TOP 20 Inventions that CHANGED Music

[@blazejecar]

I'm honestly surprised the microphone wasn't even on the list, I expected it to be top 3. Not only do you not have over half this list without the microphone, it absolutely revolutionized singing. Before the microphone, opera singers were trained in bel canto, the one specific technique that allowed them to project their voice over the orchestra to a concert hall without amplification. With the invention of the microphone, contemporary vocal styles could be recorded and performed, spawning literal hundreds of genres and styles just from this alone. The microphone enabled live gigs for larger crowds of people for genres other than classical music. Microphones allowed you to record music, opened up millions of creative doors, enabled sharing of music and immortalizing artists better than even musical notation can (you have bach's notation, but you don't know the nuances he envisioned, you don't know how he played it, but you will always know how bohemian rhapsody is supposed to sound like because you have the original recording of the artist as a reference). AND it enabled music production/mixing/recording as a field. All its science stems from the invention of the microphone. Basically, I'd argue can potentially be the #1 invention, but musical notation is also a pretty good point. Still, microphone is definitely worthy of being on here. And as others have pointed out, speakers are the other end of it, so just as important

[@stephentyler4352]

Very well articulated, Sir!

[@vinnytube1001]

I think you'd really enjoy Tantacrul's video on Reification.

[@kenlee5015]

That's an excellent point. Not just microphones, but electronics in general completely open up new ways to use dynamics.

[@robertrouleau1000]

I agree with this statement.

[@bradfordknights7554]

I was waiting for this one, and the closer it got to #1 the more I thought it would be.

[@landofsuchbeauty]

You forgot the PENCIL (mid-1800s). With a standard HB wood pencil, you could repair a cassette tape when the tape looped outside of the casing. :D

[@EDKguy]

I love it! and wonder how many have no idea what you talking about

[@rogerpattube]

Ballpoint pen was better as could be gently wedged for smooth reeling.

[@romelovesdan]

@@rogerpattube A Bic pen!

[@matthewtayloryowieresearch1912]

HB pencils work to lubricate your nuts too, the one on the neck above the first fret on your guitar, not the ones chafing off their epidermis outrageously in those wetsuit-tight 3-sizes-too-small black Levis..! y'know? Peace, respect & be nice to ya missus!

[@perrydiddle3698]

@@romelovesdan Doubled as a spit wad shooter!

[@shinatoo]

The microphone and the speaker. Completely changed live music and made recording possible.

[@DavidLC11]

I agree they should be on the list, they aren’t strictly speaking necessary for recording. I believe the earliest phonographs just use a big horn attached to the needle to both carve into the wax and to play back. It can be done completely mechanically without any electrical signal.

[@nickmorgan19457]

@@DavidLC11 but they are required for half of the other things on this list. Electric guitars and daws, especially.

[@patrickwayne9074]

Wow, this is the obvious stuff that gets missed. I believe that even without notation and duplication of sheet music way back when we’d still have good tunes now...but not without speaks and mics

[@bluesfish55m51]

Speakers and mics were essentially outgrowths of the phonograph. That’s were it all started. And without vacuum tube driven amplifiers would have been useless.

[@andrewsorensen2316]

Something funny: the (dynamic) mic and speaker are the same schematic, have very similar construction. In a pinch, you can hack one to be the other.

[@wardkrause9022]

The ability to turn sound waves into electrical waves by the microphone allowed for amplification and enabled all recording to take place. I loved your list and enjoyed having this topic on your show! But, the microphone is epic in the reproduction of music!

[@tangerinetangerine4400]

I was expecting the microphone to be number one on the list.

[@jakubbielak7273]

I would add synthesizer and probably the most important turning point in music was founding out that human being can make a rhythm, so any percussions made of stone, wood etc. are very important.

[@trevorjones8969]

My thoughts, precisely. :)

[@mell3109]

TB303, mini moog, Korg M1 and an 808/909. 40 years on and we are still using them in dance music

[@channelzero2252]

This was pretty much the exact comment I was about to leave

[@PJBonoVox]

Yeah. I'm a metalhead but the 808 and similar has to be in there. They changed the game.

[@mikeberg5003]

Can't believe they left out the Moog

[@LOCMikeSF]

1) Drum (rhythm, tempo and dance), 2) Harp: invention of scales, chords, and self accompaniment 3) Whistle/flute: keys, scales 4) Guitar: Now one musician had it all: rhythm, chord progressions and melody Somewhere down the list: Tempered scale-music theory The Synthesizer - analog and Digital

[@perfectibility999]

I was thinking that the list is about the most important inventions related to music except for instruments themselves. And barring instruments, then yeah, the list seems pretty much right. (And the keyboard doesn't count as an instrument since it's more like a general type of interface with a family of instruments and a way of standardizing notes and such.) But as far as instruments go, it would be hard to argue against the idea that the drum is the most important instrument. It's the basis of rhythm and probably the earliest ever instrument. Even when cavemen were just banging on sticks and rocks, the principles of the drum were there. Strings might be second, and whistles third, or vice versa -- it's hard to say.

[@perfectibility999]

Actually, I would have to think the whistle predates the string due to its simplicity, and would have been the next type of musical instrument created after drums, and it might have predated strings by quite a bit in most or all areas due to its simplicity. So the whistle would probably be the second most important type of instrument ever invented, since it would have been the first to enable a distinct melody to accompany a drum rhythm. (And I'm including later woodwinds and brass, as well as just blowing along reeds, in the overall class of "whistles.")

[@michaelayliffe7238]

I read all the comments saying drums, I think of Australian Aboriginals singing dream time stories, held together by two carved knockers tapping a rhythm, 40k or 60k years old.

[@perfectibility999]

@@michaelayliffe7238 I'd classify that as "drums" or in the same family as drums, since it makes punchy, percussive sounds. Drums are an elaboration of that principle, just as flutes and such are elaborations of whistles, and the earliest string instruments may well have had their origins in bows used for shooting arrows, when people noticed that a taut string can make a resonating sound when plucked or rubbed.

[@kmatsumoto9363]

Yes. The invention of Drum kit is very important. In every nation, every culture, we had drums. It’s not much of revolution. But put them all together so a single person can play all of them was a brilliant idea. The list is lacking many things. How can they miss synthesizer ?

[@timespace.productions7513]

You guys forgot the drum. The first instrument outside of the human-body. Uses acoustics and reverbration to communicate ideas over an incredible distance with remarkable volume. Establishes the idea of rhythm and tempo as the primary forces behind music. Almost anything can be used as a drum. Utilized in spiritual-rites, social-gatherings, ceremonies, warfare, enchantments, and leisure throughout the world.

[@apexerman1]

Agreed. That instrument would likely go back to pre-recorded history.

[@Sergio-nb4hj]

@@apexerman1 It does. We have found evidence that prehistoric humans played drums

[@ncsupi]

I assumed #1 was gonna be the drum when we got there.

[@prickyX]

If it were two drummers hosting this, it would have been #1 for sure and they would have skipped everything else 😁

[@peterwhite]

The drum was the beginning of music. That and the human voice. So maybe the drum didn't change music because it was the absolute beginning of music.

[@Hun_Uinaq]

I’m shocked that the synthesizer wasn’t on this list somewhere. It’s everywhere now. It absolutely changed music forever. Yes, the keyboard was incredibly important. Where would we be without the piano? And, of course, the keyboard is the most common way to interface with a synthesizer. But, the synthesizer had an impact on music that just cannot be underestimated. Music sampling technology should be on that list as well. The prevalence of drum machines and keyboards that can replicate the sound of acoustic instruments is everywhere.

[@econecoff1725]

I agree, but it's actually a gradual invention. Experiments happened soon after electronic computers were invented, and arguably before, and gradually got better with time as electronics got cheaper and faster. But the Moog synthesizer is what really made synthesis take off, largely by making such accessible outside of a wire-filled lab: it was a desk-sized box musicians could purchase. I would also add the organ to Rick's list, invented by ancient Greeks. Speaking of Greeks, Pythagorean tuning ratios perhaps also should be included, as they are foundation of modern chords. I'd like to see Rick revisit the subject.

