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136-459: Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music , either vocal or instrumental , the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called composers . Composers of primarily songs are usually called songwriters ; with songs, the person who writes lyrics for a song is the lyricist . In many cultures, including Western classical music ,

272-398: A Stroh violin which uses a conical horn connected to a diaphragm that in turn is connected to the violin bridge. The horn was no longer needed once electrical recording was developed. The long-playing 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm microgroove LP record , was developed at Columbia Records and introduced in 1948. The short-playing but convenient 7-inch (18 cm) 45 rpm microgroove vinyl single

408-512: A microphone was used to convert the sound into an electrical signal that was amplified and used to actuate the recording stylus. This innovation eliminated the "horn sound" resonances characteristic of the acoustical process, produced clearer and more full-bodied recordings by greatly extending the useful range of audio frequencies, and allowed previously unrecordable distant and feeble sounds to be captured. During this time, several radio-related developments in electronics converged to revolutionize

544-685: A sound track . The projector used a steady light and a photodetector to convert these variations back into an electrical signal, which was amplified and sent to loudspeakers behind the screen. Optical sound became the standard motion picture audio system throughout the world and remains so for theatrical release prints despite attempts in the 1950s to substitute magnetic soundtracks. Currently, all release prints on 35 mm movie film include an analog optical soundtrack, usually stereo with Dolby SR noise reduction. In addition, an optically recorded digital soundtrack in Dolby Digital or Sony SDDS form

680-410: A string section , wind and brass sections used in a standard orchestras to electronic instruments such as synthesizers . Some common group settings include music for full orchestra (consisting of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion), concert band (which consists of larger sections and greater diversity of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments than are usually found in the orchestra), or

816-469: A Brahms Serenade, and the last movement of Bruckner's 8th Symphony with Von Karajan. Other early German stereophonic tapes are believed to have been destroyed in bombings. Not until Ampex introduced the first commercial two-track tape recorders in the late 1940s did stereo tape recording become commercially feasible. Despite the availability of multitrack tape, stereo did not become the standard system for commercial music recording for some years, and remained

952-642: A band collaborate to write a song or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second person writes the lyrics and a third person orchestrates the songs. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images or, since the 20th century, with computer programs that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create musical sounds. Examples range from 20th century avant-garde music that uses graphic notation , to text compositions such as Karlheinz Stockhausen 's Aus den sieben Tagen , to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance

1088-584: A chamber group (a small number of instruments, but at least two). The composer may also choose to write for only one instrument, in which case this is called a solo . Solos may be unaccompanied, as with works for solo piano or solo cello, or solos may be accompanied by another instrument or by an ensemble. Composers are not limited to writing only for instruments, they may also decide to write for voice (including choral works, some symphonies, operas , and musicals ). Composers can also write for percussion instruments or electronic instruments . Alternatively, as

1224-507: A circular issued by the United States Copyright Office on Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings, a musical composition is defined as "A musical composition consists of music, including any accompanying words, and is normally registered as a work of the performing arts. The author of a musical composition is generally the composer, and the lyricists if any. A musical composition may be in

1360-407: A coating of soot as the paper was passed under it. An 1860 phonautogram of " Au Clair de la Lune ", a French folk song, was played back as sound for the first time in 2008 by scanning it and using software to convert the undulating line, which graphically encoded the sound, into a corresponding digital audio file. Thomas Edison's work on two other innovations, the telegraph and the telephone, led to

1496-434: A composition for different musical ensembles is called arranging or orchestration , may be undertaken by the composer or separately by an arranger based on the composer's core composition. Based on such factors, composers, orchestrators, and arrangers must decide upon the instrumentation of the original work. In the 2010s, the contemporary composer can virtually write for almost any combination of instruments, ranging from

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1632-485: A condenser type developed there in 1916 and greatly improved in 1922, and the best amplifiers and test equipment. They had already patented an electromechanical recorder in 1918, and in the early 1920s, they decided to intensively apply their hardware and expertise to developing two state-of-the-art systems for electronically recording and reproducing sound: one that employed conventional discs and another that recorded optically on motion picture film. Their engineers pioneered

1768-501: A creator exclusive rights; protection for creative works are automatically in force upon their creation without being asserted or declared. In the patent law of the United States, only original inventions can be subject to protection. In addition to being original, inventions submitted for a patent must also be useful and nonobvious . In United States copyright law copyrights protect only original works of authorship,

1904-402: A few crude telephone-based recording devices with no means of amplification, such as the telegraphone , it remained so until the 1920s. Between the invention of the phonograph in 1877 and the first commercial digital recordings in the early 1970s, arguably the most important milestone in the history of sound recording was the introduction of what was then called electrical recording , in which

2040-509: A high level of complexity and sophistication. The combined impact with innovations such as the endless loop broadcast cartridge led to significant changes in the pacing and production style of radio program content and advertising. In 1881, it was noted during experiments in transmitting sound from the Paris Opera that it was possible to follow the movement of singers on the stage if earpieces connected to different microphones were held to

2176-486: A lesser degree than in popular music. Music from the Baroque music era (1600–1750), for example, used only acoustic and mechanical instruments such as strings, brass, woodwinds, timpani and keyboard instruments such as harpsichord and pipe organ . A 2000s-era pop band may use an electric guitar played with electronic effects through a guitar amplifier , a digital synthesizer keyboard and electronic drums . Piece

2312-585: A major consumer audio format and advances in electronic and mechanical miniaturization led to the development of the Sony Walkman , a pocket-sized cassette player introduced in 1979. The Walkman was the first personal music player and it gave a major boost to sales of prerecorded cassettes. A key advance in audio fidelity came with the Dolby A noise reduction system, invented by Ray Dolby and introduced into professional recording studios in 1966. It suppressed

