Dr.Kido's@World Home
E-mail

Brooklyn Memoir @

@Brooklyn Memoir (18)@
- CD -

@Do you know when compact discs were first available? It was early 80s when I was doing residency training in Brooklyn, NY. Why do I remember it so precisely?
It's easy. I was listening to FM radio while commuting by car in those days. The commentator sometimes after the music said, "This is recorded with a compact disc." There was another episode which much impressed to me. American FM music stations play songs by categories; one station transmits only rock music while another station, only country-western for example. I used to listen to classical music station when I wanted to relax. At the end of each number the name of the orchestra was usually announced.
I noticed many of them were Japanese orchestras. Just imagine hearing the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra announced in English after the piece of Mozart. It was somewhat strange, but impressive. Those classical numbers by Japanese orchestras were almost always recorded with CD. I analyzed it this way. The CD technology was developed in Japan, and discs were mass-produced also in Japan in the early 80s. The kind of music recorded with CD in this period was mostly classical music because classical music lovers were interested in the quality of sound. That is why a lots of classical numbers played by Japanese orchestras were recorded with CD and exported to all over the world.

@More than 20 years have passed since then. CD is not a new music media any more and has been replaced by several other new medias. However, the episode of the early era of CD is a vivid memory of mine.

| BACK |

Top


Dr. Kido's office
E-mail:kidot@momo.so-net.ne.jp