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114-440: Minisode1: Blue Hour is the third extended play by South Korean boy band Tomorrow X Together . It was released through Big Hit Entertainment and Republic Records on October 26, 2020, five months after its predecessor, The Dream Chapter: Eternity (2020). The album consists of five tracks, including the lead single "Blue Hour", all of which have been co-written by the band members. The band worked with various writers for

228-466: A monaural signal. Many guitars with active electronics use a jack with an extra contact normally used for stereo . These guitars use the extra contact to break the ground connection to the on-board battery to preserve battery life when the guitar is unplugged. These guitars require a mono plug to close the internal switch and connect the battery to ground. Standard guitar cables use a high-impedance 1 ⁄ 4 inch (6.35 mm) mono plug. These have

342-400: A vibrato embellishment. A plastic pickguard on some guitars protects the body from scratches or covers the control cavity, which holds most of the wiring. The degree to which the choice of woods and other materials in the solid-guitar body (3) affects the sonic character of the amplified signal is disputed. Many believe it is highly significant, while others think the difference between woods

456-476: A "melancholic" message. Inspired by the 1998 Korean pop song "Arcade" by Han's Band, which focussed on the financial crisis of Korea in the '90s, "We Lost the Summer" parallelly speaks of "teenagers who face a world flipped upside down due to the pandemic." Beomgyu explained, "Many teenagers could no longer go to school and hang out with each other, passing notes, sharing earbuds, and so on. It's our story but it's still

570-637: A New World LP on an EP that was marked "Part 1". A second EP was planned, but never appeared; only the sleeve was printed. The first double EP released in Britain was the Beatles ' Magical Mystery Tour film soundtrack. Released in December 1967 on EMI's Parlophone label, it contained six songs spread over two 7-inch discs and was packaged with a lavish color booklet. In the United States and some other countries,

684-525: A United States patent for an Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument and the patent was later issued in 1937. By the time it was patented, other manufacturers were already making their own electric guitar designs. Early electric guitar manufacturers include Rickenbacker in 1932; Dobro in 1933; National, AudioVox and Volu-tone in 1934; Vega , Epiphone (Electrophone and Electar), and Gibson in 1935 and many others by 1936. By early-mid 1935, Electro String Instrument Corporation had achieved success with

798-590: A built-in system to electrically amplify their output without altering their tone as an alternative to using a separate microphone. The system may consist of piezoelectric pickups mounted under the bridge, or a low-mass microphone (usually a condenser mic) inside the body of the guitar that converts the vibrations in the body into electronic signals. Combinations of these types of pickups may be used, with an integral mixer/preamp/graphic equalizer. Such instruments are called electric acoustic guitars . They are regarded as acoustic guitars rather than electric guitars because

912-405: A double EP could usually be more economically and sensibly recorded on a single vinyl LP . In the 1950s, Capitol Records had released a number of double EPs by its more popular artists, including Les Paul . The pair of double EPs (EBF 1–577, sides 1 to 8) were described on the original covers as "parts ... of a four-part album". In 1960, Joe Meek released four tracks from his planned I Hear

1026-576: A folding neck called the "Foldaxe" was designed and built for Chet Atkins by Roger C. Field . Steinberger guitars developed a line of exotic, carbon fiber instruments without headstocks, with tuning done on the bridge instead. Fingerboards vary as much as necks. The fingerboard surface usually has a cross-sectional radius that is optimized to accommodate finger movement for different playing techniques. Fingerboard radius typically ranges from nearly flat (a very large radius) to radically arched (a small radius). The vintage Fender Telecaster , for example, has

1140-528: A further album in this format, 1985's " Drinking Gasoline ", on the Virgin Records label. Double EPs can also contain the work of multiple artists split across different sides, akin to split albums . An example of this is the Dunedin Double EP, which contains tracks by four different bands. Using a double EP in this instance allowed each band to have its tracks occupying a different side. In addition,

