Music Now Versus Music Then
The story line of music dates back over 50 Millenia
Music has been performed from the beginning of human times, both through instruments and vocal songs. While we will probably never know exactly when our ancestors first developed music, we know some of the first examples of musical instruments appeared more than 40,000 years ago. Our ancestors likely developed music around 50,000 years ago, during
the cultural explosion, a period in which humans began to make art, jewelry, and started doing ritual burials.
And then, millions of years later, the 21st century changed everything. This was the first time in history electronic devices were first used for performing music. It was only during the 1920s when electronic instruments were first manufactured, which allowed for the creation of electronic compositions, opening up an entire new world of music.
Composers from the 1920s, such as Joseph Schillinger, could be considered pioneers of what was later to become electronic music.
Although over-reliance on electronic instruments has been criticized, there is no denying the power it puts in the hands of the musicians.
With the increased availability of electronic instruments, such as electric drums, record players, and polyphonic synthesizers, genres like disco, synthpop, krautrock, and hip hop began to appear and became a part of mainstream popular music. Electronic instruments became far more readily available, and pioneers in the U.S., Japan, and Europe began to
experiment with new sounds and ways to create music.
The first music produced by exclusively electronic generators was done in Germany, Japan, and the U.S. during the early 1950s. In the early 1970s, things such as Japanese drum machines and synthesizers helped to spread electronic music.
Music Before The Inception of Electronic Instruments
The earliest instrument to ever have been used was probably the human voice, though archaeologists also found some primitive instruments, like flutes, dating to over 35,000 years ago. While it is uncertain how or when the first musical instruments were invented, most historians point to the earliest flutes, made of animal bones, dating back at least 37,000 years.
Archaeologists have also found objects about 67,000 years old that may be simple flutes. Another possible flute, ranging from
about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, may have been made by Neanderthals.
The flute, which is in the public domain, is the first musical instrument that we have found in archaeology, in Paleolithic times.
The bones flute found in Jiahu Archaeological Site The Jiahu Archaeological Site is the oldest known musical instrument from China. Prior to the discovery of the oldest bone flutes, the Divje Babe Flute was
considered to be the oldest musical instrument example found anywhere in the world.
While we will probably never know exactly when our ancestors first developed music, we know some of the first examples of
musical instruments appeared more than 40,000 years ago. Our ancestors likely developed music around 50,000 years ago, during
the cultural explosion, a period in which humans began to make art, jewelry, and ritually bury the dead.
Researches were able to learn more about ancient music through studying drawings on walls, vessels, and other objects, inferring that instruments like the modern bagpipes were already present in ancient Greece. The findings indicate that early modern humans, who were first settled in Europe, already had music traditions — it is thought they created their instruments shortly after settling in Europe, from materials that were readily available, like animal bones.
The makers were clearly very aware of exactly what they were doing when it came to making music instruments, and had years,
if not generations, of experience under their belts with softer materials.
After all, we had to walk before we could run, and early sounds in music had origins that were just as sophisticated as the instruments we invented to make them.
It has been well established that ancient urban cultures of Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, India, East Asia and America had diverse, highly developed arrays of musical instruments, suggesting a much earlier development must have existed. Researchers played on preserved flutes, and uploaded sound recordings showing thousands-year-old musical signs.
Some researchers think that flutes, along with other early musical instruments, helped large groups of early humans form and
sustain lasting bonds. It is obvious just by looking at instruments such as these flutes, that the skills of our ancestors were rapidly developing.
So, music appears to be as old as humanity itself. Music evolved with man, and changed and altered itself through different cultures, religions, regions, which ultimately lead to music as we know it today, with the presence of electronic instruments and all the fancy equipment used to make music cavemen couldn’t even comprehend.
