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Kichisaburō Nomura

Kichisaburō Nomura (野村 吉三郎) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and was the ambassador to the United States at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Early life and career
Nomura was born in Wakayama city, Wakayama Prefecture. He graduated from the 26th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1898, with a ranking of 2nd out of a class of 57 cadets. As a midshipman, he served on the corvette Hiei and battleship Yashima. He was promoted to ensign on January 12, 1900, and to sub-lieutenant on October 1, 1901. As a crewman, he made a voyage to the United States on the battleship Mikasa from 1901 to 1902.

Promoted to lieutenant on September 26, 1903, he served on a large number of ships, including the gunboat Maya, corvette Kongō, and cruiser Tokiwa. He served as chief navigator on the cruiser Saien (1904) and cruiser Takachiho during the Russo-Japanese War. After the war, he was chief navigator on the cruisers Hashidate and Chitose. In March 1908, he was sent as naval attaché to Austria. He was promoted to lieutenant commander on September 25, 1908, and became naval attaché to Germany in 1910. He returned to Japan in May 1911 and became executive officer on the cruiser Otowa in September 1911. In June 1912, he was assigned a number of staff roles and was promoted to commander on December 1, 1913.

During World War I, from 11 December 1914 until 1 June 1918, Nomura was naval attaché to the United States. While in the United States, he was promoted to captain on April 1, 1917.

On Nomura's return to Japan, he received his first command, the cruiser Yakumo. However, only a month later, he was reassigned to the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, joining Japan's delegation to the Versailles Peace Treaty Conference. Following the conclusion of negotiations, he returned to Washington, DC, to participate in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922.

Admiral

On June 1, 1922, Nomura was promoted to rear admiral. He served as chief of the 3rd section of the Navy General Staff, followed by Commander of the 1st Expeditionary Fleet, Director of the Education Bureau, and Vice Chief of the Navy General Staff. He was promoted to vice admiral on December 1, 1926. On June 11, 1930, Nomura became Commander in Chief of the Kure Naval District. He was Commander in Chief of the Yokosuka Naval District in December 1930.

During the First Shanghai Incident in 1932, Nomura was commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy Third Fleet, supporting the Army, which was under the command of Admiral Yoshinori Shirakawa.

A few months later in April 1932, a Korean independence activist named Yun Bong-gil threw a bomb at Japanese dignitaries including Nomura while they were attending a celebration of Emperor Hirohito's birthday at Shanghai's Hongkou Park. Shirakawa was seriously wounded in the attack and died of his injuries the following month. Shigemitsu, the Ambassador to China, lost his right leg, and Nomura was blinded in one eye.

Nomura was promoted to full admiral on March 1, 1933. From 1933 to 1937, Nomura served as Naval Councilor on the Supreme War Council, and retired from active service in 1937.

Diplomat
After his retirement, Nomura was principal of the Gakushūin Peer's school from 1937 to 1939. He was appointed Foreign Minister of Japan from 1939 to 1940 in the cabinet of Nobuyuki Abe.

On November 27, 1940, Nomura was sent as ambassador to the United States, replacing Kensuke Horinouchi, who had served since March 1939. Roosevelt, who as Assistant Secretary of the Navy knew Nomura back in his Washington DC years, welcomed the appointment of the fellow Navy man whom he liked as an honest man. Throughout much of 1941, Nomura negotiated with United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull to prevent the war between Japan and the United States. Nomura attempted to resolve issues including the Japanese conflict with China, the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, and the US oil embargo against Japan. Nomura's repeated pleas to his superiors to offer the Americans meaningful concessions were rejected by his government, while Hull and his boss Roosevelt were far from yielding themselves. On November 15, 1941, Nomura was joined by a "special envoy" to Washington, Saburō Kurusu.

The retired Admiral, and in fact the entire Japanese Foreign Office, was kept in the dark as to the Japanese Navy's impending attack upon Pearl Harbor. Nomura and Kurusu had to decode the radioed message of Japan's breaking off of the negotiations with the United States, which practically meant war. It was sent from Japan on Monday, December 8, Japan time, and received while the Washington embassy's technical support staff were still on their Sunday off. Nomura stated that was why he was unable to deliver the message until after the actual attack had taken place.

In his memoirs, Hull credited Nomura for trying sincerely to prevent the war. While the Japanese Consulate struggled to decipher their own code, Washington had broken it and Hull knew how Nomura was being used by Tokyo as a convenient time-buying ploy. All in vain, but Nomura, who understood America and respected it, always hoped for the breakthrough for peace and believed it was possible.

Later life
On August 20, 1942, Nomura returned to Japan. He continued to serve in an unofficial capacity as an advisor to the government through World War II, and he was appointed to the Privy Council in May 1945.

After the war, the well-connected and well-liked Nomura started new careers. He was frequently visited and supported by the members of American Council on Japan including the former US Ambassador to Tokyo, Joseph Grew, who were convinced that their amiable old friend still had an important role to play in newly democratic Japan and the new US-Japan relationship. He was invited by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, close ally of GHQ, the US Forces in Japan, and of the American Council, to serve as a committee member studying the rearmament of Japan during the Cold War.

In 1954, Nomura ran for the House of Councillors (upper house) and was elected by a landslide. He was also recruited by Konosuke Matsushita, a fellow Wakayama city native and the founder of Panasonic, as a general manager for JVC, Victor Company of Japan, which was owned by Matsushita and Nomura quickly reestablished its former tie with RCA in US. In the late 1950s, he was considered to be a strong candidate to head the Defense Agency by two prime ministers, Ichirō Hatoyama and Nobusuke Kishi, however he declined both offers and expressed his belief in civilian control of armed forces. Nomura had been a civilian for nearly two decades by that time, but was still regarded by many as a retired admiral of the old Imperial Japanese Navy.

Nomura was re-elected to the upper house in 1960 and died in office in 1964.