[@bunyip42]

Agree! While neither was the "original inventor", Bob Moog's work was instrumental, and the Fairlight CMI was a key player in moving to digital synthesis.

[@jameshaviland6183]

They included the keyboard” which, kind of, includes the synthesizer, buy I know what you mean.

[@maxbridges6087]

Not to forget: the invention of the MP3 by the Fraunhofer Institut, which gave the music industry a lot of headache in the 90's and was the base for Napster and many other filesharing softwares, MP3-Players and so on. Also giving the opportunity to backup and transport all your music in very small (compressed) files.

[@TheRockinDonkey]

Yep. Without this, there would have been no iPod or Napster. You can't mention the IPod and Napster without acknowledging the technology that those two developments took advantage of.

[@pablolachmann7044]

As far as I understand they started research in '82, it took some time until it worked. Tom's diner was released '87...

[@nelsonc6173]

Is the Mp3 though a technology? Can one classify a codec as a technology?

[@israeldelrio]

@@nelsonc6173 The way compression was achieved is definitely a technology.

[@HugoSalvado]

Indeed... the MP3 should definitely be in the list.

[@John-K638]

The microphone surely needs to be in there. Certainly more worthy of a place than effects pedals.

[@Mrbeahz1]

And the other end, the speaker.

[@ORagnar]

In a way that's connected to the phonograph, which had to include both a microphone and speaker.

[@adrianmandado2892]

As the video advanced I thought that microphone was going to be the number one ! 😅 You couldn't have half of the things on this list if it weren't for the mic !

[@John-K638]

@@adrianmandado2892 I thought so too. The mic also changed the way people sang. Before the mic singers had to be trained, as opera singers were, to sing loud enough that their voices could carry over an orchestra. After the microphone singing styles could be much quieter and more intimate.

[@josephgschwartz]

I just wrote the exact same thing how do you not have the microphone or the speaker?

[@KevinSiekierski]

The microphone, turning sound into signal. Other than that, brilliant list.

[@TimSamoff]

The phonograph may be close since it did utilize the “phone” to capture sound.

[@njits789]

No microphone, no crooning Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra

[@payathecat1433]

@@MyRackley Yes! Here's a fun little experiment for the uninitiated who loved to record their records onto cassettes back in the day: Set up your recorder (ProTools or whatever you use), put a record on the platter, set the needle at the end and let it run into the "dead wax", the "run out groove". Now, with your head a foot or two from the cartridge, start talking… and then talk louder and louder until eventually you are yelling. Stop recording. Go back and listen to it… what do you hear? That's why I never have the amp / speakers playing when I digitize my old vinyl: acoustic feedback.

[@nannesoar]

Great comment(s)↑↑↑

[@gorraksmashskull]

@@TimSamoff phone is from φωνη/fo-nee in Greek meaning voice So in this context phone=sound

[@josecastromora]

Totally agree, just might add that I believe the first time music was heard without the actual players being there was not by gramophone records but by piano rolls, that's what made Scott Joplin famous and ragtime kinda the first mass-appeal popular music.

[@jerryjonas8178]

I heard a piano roll of George Gershwin playing solo piano for Rhapsody in Blue. They played it slow to make sure only 10 fingers were there. It was a demo of a program that converted piano rolls to MIDI files on a C64

[@michaelfreeman8022]

The modern drum set! As said by others, a combination of African drums, Asian cymbals, and European military snares, all playable by one person and their four limbs. Made all of modern music possible, - rock, jazz, metal, funk, blues, etc.

[@kirss0n]

Just the drum

[@jonathanrcoffin]

The influence of electronic drum machines today.

[@AnkothOfficial]

Which drum on the set is an inspiration from African drums? Toms are derived from chinese Toms, snares and bass drums from the millitary (so not just snares) and if we go deeper we can say that bass drums are inspired by middle eastern and Turkish cultures, since their predecessors were Davuls/Tupans. Not too sure about the origins of cymbals, but the China cymbal was derived from a Chinese Bo. If anything the drum set is a mixture of drums that range from Asia to the middle east/Asia minor (even the snare, since snares originated from tabors which, I believe, came to Europe from the middle east. The drum kit is probably one of the key major inventions that influenced music, since all prior music required different specialised drummers for each drum, and now meant only one drummer can play all those drums, decreasing the need for so many people in one band. Other revolutionary inventions IMHO, in no order whatsoever, are the Electric/Electro Acoustic pickup system, since it allowed many acoustic instruments, like guitars, to amplify without feedback, and use effects. Also the Sampler, since it allowed people to recycle sounds used in songs to make their own music.

[@KevinMooretoons]

Agreed. Drums became such important elements of popular music that whole genres emerged from changes in beats and tempo. Hip hop, jazz, rock, and R&B are probably the most obvious examples. Funk! Reggae! And once you get out of the northern hemisphere, percussion instruments are integral to cultures going back centuries, if not millennia.

[@yesspazsmith9895]

Beat me to it! I think set drumming is one of the most overlooked musical inventions.

[@hugomjames9928]

The invention of the kick-drum pedal by Edward 'Dee Dee' Chandler in 1894, followed by the high-hat, changed 'the drums' from being section to being one instrument played by a single musician using all four limbs.

[@nrvsnrg73]

Exactly. That's more important than the fuzz pedal.

[@TheRealMarxz]

yeh but ... drums pft we're talking music :P

[@bmphil3400]

You know what they call the guy that hangs out with three musicians? Drummer. How do you know when a drummer is outside your door? He knocks out of time and does know when to come in......

[@bazgolin1036]

Stuart Copeland did a great drum documentary not too long ago that featured Dee Dee Chandler’s kick pedal that paved the way for ‘one’ drummer playing a ‘drum kit’ that led to everything we know and love about drums and drumming today. Before Chandler, there were snare drummers, bass drummers, and cymbal players. Suddenly one person could do the job of 3. Maybe this was No.21 on a list of 20!

[@ofdrumsandchords]

Thanks, I didn't know who was responsible of this. A capitalist, destroying jobs. Do you know when the high-hat appeared ? It seems the cymbals were close to the floor before someone had the idea of putting them at reach.

[@scooobydoo27]

These are all very nice, but the most important invention was the volume knob that could go to 11.

[@jSattJamboree]

Not to mention the cow bell.

[@brianpickrell2477]

It was Number 0.

[@ThvonS]

I agree, Sir - but perhaps even more important was the invention of the mute button

[@scooobydoo27]

@@brianpickrell2477 A top xx list that goes to 0. Nice.

[@MartinJohnZ]

That, and the SUSTAIN!!!

[@harrisinstruments]

I'm so glad you guys said Music Notation was #1. In a way you could say that was the very first means of "recording music".

[@frida507]

Yes, I guess when songs were spreading just from person to person, the melody probably changed on the way...

[@edmilham4172]

Couple of things: Musical notation in the western world dates back at least to the mid-800s, not to 1400. Modern notation dates back to about 1300, though the diamond-shaped noteheads of what's known as Trecento notation do look a bit different from the oval noteheads we use now. There's one thing I teach as "the most important technological innovation in the history of music," and that's the magnetic transducer. This one component, basically just a coil of copper wire around a magnet, ends up being the basis for a bunch of the inventions mentioned, here, and a bunch of others: electric guitar pickups, microphones, speakers, the pickups in Hammond organs, Rhodes electric pianos and various other electronic keyboards, radio antennas for both broadcast and reception, tape heads, and record player cartridges. Basically, the transducer has been the foundation of most other technological advancements in music since its inception in the early '20s.

[@jaakkot5440]

Do a Top 20 on "Mistakes left in the mix"

[@Rex-sf8qj]

That will be really sick

[@Loganrob26]

Good one!

