How can I characterize modern music? (guitar)

Modern technologies are changing the world, including art. Such changes have not spared such an ancient art form as music. Let’s remember how it all began.

The hunter took an arrow, pulled the bow string, shot at the prey, but he was no longer interested in the prey. He heard the sound and decided to repeat it. Approximately, this is how a person came to the conclusion that it is possible to reproduce sounds of different heights by changing the length and tension of the string. As a result, the first musical instruments and, of course, musicians who knew how to play them appeared.

By improving instruments, masters have achieved unprecedented heights in the creation of musical instruments. Now they are comfortable and sound smooth and clear. The wide variety of musical instruments leaves no chance even for the most sophisticated mind to come up with a new one or somehow improve existing ones. But modern technology is changing the approach to improvement.

In the past, the number of spectators at the concert cannot be compared with the current one. Today, for a popular rock band to gather 50-60 thousand people at their concert will not be a record. But a century ago this was a cosmic figure. What has changed? And how did this become possible?

Musical instruments have changed beyond recognition. And in particular the guitar. There were quite a few types of guitars, but relatively recently another one became established and, I’m not afraid to say, is currently the most popular. The electric guitar has become a symbol of rock music and has taken its strong place in modern music. This became possible thanks to its variety of sounds, versatility and, of course, appearance. Let’s talk more about this.

Electric guitar.

So what is an electric guitar? This is still the same wooden structure with strings (the number of strings, as with other guitars, can change), but the main fundamental difference is that the sound is no longer formed directly in the guitar itself, as it was before. And the guitar itself sounds extremely quiet and unattractive. But on its body there are devices called pickups.

They pick up the slightest vibrations of the strings and transmit them through the connected wire further to the amplifier. And the amplifier does the main job of creating the sound of an electric guitar. Amplifiers are different. From small home ones to huge concerts designed for an audience of thousands. Thanks to this, many people associate the electric guitar with a loud sound. But this is just a common opinion. It can also be a very quiet instrument with a very delicate sound. Listening to modern music, you may not even realize that it is an electric guitar that sounds. This makes it a very important tool.

But how then, you ask, do modern concerts of symphony orchestras take place, the composition of which has remained unchanged for many years, and the halls and the number of spectators are constantly growing. The back rows of the auditorium won’t hear anything. But in this case, such a profession as a sound engineer appeared. Few people know, but this man is one of the main people in modern concerts. Since he supervises the installation of sound equipment (speakers, microphones, etc.) and is directly involved in the concert itself. Namely in its sound design.

Now, thanks to the competent work of the sound engineer, you will hear all the subtleties of the work performed by any, even the quietest instrument, sitting in the back row of the auditorium. I’m not afraid to say that the sound engineer takes on some of the conductor’s functions. After all, previously the conductor was entirely responsible for the sound of the orchestra. Roughly speaking, what he heard, so did the viewer. Now it’s a different picture.

The conductor leads the orchestra and performs all the same functions as before, but the sound engineer controls and regulates the sound. Now it turns out like this: you hear the conductor’s thought (directly the orchestra’s music), but under the processing of the sound engineer. Of course, many musicians will not agree with me, but most likely because they do not have experience as a sound engineer.