Honors
From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun – 7 February 1934
 * Order of the Golden Kite, Second Class – 29 April 1934
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure – 13 July 1940
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers – 8 May 1964 (posthumous)
 * Navy Distinguished Service Medal – 1918 (United States)

Books

title: Kichisaburō Nomura


text:
Standesamt Podanin

Standesamt Podanin was a civil registration district (Standesamt) located in Kreis Kolmar, province of Posen of the German Empire (1871–1918) and administered the communities of:

Bud = Budsin; Kol = Kolmar; Pod = Podanin F = forester; OF = head forester Accuracy of population data is suspect.

Plomintunus

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Standesamt Podanin


text:
Mœnia

Mœnia is a Mexican electronic/synthpop/ambient group. Popular within the Latin club scene while simultaneously pioneering a darker, more experimental, more poetic side of Spanish-language electronica, Mœnia has had three top-20 hits. Mœnia is often considered one of the first successful experimental Mexican music composers and performers, finding commercial viability in a market normally dominated by Latin ballad crooners, teenage vocal groups and musical styles with more mass appeal like cumbia, reggaeton and ranchera. Mœnia is also popular in other parts of Latin America, including the Argentinian and Chilean music markets, where they have also charted. Some of their most recognized singles include "Estabas Ahí", "No Dices Más" and "Manto Estelar".

Early years (1985–1990)
The group's formation dates back to 1985 while attending junior high school. The project began when sophomore year student Juan Carlos Lozano along with Alfonso Pichardo and Jorge Soto shared various musical tastes such as punk and New wave. At the same time in this era Spanish language rock music was also having a tremendous impact on Latin American listeners. Their musical influences include New Order, Erasure, OMD, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Sisters of Mercy among others. Later on in their high school years the trio would compete in school organized music recitals, played live sets in small nightclubs and even recorded a few demos. It was during this time when the three had a very clear vision of what they intended to do in the music scene. The band's first moniker was that of ' 5mentarios ', its line up originally consisted of Alfonso Pichardo as lead vocalist, Juan Carlos Lozano as lead guitarist, Jorge Soto on keyboards, Abraham Rodríguez on synthesizers and Carlos Mercado on drums. Rodríguez abandoned 5mentarios in mid 1990.

Setbacks and later success, Mœnia (1991–1998)
In 1991, the group scored a contract with PolyGram and recorded a self-titled 'debut' the following year. With very few copies released, the album included an early but darker sounding version of "Color melancolía" (which was re-recorded in the 1996 edition), however it did not meet significant expectation and was immediately deemed a commercial failure. The failed album is considered by many longtime fans as a precursor in how it would characterize Moenia's sound in the years that followed.

After that album's failed attempt, In 1993 Pichardo steps down from the band as he decided to complete his master's degree in the United States, the situation forced Lozano to take over as vocalist.

Alejandro Ortega (Alex Midi), a self-taught musician on guitar and synthesizers who was also a DJ at several nightclubs in the early 1990s joins the band in 1994.

By 1996, the band is signed to Universal Music to record their official debut Mœnia, the debut album featured hits like "No puedo estar sin ti" and "Estabas ahí" (becoming club scene hymns) followed by a remix compilation album Mœnia Mixes. Much of the lyrical content in Moenia's 1996 debut were composed by Pichardo and yet were vocalized by Lozano. A similar situation happens with Adición+ (1999) when much of its lyrical content was composed by Lozano and later vocalized by Pichardo upon his return to Moenia.

Post Lozano era – Adición+, Le Modulor, Televisor (1998–2003)
Juan Carlos exits Moenia in late 1998 after an extensive tour and moved on to form the still electronically oriented but more guitar-centered Morbo, despite the acclaimed success of 1996's Mœnia and its subsequent album of remixes (a risky and previously unheard of novelty in the Mexican music industry), Pichardo returned with the remaining two of his former bandmates to complete Mœnia's line-up, which has remained unchanged since 1999. Moenia's second album Adición+ featured hits like "No Dices Más" and "Regreso a Casa". Their third album Le Modulor (2001), featured tracks like "Molde Perfecto" but Le Modulor did not have the same impact on listeners like the two previous albums did. 2003 saw the release of their third album Televisor, which featured the smash singles "¿En qué momento?" and "Tú sabes lo que quiero". The music video for "Tú sabes lo que quiero" stirred controversy at the time due to its racy sexualized themes, causing several music video networks to stop airing the piece.

Stereo Hits, HitsLive (2004–2005)
Stereo Hits is by far Mœnia's highest-selling album to date. It is a series of successful 1980s and 1990s Latin pop/rock and ballad hit covers such as "En Algún Lugar" by Duncan Dhu, "Tren Al Sur" by Los Prisioneros, "Beber de Tu Sangre" by Los Amantes de Lola, "Mátenme Porque Me Muero" by Caifanes and "Ni Tú Ni Nadie" by Alaska y Dinarama. The album was originally intended to serve as a stopgap to keep fans happy while the group worked on their next album, but became so popular that it was soon followed by a tour, which in turn was followed by a live album of its own in 2005, HitsLive. HitsLive was recorded live in Mexico City's National Auditorium. This compilation features Moenia's early hits up to the Stereo Hits era.

Solar (2006–2007)
In 2006 Mœnia released a new album, named Solar, which follows a more 1980s electropop style, including more electric guitar sounds. Also includes a duet with Denisse Guerrero (of Belanova) called "Me Equivoque".

En Electrico (2009)
Pichardo had started a solo project entitled Equivocal, with the first single "Dar la Vuelta". In November 2009 a compilation album entitled En Electrico was released. Produced by Armando Avila, featuring notable guests such as Paco Huidobro (Fobia), María José and former fellow frontman/vocalist Juan Carlos Lozano.

FM (2012)
30 October 2012 saw the release of their seventh studio album FM, with their first single "Morir Tres Veces" (Die Thrice). An FM APP was released in December which featured the song "Eso Que Pasó" (That Which Happened). Two other singles from FM include "Mejor Ya No" (Better Not) and "Soy Lo Peor" (I'm The Worst).