[@redgamer821]

Paul cursing on Let it Be is one of my favorites Edit: I meant Hey Jude. My bad

[@Rex-sf8qj]

Somebody knocking the studio door before van halen’s solo on beat it is my favorite one

[@Jonathan-nq8cy]

@@redgamer821 on hey jude?

[@IIImobiusIII]

A big Thank you to Anna-Magdalena, Bach's Second Wife, his principal copyist. Without her work, most of his music would have been lost to time.

[@thepianojuggler]

Wow, I know of Anna-Magdalena from the beautiful simple pieces that Bach wrote for her but not about her copyist work. Hugely grateful to her!

[@Andrew_from_Oz_Vinyl_Landscape]

Although AMB was a great support to JSB, there is little actual evidence she was principle copyist in the literature we have to hand, and only a scant number of works 0.35% that are in AMB hand. The most prolific copyist for Bạch we can prove was Kuhnau, which makes a lot of sense as he was a organist and son of the man who JSB took over from. There are even some contemporary accounts that she wasn’t a particularly good copyist. It is true she preserved a lot of his compositions and handed them over to the library which had them preserved, but she didn’t copy them out.

[@thepianojuggler]

@@Andrew_from_Oz_Vinyl_Landscape Interesting, thanks for the detailed info!

[@BillMcSwain]

Learn something new everyday

[@IIImobiusIII]

@@Andrew_from_Oz_Vinyl_Landscape Thank you for this clarification. I should not have said Pirincipal. I was just overly exited at seeing her apparent support of this great man. Having so much work before him, especially with the Cantatas. His grueling schedule of both Composition and weekly Performance would have undoubtably necessitated the labour of many hands. It would have course have been to much for any person alone. AMB had a hand in it, and any of those other Nameless Helpers and Patrons, will always have my greatest respect. If but I had been there to help him myself, with more poor abilities. Thanks again.

[@occamsrayzor]

I know you mentioned keyboards, but the invention of the synthesizer was an absolute game changer. The Mellotron was just a gap-filling extension of that technology, and a very important one, but the synthesizer deserves its own mention.

[@CherieO]

The earliest known organ was the hydraulis of the 3rd century bce, a rudimentary Greek invention, with the wind regulated by water pressure. The first recorded appearance of an exclusively bellow-fed organ, however, was not until almost 400 years later.

[@Hun_Uinaq]

@@CherieO an organ is not a synthesizer though. This is a common misconception. A synthesizer will literally take a wave of sound and craft sounds by modifying that wave of sound. It doesn’t use air or water. It uses vibration itself.

[@waddy707]

Bob Moog would be turning in his grave! Synths / drum machines fundamentally changed the landscape on how music is made

[@Compoargentino]

Synthesizer was a conjuntion of creations made from, perhaps, 1928 when the Theremin was invented. The word Synthesizer was proposed by Pierre Schaeffer in 1964.

[@Bigandrewm]

Another "honorable mention": the acoustic theater, which allows performance to a large audience/ It goes fairly far back, to at least the ancient Greeks. Much of music history in many cultures had music and musical theater performed in such places.

[@walkinthrutheparkbymr.melo3905]

sO OBVIOUS THEY MISSED IT!

[@costalongajp]

12 tone tempered scale, early instruments, microphone. There are so many things, it is hard not letting something go

[@edu2485]

Yeah, just what I thougt

[@moi01887]

When they were leading up to telling what #1 was, I honestly thought it was going to be the microphone. So many other things on the list (all types of recording media, DAWs, etc) would be useless (and presumably would not have been invented) without the microphone. Not that it necessarily should have been #1 as music notation is of course important too, but the mic is pretty damn important!

[@gregoryknapowski6756]

@@moi01887 I was thinking the microphone should have been mentioned with headphones (speakers) as they both use the same principles to convert sound to electricity and the reverse.

[@tomforsythe7024]

Strings.

[@nord4mucke337]

12 tone tempered scale. 12 tone scale at all. I'm still gratefull for Pythagoras anD J.S. Bachs work.

[@davearonow65]

The microphone and the amplifier both need to be on the list. Yes, you mentioned amps when you listed tubes, but the amp separately in and of itself is as important as many of the other things that made the list. Hard to argue with most of your choices. Another great video, Rick!

[@muddro420]

The amp is partially mentioned (with vacuum tubes).

[@robg7892]

the tube is technically the signal amp. unless you are considering the speaker part. In that sense, the microphone and the speaker are basically the same things, and probably are worthy of an inclusion as a single entry. They could have probably lumped audio compression(mp3), napster, and the internet into one entry.

[@davearonow65]

@@muddro420 yes, hence, why I said "you mentioned amps when you listed tubes".

[@patcecil1685]

Interesting list guys. I suggest another item that is fundamental to music since the early 20th Century. The generation and availability of electricity. :)

[@seaturtledog]

That is the most important thing is Rock music. No electricity No Concert.

[@JSomerled]

Outstanding.. very good point. Electricity was a novelty until the pursuit of the electric lightbulb,which changed the world as well. Understanding electricity included so many sciences..Including transmitting signals across a wire,such as the telegraph ect.

[@brentfox805]

A gigantic one, I believe, was overlooked. It is essential to radios, tvs, walkmen, iPods, PCs, instrument amps, etc. etc. It will likely be irreplaceable for years to come. You simply can't even hear music reproduced electrically without... a speaker.

[@cliftonsmith2429]

I was just about to comment that!

[@progessiveminded2asupporte269]

Dude, this! I came here to write about the omission of the speaker. I watched this on my TV and came to my Chromebook to write. When was the last time you listened to recorded music without a speaker?

[@blairhelsing630]

Let's hear it for transducers pun intended

[@juanfichtl2011]

The phonograph is both a microphone and a speaker!

[@martianmurray]

You can’t hear music reproduced electrically without electricity.

[@jamesreardon6819]

You missed the synthesizer, a Canadian invention at the National Research Council of Canada. Maybe it doesn't rank in the top 20 but it has had a big influence on music since the early days of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Thanks to you both for this delightful & informative top 20!

[@mjoirg]

Yes, it has played a major part in the development of popular music for decades. I’m surprised you’re the first one I seen who’s mentioned this.

[@debcotton1746]

Ah I was wondering if I'd missed it!

[@joseemanueel]

I was waiting for the dx7

[@jamesreardon6819]

@@joseemanueel Lots of DX7s, and old athletic shoes.

[@UnvisibleINK]

Dude, they missed the fucking microphone.

[@rjs617]

I don’t know if it’s an invention, but the 12 tone equal temperament scale is the foundation of all Western music, and before it was invented, it was difficult or impossible to harmonize across octaves.

[@davidkeller9469]

Yes and yes. Modern harmony is not possible without it

[@loremv7]

came here to say this! 12-TET is the basis of most music today

[@PeterJnicol]

It's an invention. Left off the list. Changed music forever.

[@thedarkgift4442]

My music teacher pointed out that because scales of the east were invented differently than the west is why we think their music sounds so strange.

[@MarkPeotter]

@@davidkeller9469 yes, David, I was just thinking the same thing even before I watched Rick's video.

[@justinwiley2072]

It's a great list - very thought provoking! Watching this made me think of an old PBS show called "Connections" (1978) - a sort of history of science and technology focusing on how the intertwining of different and disparate technologies brought us to the contemporary world we live, in good and bad ways. That being said, I would have gathered the several types of recording media (wax cylinder, tape, record, CD, etc.) into one category - technology that made it possible for people to listen to recordings. I might also add some of the hardware of used by musicians (amps, PA's, microphones, etc.) to literally broadcast sound. I would also put the transistor in the top ten of the list - it has revolutionized EVERYTHING, and been the basis for the several items in the list - the iPod, the personal computer, workstations, Napster; it could be grouped with the vacuum tube for doing the same jobs (amplification, switching, logic, etc.), but for doing them faster, cheaper, and on the head of a pin. And perhaps a nod to architecture, urbanism, and social organization in the form of the concert hall, the opera house, the community center, the dance hall - the physical place, and the idea of making a space within which people consciously listened to music, and thereby making music into a thing, a place, a destination both concretely and conceptually; and by extension the creation of the audience.

