David Byrne Lecture on Venues and Music Evolution

[Spectrum]

Didn't see this in a search, so I figured I'd post it. You may have heard of "TED" Talks, lectures on various technology trends and science subjects. David Byrne talks here about how music has evolved over time to fit the venues it is performed in, including the revolution of recorded sound vs. live. His theory, anyway. Interesting at least.

David Byrne: How architecture helped music evolve - YouTube

 

[walterw]

awesome!

i knew about the whole idea of those old echo-y cathedrals, and how that early gregorian singing was thus always slow, sustain-y, and really strict about what intervals and chords were allowed (no tritones! the devil's chord!) so the lingering notes wouldn't clash with the new notes.

that's in some ways similar to sabbath-style metal, where you want to stick to the 5ths and 4ths and avoid more complex chords so the overtones all that distortion creates don't clash so much.

also, bono (of all people) made a good point in some old interview about how folks with booming car systems don't buy car stereos so they can listen to music, they buy music so they can listen to their car stereos.