The Record Changed the Music

Three minutes because of a disc, the studio as an instrument, and the loudness war

Edison · Les Paul · the mastering engineers · 3 chapters · 8 min read

Three minutes because of a disc, the studio as an instrument, and the loudness war.

Free to read: every chapter below is open

Recording

01Three Minutes, Because of a DiscOn shellac, and how a manufacturing limit became a musical form.
02The Studio as an InstrumentOn records of performances that never took place.
03Louder, Until It Stopped WorkingOn thirty years of squashing, and the playback setting that ended it.