[@pip3guy]

I was waiting for you to say microphone was #1 👀

[@danwhitehurst9592]

Me too. Felt good thinking I had #1 halfway through and turns out it’s not on the list

[@Zebula77]

@@danwhitehurst9592 Yeah, me too. I figured that was number one. I mean, you wouldn't have any recordings without microphones, so...

[@itsjusterthought7941]

Microphone is excellent. No recordings without microphone. What about amplified music, which includes electric guitar and stage sound systems.

[@TimLeeSongs]

Me too!

[@troyybarra3293]

Stupid fun fact: Headphones and microphones share a common denominator. Both headphones and microphones contain a diaphragm. Both devices trade in vibrations, it's just that headphones vibrate the diaphragm to create sound while microphones monitor vibrations from sound in order to record it. How to turn headphones into a microphone - Instead of plugging the headphones into the headphone jack of your computer, plug it into the microphone jack. Then you just simply hold your headphones up to your mouth and speak into it. The sound quality produced from the headphones is not very good, but it works.

[@vitroladoluis]

Pythagoras and the relationship between tone and half tone, octaves, pitch... The base of ocidental music. ✌️

[@bombercountyblues]

More of a discovery than an invention though..

[@vitroladoluis]

@@bombercountyblues yeah ! But was amazing ! Using "basic" algebra and... Badass ! 🤘🤘🤘

[@matthewmallaber7213]

One could argue that it was an invention as prior to Pythagoras music was different, less mathematical

[@davidmiller9485]

@@thumper8684 yeah geometry was his gig.

[@vitroladoluis]

@@thumper8684 still amazing. YKWIM... This Dude was a fkng genius ! Like Erastótenes ! A stick... Paper... This minus that is X so... Earth circunference equal 48.000 km ! Mistaken by kilometers ! These guys blow my Mind.

[@Karsten_Kramer]

Most important invention in music was, when the monks in the medieval decided to sing a 2nd voice beside the cantus firmus. With this decision started the history of european harmonics.

[@Tommeadowcroft]

Yes. It’s called polyphony.

[@sourisvoleur4854]

Yes. Huge.

[@一本のうんち]

That's not important invention but some nerd crap.

[@sourisvoleur4854]

@@一本のうんち harmony is nerd crap?

[@alekandamek]

@@一本のうんち that's probably the most hilarious comment I've read on KZbin since 2005

[@bet034717]

I like the Top Five choices. Around the middle of the list shoud be "Valved Brass Instruments". This put the brass on an equal chromatic footing with the strings, winds and piano/ organ.

[@jeremyryannoel]

Microphone needs to be an honorable mention, but definitely notation deserving #1!

[@robertreynolds5663]

Digital Audio also. I don’t know how you can say “midi”, which is an 8 bit control language - snd leave out digital audio. I’m guessing that this was overlooked due to the inclusion of the computer, but a computer ain’t the same thing as Linear PCM, for example. The list seems a bit convoluted.

[@WS0000007]

Totally agree

[@bcd2107]

Also the speaker

[@mrd6741]

Agree

[@rodanone4895]

@@robertreynolds5663 I'd argue that digital audio went with the introduction of the CD since that is 16 bit red book audio format. just for sake of argument 😉

[@smkh2890]

If you include the Walkman, maybe the Transistor Radio deserves a shoutout! Portable and affordable, it took music listening out of the furniture in the living room and into our pockets.

[@KevinJStoll]

That's a good one. Also radio's in cars. Now you can take music with you while you drive or make out in the back seat.

[@ernieblanchard8879]

Probably included in “The radio”

[@smkh2890]

@@ernieblanchard8879 The difference was , it was portable, so good for outdoors and travel. Car radio similarly.

[@vcv6560]

If you've never read I suggest the IEEE Spectrum article The Secret Six-Month Project, (1985) which was TI (Texas Instruments) crash product development to get the first shirt-pocket transistor radio, the Regency TR-1 into customers hands for the 1954 Christmas season.

[@smkh2890]

@@vcv6560 Was it developed so early? I didn’t have one until 1960 at least. Before that I even experimented with Crystal receiver sets and ham radio!

[@mikame1997]

Maybe "speaker" alone should be somewhere before headphones, but I think this list is pretty accurate

[@mikame1997]

@@africkinamerican I think that there are many things that largely contributed, and change not only music, but also everything else..I'm not shure where to draw the line, if we would count wire and electricity, we can continue with metalworking and maybe even weel/fire..I think it should be mostly specifically related to music/sound

[@theragingdolphinsmaniac4696]

Speaker/microphone are essentially the same device used in reverse of each other.

[@theragingdolphinsmaniac4696]

@@MyRackley LOL

[@neilhennig3900]

The electric bass! The foundation of popular music since the late 50s! No more struggling to hear an upright in the mix, and the foundation of entire genres, like funk, where slap bass and 16th note grooves could be played at an audible level

[@JustinLesamiz]

Bass is a subset of guitar.

[@reggaerock]

​@@JustinLesamiz exactly what I was going to say

[@jamesogara7053]

As an electronic music professor I think this is a really good list. Here’s what I think it missed. 1. Tied for #1 or should have been #2 was the development and adoption of Equal Temperament, which standardized the 12 chromatic half steps. 2. Synthesizers, particularly The Telharmonium in 1905 invented by Thaddeus Cahill. Using electricity to spin an oscillator to create an pitch was a revolution. Cahill is also a pioneer of subscription music services that predates Muzak and Spotify. 3. The Telephone which enabled the electronic transmission of sound over distance. 4. Don Buchla in California, Bob Moog in New York, and EMS Studios in London inventing the personal synthesizer, bringing synthesizers to the masses. I think that’s it for me. I’m sure I’ll think of something else later.

[@peterwhite]

Without the invention of the microphone, we would not have heard anything Rick said in this video!

[@TimKaseyMythHealer]

Wow, I would agree with you here.

[@matohota]

How you guys think Edison recorded voice? Via Blue Yeti?🤣

[@martinohara5003]

And speaker to actually hear it.

[@DKBarie]

Nomination for honorable mention: Spandex. It made all those high notes possible.

[@robertgreen3702]

😆😆😆

[@billstuart8481]

or a rolled up sock!

[@cici79]

🤣😂😅

[@RH-xs8gz]

And Aquanet

[@mikepeligro]

Mullet haircut too

[@socialite1283]

Top 20 inventions that changed music: 1/ staff notation 2/ equal temperament tuning 3/ the Penny Whistle 4/ the means to sustain wind instruments longer than a single breath 5/ the first clavier 6/ the bow (for stringed instruments) 7/ frets 8/ the player piano 9/ the first electric microphone 10/ the magnitophone magnetic tape recorder 11/ Blumlein's middle/side mono-compatible stereo recording techniques (and his theory for multi-channel stereophony) 12/ the first 3 track tape recorder (enabling the first multi-track sound on sound recording) 13/ "phone" AM radio. 14/ the first 4 track multi-track recorder that could be synchronised with another 4-track recorder. 15/ the first low noise mixing desk with individual channel strips, auxiliary outputs, multi-track and 2 track outputs 16/ TalkBack from the console to the studio 17/ the first compressor 18/ PCM digital audio 19/ the first low Q loudspeaker 20/ Musical Instrument Digital Interface 21/ the first Roland FM synthesizer 22/ the Fairfax sample-based synthesizer 23/ etc. There are so many inventions that transformed western music - all of which had a real beneficial impact on music in the western world over the centuries.

