

He wanted to distribute his electrical signal to people out there. So, since radio was still in its diapers the only possible network was: 

Phone lines, powered by his second device, called the "Dynamophone"

It got advertised in newspapers when transmissions would be available, so one could dial in and pick up the receiver at the right time.

There are no recordings available of the devices, nor tangible remains. The devices were too heavy, and quickly overcome, by more simple and less energy-consuming devices.

It can be said, Thaddeus Cahill's machines caused a lot of "Crosstalk" along the not yet shielded phone lines. So one having a phone conversation could have easily been overtaken by outer worldly sounds.

Last but least, for sure, this must be the first known synthesizer, with a commercial streaming service attached.

by nokturnal

Muzak, Mallsoft

 Music, this wonderful entity, often takes on a consciousness of its own; triggered by human and non-human intervention, a stream of audio particles flows out of a source - and seeps away from the noted auditory presence into the cracks of other fault lines as well, for these cracks and crevices of the mainstream are often full of mysterious signals that develop their own unconscious agendas unnoticed at the margins. These audio particles then often lie unnoticed in invisible breeding stations for long periods of time before being attracted to a new event. 

In the climate of the cold war after 1945, especially in the USA, the strangest creative blossoms emerged, most of which had nothing particularly good in mind - for example "Background Music", later also known under the brand names "Muzak" and "Seeberg", or quite hip "Elevator Music". "Background" is the most important term here, because behind purring orchestras, whining violins and extra-lascivious voices was a scientifically proven recipe - namely, to brainwash larger gatherings of people in a nasty way. Not particularly flashy - after all, you didn't want an assassin, but happy-brainless work and leisure zombies. 

These groups of people (e.g. the employees of a company, or factory workers) became test subjects without ever having signed a contract; without them noticing it, their consciousness was stolen, and returned to them in an altered form.

At some point the unfortunates had no feelings of their own anymore, only Pavlovian reactions to events that were given to them in a gentle way. Perhaps this is how the great callousness began, the lack of empathy with other human beings in this horrible modern age a zombie has no personal feelings.

But then, the annoying background droning was simply turned off and replaced by radio stations - which, of course, again fit into the psychological-musical scheme. But "Muzak" in its antiquated guise no longer mattered.

Nothing happened for many years.

Then came Vaporwave.

Vaporwave, this indeterminable giant entity, which is oddball to Western ears, but has a gigantic millionaire life in Asia. And this huge blob of wacky ideas has at least about 50 subgenres, which may sometimes amaze the connoisseur in their radicalism.

From the idea "Vaporwave", just like "Muzak", is not music to enjoy. But instead of shuffling zombies the apocalypse has happened here long ago. You can often tell that from the postings on various scene pages - the shimmering cocoon consists in truth of boundless contempt. Well and honestly meant nostalgia waves like "synthwave" or "chillwave" have finally turned into the ultimate rejection, the caricature of all former consumer values. For example, the genre "Mallsoft": to very strangely recreated "Muzak" of the 1980s we see only a picture of an abandoned shopping mall, where the electricity and escalators still work; but nothing is transported except dust and bad thoughts from the old days. 

Thus, as a listener, one has lost on all corners - even what one did not like is now gone. Turbo capitalism has died, in dilapidated temples of consumption it still babbles on like an idiot... and we are condemned to listen to this prolonged death throes over and over again from the beginning.

by Doc Nachtstrom