Fantom (2016)
Released on 23 September 2016, Moenia presents new tracks under producer Armando Ávila. At first many listeners thought the album would be a series of either mashups, covers or samplings, as for the album title itself according to keyboardist Alex Midi, the concept consisted in the combination of original written compositions along with interpolated works of other artists' songs hence the term Fantom was stapled to that of what they consider 'ghostly apparitions' of one song within another. In the summer of 2015 the single "Jamás! " was the first to be released and found favorable reviews amongst music critics and other media. The track contains interpolated lyrics of Timbiriche's 1987 hit "No seas tan cruel". Other singles such as "Me Liberé" and "Prohibido besar" (which features Playa Limbo vocalist María León) would follow that pattern respectively.

Stereo Hits 2 (2023)
Released on May 4, 2023, Moenia return with a second Stereo Hits compilation album of cover tracks. This album once again features memorable 1980s and 1990s hits such as: "Llámame si me necesitas" (Miguel Mateos / ZAS, 1986), "La célula que explota" (Caifanes, 1990), "El diablo en el cuerpo" (Size, 1984), "A un minuto de ti" (Mikel Erentxun, 1992), "Maldito duende" (Héroes del Silencio, 1990) among others.

Members

 * Alfonso Pichardo – Vocal & Keyboardist (Co-Founder / 1985–1993 & 1998 – present day)
 * Jorge Soto – Keyboards & Guitar (Co-Founder / 1985–present day)
 * Alejandro "Alex Midi" Ortega – Synth & programming (1994–present day)

Former members
 * Juan Carlos Lozano – Lead guitarist, vocalist (Co-Founder / 1985–1995) & singer (1995–1998)
 * Abraham Rodríguez – Synth & programming (1986–1990)
 * Carlos Mercado – Drums (1985–93)

Discography

 * Mœnia – Disco Perdido, 1992 (Debut LP, out of print)
 * Mœnia, 1996
 * Adición+, 1999
 * Le Modulor, 2001 (Out of print and only available as a digital download)
 * Televisor, 2003
 * Stereo Hits, 2004
 * Solar, 2006
 * FM, 2012
 * Fantom, 2016
 * Stereo Hits Vol. 2, 2023

Compilations

 * Mœnia Mixes, 1998
 * Éxitos, 2001
 * Hits Live, 2005
 * En Electrico, 2009

Singles
Mœnia (1996)

 * No puedo estar sin ti
 * Déjame entrar
 * Color melancolía (Re-recorded from their 1992 debut LP)
 * Estabas ahí
 * No importa que el sol se muera

Adicion + (1999)

 * Manto estelar
 * No dices más
 * Regreso a casa

Le Modulor (2001)

 * Molde perfecto
 * Llegaste a mí
 * Como ves tú

Televisor (2003)
 * ¿En qué momento?
 * Tú sabes lo que quiero
 * Espirales

Stereo Hits (2004)

 * Ni tú ni nadie (featuring sample of "Rock and Roll Part 2" (1972) by Gary Glitter)
 * Juegos de Amor

Hits Live (2005)

 * No dices más (Live)

Solar (2006)

 * Lo que tú digas
 * Sufre conmigo
 * Me equivoqué (ft Denisse Guerrero)

En Electrico (2010)

 * Contigo Estare (ft. Juan Carlos Lozano)
 * No Importa que el sol se muera (ft. Maria Jose)
 * En ti

FM (2012)
 * Morir Tres Veces
 * Eso Que Pasó
 * Mejor Ya No
 * Soy Lo Peor

Fantom (2016)
 * Jamás !
 * Prohibido besar (feat. María León)
 * Me Liberé
 * Todo mal

#Hagamoscontactoœ (2018-2020)

(2018) B-side: Hibridos
 * Clásico

(2019) B-side: Una Hora Mas B-side: Otra Oportunidad
 * Sin Etiquetas
 * Summer Drive

(2020) B-sides: Extraño
 * Solo Lastimaste (feat. Della Ciprian)
 * Labios Rojos

Stereo Hits 2 (2023)
 * El diablo en el cuerpo
 * Maldito duende
 * Llámame, si me necesitas
 * Fotonovela

Notes
 * "Jamás!" contains interpolation of Timbiriche's "No seas tan cruel".
 * "Prohibido besar" contains interpolation of Cetu Javu's "A Dónde".
 * "Me Liberé" contains interpolation of the Aleks Syntek hit "Lindas criaturitas".
 * "Todo mal" contains interpolation of Héroes del Silencio's "La Chispa Adecuada (Bendecida III)".

title: Mœnia


text:
Digital recording

In digital recording, an audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is saved to a storage device. To play back a digital recording, the numbers are retrieved and converted back into their original analog audio or video forms so that they can be heard or seen.

In a properly matched analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) pair, the analog signal is accurately reconstructed, within the constraints of the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem, which dictates the sampling rate and quantization error dependent on the audio or video bit depth. Because the signal is stored digitally, assuming proper error detection and correction, the recording is not degraded by copying, storage or interference.