[@leonazg82]

I was waiting for you to name two things in top 3. One was already mentioned by many and that is a microphone. And another thing is equal temperament. Introduction of equal temperament gave life to all the notions which have shaped European (and later American) music for the last 500 years or so: intervals, tonalities, keys, transposing and so on.

[@JustinLesamiz]

That's another top twenty idea. Not quite in the same league as these other things.

[@jedidiahadams2199]

Music notation, being one of the oldest and probably most important inventions in music, is in a way a part of language/written language in general, which is probably the oldest and most important invention in human history.

[@flashpeter625]

I will claim that the standard music notation also has had, on the other hand, a giant detrimental effect to involving people in music. It is hard to imagine a less intuitive system.

[@mal2ksc]

@@flashpeter625 I'd have to disagree with this. I've managed to bring a programmer -- who had never learned to read music before -- sufficiently up to speed to send him scores instead of MIDI files. This took maybe two or three hours. I did limit the crash course to the essentials, because I could explain any new details as we went along rather than trying to teach the programmer to handle every possible event without knowing which ones mattered. It was much faster to teach the programmer to read (limited) sheet music than it was for me to learn how to program a Mockingboard. So I'd say it's not _that_ counter-intuitive. Being able to write ideas down in readable notation that carries the right connotations (of tonality, of rhythm, etc.) is much more difficult than reading it back, but this is because so much of the "language" _isn't_ precisely defined -- and if it were so defined, it would very quickly fall out of sync with music as actually performed, because styles change.

[@flashpeter625]

@@mal2ksc I have STEM background, I do understand what the symbols and positions mean in the notation, but I simply can't read even a simple score and imagine the sounds it represents. I do better even if given plain numbers to represent pitch and spacing, no matter if on a linear or a logarithmic scale, and that's obviously not a very good system. The standard notation, I feel, requires a specific kind of prior understanding of music. But that kind of understanding is just assumed. So it is a Catch 22 for me, and since my childhood it has absolutely prevented me from pursuing an interest in music. I acknowledge that many people, when they are just explained what the notation means, can use it right away. I can't, and many other people can't either. My estimate, just from watching my surroundings, is that about a half of all people are unable to use the notation to any effect - and it is clearly not that they do not understand the notation mechanistically (because everyone learns that in elementary school), it is that the notation is not meaningful to them as a representation of sounds and music.

[@danwentz]

Before this video started rolling out my first impulse response was "the metronome" - Citing Wikipedia: A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον and νέμω, is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute. Metronomes may include synchronized visual motion. Musicians use the device to practise playing to a regular pulse. Invented by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel. I used this invention at nearly every piano practice/lesson.

[@ThvonS]

The Germans win the metronome contest by naming it "klopfgeist"

[@counterflow5719]

Pendulum being the basic version, the forerunner.

[@TheOriginalRick]

The transistor radio belongs on the list. It changed radio from a family group experience with family oriented music to a personal experience. It is partly a chicken and egg situation, but the teens were the ones to adopt the new tech of transistor radios, which meant the forward looking people such as Todd Storz and Gordon McLendon could develop the new sounds of Top 40 radio to meet the new audience. The more teen-oriented music, the more they bought transistors to listen to it. The more transistors sold, the more ears to listen to the new music so more was created (all driven, of course, by the teens now buying the radio advertised products.) Even Elvis could only reach a very small number of people in live concerts, but the number of teen girls listening to DJs playing his music late at night with the transistor hidden under their pillow was nigh infinite.

[@gandalf8216]

My grandmother loved to tell the story of when she got her first radio, that she heard The Beatles for the first time outside of bad TV concerts through TV's with shitty speakers. She describes it as if the world fell into some hysteria or mass elation, and electrical engineers such as my father already began to consider portable such devices. So you are correct, the transistor radio truly changed music forever by essentially creating the very foundation for what would later be called popular music.

[@dougoverly]

It was number 2!

[@musicauthority7828]

They were basically talking about the same thing with the Walkman. because the original Walkmans were radio's before they were cassette players. which basically were subsets of the original transistor radio's.

[@theclearsounds3911]

Radios existed in tube form very early on. It's the transistor that made portable radios practical. I owned a portable tube radio, but it wasn't practical. So, I think it's the transistor that should be on this list, because it enabled the widespread use of portable radios.

[@cowebb2327]

Agreed but it is an evolution of the radio, which was covered.

[@scottlepage1977]

You forgot to mention the van. Without it, no band would have ever got out of the garage. :)

[@Andrew_M_Ward]

Most under-rated Post !!!! I loaded up the Van so many times (so many times)

[@scottlepage1977]

@@Andrew_M_Ward so..... many...........times.........

[@freelancevt]

Yes. The "Van". What band didn't play "Gloria". However, as popular as "Gloria" or "Brown Eyed Girl" were, they didn't rank in the top 20. We Irish thank you, none-the-less. Wait a minute... ooops! Wrong "Van". Sorry... you can strike my comment... lol. All kidding aside, your point is well taken!

[@erichart2756]

Cats van bags

[@bamadoctj]

How would hippys get to music festivals without a VW van?

[@eyevocal]

The drum. Arguably the first ever musical instrument, apart from the human voice.

[@metacated]

Then it didn't change music...it created it. This list is of things that CHANGED music.

[@mogaro4203]

No, by that argument I would say the voice created music. The Drum, in whatever form you want to imagine it, and as impossible as it is to date, is for sure #1.

[@steventhomas231]

Definitely should have been on instead of pro tools.

[@contemptcreatorarthurave4042]

Banging on logs with sticks.

[@xenixpro]

@@metacated drums allowed maintaining the "beat" of music. Rhythm would have been chaotic.

[@hoshydoeshistory]

I would add the PA System. It was really that which gave the ability to scale small performances to huge ones which created that hype for festivals and large scale shared experience.

[@alexandrumircea]

That feeling when you see it with your own eyes and have it explained how a strange sound is actually produced is magical. I experienced it most recently when I got to look under the hood of a harpsichord and understood how the chords are pinched more like for a guitar. Or you could say it is truly a harp in a box. Those little hammers that hit the chords thus bringing us the piano forté in the early 1700s were IMO a huge invention. The grand piano, with its more rigid frame and with its metal chords is also worth a shout. I wish all the innovations related to the dissemination, distribution and consumptions of music were kept sepparate for a different top, and this one stayed about the technical innovations that directly impacted sound and further style and movements. That said, even so, I don't get the point of mentioning both the internet and social media, the latter being a subset of the former. Also, while I can admit that the internet changed my life in terms of music consumption and preferences, social media has had a devastating effect and I wonder what reasons can there be to put it in this top. Social media destroyed the music community where I'm from. In the noughties, I would spend a lot of time every day in the online music community posting over several internet forums socialising, making friends, talking and exchanging music, setting up meet-ups before gigs, setting up seaside weekends... People got together in real life, there were couples and even marriages. Then in 2009 and 2010 everybody migrated on Facebook and the musical focus just vanished. The internet forums went offline as nobody paid the hosting, the equivalent Facebook groups never took off, those who wrote eventually gave up their blogs... At best, the former music community became just like the rest of the civil society, chatting the same things like everyone else. I think my conclusion is that in the presence of *all* our friends, we tend not to discuss music: we do it mostly in the presence of like-minded music fans. In hindsight, thinking of what was lost still makes me sad: I still remember the usernames of my favourite music people, I know I have them in my Facebook friends list, but I wouldn't be able anymore to recognize them by their real-life name and their account with job and family chat as the music lovers they once were.

[@bootlebeats6331]

You guys nailed it. For me, the battery powered pocket sized transistor radio. They were the first affordable way to listen to music anywhere we went.

[@johnrogers001]

Good point about the transistor radio. I think it was more foundationally important than the Walkman.

[@Simonchez]

Stewart Copeland of The Police has a great video where he proposes that the bass drum pedal is the single most important invention in Western music, and that once you have one person playing the bass and snare drums, the beat gets tight as is needed for rock n roll.