2448-743: A master roll which had been created on a special piano, which punched holes in the master as a live performer played the song. Thus, the roll represented a recording of the actual performance of an individual, not just the more common method of punching the master roll through transcription of the sheet music. This technology to record a live performance onto a piano roll was not developed until 1904. Piano rolls were in continuous mass production from 1896 to 2008. A 1908 U.S. Supreme Court copyright case noted that, in 1902 alone, there were between 70,000 and 75,000 player pianos manufactured, and between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 piano rolls produced. The first device that could record actual sounds as they passed through

2584-554: A much larger proportion of people to hear famous orchestras, operas, singers and bands, because even if a person could not afford to hear the live concert, they may be able to hear the recording. The availability of sound recording thus helped to spread musical styles to new regions, countries and continents. The cultural influence went in a number of directions. Sound recordings enabled Western music lovers to hear actual recordings of Asian, Middle Eastern and African groups and performers, increasing awareness of non-Western musical styles. At

2720-415: A performer. Copyright is a government-granted monopoly which, for a limited time, gives a composition's owner—such as a composer or a composer's employer, in the case of work for hire —a set of exclusive rights to the composition, such as the exclusive right to publish sheet music describing the composition and how it should be performed. Copyright requires anyone else wanting to use the composition in

2856-418: A property which has been historically and legally linked to a concept of " creativity ". A work must pass a threshold of originality in order to be copyrightable. In other countries protection of a work often is connected to similar conditions. In United Kingdom intellectual property law, a derived work can demonstrate originality, and must do so if it is to respect copyright. In the copyright law of

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2992-442: A recording. If music is composed before being performed, music can be performed from memory (the norm for instrumental soloists in concerto performances and singers in opera shows and art song recitals), by reading written musical notation (the norm in large ensembles, such as orchestras, concert bands and choirs ), or through a combination of both methods. For example, the principal cello player in an orchestra may read most of

3128-402: A result, each performance of a song or piece would be slightly different. With the development of analog sound recording, though, a performance could be permanently fixed, in all of its elements: pitch, rhythm, timbre, ornaments and expression. This meant that many more elements of a performance would be captured and disseminated to other listeners. The development of sound recording also enabled

3264-510: A specialist market during the 1950s. EMI (UK) was the first company to release commercial stereophonic tapes. They issued their first Stereosonic tape in 1954. Others quickly followed, under the His Master's Voice (HMV) and Columbia labels. 161 Stereosonic tapes were released, mostly classical music or lyric recordings. RCA imported these tapes into the USA. Although some HMV tapes released in

3400-654: A specific mode ( maqam ) often within improvisational contexts , as does Indian classical music in both the Hindustani and the Carnatic system. As technology has developed in the 20th and 21st century, new methods of music composition have come about. EEG headsets have also been used to create music by interpreting the brainwaves of musicians. This method has been used for Project Mindtunes, which involved collaborating disabled musicians with DJ Fresh, and also by artists Lisa Park and Masaki Batoh. The task of adapting

3536-464: A stereo soundtrack was Walt Disney's Fantasia , released in 1940. The 1941 release of Fantasia used the Fantasound sound system. This system used a separate film for the sound, synchronized with the film carrying the picture. The sound film had four double-width optical soundtracks, three for left, center, and right audio—and a fourth as a "control" track with three recorded tones that controlled

3672-469: A variety of materials including mild steel, thorn, and even sapphire. Discs had a distinctly limited playing life that varied depending on how they were manufactured. Earlier, purely acoustic methods of recording had limited sensitivity and frequency range. Mid-frequency range notes could be recorded, but very low and very high frequencies could not. Instruments such as the violin were difficult to transfer to disc. One technique to deal with this involved using

3808-429: A variety of techniques from remixing to pseudostereo . Magnetic tape transformed the recording industry. By the early 1950s, most commercial recordings were mastered on tape instead of recorded directly to disc. Tape facilitated a degree of manipulation in the recording process that was impractical with mixes and multiple generations of directly recorded discs. An early example is Les Paul 's 1951 recording of How High

3944-476: A wide frequency range and high audio quality are not. The development of analog sound recording in the nineteenth century and its widespread use throughout the twentieth century had a huge impact on the development of music. Before analog sound recording was invented, most music was as a live performance. Throughout the medieval , Renaissance , Baroque , Classical , and through much of the Romantic music era ,

4080-666: A work meets the threshold of originality. The most prominent case with respect to 'originality' under the Indian Copyright Law is the Eastern Book Company v DCB Modak . This judgment gave rise to two doctrines i.e. modicum of creativity and the skill and judgment test . This remains the accepted and current position of law in India as of now. However, prior to this, the Indian Courts used to follow

4216-533: A work was good not because it was original, but because it resembled an admired classical exemplar, which in the case of comedy meant a play by Terence or Plautus Sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical , mechanical , electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music , or sound effects . The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording . Acoustic analog recording

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4352-550: A worldwide standard for higher-quality recording on vinyl records. The Ernest Ansermet recording of Igor Stravinsky 's Petrushka was key in the development of full frequency range records and alerting the listening public to high fidelity in 1946. Until the mid-1960s, record companies mixed and released most popular music in monophonic sound. From mid-1960s until the early 1970s, major recordings were commonly released in both mono and stereo. Recordings originally released only in mono have been rerendered and released in stereo using

4488-474: Is amplified and connected to a loudspeaker to produce sound. Long before sound was first recorded, music was recorded—first by written music notation , then also by mechanical devices (e.g., wind-up music boxes , in which a mechanism turns a spindle, which plucks metal tines, thus reproducing a melody ). Automatic music reproduction traces back as far as the 9th century, when the Banū Mūsā brothers invented