Timeline

 * October 3, 1938: British telephone engineer Alec Harley Reeves files at the French Patent Office the first patent describing the technique known today as pulse-code modulation (PCM). On November 22, 1939, Reeves files also in the US. It was first proposed as a telephony technology.
 * 1943: Bell Telephone Laboratories develops the first PCM-based digital scrambled speech transmission system, SIGSALY, in response to German interception of military telephone traffic during World War II. The twelve transmission points were retired after the war.
 * June 1950: Differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM) developed by C. Chapin Cutler at Bell Labs.
 * 1957: Max Mathews of Bell Labs recorded the first computer-generated music, a 17-second piece called "The Silver Scale" composed by his co-worker Newman Guttman.
 * 1967: The first commercial PCM encoder (monaural) was developed by NHK's research facilities in Japan. The 30 kHz 12-bit device used a compander (similar to DBX Noise Reduction) to extend the dynamic range, and stored the signals on a video tape recorder.
 * 1969: NHK expands the PCM encoder's capabilities to two-channel stereo and 32 kHz 13-bit resolution.
 * 1969: The charge-coupled device, the first image sensor used in digital imaging, invented by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith at Bell Labs, based on MOS capacitor technology.
 * 1970: James Russell patents the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system, which would later lead to the Compact Disc.
 * January 1971: Using NHK's experimental PCM recording system, Dr. Takeaki Anazawa, an engineer at Denon, records the world's first commercial digital recordings, The World Of Stomu Yamash'ta 1 & 2 by Stomu Yamash'ta (January 11, 1971) and Something by Steve Marcus & Jiro Inagaki (January 25, 1971). Both had to be recorded live, without edits.  Marcus is released first (on LP, in February 1972), making it the first released digital recording.  On January 27 Yamash'ta records Metempsychosis in the Nippon Columbia studio, Tokyo, with percussion and a brass section.
 * 1972: Using lessons learned from the NHK encoder, Denon unveils a desk-sized 8-channel PCM encoder, the DN-023R, which uses 47.25 kHz 13-bit PCM resolution and 4-head open reel broadcast video tape recorder. The first recording with this new system is the Smetana Quartet performing Mozart's String Quartets K.458 and K.421, recorded in Tokyo April 24–26 and released that October. At least six other Denon-recorded digital LP records are released in October, including jazz, classical and traditional Japanese music.
 * 1973: Adaptive differential pulse-code modulation (ADPCM) developed by P. Cummiskey, Nikil Jayant and James L. Flanagan at Bell Labs.
 * December 2–3, 1974: The Paillard Chamber Orchestra records the first digital recording outside Japan, in Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, using Denon's newly developed second-generation compact DN-023RA. Bach's "The Musical Offering" (BWV 1079) is released on LP May 1975.
 * December 12–19, 1974: Helmuth Rilling records three Bach organ works inside the Gedächtniskirche, Stuttgart Germany using the DN-023RA. Between 1974 and 1977 over 250 PCM recordings are made by Denon, the majority recorded in Japan.
 * May 1975: University of Utah professor Thomas Stockham develops a PCM digital audio recorder of his own design, using computer tape drives as the storage system. He founds the company Soundstream to offer it commercially. Between 1977 and 1980 a total of eighteen 4-channel 50 kHz 16-bit units were manufactured, of which seven were sold at about US$150,000  each. Over 200 recordings were made on his equipment, almost as many as the Denon PCM.
 * 1976: The prototype Soundstream 37.5 kHz, 16-bit, 2-channel recorder is used to record the Santa Fe Opera performing Virgil Thomson's opera The Mother of Us All for New World Records, making it the first US digital recording. However, the digital recorder is just a backup to the main analog multi-track recorder, and the analog recording is deemed superior and thus used for the LP release. The backup digital tape was presented at the October 1976 AES Convention in New York, but never commercially released.
 * January 1977: Denon develops a smaller fully-portable PCM recording system, the DN-034R. Like the DN-023R and DN-023RA it records 8 channels at 47.25 kHz on a 2-inch video tape recorder (VTR) running at 38.1 cm/s, but it uses 14-bits "with emphasis, making it equivalent to 15.5 bits," yielding 89 dB signal-to-noise ratio. It also allowed for overdubbing for the first time with the use of a second VTR, crucial for professional recording.
 * September 1977: Sony introduces the PCM-1 Audio Unit ($4400 street price ) (44.056 kHz, 14-bit), the first consumer PCM encoder. It required the use of a home video tape recorder for storage.
 * November 4–7, 1977: 3M demonstrates a prototype 2-channel 50.4 kHz 16-bit digital recorder running on 1-inch tape at $45 ips$ at the New York AES Convention. As no true 16-bit converters were available, it combined separate 12-bit and 8-bit converters to create 16-bit performance.
 * November 28, 1977: Denon brings their DN-034R to New York City's Sound Ideas Studios and records Archie Shepp's On Green Dolphin Street, making it America's first digitally-recorded commercial album. The following two days, November 29–30, Frank Foster records Manhattan Fever which is released April 1978.  Five other jazz albums are recorded with the DN-034R in New York before it returns to Japan in December.
 * February 1978: Soundstream's first commercial release, Diahann Carroll With the Duke Ellington Orchestra Under The Direction Of Mercer Ellington – A Tribute To Ethel Waters, is recorded.
 * March 1978: Sony introduces the professional-grade PCM-1600 at a list price of US$40,000 used with an external U-matic tape drive, making digital recording commercially available to recording studios for the first time.  PCM-1610 and PCM-1630 follow.
 * April 4–5, 1978: Telarc uses Soundstream's PCM system to record Frederick Fennell and his Eastman Wind Ensemble playing Gustav Holst's Suites for Military Band and George Frideric Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. When released on LP this became the first US-recorded digital classical release.
 * June 2, 1978: Sound 80 studios in Minneapolis records the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra performing Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring. This session is set up as a direct-to-disc recording, with the prototype 3M 50.4 kHz digital recorder running in the background.  There is some disagreement, but it appears the resulting LP record (Sound80 Records S80-DLR-101) was taken from the digital backup tapes rather than the direct-to-disc acetate.  In 1984 the session is re-released on Compact Disc by ProArte.  This recording was nominated for three Grammy Awards, winning "Best Chamber Music Performance" (1980), making it the first digital recording to win a Grammy.