[@thebeatlabmusic749]

I was waiting for the bass drum pedal to be mentioned. Still waiting.....

[@bryanleggo3489]

That's disappointing and an extremely narrow perspective. I thought he was smarter than that. Also, it's just wrong. Any symphony percussion section can be as tight. Having one person just makes it economically advantageous.

[@BillKilmerslayer]

@@bryanleggo3489 That's the point. A few friends could make a big sound. Hello garage bands.

[@bryanleggo3489]

@@BillKilmerslayer I wasn't talking about a big sound and neither was Copeland according to Simonchez. He was talking about tightness. Besides, amplifiers are what the sound big for garage bands.

[@alanjames884]

Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats made an entire career out of exactly that philosophy.

[@DrDaveInN-Az]

You mentioned the harpsichord. But there is a keyboard musical instrument that is before the harpsichord (and clavichord) and that is the pipe organ! It was the primary instrument of the Baroque period and much earlier. The pipe organ was the “synthesizer” of the past eras. The pipe organ has a very special place among keyboards, tuning, temperament, musical notation and all the rest. And guess what-the pipe organ is the king of instruments and should be right in there with all the early keyboards. Thank you.

[@fisk0]

Definitely agree, it's like a mechanical additive synthesizer, really able to create a kind of sound that I don't think anybody could've heard before, and also with a user controllable timbre very much like the modern synth. And the sound of the church organs could be absolutely massive, heard across the entire town, and also allowed a single operator to play with their hands and feet at the same time, allowing for incredible arrangements performed by a single musician (if we don't count all the people operating the air pumps and such in the background back in the pre-electric days).

[@rick420buzz]

They also forgot one of the first analog synths, The Mellotron.

[@FredrickSmith]

agreed

[@JustSayN2O]

I'm Dr. Dave also !!

[@TranscendentBen]

The first sampler! Also, Hammond organ and Telharmonium were arguably synthesizers.

[@timwra]

Fun fact: One of the most popular DAWs that is still been used nowadays, Cubase, had already been invented in 1989 and the company Steinberg who develop the software invented VST (= Virtual Studio Technology; most common software interface for DAW plugins) in 1996.

[@timbutler6447]

2021 is the 40th anniversary of MTV. I would like to thank them for 10 years of music.

[@ccelik97]

_oof_

[@dustinhill3864]

That one hits hard but it’s so true. I figured music videos would have been mentioned. Peter Gabriel’s sledgehammer certainly made an impact on me.

[@Timinator2K10]

10? It was that long? I miss VJ's!

[@stephanier6783]

@@Timinator2K10 At least 10 years...more like 15, actually. I started watching MTV in '81 and stopped leaving it on 24/7 about Jan of 1997. That was when Real World had just finished it's 4th season, I think.

[@dannyhood7433]

MTV was like huey lewis news sports album, bruce spingsting music. flock of seagulls fad gadgets 'I'm feeling japanese' (do you really really think so) kills me too this day hilarious ). I remember waiting till 4 am too watch heavy bands iron maiden blue cher . I was lucky if rainbow or April wine daytime 'Zebra' was good band. It seemed like MTV thought heavy metal listeners were either criminals up on drugs or deliver newspapers. Around 1984 mtv wanted ban all heavy metal videos. In my opinion Mtv had access too all kinds of music video, different genres never gave music a chance. When vh1 came out durin90s vh1 played good videos that MTV SHould've or could easily have played 10 or 15 years earlier. MTV would not touch which is not good.

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

My father was an electrician when I was a kid in the 70. I had a cassette player with one 1/8” output jack with a single earbud . He spliced two earbuds together for me to provide a “stereo” sound, although not true stereo. It was a double mono. But that made all the difference. My first cassette tape was given to me by my uncle which was Black Sabbath Paranoid. The rest is history

[@derrickashfield4266]

I guess good old Electricity should be in there as well !!

[@ghiatool]

Yes, We couldn't do many on the list without it!

[@dzd2371]

That should of been there instead of just the electric guitar............or even just a magnetic coil pickup I think.

[@willb6608]

Perhaps it is most specifically the harnessing of electricity?

[@q45ij54q]

@@mrcoatsworth429 Fine. How about the dynamo then? Faraday's invention made the delivery of electrical power feasible. Nothing on this list is possible without it.

[@alexandermajor6467]

@@q45ij54q I'd argue with that point since many of the inventions in the top 20 were invented before electricity came about - harpsichord and musical notation to name but two

[@Yhtomit3000]

This is a great post. I expected that it was going to feature things like “the hihat stand” and “electric pickup” but the important inventions in music as shared here is really the history of information recording and transmission. It makes me think that as soon as people needed to share information, they either used music to share the information or music was the information they wanted to share. Thank you for making this!

[@Psalm119103]

This might get me a boomer label, but I still enjoy listening to the radio. I enjoy being surprised by what comes up next with none of my input. Sometimes it makes me change the station, but sometimes it brings up a dang good song I needed to hear.

[@reraoriharhoaifbkoasfbfef]

David Byrne’s book “How Music Works” talks a lot about the evolution of music both before and during the recording age. Headphones are actually insanely useful because for the first time, the listener can completely detach themselves from the acoustics of the room around them and get right up to the music.

[@MuzixMaker]

Yes, a great read.

[@geob3963]

This is Your Brain On Music is amazing too.

[@geomorphdog]

The drum? The stringed instrument? The wind instrument? The reed? The bow? The 12-note scale? Hate to go all old-school in y'all, but damn.

[@robert_starling]

Very solid list. Nice seeing you two do some more videos together

[@allank8497]

To do it chronologically: 1400 BCE/1440 Printing Press ( 17:40 ) 1499 Keyboard ( 14:41 ) 1877 Phonograph ( 12:50 ) 1890 Headphone ( 3:33 ) 1986 Radio ( 16:24 ) 1904 Vacuum Tube ( 8:29 ) 1925 78 RPM Record ( 5:39 ) 1927 Television ( 6:07 ) 1928 Magnetic Tape ( 10:34 ) 1941 Electric Guitar ( 7:20 ) 1956 Personal Computer ( 13:36 ) 1962 Fuzz Pedal ( 1:09 ) 1979 Walkman ( 2:51 ) 1981 MIDI ( 9:24 ) 1982 Compact Disc ( 4:56 ) 1983 Internet ( 15:43 ) 1989 DAWS ( 11:38 ) 1999 Napster ( 2:10 ) 2001 iPod ( 0:30 ) 2000s Social Media ( 4:12 )

[@allank8497]

@@serpico975 they did them together so i just linked it together. They're talked about back-to-back anyway

[@dumpygoodness4086]

@@serpico975 Musical Notation is almost entirely IRRELEVANT to the history of music, b/c we can prove IF IT HAD NEVER BEEN CREATED....almost nothing would've changed! (Even Orchestras would still exist but they'd learn by ear etc.)

[@MrKersey]

Hammond organ + Leslie speaker and analog synthesizers like Minimoog shaped the sound from the moment they first appeared till today and still have an incredible impact on music.

[@mjnc3672]

I'd love to see Rick do a video on the Leslie Rotary Speaker, and how it radically changed the Hammond organ sound. What could the inventor's inspiration for coming up with the idea & design? Always found it fascinating.

[@TranscendentBen]

"The marriage made in heaven"

[@stephenhensley5631]

Brian Eno and Devo come to mind. E.L.P. also.

[@CYGNO]

Somewhat surprised that the synthesizer is not on the list.

[@keithbrown7685]

I have heard that there is a device that can be used in place of the spinning Leslie. This is for bands who, for whatever reason, can't acquire the real thing in the world of swirl effects. This device is basically an outsized turntable that spins at centrifugal speeds. The keyboard and the keyboardist must both reside on this platform. Naturally, everything must be tied down securely, including the keyboardist. As the rate of spin increases, so does the swirling effect. This is doable, at least in the time that the kb player stays conscious.

