Into the Groove

The Story of Sound From Tin Foil to Vinyl

Jonathan Scott

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Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury
04 July 2023

Music; Music recording & reproduction; History of science; Popular science; History of engineering & technology

'By mixing lo-fi charm into hi-fi science Into the Groove captures all the wonder and absurdity of its subject, jumping and skipping with real analogue delight.' - Sunday Times The story of recorded sound - the technological developments, the people that made them happen and the impact they had on society - from the earliest inventions via the phonograph to LPs, EPs and the recent resurgence of vinyl. While Thomas Edison's phonograph represented an important turning point in the story of recorded sound, it came only after decades of invention, tinkering and experimentation. Into the Groove celebrates the ingenuity, rivalries and science of the modulated groove, from the earliest paper records of the 1850s all the way up to the recent return of vinyl to vogue. Vinyl collector and music journalist Jonathan Scott dissects a mind-blowing feat that we all take for granted today – the domestication of sound. He examines the first attempts to record and reproduce sounds, the origin of the phonograph, and the development of commercial shellac discs. Later he moves through the fascinating story of the LP record and 7-inch singles, to the competing speed and format wars, and an epilogue charting the decline and then unexpected return of vinyl. Into the Groove tells the story of the invention that changed us. It explores how these fragile discs not only changed the way we consumed music, but also shaped the way music was made.

By: Jonathan Scott
Imprint: Bloomsbury
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781472979827
ISBN 10: 1472979826
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 04 July 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jonathan Scott is a music journalist who has been collecting vinyl since he was seven years old. He’s written about weird, rare and collectable records for Record Collector, has edited books about Prince, Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, and has written about Nirvana, The Venga Boys and lots of others in between. Jonathan's first book, The Vinyl Frontier, told the story of NASA's 'golden record' on the Voyager missions.

Reviews for Into the Groove: The Story of Sound From Tin Foil to Vinyl

An audio geek’s delight, this engrossing history of music and voice recording is as wide-ranging and thorough as one could want … Scott spins a history told with near-perfect pitch. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * Enjoyable … Scott has an eye for detail … music lovers will want to take this one for a spin. * Publisher's Weekly * Scott excels in explaining the connections between innovators and their various epiphanies and lawsuits without ever losing focus of recordings’ end users: the listener … A perfect fit for music lovers who’ve always wondered how a recorded performance reaches their ears. * Library Review * By mixing lo-fi charm into hi-fi science Into the Groove captures all the wonder and absurdity of its subject, jumping and skipping with real analogue delight. * Sunday Times * An attentive, expository account of how records came to be. * Tayyab Amin, The Wire * A very detailed and well researched history of the gramophone… [Scott] writes in a non-technical way but fully explains how sound recording has evolved. * David Harris, Practical Wireless *