 * Early June 1978: Sound 80 records Flim and the BB's debut self-titled album as another direct to disc recording again with the experimental 3M recorder in the background. Again the acetate is deemed not as good as the digital backup, so the digital master is used for the LP record (Sound80 Records S80-DLR-102). This makes it the first U.S. non-classical digital release. Within 6 months the hand-built ("very bulky and finicky") 3M digital recorder is disassembled, rendering the non-standard master tape unplayable.  Therefore, no Compact Disc release is possible.  The compact disc release of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, which used the same machine, is unexplained.
 * March 8, 1979: The first prototype Compact Disc player is demonstrated by Philips in Eindhoven, Netherlands.  Prototype CDs played on the unit were a pressing of Antonio Vivaldi's Le quattro stagioni played by Vittorio Negri and the Kammerorchester Berlin (Philips 9500 100, recorded analog 1976), and Joseph Haydn's String Quartet No. 31(?).  A third prototype disc, on Archiv Produktion is pictured but the details are not legible.  The text indicates it might be Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic's recording of Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie is also mentioned as a contender for earliest test pressing of a CD, but it was not recorded until December 1–3, 1980.
 * July 11, 1979: The first U.S.-recorded digitally-recorded LP of popular music (with vocals), Bop Till You Drop by guitarist Ry Cooder, was released by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on a 32-track digital machine built by the 3M corporation.
 * August 27, 1979: Giorgio Moroder's E=MC² is released, the first electronic live-to-digital LP recorded on Soundstream PCM.
 * September 4, 1979: Scoring begins for Star Trek The Motion Picture soundtrack, recorded to multitrack analog, mastered to digital stereo tape for LP release to coincide with film debut December 6, 1979.
 * October 12, 1979: Fleetwood Mac's Tusk is released on LP. It, and Live, December 8, 1980, were mastered on the Soundstream PCM from analog multi-tracks.
 * October 30, 1979: Stevie Wonder releases his soundtrack album, Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" recorded onto U-matic video tapes using a Sony PCM-1600 digital adapter, and assembled into album form with a digital editing controller.
 * December 1, 1979: The Grammy Award-winning self-titled Christopher Cross album is released. Cross' album becomes the first digitally recorded album to chart (recorded on the 3M system) in the United States, eventually winning 5 Grammys. Digital recording is now mainstream.
 * 1980: The Red Book standard (44.1 kHz, 16-bit) is established for Compact Disc Digital Audio.
 * 1980: Mitsubishi Electric introduces the X-80 ProDigi open reel 1/4" tape $15 ips$ 50.4 kHz 16-bit digital recorder ($5000 ). Only 200 are sold worldwide.
 * 1980: Soundstream merges with Digital Recording Corporation, becoming DRC/Soundstream, to develop and market 50 kHz PCM recording to an optical card. This is subsequently eclipsed by the rise of the 44.1 kHz Compact Disc and the company is out of business after 1983.
 * 1981: Sony releases the PCM-F1 Digital Audio Processor ($1900 ) (44.056 kHz, 16-bit) and matching SL-2000 Betamax VCR ($700 ) as a complete affordable portable (with optional batteries) home digital recording system
 * 1981: Technics releases the SV-P100 digital audio recorder suitable for both professional (digital mastering) and consumer (home use) recording. It used PCM 14-bit recording on a VHS format cassette tape, resulting in an up to 3 hours programme of 2-channel stereo recording.
 * 1982: Sony releases the PCM-501ES PCM adaptor (44.1 kHz, 16-bit) ($895 list price) which is used with an external VHS or Betamax video recorder.
 * August 17, 1982: Claudio Arrau's March 1979 analog recording of Frederic Chopin waltzes (Philips 400 025) becomes the first classical Compact Disc ever commercially manufactured. It is made by the Philips plant in Langenhagen, Hanover Region Germany. Arrau himself was invited to press the button to start the manufacture.  This CD was not actually released until 1983 so it presumably ran into manufacturing problems like the ABBA release (below).
 * August 17, 1982: The first popular Compact Disc ever manufactured, ABBA's 1981 album The Visitors (selected because it was "mostly digitally recorded") is produced at the same plant. However, due to production problems with it the third version didn't actually hit stores until March 1983.
 * September 5, 1982: Peter Gabriel releases his fourth studio album (titled Security in North America and Peter Gabriel IV elsewhere). When released on CD in October 1984 it becomes the first full-digital DDD release. It was recorded on Sony's Mobile One digital studio and mixed to a Sony PCM-1610.
 * October 1, 1982: The first compact disc players are marketed by Sony (CDP-101, $900 ) and Philips (CD-100, $700 ).
 * October 1, 1982: Billy Joel's analog-recorded 52nd Street becomes the first CD to hit the market in Japan, beating out ABBA's The Visitors and Claudio Arrau's Chopin Waltzes. Forty-nine other CDs are released in Japan on the same day including Toto's Turn Back, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here and Michael Jackson's Off the Wall.
 * October 1982: New England Digital offers the Sample-to-Disk hard disk recorder option on the Synclavier, the first commercial hard disk recording system.
 * November 26–28, 1982: Flim & the BB's record their second studio album, Tricycle. Released in early 1983, it becomes the first non-classical fully digital CD to be released. (Later given a SPARS code of DD).
 * March 2, 1983: CD players and 16 CDs from CBS Records are introduced in the United States.
 * September 1984: Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. becomes the first US-manufactured CD to be released.
 * 12 November 1984: American singer Madonna's second studio album Like a Virgin is released. It became the first digitally-recorded album that topped the Billboard 200 chart.
 * 13 May 1985: English rock band Dire Straits' fifth studio album Brothers in Arms is released. It became the best-selling digitally-recorded album of the 80s, and the first album whose CDs' sales outsold LPs'.
 * 1987: Sony develops Digital Audio Tape.
 * 1989: Test broadcasts for NICAM stereo digital audio for broadcast TV began in the UK.
 * 1990: Digital radio begins in Canada, using the L-Band.
 * 1991: Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) is a tape format used for simultaneously recording eight tracks of digital audio at once, onto Super VHS magnetic tape – a format similar to that used by consumer VCRs. The product was announced in January 1991 at the NAMM Show. The first ADAT recorders shipped over a year later in February or March 1992.
 * 1993: Random Access Digital Audio Recorder (RADAR) is the first single box device used for simultaneously recording 24 tracks of digital audio at once, onto hard disk drives. The product, manufactured by Creation Technologies was announced in October 1993 at the AES convention in New York. The first RADAR recorders shipped in August 1994.
 * 1996: Optical discs and DVD players begin selling in Japan.
 * 1999: Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca" becomes the first No. 1 single to be recorded, edited, and mixed fully within a digital audio workstation. Produced by Charles Dye and Desmond Child using Pro Tools.