[@erikm9540]

Tuning forks/tuners, microphones are the only things I could add to this list. Great content.

[@oppositeofh8]

totally agree with your number one selection! bravo! i was surprised that microphone wasn't on the list -- it's how we can capture all the glorious sounds that we then use with all the 20 other things you listed.

[@choowie92]

Nice duo! I like the chemistry between you two.

[@wallpapermusique]

How can the transistor not be #1?? Without it...no fuzz..no ipod.. no walkman..no DAW's ..no internet..the list goes on. Most importantly, no transistor radio which allowed young people to listen to their own music separate from the family console in the living room. This created the environment that spawned rock and roll music.

[@HyyskanPolttaja]

My thoughts exactly. How an Earth could they miss the transistor!

[@chemquests]

They listed the vacuum tube. The transistor is just a minituarization of the same principle.

[@MarkPeotter]

All hail the vacuum tube! But pass over the silicon semiconductors!

[@manalainen]

This ^

[@elduderino5625]

Was the transistor invented with the particular application of improving music though? From the perspective things like social media probably should not count though as I’m not sure their primary purpose at the point of invention was a vehicle for music distribution...

[@matrixmirage2699]

For me and my band mate the biggest thing was the 4-track cassette recorder. Once we got one of those we were able to get the music we were imagining in our heads on tape. Total game changer for a 14 year old rocker! Love the videos.

[@gregmccarty8253]

I still use my Tascam 424!

[@dfraser7933]

Since you include the printing press, I was surprised you didn't include electricity or at least a reference to alternating current. Anyhow, great stuff as always, love your content and passion Rick!

[@sortehuse]

I think electricity was more a discovery than an invention. Maybe the dynamo?

[@reidwhitton6248]

I can't imagine jazz or popular music without the drum kit developed by Ludwig.

[@garyreams8123]

I'm a drummer since I was 9 years old. Thank you.

[@kevinbothwell8425]

Ludwig didn’t invent the drum kit...

[@davie261]

@@kevinbothwell8425 I believe it was a Ludwig

[@israelelderishizzy]

I was surprised Rick didn’t give some sort of place to a rhythmic or percussive development, although half of musical notation is rhythm.

[@allenmitchell09]

I would also add cymbals to the list. Maybe have the drum kit and cymbals share a spot.

[@smalltown4855]

I love the thought that in a hundred years, videos like this will still be being made, because music is endless.

[@Vloodzy]

Good list but you left out Synthesizers (and earlier electric/electronic keyboards such as electric organs). Synthesizers had a massive effect on the music industry and shaped the sound of an entire decade (the 80's). Even till this day they are by far the most used instrument in a modern pop production, whether it's Trap music or any other type of modern pop music.

[@mademepickaname]

I bet they thought of it, but probably figured “keyboard” and “MIDI” would encapsulate them.

[@PaulCooksStuff]

Wow, shaped an entire decade eh?

[@K-Effect]

Amplification is what helped bring bass to live music, because without it we couldn't hear what the bass player was ever doing

[@K-Effect]

@@plrndl You’re obviously bad at making assumptions

[@lowstringc]

Your assumption that “we couldn’t hear what the bass player was doing” is not only patently incorrect, but also so lacking perspective that it’s laughable. Amplification certainly allowed different styles to emerge and for different roles for instruments to develop, but to claim bass could not be heard before is incorrect. As a double bass player, I can tell you definitively that you are wrong. Not to mention the organ, trombone, baritone, tuba, octabass, etc. there’s a reason there are many more violins than basses in an orchestra…

[@richardhussong7232]

The keyboard was as important (and ancient) as you say, but I think one thing that made modern styles of music really take off was specifically the invention of the pianoforte around 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori. The pianoforte was the first keyboard instrument that allowed the player to play individual notes at controlled amplitude (well, there was the clavichord, but that was so quiet that it had extremely limited use in public performance). The pianoforte was the first truly expressive keyboard instrument, and it made possible solo performances of complex music with tonal subtlety, giving us Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and eventually all the jazz pianists.

[@InfoArtistJKatTheGoodInfoCafe]

The “frying pan” was the first electric guitar ever produced. The instrument was created in 1931 by George Beauchamp, and subsequently manufactured by Rickenbacker.

[@icedragon9097]

i knew it was rickenbacker! thought i was crazy for a minute there

[@ronshalita]

nice thanks for that ... also made a huge impact with the Pedal Steel which has been used in country ever since the frying pan...

[@MickiB_Is4916]

The frying pan was and is a steel guitar.

[@chipsterb4946]

@@MickiB_Is4916 it had pickups

[@davidallen2077]

@InfoArtist JK at The Good Info Cafe Also Dr. Beauchamp was the originator of the credit dentist concept, as well as foot powder, for tired dogs.

[@joegopher4887]

Can't forget the cowbell. Where would great songs like Don't Fear the Reaper be without more cowbell!!

[@bigjohnson7415]

🤣😂🤣! Indeed.

[@markdrum2392]

Mississippi Queen?

[@ja60123]

There's only one prescription

[@jeffking6566]

O

[@C_Melvyn_James]

More cowbell.

[@equinnknox]

Thank you for having musical notation as number one. Having done research related to music history for a country that came to music notation incredibly late (China) it is maddening to try and nail down what a song should have sounded like even when they reference each other, but only include lyrics “to the tune of” and no notation. Notation really is the most important invention for the spread and history of music.

[@andrewgreen5986]

Would make a case for he drum kit making it into the top 20. More then even the electric guitar its was the basis for how popular music sounds today and for the last century.

[@DenimRoad]

And the invention that led to the development of the drum set was the first mass produced bass drum pedal invented by William Ludwig in 1909. This allowed one drummer to play parts that previously required two or more musicians to cover.

[@johngornell2788]

ELECTRICITY. Without it you don't have microphones, amps, Moogs, radio, the internet and much stuff that is already on the list. And I would also consider MTV. (Not today's MTV, but the 1980s MTV.)

[@sagetmaster4]

We didn't invent electricity though, we invented the things on the list that use electricity

[@johngornell2788]

@@sagetmaster4 OK. What I mean is the electrical engineering of the late 19th century that enabled the mass commercialization and use of electricity. Whatever Edison, Faraday, Tesla, Westinghouse, etc. did to give the potential uses of electricity to the masses.

[@diegotmc]

I thought it would be the number one :p

[@deanschulze3129]

Very good point. Maybe the commercial electric grid should be number 2.

[@TheOnlyPommyman]

Agreed. Although not an invention per-se, it was the harnessing and invention of devices to control and properly utilise electricity that changed music irreversibly. Notation might still be number 1 maybe if you include TET with it, but without electricity virtually nothing on that list could be made or done now.

[@guitsynthcw]

I was working at Moog Music when MIDI was introduced by Sequential Circuits and others. The leaders decided that it had too much latency (delay) to be useful so didn’t hop on the bandwagon. We were wrong.

[@penponds]

Hi Chuck - you must have lots of amazing stories from back in the day! How much latency at that time was "too much", and in modern gear is that latency the same as you saw back then? The laws of physics I'm sure haven't changed over last few decades, but presumably the materials and circuit design has been optimised from the early days.

[@johnholmes912]

you mean hysteresis not latency

[@b.bonsai1324]

I was and am good friends with Dave Luce’s family. Yeah, Moog made some missteps.

[@kingdiamond5840]

No @John Holmes pretty sure he meant latency. As in network latency.

[@filker0]

I remember when I almost purchased a Sequential Circuits six-pack, but went with the Roland Juno-106 instead. I wish I had kept that keyboard, but I sold it, and my Yamaha DX-9, to buy a guitar synth sometime around 1990, and then discovered that my playing style (I'm a finger-picker) just didn't mesh well with the technology, so I sold that as well, and have ever since been exclusively acoustic (with pickups).

[@mpoulin]

I was going to say music notation as well. I'm glad you mentioned it. I also would add the metronome to the list.