4624-542: Is "compulsory" because the copyright owner cannot refuse or set terms for the license. Copyright collectives also typically manage the licensing of public performances of compositions, whether by live musicians or by transmitting sound recordings over radio or the Internet. Even though the first US copyright laws did not include musical compositions, they were added as part of the Copyright Act of 1831 . According to

4760-403: Is a "general, non-technical term [that began to be] applied mainly to instrumental compositions from the 17th century onwards....other than when they are taken individually 'piece' and its equivalents are rarely used of movements in sonatas or symphonies....composers have used all these terms [in their different languages] frequently in compound forms [e.g. Klavierstück]....In vocal music...the term

4896-411: Is achieved by a microphone diaphragm that senses changes in atmospheric pressure caused by acoustic sound waves and records them as a mechanical representation of the sound waves on a medium such as a phonograph record (in which a stylus cuts grooves on a record). In magnetic tape recording, the sound waves vibrate the microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying electric current , which

5032-417: Is called aleatoric music and is associated with contemporary composers active in the 20th century, such as John Cage , Morton Feldman and Witold Lutosławski . A more commonly known example of chance-based, or indeterminate, music is the sound of wind chimes jingling in a breeze. The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by examination of methods and practice of Western classical music, but

5168-417: Is likely to be present. An optically recorded timecode is also commonly included to synchronize CDROMs that contain a DTS soundtrack. This period also saw several other historic developments including the introduction of the first practical magnetic sound recording system, the magnetic wire recorder , which was based on the work of Danish inventor Valdemar Poulsen . Magnetic wire recorders were effective, but

5304-427: Is most frequently used for operatic ensembles..." Composition techniques draw parallels from visual art's formal elements . Sometimes, the entire form of a piece is through-composed , meaning that each part is different, with no repetition of sections; other forms include strophic , rondo , verse-chorus , and others. Some pieces are composed around a set scale , where the compositional technique might be considered

5440-420: Is the case with musique concrète , the composer can work with many sounds often not associated with the creation of music, such as typewriters , sirens , and so forth. In Elizabeth Swados ' Listening Out Loud , she explains how a composer must know the full capabilities of each instrument and how they must complement each other, not compete. She gives an example of how in an earlier composition of hers, she had

5576-494: Is the ordering and disposing of several sounds...in such a manner that their succession pleases the ear. This is what the Ancients called melody . The second is the rendering audible of two or more simultaneous sounds in such a manner that their combination is pleasant. This is what we call harmony and it alone merits the name of composition. Since the invention of sound recording , a classical piece or popular song may exist as

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5712-422: Is then converted to a varying magnetic field by an electromagnet , which makes a representation of the sound as magnetized areas on a plastic tape with a magnetic coating on it. Analog sound reproduction is the reverse process, with a larger loudspeaker diaphragm causing changes to atmospheric pressure to form acoustic sound waves. Digital recording and reproduction converts the analog sound signal picked up by

5848-504: Is why it is often necessary to preserve the original, in order to preserve its original integrity. The copy is made to preserve the original recording by saving the original from degenerating as it is being played, rather than to replace the original. Modernist concern with issues of originality develops out of modernism's relation to romanticism, the romantics having invented the notion of originality as we know it. while we applaud difference, Shakespeare's first audiences fovoured likeness:

5984-557: The Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp case , the court held that the copies of public domain photographs could not be copyrighted since they lacked originality and while such reproductions may have involved skill and labour, no protection could be granted to them, on account of lack of originality . While the current legal requirements of originality viz. minimum level of creativity and independent labour can be easily assessed and applied in case of literary works,

6120-656: The CCH Canadian Case , the Court essentially held that a work would meet the originality standard as long as there is labour or effort involved but not only labour. It must involve some level of skill and judgment as well. However, this approach mirrors the Sweat of the Brow theory more closely and is therefore a difficult theory to defend. Further, the Court held the division of a judgment into paragraphs and numbering them

6256-568: The Chladni patterns produced by sound in stone representations, although this theory has not been conclusively proved. In the 14th century, a mechanical bell-ringer controlled by a rotating cylinder was introduced in Flanders . Similar designs appeared in barrel organs (15th century), musical clocks (1598), barrel pianos (1805), and music boxes ( c.  1800 ). A music box is an automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by

6392-479: The Sweat of the Brow approach. This theory bases the grant of copyright protection on the effort and labour that an author puts into their work as opposed to the creativity involved. Locke's theory of labour as property has often been extended to give jurisprudential basis to this theory of copyright law. In the case of V. Govindan v E.M. Gopalakrishna Kone , it was held that compilations of information would meet

6528-525: The accompaniment parts in a symphony, where she is playing tutti parts, but then memorize an exposed solo, in order to be able to watch the conductor . Compositions comprise a huge variety of musical elements, which vary widely from between genres and cultures. Popular music genres after about 1960 make extensive use of electric and electronic instruments, such as electric guitar and electric bass . Electric and electronic instruments are used in contemporary classical music compositions and concerts, albeit to

6664-536: The compact disc (CD) in 1982 brought significant improvements in the quality and durability of recordings. The CD initiated another massive wave of change in the consumer music industry, with vinyl records effectively relegated to a small niche market by the mid-1990s. The record industry fiercely resisted the introduction of digital systems, fearing wholesale piracy on a medium able to produce perfect copies of original released recordings. The most recent and revolutionary developments have been in digital recording, with

6800-452: The graphic equalizer , which could be connected together to create a complete home sound system. These developments were rapidly taken up by major Japanese electronics companies, which soon flooded the world market with relatively affordable, high-quality transistorized audio components. By the 1980s, corporations like Sony had become world leaders in the music recording and playback industry. The advent of digital sound recording and later

6936-422: The 1750s onwards, there are many decisions that a performer or conductor has to make, because notation does not specify all of the elements of musical performance. The process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is termed "interpretation". Different performers' or conductor's interpretations of the same work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen and