Process
Recording Playback
 * 1) The analog signal is transmitted from the input device to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC).
 * 2) The ADC converts this signal by repeatedly measuring the momentary level of the analog (audio) wave and then assigning a binary number with a given quantity of bits (word length) to each measurement point. The longer the word length the more precise the representation of the original audio wave level.
 * 3) The frequency at which the ADC measures the level of the analog wave is called the sample rate or sampling rate. The higher the sampling rate the higher the upper audio frequency of the digitized audio signal.
 * 4) The ADC outputs a sequence of digital audio samples that make up a continuous stream of 0s and 1s.
 * 5) These binary numbers are stored on recording media such as magnetic tape, a hard drive, optical drive or in solid state memory.
 * 1) The sequence of numbers is transmitted from storage into a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)
 * 2) The DAC converts the numbers back to an analog signal by sticking together the level information stored in each digital sample, thus rebuilding the original analog waveform.
 * 3) This signal is amplified and transmitted to the loudspeakers.

Techniques to record to commercial media
For digital cassettes, the tape head moves as well as the tape, typically in a helical scan configuration, in order to maintain a high enough speed to keep the bits at a manageable size.

For optical disc recording technologies such as CD-R, a laser is used to alter the optical properties of the dye layer of the medium. A weaker laser is used to read these patterns.

Word size
The number of bits used to represent an audio signal directly affects the resulting noise or distortion in a recording.

Sample rate
As stated by the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem, to prevent aliasing, the audio signal must be sampled at a rate at least twice that of the highest frequency component in the signal. For music-quality audio, 44.1 and 48 kHz sampling rates are the most common.

Master recording may be done at a higher sampling rate (i.e. 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192 kHz). High-resolution PCM recordings have been released on DVD-Audio (also known as DVD-A), DualDisc (utilizing the DVD-Audio layer), or High Fidelity Pure Audio on Blu-ray. In addition, it is possible to release a high-resolution recording as either an uncompressed WAV or lossless compressed FLAC file (usually at 24 bits) without down-converting it. There remains controversy about whether higher sampling rates provide any verifiable benefit to the consumer product.

When a Compact Disc (the CD Red Book standard is 44.1 kHz 16 bit) is to be made from a high-res recording, the recording must be down-converted to 44.1 kHz. This is done as part of the mastering process.

Beginning in the 1980s, music that was recorded, mixed or mastered digitally was often labeled using the SPARS code to describe which processes were analog and which were digital. Since digital recording has become near-ubiquitous the SPARS codes are now rarely used.

Error rectification
One of the advantages of digital recording over analog recording is its resistance to errors. Once the signal is in the digital format, it is not subject to generation loss from copying. Instead of the gradual degradation experienced with analog media, digital media is subject to a cliff effect.

title: Digital recording


text:
San Salvador Island

San Salvador Island, previously Watling's Island, is an island and district of the Bahamas, famed for being the probable location of Christopher Columbus's first landing of the Americas on 12 October 1492 during his first voyage. This historical importance, the island's tropical beaches, and its proximity to the United States have made tourism central to the local economy. The island has a population of 824 (2022) and is under the administration of Gilbert C. Kemp. Its largest settlement and seat of local government is Cockburn Town.

Names
Watling's Island was named for George or John Watling, an Englishman who settled it in the 17th century. The name was used officially from the 1680s until 1926. It is still used unofficially in discussions of the actual location of Columbus's first landfall.

San Salvador derives from the Spanish Isla San Salvador ("Island of the Holy Savior"), bestowed by Christopher Columbus in honor of Jesus Christ in thanks for his fleet's safe arrival in what he thought was East Asia. Columbus recorded the native's name for the place as Guanaham, now considered to be a mistranscription of Taíno Guanahaní, meaning "Small Land in the Upper Waters".

Geography
San Salvador Island sits on its own isolated carbonate platform surrounded by a narrow shelf that reaches a depth of up to 40 m. Past the shelf, the slope becomes almost vertical and depth quickly increases to 4000 m. San Salvador Island experiences a semidiurnal tide, with two high tides and two low tides per day. Water temperature in San Salvador can range from 23 to 29 C depending on the location and time of year. Salinity and dissolved oxygen are consistent throughout the island and throughout the year (35 ppt and 6.0% respectively).

Most of San Salvador Island is surrounded by fringing reefs. In many areas, such as Fernandez Bay, the shore is rocky and populated by reef urchins (Echinometra viridis). Moving away from shore, the bottom slopes gradually and may have several patch reefs surrounded by a sandy bottom. These patch reefs are home to hundreds of fish, invertebrates, and algae. The depth continues to increase to about 25 m at the farthest edge of the shelf, which can be 400 to 1500 m from shore.

Wind and wave action in San Salvador is influenced by the Antilles Current. The Antilles Current originates south of the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Cuba and moves northward where it merges with the Gulf Stream. This current cools the waters around San Salvador in the summer and warms the water around the island in the winter. This keeps the water temperature relatively mild and consistent throughout the year.

The coasts of San Salvador are very different from each other. The west coast of San Salvador faces the rest of the Bahamas and the Great Bahama Bank. Most of these islands are sheltered from significant winds and wave action, making the water generally calmer with greater visibility. In contrast, the eastern coast of San Salvador is windward and completely exposed to the rest of the Atlantic Ocean and is not protected by any other geological formations.

As a result, wave action is much stronger and visibility is lower. Evidence of currents from the Atlantic Ocean can be found on the east coast in the form of trash and debris on the beaches. During Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015, cargo steamer El Faro went down approximately 50 miles east of San Salvador. Several weeks later, pieces of the containers that had been swept away by the current were reported on the beaches of San Salvador.

