– Can you imagine your day without music?
– A tuneful song barely heard out of the open window, a brass band playing somewhere at a distance, birds singing nicely in the garden… There is so much music around us that sometimes we do not even notice it.
WRITING
19. Write a composition on the topic (120—180 words).
So what is music?
20. Make a report, an electronic presentation or do a project on one of the following topics:
– The Renaissance music
– Hector Berlioz. His life and works
– Richard Wagner and his influence on music
– Bell Laboratories. Discoveries and developments
– Walt Disney’s Fantasia
CHECK POINT
21. Complete the following statements basing on the information in the first part of Unit 1. You do not need more than three words, symbols or numbers for each gap.
1) Renaissance composers wrote their antiphonal music with the sound of the choir or organ incorporating side-to-side or front-to-rear sonic effects to be played in…
2) Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique was performed with the horns placed at the back of the…
3) Richard Wagner’s works were so impressive and complicated that they needed large orchestras; the musicians stood in the foyer, under the stage, and even among the people in the…
4) In the 1930s, specialists at Bell Labs experimented with three-channel stereo or system…, as well as with other multichannel audio formats.
5) Fantasound was the first sound reproduction system, which stored three… (3.1) and a control track on the film itself.
6) The sound in Fantasound was playbacked through five channels: three front speakers and two…
7) This speaker configuration in Fantasound, sans subwoofer, became the prototype of the…
8) Besides, the same group of Disney engineers created multitrack recording, panning and…!
9) Further development of surround sound technologies in entertainment was curtailed by…
10) Multichannel audio was utilized by the… for identifying the source of the sound.
Text 2. Part 2. The 1950—1980s
PRE-READING
1. What do you know about the following things:
– the arrival of the television;
– gimmicks used to make film watching more entertaining;
– home «hi-fi» arrangements
2. Look at the statement: «In the 1950s, the rise of the television became a real threat to the cinema.» Why do you think it happened? Work in groups of three or four and discuss your ideas. Report them to the class.