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7072-406: The 1920s, Phonofilm and other early motion picture sound systems employed optical recording technology, in which the audio signal was graphically recorded on photographic film. The amplitude variations comprising the signal were used to modulate a light source which was imaged onto the moving film through a narrow slit, allowing the signal to be photographed as variations in the density or width of

7208-549: The 1980s, but in the 1960s the pre-recorded 8-track tape was launched as a consumer audio format by the Lear Jet aircraft company. Aimed particularly at the automotive market, they were the first practical, affordable car hi-fi systems, and could produce sound quality superior to that of the compact cassette. The smaller size and greater durability – augmented by the ability to create home-recorded music mixtapes since 8-track recorders were rare – saw

7344-483: The Moon , on which Paul played eight overdubbed guitar tracks. In the 1960s Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys , Frank Zappa , and The Beatles (with producer George Martin ) were among the first popular artists to explore the possibilities of multitrack recording techniques and effects on their landmark albums Pet Sounds , Freak Out! , and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . The next important innovation

7480-433: The Sweat of the Brow theory, the Court held that simply copy editing would not meet the threshold of originality under copyright law since it would only demonstrate an " amount of skill, labour and capital put in the inputs of the copy-edited judgments and the original or innovative thoughts for the creativity would be completely excluded. ". Thus, it introduced the requirement of 'creativity' under originality. With respect to

7616-627: The US trademark law, the work need to be necessarily lawful. Therefore, works created for commercial purposes, such as advertisements can also be granted a copyright. Section 13(1)(a) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 mentions 'originality' as a requirement for copyright protection to literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Courts have interpreted this requirement of 'originality' in different ways. This has given rise to various doctrines/tests that can be helpful in determining whether

7752-597: The USA cost up to $ 15, two-track stereophonic tapes were more successful in America during the second half of the 1950s. The history of stereo recording changed after the late 1957 introduction of the Westrex stereo phonograph disc , which used the groove format developed earlier by Blumlein. Decca Records in England came out with FFRR (Full Frequency Range Recording) in the 1940s, which became internationally accepted as

7888-546: The United States , more specifically under 17 U.S.C 102 , the work that is sought to be protected must satisfy the threshold for originality . Though most of the countries require certain degree of originality in the work sought to be protected, such requirement does not stem from either the Berne Convention or the TRIPS Agreement . Therefore, there is no uniformity in the standard for originality . In

8024-402: The United States, originality necessitates bare minimum degree of creativity and independent creation. The Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co . held that the work must be independently created and must possess minimum degree of creativity. This interpretation requires an extremely low level of creativity and in the words of

8160-414: The act of composing typically includes the creation of music notation , such as a sheet music "score" , which is then performed by the composer or by other musicians. In popular music and traditional music , songwriting may involve the creation of a basic outline of the song, called the lead sheet , which sets out the melody , lyrics and chord progression. In classical music, orchestration (choosing

8296-500: The additional benefit of being marginally louder than cylinders. Sales of the gramophone record overtook the cylinder ca. 1910, and by the end of World War I the disc had become the dominant commercial recording format. Edison, who was the main producer of cylinders, created the Edison Disc Record in an attempt to regain his market. The double-sided (nominally 78 rpm) shellac disc was the standard consumer music format from

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8432-407: The air (but could not play them back—the purpose was only visual study) was the phonautograph , patented in 1857 by Parisian inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville . The earliest known recordings of the human voice are phonautograph recordings, called phonautograms , made in 1857. They consist of sheets of paper with sound-wave-modulated white lines created by a vibrating stylus that cut through

8568-438: The amount of data that can be stored on a single medium, such as Super Audio CD , DVD-A , Blu-ray Disc , and HD DVD became available, longer programs of higher quality fit onto a single disc. Sound files are readily downloaded from the Internet and other sources, and copied onto computers and digital audio players. Digital audio technology is now used in all areas of audio, from casual use of music files of moderate quality to

8704-417: The background of hiss, which was the only easily audible downside of mastering on tape instead of recording directly to disc. A competing system, dbx , invented by David Blackmer, also found success in professional audio. A simpler variant of Dolby's noise reduction system, known as Dolby B, greatly improved the sound of cassette tape recordings by reducing the especially high level of hiss that resulted from

8840-492: The basis of all electronic sound systems until the commercial introduction of the first transistor -based audio devices in the mid-1950s. During World War I, engineers in the United States and Great Britain worked on ways to record and reproduce, among other things, the sound of a German U-boat for training purposes. Acoustical recording methods of the time could not reproduce the sounds accurately. The earliest results were not promising. The first electrical recording issued to

8976-454: The cassette become the dominant consumer format for portable audio devices in the 1970s and 1980s. There had been experiments with multi-channel sound for many years – usually for special musical or cultural events – but the first commercial application of the concept came in the early 1970s with the introduction of Quadraphonic sound. This spin-off development from multitrack recording used four tracks (instead of

9112-407: The cassette's miniaturized tape format. The compact cassette format also benefited from improvements to the tape itself as coatings with wider frequency responses and lower inherent noise were developed, often based on cobalt and chrome oxides as the magnetic material instead of the more usual iron oxide. The multitrack audio cartridge had been in wide use in the radio industry, from the late 1950s to

9248-447: The commercial recording, distribution, and sale of sound recordings became a growing new international industry, with the most popular titles selling millions of units by the early 1900s. A process for mass-producing duplicate wax cylinders by molding instead of engraving them was put into effect in 1901. The development of mass-production techniques enabled cylinder recordings to become a major new consumer item in industrial countries and