Columbus's arrival
Christopher Columbus's voyages west were sponsored by Spain in the hopes that he would reach China and the East Indies, circumventing both Turkish and Portuguese control of the eastern and southern routes of the lucrative spice trade. Letters from Columbus to the Spanish monarchs IsabellaI of Castile and FerdinandII of Aragon record that the first island sighted during his first voyage was known to its Lucayan inhabitants as Guanahaní and that he renamed it San Salvador in thanks to God.

Arriving on 12 October 1492, he described the Lucayans as "sweet and gentle", "naked as they were born", possessed of "neither iron, nor steel, nor arms, nor... competent to use them", "timid to a surprising degree", and—combined with the other islands he visited—would enable to him to deliver to Spain "slaves, as many of these idolators as their Highnesses shall command to be shipped". Earlier in the same letter, Columbus had explained that the Lucayans were not idolators but—as chattel slavery had largely disappeared from Europe during the High Middle Ages and Early Renaissance—its revival under Nicholas V's 1452 Dum Diversas... and similar bulls were dependent on the idolatrous status of the enslaved.

Columbus himself seized several Guanahamians by force to use as translators and ambassadors, despite forcing his crew to stop cheating them in exchanges of random trash for items of great worth, including one who received 12 g of gold for a used leather strap. Despite their general intelligence, the Guanahamian slaves considered him sent from the heavens and secured him welcome at every island he visited.

The location of this first island visited by Columbus is disputed. In the 19th century, it was usually thought to be Cat Island but arguments from Juan Bautista Muñoz; Captain Alexander B. Becher, a hydrographer in the Royal Navy; Rear Adm. Joseph B. Murdock of the U.S. Navy; Richard Henry Major, map custodian of the British Museum; the geographer Clements Markham; the naval historian Samuel E. Morison; and the Benedictine priest Chrysostom Schreiner eventually led to the island's 1926 renaming. Fr. Schreiner relocated to San Salvador, where his tomb is still preserved. More recently, the National Geographic Society, Keith Pickering, and others have argued for alternative locations, including Samana Cay.

Later history
The island now called San Salvador was settled in the 17th century by the English buccaneer George or John Watling. Britain formally colonized the Bahamas in the early 18th century.

During the Cold War, the United States Navy's Mobile Construction Battalion 7 constructed a long-range navigation (LORAN) station on Grahams Harbor at the north end of the island from 1957 to 1959. After the LORAN station was decommissioned, it became the Bahamian Field Station and then the Gerace Research Center. More than 1,000 students and researchers work from the station every year as a base of operations for studying tropical marine geology, biology, and archeology.

San Salvador has required extensive rebuilding following Hurricane Lili in 1996, Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. Floyd in particular caused considerable beach erosion.

Tourism
Tourism is the island's main industry, thanks to its historical importance, many sandy beaches, and proximity to the United States. It is served by San Salvador International Airport. Columbus Isle, a Club Med resort, is located just north of the main settlement at Cockburn Town.

The island is home to many shallow-water coral reefs, where snorkellers can observe hundreds of fish species without the use of scuba equipment. The Pleistocene Cockburn Town Fossil Reef is near the main town and resort. Fossilized staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) are present near the crest of the fossil reef and other corals such as Montastraea annularis, Diploria, and Porites are scattered in the periphery. San Salvador is also known for the quick dropoff of the submerged platform of the island, allowing for numerous deep dive sites. The western coast has many wall reefs with steep drop offs, while the northern coast has many shallow barrier reefs, particularly surrounding the large shallow lagoon of Grahams Harbor.

There are three endemic fish species found only in the inland hypersaline lakes on this island. The scale-eating pupfish (Cyprinodon desquamator), the molluscivore pupfish (Cyprinodon brontotheroides), and the widemouth pupfish (Cyprinodon sp. widemouth) are all endemic to this island (Martin and Wainwright 2011, 2013, Richards et al. 2021).

The Dixon Hill lighthouse is located on the island south of Dixon Hill Settlement on the east side of the island. It is approximately 160 ft tall and was constructed in 1887 by the Imperial Lighthouse Service.

There are also several monuments, ruins, and shipwrecks in the area.

Government
The seat of local government is Cockburn Town, with a population of 271 (2010). The current administrator is Gilbert C. Kemp.

title: San Salvador Island


text:
Nathaniel William Taylor

Nathaniel William Taylor (June 23, 1786 – March 10, 1858) was an influential Protestant Theologian of the early 19th century, whose major contribution to the Christian faith (and to American religious history), known as the New Haven theology or Taylorism, was to line up historical Calvinism with the religious revivalism of the time (The Second Great Awakening). A graduate of Yale College, he returned to found the school's first independent division, the Theological Department, an institution which later became the Yale Divinity School.

Biography
Born in 1786 to a rich and religious family in Connecticut, Taylor entered Yale College when only 14 (1800) but could not graduate until 1807 because of an eye problem. He was a son of Nathaniel and Anna (née Northrup) Taylor. While studying there, Taylor was heavily influenced by the revivalist president of Yale, Timothy Dwight (grandson of Jonathan Edwards). In the years after his graduation, Taylor studied theology, worked as Dwight's secretary, and, after ordination, became the minister of the First Church of New Haven in 1812.

Influence on Calvinist theology during the Second Great Awakening
While Taylor himself was not an evangelist, his sympathy for revivalism during a time when revivals were breaking out ensured that he had a major influence upon the core beliefs of revivalists and the churches that were created from them.

The Second Great Awakening, despite its scope and power, was opposed by the more established church, especially Episcopalians and "Old Calvinists", but also the growing Unitarian movement. After Taylor had been appointed Professor of Didactic Theology at Yale in 1822, he used his influence to publicly support the revivalist movement and defend its beliefs and practices against opponents.

