The modern age has blessed us with the ability to capture and play back sound. From the phonograph to MP3, we're forever improving audio technology in a quest to make music more accessible.

How will we listen to music in the future? If the past is any indication, the preferred format will be smaller, faster, and beyond our wildest dreams. Here is a brief history of audio formats past, and a peek into how we might listen to music in the 21st century.

The phonograph

In the early 19th century, it was all but impossible to imagine what great changes were in store for the world of audio. Although the first successful recording device was developed in 1855, it wasn't until Thomas Edison's phonograph (invented in 1877) and Emile Berliner's Gramophone (patented in 1887) that the phonograph started to come into its own.

By the beginning of the 20th century, recordings were being manufactured worldwide by companies like Gramophone for a growing market of home machines. Everyone, it seemed, was interested in the "talking machines." Advances came fast and furious for the phonograph by the middle of the 20th century. "Long players," or LPs, came along in 1947, spinning at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. They held more songs and rendered the faster-spinning 78 RPM discs obsolete. Along with 45s, which sparked an entire hit-making jukebox industry, LPs thrived until the late 1980s.

The proliferation of electricity and the jazz age both helped turn the phonograph into one of the most celebrated inventions of the modern era. That is, until radio came along.

Radio
It's hard to imagine a world without radio, but the technology has only been around since the 1920s. Radio was originally developed for military use during World War I, but the gramophone industry helped spur demand for recorded music delivered over the air. When the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) acquired the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929, the modern era of the music industry was born.

The 8-track
Few audio formats evoke more nostalgia than the doomed 8-track. Invented in the early 1960s by William Powell Lear, and heavily marketed and used in the '70s, the 8-track was the premier portable audio format for almost 15 years.

The 8-track was notorious for bad sound quality due to slight misalignments between the tape and tapeheads, causing bleeds or "shadows" of other musical tracks on the tape. The typical 8-track contained about 40 minutes of music.

The cassette tape
The cassette as we know it didn't come into the average home until the late 1970s. However, magnetic tape recording got its start in music studios around 1950. Musicians could record in longer sessions, and seamless splice editing allowed artists and producers to select and combine the best cuts into polished songs. The allure of magnetic tape as a recording medium blossomed.

Cassettes outlasted 8-tracks because they were more compact and sounded better, thanks to the efforts of Dolby Laboratories. The debut of Sony's Walkman in 1979 was the final nail in the 8-track's coffin; cassette tape sales soared into the '80s.

The compact disc
Developed by Philips and Sony in Japan, the audio CD as we know it came out in 1982. The CD was highly touted and slow to catch on. However, the sound quality and portability of CDs outweighed the cost for most consumers, and the CD was the medium of choice by the end of the '80s. Made from a polycarbonate substance, the CD became the cornerstone of the digital music revolution.

Digital audio tapes (DAT) Introduced in 1987 for the studio market, digital audio tapes quickly became de rigueur in professional recording industry circles. Although DATs never fully caught on in the consumer market because of the high cost of DAT players, they remain a mainstay of the pro-audio world because of their low price and enhanced digital storage capabilities. Another factor helped keep DATs from catching on with consumers: A tax was added to each tape sold, earmarked to compensate music companies for songs that could be pirated. Most DAT users today use computer-grade DAT tape to circumvent the tax.

MiniDisc
Marketed exclusively by Sony, MiniDiscs have captured a small, but devoted, segment of the consumer market since 1998. Fans of the MiniDisc swear by its size, recording ability, and durability. Although very popular abroad, the MiniDisc has never taken off in the United States.

MP3
Invented in 1989 in Erlangen, Germany, MP3 has quickly come to symbolize a paradigm shift in the way many people access their music. The home computer revolution, along with the Internet, has allowed millions of Net-connected music fans to take advantage of the latest audio medium.

Short for Moving Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer III, MP3 is a compression format that shrinks digital audio files with negligible sound-quality degradation. In 1997, the format truly realized its potential, thanks to a man named Tomislav Uzelac, who created the AMP MP3 playback engine. The first MP3 player was invented just in time for the Napster revolution in the form of 1998's Winamp -- widely regarded as the first free, consumer-ready MP3 player.

AAC
AAC is a new audio compression technology, Advanced Audio Coding. This new standard, developed by Dolby, the Fraunhofer Institute, and others, may become the major ingredient in 21st century digital music distribution. The AAC codec was formally introduced to the world at the Consumer Electronics Show 2001, along with dozens of new digital audio players able to play AAC files. Currently, companies such as Liquid Audio distribute audio using AAC. Promising smaller file sizes and better sound quality than the aging MP3 format, AAC also features built-in copyright protection.

