Magnetic Music
Ooops! They are back again, sturdy and flushy. These headphones new wave are very colorful and really looky. Only yesterday, the smart and tiny in-ear plugs were the absolute must, and, perhaps you have still in mind those in-ear plugs fixed on a bracket behind the neck.
If there would be any time travel technic, and such a time traveler from the past would be catapulted in the year 2013, the first thing he would notice at once, would be all these people on the go with their headphones on ears.
Of course, some people may complain about all these headphone zombies moving in the crowd, completely isolated, only connected to their headphone. But most of us are really enjoying it to have our favorite music in ear, wherever we are, whatever we do.
Magnetism makes it possible. Without magnetism there would be no speakers, no in-ear headphones, and also the old music cassettes or tape recorder wouldn’t work. Even the ipods and other MP3 players or the shuffle would remain silent without magnetism. Magnetism is also in action when you are listening to an old vinyl record: the signal of the needle in the pickup converts electromagnetic waves into tension creating sounds.
The tape recorder developed 1930 by a German company is named after the technology: Magnetophon
All these new facilities, downloading, podcasting and listening music, wherever you are, discreetly via your headphone or at home, loudly on a sophisticated stereo system, are quite normal for us today. How to imagine that in former times, even in the last century, people could listen to their their favorite music only by playing it on their instruments?
The time traveler would probably be thrilled by this ubiquitous music: speakers are broadcasting sounds everywhere. It is not always nice music, the sounds are very often just noisy announcements or this soup sound background music in department stores and elevators that has even led to the term „muzak“.
But could you imagine a life without music? A life without this pleasure to listen to your favorite music at home and on the go? A life where you would have to wait for years that your bands are finally giving a concert in your town? A life, where you could only listen to classical music in concert halls or playing it yourself in an orchestra or with friends? Could you imagine a life without your stereo system and only a clarinet, a guitar or violin on the shelf?
By the way, do you still have a stereo system? Once upon the time it was part of the ordinary teenage dreams: amplifiers, CD Player and large boxes, often bought from the first salary. Today there are other priorities.
Even the smart silver music CDs files are no longer the major phonograms. Today music is broadcasted from computers, smart phones, or tiny MP3 players and powerful speakers on the PC or smartphone are amplifying the sound. But, no matter, whether they are small or large, whether they are playing in the living room, or in the ear – without magnetism and magnets, the music would come from elsewhere or be the sound of silence…