Influence on Calvinistic doctrines
From his position at Yale, Taylor repudiated Calvinistic Determinism - the idea that the works of God alone are responsible for all activities in the universe. He did this to preserve the ideal of human freedom, mainly because he believed that determinism contradicted freedom and was thus immoral. Since God could not be immoral, then Determinism could not be possible for a loving, perfect Deity.

The repudiation of determinism was followed by further changes to Calvinistic doctrines such as Revelation, Human Depravity, God's Sovereignty, Christ's Atonement and Regeneration. Both Taylor and Dwight are credited with the creation of "New Haven Theology", which appealed to both Congregationalists and New School Presbyterians and who found traditional Calvinism difficult to embrace.

Naturally, both Taylor and New Haven Theology were vigorously opposed by Old Calvinists, especially Charles Hodge from Princeton Seminary. Taylor's modification of Calvinism not only drew their ire, but prompted many of them to declare that Taylor's system was not Calvinism at all, but Arminian and even Pelagian.

Influence on Charles Finney
Taylor's influence is important when examining the ministry of Charles Grandison Finney, arguably, the best known evangelist during the Second Great Awakening. While it would certainly not be accurate to say that "Taylor's theology was preached in Finney's ministry", both men came to prominence at about the same time and a comparison of the written works of both men shows much in common, especially in the areas that differed with "Old Calvinism". Much of Taylor's theology (described below) is similar to that preached by Finney.

Taylor, however, was never a proponent of "perfectionism" - the belief that it was possible (and therefore desirable) for Christians to live a sinless and obedient life. While Finney's influence in revivalism was important, it was Taylor and the New Haven theology that prevailed in New England churches.

A Summary of Taylor's Theology
Original Sin: All men are lost but Adam's sin was not imputed to anyone, nor is depravity defined by a physical flaw within human nature. Although a person will sin with certainty, sin is the act of free choice. A sinner is therefore morally responsible for their own sin rather than being physically enslaved by the sin of Adam.

God's Sovereignty: God does not determine the destiny of all men through election, nor does he determine the events of our world. Instead he has created a moral universe and will judge its inhabitants. "God promotes moral action by a system of means and ends in which man can respond to ethical appeals for repentance." (Hoffecker)

The Atonement: Taylor repudiated the view that Christ died upon the cross as a direct sin sacrifice for the sins of Christians. Instead, he taught that Christ's death is the means by which God can urge sinners to freely turn from their sin and be converted, especially when presented with the benefits and privileges that a godly life can bestow upon them.

A note on "Self Love" - the term used by Taylor to denote a natural part of man's being, whereby a person has a natural desire for happiness that motivates all choices and which will manifest itself in Godly repentance when given the opportunity. This is based on the belief that the Christian life, if understood, would be so attractive, wonderful and beneficial for the person that his or her natural inclination would be to convert, something within his or her power to do according to this theology.

"Old Calvinist" objections to Taylor's teachings
Hodge and others felt that Taylor's teachings were so seriously wrong that they were not so much Arminian, but Pelagian in character. In practical terms, traditional Calvinists have not only rejected Taylor's teachings as erroneous, but also heretical. Even today, many Calvinists, when confronted with Taylor's teachings, will conclude that he had departed from the true Christian faith. Those who held to Taylor's beliefs, including, most notably, Charles Finney, were similarly heterodox.

Taylor's New England Theology was put on trial in Albert Barnes and Lyman Beecher, who were both accused of heresy by Old School Calvinists. Albert Barnes was acquitted of heresy charges and found orthodox by the Synod of Philadelphia. Lyman Beecher was acquitted of heresy charges and found orthodox by the Synod of Cincinnati. Thus, Taylor's New Haven Theology, New School Theology, or New Divinity was declared an orthodox Christian theology.

At the heart of this objection is Taylor's view of the atonement. Many Christians believe that Christ's death upon the cross was as a sin-substitute, whereby the sins of mankind were imputed to Christ, who was punished for our sins in our place. Martin Luther went as far as to say that Christ became the worst sinner in the universe. Christ's righteousness, or his perfection, was then imputed to all believers. Consequently, God no longer sees believers as they really are but is blinded by imputed righteousness. For many Christians, this belief is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Yet Taylor explicitly denied this view.

Taylorism versus Tylerism
Within the Congregational church at the time, a theological split occurred between those who advocated New Haven theology and those who adhered to more conservative beliefs. Bennet Tyler led this split against Taylor and set up The East Windsor Theological Seminary in opposition to the New Haven theology espoused by Taylor at Yale. Though less in disagreement with the teachings of Samuel Hopkins, Tylerism was vigorously opposed to what were perceived to be serious errors in New Haven thinking.

At the time, such objections to Taylor's theology were considered an attack upon a part of the revivalist movement. Thus the "enemy" of revivalism was understood to be the established churches, especially those that embraced and taught strict Calvinism. It was perhaps this situation that led to many revivalist movements (and later Fundamentalist and Evangelical movements) being separated from confessional and Calvinist churches—thus solidifying Arminian belief.

Taylor and the decline of New England Congregationalism
It has been argued by Angus Steward that the New Haven theology advocated by Taylor (and others) led to the New England Congregational churches being more open and amenable to the theological liberalism that influenced many mainline denominations in the late 19th century, an influence that is still being felt today.

While this may seem a harsh judgment—especially considering Taylor's support of revivalism and the ensuing "conversion" experience that accompanies it—Steward maintains that Taylor and other proponents of New Haven theology deliberately abandoned teachings that were, up to that time, considered an essential part of traditional Calvinist Theology; by questioning and abandoning these beliefs, a historical precedent was made which allowed future generations to be more influenced by teachings which went further in denying other Calvinist teachings.

As mainline Protestant denominations that have been historically dominated by Liberal Christianity have declined in number and influence over time, Steward holds that New England Congregationalism suffered the same fate: Influenced by Taylor's rejection of "Old Calvinism" and embracing Liberal theology, with, unlike in the Southern Baptist Convention, no Fundamentalist reaction, one of America's most historically significant church groups is thus no longer a dominant force in American Christianity.

title: Nathaniel William Taylor