[@Hamstray]

metronome? heresy!

[@SeachingShepherd]

Aye, you forgot to mention MIT's Professor Barry Vercoe's development in writing the computer code to successfully sample musical instruments. The authentic sampled piano and orchestration sounds available via software for keyboards today, owe their beginnings to Dr. Barry Vercoe, Phd; who is also quite a musician in his own right by the way.

[@Gottenhimfella]

Also the date for the invention of the PC was given as 1956 - presumably they're thinking of the IBM 610 Auto-Point "Personal Automatic Computer", released the following year, of which fewer than 200 were ever made. Slow and limited, weighing over one third of a ton, and at a selling price of over $50k, it's not recognisably any more the ancestor of anything applicable to the production of music than ENIAC is. Whereas the kitset Altair, released by MITS in 1974, was very definitely something to quicken a broadminded muso's heartbeat.

[@ereceeme]

Synthesisers changed the way music was produced and left many musicians with fewer gigs.

[@bobmocarsky7943]

The Synthesizer combined with the Sequencer *

[@tenJajcus]

And that is why MIDI was on the list.

[@SRV2013]

I agree. If Rick has any biases, it's toward guitars and away from synths. Has he ever talked about them, or electronic music?

[@sventharfatman]

Seems like a Sampler should be on here somewhere given how often they've been used for the last few decades.

[@pilotaudio5411]

sampler, drum machine, mixing console.

[@warrenburroughs3025]

As you were going through the top 10 I was thinking "notation, they forgot notation. How could they forget notation". What a relief to see it there. There would have been centuries of music lost before we had the ability to record sound without notation.

[@aaronsmusicservice115]

Gretsch didn't sue Fender for using Broadcaster (their drums were Broadkasters), rather, Fred Gretsch contacted Leo Fender and told him that Gretsch was already using that name for their drums and they settled it amicably.

[@suzyiron]

The synthesiser was very important for the abilty to create music especially for solo artists

[@RÅNÇIÐ]

The invention of wiggly air is still unmatched.

[@OtherTheDave]

Hah! Well played 😆

[@hennessy3993]

Doesn’t match against the invention of Simply Piano ! Surely that’s an act of God

[@jakesandeen]

Wiggly air could perhaps be rivaled by the invention of time :)

[@OtherTheDave]

@@jakesandeen Best comeback to the best answer 🤣

[@larsscholz3762]

sure... but is it an invention? or rather a discovery?

[@stephen25uk]

You guys are becoming important historians of music, particularly of modern music. A really excellent and thought provoking video, it must have been hard to know what to leave out.

[@donnycraig6276]

Interesting that sampling didn’t make the list. I know it’s effectively recording but how it has changed music is quite noteworthy.

[@bradquinn2859]

Maybe there will be a top 10 musical practices (or techniques).

[@nelsonc6173]

True but it's not a technology and more like a technique.

[@heavenorhell2024]

i think sampling pretty much goes to DAWs. Sampler boxes MPC, ets are pretty much mini computers - primitive DAWs with sampling capabilities.

[@jakekeys88music]

I like your unintended pun: "noteworthy".

[@davearonow65]

@@jakekeys88music how do you know it was unintended?

[@holtmuller9631]

"hey everybody i'm rick beato" A sentence I will never forget.

[@KeithHedger]

I liked this video, but I think you really missed a big one. As much as I hate it, MTV is definitely a paradigm changer in the world of music. Definitly in the top tem, right up there with Social Media, Internet, Television, Phonograph, etc.

[@BudderB0y2222]

@@KeithHedger What did this guy have to do with anything lol

[@omithehomi8568]

@@KeithHedger did you accidentally reply to this instead of commenting?

[@politikilter6446]

@@KeithHedger they already mentioned television... without which there'd be no MTV.

[@algio3041]

Even reading it, I hear it in his voice!

[@dasnordlicht7069]

Once again, Rick‘s channel proves to be educational at highest level.

[@qqw743]

Going down the old mine with a/ TRANSISTOR RADIO .... Radio was on the list, and portable music players like iPod and Walkman were; but those all came after transistor radios.

[@jkf9167]

The microphone! Your magnetic tape won't do you much good without one. Also the synthesizer. The idea that electronic sound could be infinitely plastic and make any sound you want was huge! My grandmother was Robert Moog's high school French teacher, BTW. He built a theremin and demonstrated it in French in her class.

[@martyr1134]

As sad as it is today, I feel the original MTV format helped musicians and changed the way bands were promoted. Many bands were "made" because they had a great music video.

[@nelsonc6173]

True but many bands were discovered because of these great music videos. Heavy MTV Rotations provided bands access to audiences when radio stations wouldn't play them. Either way MTV created the next music revolution and rocketed the industry into hyperdrive.

[@bob4919]

You beat me to the punch Brandon. I thought MTV would be on the list. I think you nailed it. The music took a back seat to the band/artist image. A really interesting vid guys thanks!

[@randolphgallagher7942]

I want my MTV!

[@AndrewAMartin]

They mentioned TV, but they really should have at least mentioned MTV in that context.

[@Euthymia]

I think that's covered under "TV"

[@Zsombi8097]

Piston and rotary valves, changed brass and orchestral music forever. Without it theres no Romantic era epic symphonies, no modern orchestral music, no film music, no jazz, no blues or anything that evolved from it. You could have just called it top 20 inventions that changed electronic music.

[@TimothyReeves]

Absolutely!!

[@RetiredBrass]

Yes! Should be high on this list.

[@h4tch3tt74]

Even then they would've forgotten to include the advert of electricity

[@caulkins69]

_"You could have just called it top 20 inventions that changed electronic music."_ That's what happens when you consult a computer scientist instead of a musicologist.

[@zero-x-music]

Maybe add 1. Multiple performers - the invention of the orchestra, band or group 2. Chords, polyphony, harmony & counterpoint 3. The piano roll - an early sequencer without which no Cubase or Logic 4. The Jukebox - spread music everywhere

[@thecthonian4976]

"Everybody knows that Muddy Waters invented electricity." Willie "Blind Dog" Fulton, Crossroads, 1986. Great vid, Rick and Rhett! I think y'all nailed it.

[@MickButler]

Singers from Bing Crosby onwards changed from projecting to a more intimate voice because of microphone technology. Crosby actually invested quite a lot of his money pursuing a better studio microphone

[@brizzieleif5258]

I was told the 1940's crooners such as Bing Crosby and the like were popular on the radio because their vocal range suited the medium wave radio frequency

[@scottkunghadrengsen2604]

The electric bass had a huge impact on how music sounds, how it's constructed and composed. And, it's portability made touring possible.

[@desert_rat_guitar]

Wouldn't that fall within "electric guitar"?

[@scottkunghadrengsen2604]

@@desert_rat_guitar I don't think so..

[@knappikus]

It's just a double-bass turned sideways.

[@scottkunghadrengsen2604]

@@knappikus Not even a little... Different scale length, different sustain, the note speaks differently. The electric bass is more profoundly different from the doublebass then the electric guitar is from the acoustic. Imagine the power trio or motown with a doublebass(sideways or not) and see how much Leo Fender changed music.

[@scottkunghadrengsen2604]

@@MyRackley Right, gimme one classic(or even good bassline played on pedals...Even the Doors used bass players..

[@jennoscura2381]

I am an electronic musician. I LOVE that you included MIDI. MIDI is one of my favorite things. When I was just starting off a few months ago; MIDI allowed me to connect my Radio Shack keyboard to my computer and make drum beats with the sequencer in Reaper. These days the heart of my setup is the Arturia Keystep Pro. It's what I currently use to program drums. I have gotten into rack mount sound units. It's perfect for my small studio. If I have the rack space I can add another synth or rompler without the bulk of a full keyboard. Without MIDI those units would exist they way they do.

[@JustinLesamiz]

It would be asinine to NOT include midi.