9384-531: The composer's work. Contract law, not copyright law, governs these composer–publisher contracts, which ordinarily involve an agreement on how profits from the publisher's activities related to the work will be shared with the composer in the form of royalties . The scope of copyright in general is defined by various international treaties and their implementations, which take the form of national statutes , and in common law jurisdictions, case law . These agreements and corresponding body of law distinguish between

9520-505: The controversy came to focus on concern for the perception of moving image and sound. There are individual and cultural preferences for either method. While approaches and opinions vary, some emphasize sound as paramount, others focus on technology preferences as the deciding factor. Analog fans might embrace limitations as strengths of the medium inherent in the compositional, editing, mixing, and listening phases. Digital advocates boast flexibility in similar processes. This debate fosters

9656-456: The correct equipment, of the released music. It eventually faded out in the late 1970s, although this early venture paved the way for the eventual introduction of domestic surround sound systems in home theatre use, which gained popularity following the introduction of the DVD. The replacement of the relatively fragile vacuum tube by the smaller, rugged and efficient transistor also accelerated

9792-461: The court, "must possess some creative spark no matter how crude, humble or obvious it might be." The court also took the opportunity to reject the previously judicially-established and followed the sweat of the brow doctrine. According to the said doctrine, labour and hard-work alone could suffice to establish originality . After the doctrine was rejected by the Supreme Court in 1991, in

9928-453: The courts are required to undertake a deeper legal and factual inquiry in photographic works. The United States District Court for Southern District of New York in Mannion v. Coors Brewing Company considered originality in terms of timing, subject and rendition, and held that the nature and extent of the copyright would be independent in the three aspects. The requirement for originality

10064-538: The cumbersome disc-to-disc editing procedures previously in some limited use, together with tape's consistently high audio quality finally convinced radio networks to routinely prerecord their entertainment programming, most of which had formerly been broadcast live. Also, for the first time, broadcasters, regulators and other interested parties were able to undertake comprehensive audio logging of each day's radio broadcasts. Innovations like multitracking and tape echo allowed radio programs and advertisements to be produced to

10200-407: The cylinder was the main consumer format from the late 1880s until around 1910. The next major technical development was the invention of the gramophone record , generally credited to Emile Berliner and patented in 1887, though others had demonstrated similar disk apparatus earlier, most notably Alexander Graham Bell in 1881. Discs were easier to manufacture, transport and store, and they had

10336-533: The definition of composition is broad enough to include the creation of popular music and traditional music songs and instrumental pieces, and to include spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African percussionists such as Ewe drummers . In the 2000s, composition is considered to consist of the manipulation of each aspect of music ( harmony , melody, form, rhythm and timbre ), according to Jean-Benjamin de Laborde (1780 , 2:12): Composition consists in two things only. The first

10472-572: The development of the phonograph. Edison was working on a machine in 1877 that would transcribe telegraphic signals onto paper tape, which could then be transferred over the telegraph again and again. The phonograph was both in a cylinder and a disc form. On April 30, 1877, French poet, humorous writer and inventor Charles Cros submitted a sealed envelope containing a letter to the Academy of Sciences in Paris fully explaining his proposed method, called

10608-490: The development of various uncompressed and compressed digital audio file formats , processors capable and fast enough to convert the digital data to sound in real time , and inexpensive mass storage . This generated new types of portable digital audio players . The minidisc player, using ATRAC compression on small, re-writeable discs was introduced in the 1990s, but became obsolescent as solid-state non-volatile flash memory dropped in price. As technologies that increase

10744-507: The earliest known mechanical musical instrument, in this case, a hydropowered (water-powered) organ that played interchangeable cylinders. According to Charles B. Fowler, this "... cylinder with raised pins on the surface remained the basic device to produce and reproduce music mechanically until the second half of the nineteenth century." Carvings in the Rosslyn Chapel from the 1560s may represent an early attempt to record

10880-444: The early 1910s to the late 1950s. In various permutations, the audio disc format became the primary medium for consumer sound recordings until the end of the 20th century. Although there was no universally accepted speed, and various companies offered discs that played at several different speeds, the major recording companies eventually settled on a de facto industry standard of nominally 78 revolutions per minute. The specified speed

11016-597: The focus was shifted to the creativity involved in any work. The EBC Modak case is the Indian counterpart of the Feist Publications case in terms of the test it laid down. It concerned the copyrightability of Supreme Court judgments that were copy-edited and published by Eastern Book Company. These judgments were published along with 'headnotes' that were written by the Company itself. While explicitly discarding

11152-454: The form of a notated copy (for example sheet music) or in the form of a phonorecord (for example cassette tape, LP, or CD). Sending a musical composition in the form of a phonorecord does not necessarily mean that there is a claim to copyright in the sound recording." Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 defines a musical work to mean "a work consisting of music, exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with

11288-402: The high recording speeds required, they used enormous reels about one meter in diameter, and the thin tape frequently broke, sending jagged lengths of razor steel flying around the studio. Magnetic tape recording uses an amplified electrical audio signal to generate analogous variations of the magnetic field produced by a tape head , which impresses corresponding variations of magnetization on

11424-431: The instruments of a large music ensemble such as an orchestra which will play the different parts of music, such as the melody, accompaniment , countermelody , bassline and so on) is typically done by the composer, but in musical theatre and in pop music , songwriters may hire an arranger to do the orchestration. In some cases, a pop or traditional songwriter may not use written notation at all and instead compose

11560-432: The judges (ii) fear of elitism (iii) fear of paternalism (also called parentalism) (iv) lack of consensus on what constitutes art. However, scholars note that the principle of aesthetic neutrality is often violated as the adjudicators end up favouring creators of what they believe is deserving of copyright grant. In the United States, the work is not required to be non-commercial in nature for copyright protection and unlike

