In the article the means of musical communication and their evolution are considered in the historical and analytical aspect. There are two types of communication tools: acoustic, using the airspace as a channel for transmitting encoded information, and visual, which include stage design, allowing to perceive music as a kind of theatrical performance, and musical notation, graphically fixing all the components of the musical text. As the earliest means of nonwritten communication, the oral method is put forward, a vivid example of which is folklore, often called the musical memory of generations. Other examples of oral communication are cult music, improvisation and musical meditation. It is stated that musical writing, in particular, musical notation, and later printing tools have created conditions for overcoming spatial and temporal barriers to the spread of music. The next step is the invention of technical sound recording, which opened a new era in the development of communications. Magnetic recording of the visual series made it possible to create concert films and opera films. Even greater involvement of people in the process of musical communication was facilitated by the appearance of electronic and mechanical means of recording music. The emergence of new opportunities in the field of sound dynamics control, its timbre, influenced the development of musical thinking. A new industry of "production" has emerged with the involvement of professional musicians who own modern recording equipment and specialize in the production of "artificial" musical products. This process was accompanied by the formation of a new audience of listeners who preferred recording to live sound.
Social and Musical Communication Past and Present