The 21st century and beyond
If the past is any indication of how you will listen to music in 20 years, expect the unexpected. Rapid advances in chip technology could bring a Bluetooth-type chip into the audio world. We could all be "pierced" with microchips instead of earrings. Those chips may enable you to walk into a music "station" and call out the name of the song you want to hear, only to have it start to play right into your inner ear. The future of music no doubt involves convenience, and some form of the celestial jukebox. Access to every song ever recorded will be at your fingertips -- or more likely your vocal chords, as voice-recognition technology will likely become seamlessly integrated into our music-selection process.

No matter what the future brings, you can bet the major labels and consumer electronics companies will be there, trying to make a buck.

Below is an assortment of specially constructed music designed and arranged by CDE. You can click on the title link and be taken into the center of the sound arrangement. This is just a sample. You can, however, have your own arrangement produced by our audio designer at your request

There is also included some brief information about the history of the music clip you are listening to.

This sample link includes today’s latest artists performing in it like: Sean Paul, Shaggy, Buju Banton, Wayne Wonder, Elephant Man and Beenie Man

This style of music is a contemporary form of the traditional form of reggae, known as rockers. the roots of this type of music originate in Jamaica, but its rhythm excites those beyond the border of the United States.

One man brought fruition to this music thru his message, his name was Bob Marley. Bob Marley and the Wailers Opened the door for younger artists of today. These artists over the course of the years were able to benefit from his style, and ultimately, translate it into their own style of music. Bob Marley is known as the greatest King of Reggae who ever lived.

In the early 80’s, a special music known by the name of rap, which is now known as Hip-Hop came on the music scene and developed artists like these: 50 Cents, Boneczusagr, Snoop Dog, R-Kelly, Chingy and Nappy Roots.

Rap in the early days was synonymous with break dancing, boom boxes, kangos and gold chains; the attire of a rapper.

The industry has Hip-Hop artists with hardcore and gangster styles. But actually Hip Hop blends the world of rap with the flavor of R&B. This blend was coordinated by DJ’s.

Hip hop is kept alive, for the most part, by great DJ’ turntable masters like Clue, Kid Kipree and Funk Master Flex.

Some of the dj’s and artists you hear from the dance/ club circuit in this mix are: C&C Music Factory, QuadCity DJ's, Out Here Brothers, House of Gypsies, Lina Santiago and Dave Mo rales.

Dance halls and clubs around the world play various types of music but club, techno and dance are favorites because of the beat that sends energy surging into the atmosphere. The pounding forces you to get up and move your body; heart pounding bass, with flashing lights and energetic atmosphere that engulfs you and catapults you into a world of sonic destruction and killer effects of unimaginable sound and visual proportion.

Some spiritual singers have impacted our community with inspirational gospel music like: Hezekiah Walker, T. D. Jakes, Stephanie Mills, G. M. W. A. Gospel Announcers Guild, 2002 WOW Gospel and various other spiritually inspired artists.

They inspire you musically through God centered lyrics that comfort the soul, using Biblical phrases describing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the Christian savior for humanity. This music blend can easily be considered a spiritual encounter.

Soul Classics takes one on a trip back in time to the middle 60's to early 70’s with artists like: Kool & the Gang, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Are the Franklin, George McCrae, Ohio Players, Rufus. Artists like these and more add what one would call, "feelings," to their songs. Soul Music is the product of our ever evolving social conditions and diversity expressed through musical influences.

Soca Music, which is Today’s Caribbean style of music, has a tempo that can be considered a blend between dance and house. It is more commercialized today than 20 years ago, though. These artists are known to stimulate a person's musical interest. Artists like: David Rudder & Carl Jacobs, Bobo & Bunji Garlin, Blue Ventures ft/ Sanell Dempter, Rupee, Invasion Band ft/ Naya George. Calypso. Soca is one of the many musical forms that resulted from the collision of African and European cultures in America. .

Jazz is the relaxed, layed back style of music. Some of the many artists are: George Benson, Fourplay, J. Spencer, Grover Washington, and Paul Hardcastle. Jazz is the musical form that originated in America and influenced musical development throughout the world. This music created by obscure black musicians in the late 19th century, at first was a synthesis of Western harmonic language. Combined with the rhythms and melodic inflections of African music. Using the popular tunes of the day, black musicians created variations of them through improvisation. This music was performed by variations on a melody line and syncopation, placing accent on the normally weak beat of a measure. This was a musical intonation that was considered "out of tune" to European classical music.