11696-404: The level of creativity involved, the court adopted the 'minimal degree of creativity' approach. Following this standard, the headnotes that did not copy from the judgment verbatim were held to be copyrightable. Finally, the Court also gave way to the 'Skill and Judgment Test' which is more or less a compromise between the sweat of the brow theory and the modicum of creativity test. While relying on

11832-540: The main way that songs and instrumental pieces were recorded was through music notation . While notation indicates the pitches of the melody and their rhythm many aspects of the performance are undocumented. Indeed, in the Medieval era, Gregorian chant did not indicate the rhythm of the chant. In the Baroque era, instrumental pieces often lack a tempo indication and usually none of the ornaments were written down. As

11968-475: The microphone to a digital form by the process of sampling . This lets the audio data be stored and transmitted by a wider variety of media. Digital recording stores audio as a series of binary numbers (zeros and ones) representing samples of the amplitude of the audio signal at equal time intervals, at a sample rate high enough to convey all sounds capable of being heard . A digital audio signal must be reconverted to analog form during playback before it

12104-651: The most demanding professional applications. New applications such as internet radio and podcasting have appeared. Technological developments in recording, editing, and consuming have transformed the record , movie and television industries in recent decades. Audio editing became practicable with the invention of magnetic tape recording , but technologies like MIDI , sound synthesis and digital audio workstations allow greater control and efficiency for composers and artists. Digital audio techniques and mass storage have reduced recording costs such that high-quality recordings can be produced in small studios. Today,

12240-402: The moving tape. In playback mode, the signal path is reversed, the tape head acting as a miniature electric generator as the varyingly magnetized tape passes over it. The original solid steel ribbon was replaced by a much more practical coated paper tape, but acetate soon replaced paper as the standard tape base. Acetate has fairly low tensile strength and if very thin it will snap easily, so it

12376-474: The music." Originality The concept of originality is both culturally and historically contingent. For example, unattributed reiteration of a published text in one culture might be considered plagiarism but in another culture might be regarded as a convention of veneration. At the time of Shakespeare , it was more common to appreciate the similarity with an admired classical work, and Shakespeare himself avoided "unnecessary invention". It wasn't until

12512-508: The music." In India The Copy Right Act, 1957 prevailed for original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work until the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1984 was introduced. Under the amended act, a new definition has been provided for musical work which states "musical works means a work consisting of music and included any graphical notation of such work but does not included any words or any action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with

12648-401: The narrowest and most obvious limits. At the one extreme, some works of genius would be sure to miss appreciation. Their very novelty would make them repulsive until the public had learned the new language in which their author spoke. It may be more than doubted, for instance, whether the etchings of Goya or the paintings of Monet would have been sure of protection when seen for the first time. At

12784-599: The next few years, the lesser record companies licensed or developed other electrical recording systems. By 1929 only the budget label Harmony was still issuing new recordings made by the old acoustical process. Comparison of some surviving Western Electric test recordings with early commercial releases indicates that the record companies artificially reduced the frequency range of recordings so they would not overwhelm non-electronic playback equipment, which reproduced very low frequencies as an unpleasant rattle and rapidly wore out discs with strongly recorded high frequencies. In

12920-488: The next two years, Blumlein developed stereo microphones and a stereo disc-cutting head, and recorded a number of short films with stereo soundtracks. In the 1930s, experiments with magnetic tape enabled the development of the first practical commercial sound systems that could record and reproduce high-fidelity stereophonic sound . The experiments with stereo during the 1930s and 1940s were hampered by problems with synchronization. A major breakthrough in practical stereo sound

13056-406: The non-lyrical elements. Many jurisdictions allow for compulsory licensing of certain uses of compositions. For example, copyright law may allow a record company to pay a modest fee to a copyright collective to which the composer or publisher belongs, in exchange for the right to make and distribute CDs containing a cover band 's performance of the composer or publisher's compositions. The license

13192-405: The only issued electrical recording. Several record companies and independent inventors, notably Orlando Marsh , experimented with equipment and techniques for electrical recording in the early 1920s. Marsh's electrically recorded Autograph Records were already being sold to the public in 1924, a year before the first such offerings from the major record companies, but their overall sound quality

13328-445: The other end, copyright would be denied to pictures which appealed to a public less educated than the judge. This observation was an embodiment of the principle of artistic or aesthetic neutrality which seeks to eliminate the inherent subjectivity involved in the judges deciding whether the work is artistic, and hence, the question as to whether it warrants protection. The principle finds four broad justifications- (i) lack of expertise in

13464-416: The paleophone. Though no trace of a working paleophone was ever found, Cros is remembered by some historians as an early inventor of a sound recording and reproduction machine. The first practical sound recording and reproduction device was the mechanical phonograph cylinder , invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and patented in 1878. The invention soon spread across the globe and over the next two decades

13600-665: The playback volume of the three audio channels. Because of the complex equipment this system required, Disney exhibited the movie as a roadshow, and only in the United States. Regular releases of the movie used standard mono optical 35 mm stock until 1956, when Disney released the film with a stereo soundtrack that used the Cinemascope four-track magnetic sound system. German audio engineers working on magnetic tape developed stereo recording by 1941. Of 250 stereophonic recordings made during WW2, only three survive: Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto with Walter Gieseking and Arthur Rother,

13736-414: The playing or singing style or phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who present their own music in a concert are interpreting their songs, just as much as those who perform the music of others. The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given time and a given place is referred to as performance practice , whereas interpretation is generally used to mean the individual choices of

13872-808: The process of making a recording is separated into tracking, mixing and mastering . Multitrack recording makes it possible to capture signals from several microphones, or from different takes to tape, disc or mass storage allowing previously unavailable flexibility in the mixing and mastering stages. There are many different digital audio recording and processing programs running under several computer operating systems for all purposes, ranging from casual users and serious amateurs working on small projects to professional sound engineers who are recording albums, film scores and doing sound design for video games . Digital dictation software for recording and transcribing speech has different requirements; intelligibility and flexible playback facilities are priorities, while

