History: (Evaluation at the bottom)
The 1970s was a progressive period for music whereby the emergence of new artists and genres had catapulted the diversity of the music scene permanently. The domination of rock 'n' roll, blues and R&B came to be replaced gradually with a spectrum of alternating genres such as disco, funk and soul with the psychedelic movement of the 60s encapturing a new sound - such as of Pink Floyd. For rock itself, this was a progressive movement into diversity and creativity whereby sub-genres started to be founded into what we know as glam rock, progressive rock, hard rock, punk and the origin of metal - derivative of the sound acclaimed by Black Sabbath.
Historically the 1970s was not only a time of progression for the diversity in music itself and it's creation but also it's commercial success in how it had been presented to general audiences - during this time, the record store had been the dominant way to purchase music in the forms of albums and casettes - which soared in popularity as a result of the development of compact disc players.
This decade still has roots today as a result of it's impact on founding many genres and sub-genres as mentioned, including the birth of hip-hop before it's 'golden age' soon to come in the following decade - the profound influence of this decade accounting for many forms of music we may hear still today.
The creation of disco at the time had founded many cultural and social applications in breaking down discrimination in the form of community and dance with many of the general audiences becoming popular with African-Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, gay Americans - being seen as a reaction of the counterculture of the 60s with the dominance of rock music and stigmatisation of dance at the time. Catapulting the genre forward and soon to be - respresentative of the 70s itself, with an emphasis on glamourous clothing with suits and dresses, suede and sequins, a flashing representaion on the dance floor of this bold culture - a complete subversion to the previous decade of the 60s.
Artists: (The top 30 of the 1970s)
1: Elton John 11. Elvis Presley 21. Chicago
2: The Rolling Stones 12. The Beatles 22. The Who
3: Pink Floyd 13. Deep Purple 23. Donna Summer
4: Abba 14. Santana 24. Jethro Tull
5: Led Zeppelin 15. Eagles 25. Stevie Wonder
6: Bee Gees 16. Neil Diamond 26. James Taylor
7: Wings. 17. Neil Young 27. Fleetwood Mac
8: David Bowie 18. John Lennon 28. The Carpenters
9: Bob Dylan 19. Cat Stevens 29. Creedence Clearwater Revival
10: Rod Stewart 20. Queen 30. Boney M
Analysis, technologies and production.
(Compositional Techniques and song writing):
In rock - chords played were predominantly played on guitar - occasionally being accompanied with piano such as in Elton John's 'Rocket Man' during this time of musical progression there was an emerging variety in chord choices. For example Queen in oppposition to bands like Lynard Skynard, however the majority of bands shared their use of more abstract chords and modal borrowing, such as in 'Stairway to Heaven' whereby the intro is comprised of: Am, Am9(maj7) with this progression moving to Am7/G finally transitioning to a D over a F# chord.
During this decade following it's ascension into popularity from the late 60s, there was a movement in singer-songwriters whereby the material performed by artists had been their own material - such as Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Randy Newman, Simon and Garfunkel...
(Technological developments):
Technological advancements in solid-state electronics allowed for more affordable, practical analog circutry.
Tape material developed with further wider frequency response with lower noise.
Following the previous decades development of music technology, synthesisers and harmonisers led to more diversity in electronic music such as the creation of synthpop etc.
Dolby B allowed for the development of compression and expansion in order to reduce unwanted noise dramatically.
Furthermore Dolby B enabled the success of the cassette tape as a domestic playback, recording device.
(Production techniques):
The rise of disco as an emerging genre saw the rise of DJ's - aiding in promoting releases by playing them at events such as nightclubs.
'Looping' started to also emerge in popularity, used by bands such as Pink Floyd in experimental methods etc, before being developed fully in the genre of Disco.
Mix engineers became more substantial in the production of the final sound of music which typically was required during the decade.
Disco music's emergence featured compositions orchestrated by arranger, typically in experienced teams, being the 'production team', comprising of conductors, copyists, mix engineers, sound engineers, record producers.
Evaluation:
Overall, I would say that I had an invested learning experience with the 70s - I had learnt a significant amount of information about disco culture and had been interested in the process of production and recording technologies developing with different cultures of disco in the disco scene.
The 1970s for musicality - is a decade that I initally did not have a lot of experience with however enjoyed, just as a result of the sheer creativity in recording technologies and how regions of America had founded their own cultural influence on genres such as disco which created their own local scenes. Fundamentally the genre that I resonate most with from this decade is rock music - particularly with the development in guitar such as with the progression into virtuoso guitar players arising - early influencers such as Eddie Van Halen inspiring a future generation.
As a guitarist I was now fairly free in my choices and despite it being more sense to do a piece akin to the likes of Van Halen, I had chosen to do a funk piece - inspired by the likes of Funkadelic.