14008-549: The public, with little fanfare, was of November 11, 1920, funeral service for The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey , London. The recording engineers used microphones of the type used in contemporary telephones. Four were discreetly set up in the abbey and wired to recording equipment in a vehicle outside. Although electronic amplification was used, the audio was weak and unclear, as only possible in those circumstances. For several years, this little-noted disc remained

14144-445: The question as to whether there was intent to be original was not to be considered. The Supreme Court of the United States has also clarified that it is not necessary for the work to be artistic to qualify as original. Furthermore, in the landmark ruling, the court observed that it would be a dangerous undertaking for persons trained only to the law to constitute themselves final judges of the worth of pictorial illustrations, outside of

14280-590: The recording industry. Tape made possible the first sound recordings totally created by electronic means, opening the way for the bold sonic experiments of the Musique Concrète school and avant-garde composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen , which in turn led to the innovative pop music recordings of artists such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys . The ease and accuracy of tape editing, as compared to

14416-540: The recording process. These included improved microphones and auxiliary devices such as electronic filters, all dependent on electronic amplification to be of practical use in recording. In 1906, Lee De Forest invented the Audion triode vacuum tube, an electronic valve that could amplify weak electrical signals. By 1915, it was in use in long-distance telephone circuits that made conversations between New York and San Francisco practical. Refined versions of this tube were

14552-428: The rights applicable to sound recordings and the rights applicable to compositions. For example, Beethoven 's 9th Symphony is in the public domain , but in most of the world, recordings of particular performances of that composition usually are not. For copyright purposes, song lyrics and other performed words are considered part of the composition, even though they may have different authors and copyright owners than

14688-646: The rights to the Blattnerphone, and newly developed Marconi-Stille recorders were installed in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in March 1935. The tape used in Blattnerphones and Marconi-Stille recorders was the same material used to make razor blades, and not surprisingly the fearsome Marconi-Stille recorders were considered so dangerous that technicians had to operate them from another room for safety. Because of

14824-466: The sale of consumer high-fidelity sound systems from the 1960s onward. In the 1950s, most record players were monophonic and had relatively low sound quality. Few consumers could afford high-quality stereophonic sound systems. In the 1960s, American manufacturers introduced a new generation of modular hi-fi components — separate turntables, pre-amplifiers, amplifiers, both combined as integrated amplifiers, tape recorders, and other ancillary equipment like

14960-403: The same idea independently. Originality is usually associated with characteristics such as being imaginative and creative. The evaluation of originality depends not only on the creative work itself, but also on the temporal context, the zeitgeist . In a study of the musical originality of 15,618 classical music themes , the importance of objective characteristics and the zeitgeist for popularity

15096-505: The same tape many times, sounds could be duplicated from tape to tape with only minor loss of quality, and recordings could now be very precisely edited by physically cutting the tape and rejoining it. Within a few years of the introduction of the first commercial tape recorder—the Ampex 200 model, launched in 1948—American musician-inventor Les Paul had invented the first multitrack tape recorder , ushering in another technical revolution in

15232-514: The same time, sound recordings enabled music lovers outside the West to hear the most famous North American and European groups and singers. As digital recording developed, so did a controversy commonly known as the analog versus digital controversy. Audio professionals, audiophiles, consumers, musicians alike contributed to the debate based on their interaction with the media and the preferences for analog or digital processes. Scholarly discourse on

15368-408: The same ways to obtain a license (permission) from the owner. In some jurisdictions, the composer can assign copyright , in part, to another party. Often, composers who are not doing business as publishing companies themselves will temporarily assign their copyright interests to formal publishing companies, granting those companies a license to control both the publication and the further licensing of

15504-445: The song in their mind and then play, sing or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable sound recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written or printed scores play in classical music . Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when all members of

15640-566: The sound quality was poor, so between the wars, they were primarily used for voice recording and marketed as business dictating machines. In 1924, a German engineer, Kurt Stille, improved the Telegraphone with an electronic amplifier. The following year, Ludwig Blattner began work that eventually produced the Blattnerphone, which used steel tape instead of wire. The BBC started using Blattnerphones in 1930 to record radio programs. In 1933, radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi 's company purchased

15776-636: The start of the 18th century that the concept of originality became an ideal in Western culture . In law, originality has become an important legal concept with respect to intellectual property , where creativity and invention have manifest as protectable or copyrightable works. In the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) that has been adapted by 181 countries and city-states, "original work" gives

15912-479: The system and both made their earliest published electrical recordings in February 1925, but neither actually released them until several months later. To avoid making their existing catalogs instantly obsolete, the two long-time archrivals agreed privately not to publicize the new process until November 1925, by which time enough electrically recorded repertory would be available to meet the anticipated demand. During

16048-421: The threshold of 'originality' under the Indian Copyright Act since it involves some level of 'skill, labour and brain'. A similar line of reasoning was adopted in the case of Burlington Home Shipping Pvt Ltd v Rajnish Chibber where a database was held to be original enough to be protected by copyright under Indian law. However, like in other jurisdictions, this theory was discarded by the Indian Courts also and

16184-505: The tuba playing with the piccolo. This would clearly drown the piccolo out. Each instrument chosen to be in a piece must have a reason for being there that adds to what the composer is trying to convey within the work. Arranging is composition which employs prior material so as to comment upon it such as in mash-ups and various contemporary classical works. Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in Western classical music from

16320-495: The two ears. This discovery was commercialized in 1890 with the Théâtrophone system, which operated for over forty years until 1932. In 1931, Alan Blumlein , a British electronics engineer working for EMI , designed a way to make the sound of an actor in a film follow his movement across the screen. In December 1931, he submitted a patent application including the idea, and in 1933 this became UK patent number 394,325 . Over

16456-615: The two used in stereo) and four speakers to create a 360-degree audio field around the listener. Following the release of the first consumer 4-channel hi-fi systems, a number of popular albums were released in one of the competing four-channel formats; among the best known are Mike Oldfield 's Tubular Bells and Pink Floyd 's The Dark Side of the Moon . Quadraphonic sound was not a commercial success, partly because of competing and somewhat incompatible four-channel sound systems (e.g., CBS , JVC , Dynaco and others all had systems) and generally poor quality, even when played as intended on

16592-467: The usage of a particular scale. Others are composed during performance (see improvisation ), where a variety of techniques are also sometimes used. Some are used from particular songs which are familiar. The scale for the notes used, including the mode and tonic note, is important in tonal musical composition. Similarly, music of the Middle East employs compositions that are rigidly based on

16728-450: The use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth (or lamellae ) of a steel comb. The fairground organ , developed in 1892, used a system of accordion-folded punched cardboard books. The player piano , first demonstrated in 1876, used a punched paper scroll that could store a long piece of music. The most sophisticated of the piano rolls were "hand-played," meaning that they were duplicates from

16864-566: The use of mechanical analogs of electrical circuits and developed a superior "rubber line" recorder for cutting the groove into the wax master in the disc recording system. By 1924, such dramatic progress had been made that Western Electric arranged a demonstration for the two leading record companies, the Victor Talking Machine Company and the Columbia Phonograph Company . Both soon licensed

17000-466: The work created by you is identical to a pre-existing work but you are unaware of the latter's existence, you may still enjoy copyright protection for your work. Apart from novelty, the work is not required to be made with an intent to be original. What is considered is only that it is actually an independent creation in effect. In 1951, the court in Alfred Bell Co. v. Catalda Arts held that

17136-549: Was 78.26 rpm in America and 77.92 rpm throughout the rest of the world. The difference in speeds was due to the difference in the cycle frequencies of the AC electricity that powered the stroboscopes used to calibrate recording lathes and turntables. The nominal speed of the disc format gave rise to its common nickname, the "seventy-eight" (though not until other speeds had become available). Discs were made of shellac or similar brittle plastic-like materials, played with needles made from

17272-414: Was acceptable. The compact 45 format required very little material. Vinyl offered improved performance, both in stamping and in playback. Vinyl records were, over-optimistically, advertised as "unbreakable". They were not, but they were much less fragile than shellac, which had itself once been touted as "unbreakable" compared to wax cylinders. Sound recording began as a purely mechanical process. Except for

17408-513: Was enough to meet this standard of 'Skill and Judgment'. Whether this is the correct interpretation of the test as given in the CCH Canadian Case remains debatable. Scientific literature considered as primary must contain original research , and even review articles contain original analysis or interpretation . An original idea is one not thought up by another person beforehand. Sometimes, two or more people can come up with

17544-580: Was examined. Both the musical originality of a theme relative to its contemporary works (the zeitgeist), as well as its "absolute" originality influenced in similar magnitude the popularity of a theme. Similarly, objective features and temporal context both influenced the evaluation of linguistic originality. An original painting , photographic negative , analog audio, or video recording, will contain qualities that can be difficult, or under current technology may be impossible to copy in its full integrity. That can also apply for any other artifact . That

17680-459: Was further improved just after World War II by American audio engineer John T. Mullin with backing from Bing Crosby Enterprises. Mullin's pioneering recorders were modifications of captured German recorders. In the late 1940s, the Ampex company produced the first tape recorders commercially available in the US. Magnetic tape brought about sweeping changes in both radio and the recording industry. Sound could be recorded, erased and re-recorded on

17816-530: Was in turn eventually superseded by polyester. This technology, the basis for almost all commercial recording from the 1950s to the 1980s, was developed in the 1930s by German audio engineers who also rediscovered the principle of AC biasing (first used in the 1920s for wire recorders ), which dramatically improved the frequency response of tape recordings. The K1 Magnetophon was the first practical tape recorder, developed by AEG in Germany in 1935. The technology

17952-579: Was incorporated in the statute only in the Copyright Act, 1976 and over the course of time, the courts have evolved various metrics to apply the test. Unlike, Patents , novelty is not required for a work to be considered as original. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Sheldon (1936) had clarified that sometimes it is relevant for other purposes. Therefore, if

18088-411: Was introduced by RCA Victor in 1949. In the US and most developed countries, the two new vinyl formats completely replaced 78 rpm shellac discs by the end of the 1950s, but in some corners of the world, the 78 lingered on far into the 1960s. Vinyl was much more expensive than shellac, one of the several factors that made its use for 78 rpm records very unusual, but with a long-playing disc the added cost

18224-448: Was made by Bell Laboratories , who in 1937 demonstrated a practical system of two-channel stereo, using dual optical sound tracks on film. Major movie studios quickly developed three-track and four-track sound systems, and the first stereo sound recording for a commercial film was made by Judy Garland for the MGM movie Listen, Darling in 1938. The first commercially released movie with

18360-479: Was small cartridge-based tape systems, of which the compact cassette , commercialized by the Philips electronics company in 1964, is the best known. Initially a low-fidelity format for spoken-word voice recording and inadequate for music reproduction, after a series of improvements it entirely replaced the competing consumer tape formats: the larger 8-track tape (used primarily in cars). The compact cassette became

18496-410: Was too low to demonstrate any obvious advantage over traditional acoustical methods. Marsh's microphone technique was idiosyncratic and his work had little if any impact on the systems being developed by others. Telephone industry giant Western Electric had research laboratories with material and human resources that no record company or independent inventor could match. They had the best microphone,

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