1254-502: A group teaser for the music video of the album track "We Lost the Summer" on November 10, 2020. Solo photo stills and video teasers were unveiled on November 12 and 13, respectively. The song's music video was released to YouTube on November 13. Upon its release, Minisode1: Blue Hour received generally favourable reviews from music critics . Choi Ji-won from The Korea Herald labelled the EP "very poetic and stirs up listeners’ emotions, as did

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1368-428: A guitar amplifier and speaker. When an electric guitar is played, string movement produces a signal by generating (i.e., inducing ) a small electric current in the magnetic pickups, which are magnets wound with coils of very fine wire. The signal passes through the tone and volume circuits to the output jack, and through a cable to an amplifier . The current induced is proportional to such factors as string density and

1482-519: A hard, polymerized finish. Strings vibrating in the magnetic field of the pickups (3.1, 3.2) produce an electric current in the pickup winding that passes through the tone and volume controls (3.8) to the output jack. Some guitars have piezo pickups, in addition to or instead of magnetic pickups. Some guitars have a fixed bridge (3.4). Others have a spring-loaded hinged bridge called a vibrato bar , tremolo bar , or whammy bar , which lets players bend notes or chords up or down in pitch or perform

1596-658: A neck-through design is difficult or even impossible to repair, depending on the damage. Historically, the bolt-on style has been more popular for ease of installation and adjustment. Since bolt-on necks can be easily removed, there is an after-market in replacement bolt-on necks from companies such as Warmoth and Mighty Mite. Some instruments—notably most Gibson models—continue to use set-in glued necks. Neck-through bodies are somewhat more common in bass guitars. Materials for necks are selected for dimensional stability and rigidity, and some allege that they influence tone. Hardwoods are preferred, with maple , mahogany , and ash topping

1710-401: A pair of 7-inch discs recorded at 45 or 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm , or two 12-inch discs recorded at 45 rpm. The format is useful when an album's worth of material is being pressed by a small plant geared for the production of singles rather than albums and may have novelty value which can be turned to advantage for publicity purposes. Double EPs are rare, since the amount of material record-able on

1824-434: A rhythm guitarist and a lead guitarist. Many experiments with electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument were made dating back to the early part of the 20th century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters were adapted and placed inside violins and banjos to amplify the sound. Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphones attached to the bridge ; however, these detected vibrations from

1938-477: A second teaser on October 20. A preview of the tracks featured on the EP was released on October 23. The EP was released on October 26, 2020, in CD and digital formats. The music video for the lead single "Blue Hour", directed by Guzza of Lumpens , was released to Big Hit's YouTube channel in conjunction with the release of the album. A performance version of the video was released on November 9, 2020. A few hours prior to

2052-423: A semi-acoustic tone (see below) or both. Semi-acoustic guitars have a hollow body similar to an acoustic guitar and electromagnetic pickups mounted directly into the body. They work in a similar way to solid-body electric guitars except that because the hollow body also vibrates, the pickups convert a combination of string and body vibration into an electrical signal. Many models, known as semi-hollow bodies, have

2166-418: A single block of wood, semi-acoustic guitar bodies are made from multiple pieces of wood in an archtop form, a method of construction different from the typical steel string acoustic guitar . The top is formed from a moderately thick piece of wood which is then carved into a thin outward-curving shape, whereas conventional acoustic guitars have a thin, flat top. Some steel-string acoustic guitars include

2280-480: A single song, instead resembling a mini album. EPs of original material regained popularity in the punk rock era, when they were commonly used for the release of new material, e.g. Buzzcocks ' Spiral Scratch EP. Ricardo Baca of The Denver Post said in 2010, "EPs—originally extended-play 'single' releases that are shorter than traditional albums—have long been popular with punk and indie bands." Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks. In

2394-475: A soft vocals, trap beats, rhythmic drums , and synthesizer harmonies. Exhibiting a sombre melody, it marks a departure from the signature bright and cheery sound of the band. The song captures the loneliness of a boy walking back from school and emphasises the need of companionship. According to Yeonjun, the track is about "a belief that regardless of uncertainties we may feel, we will still be together as long as we remember one another." The phrase "Blue Hour" in

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2508-570: A solid block running through the middle of the soundbox designed to reduce acoustic feedback. They do not provide enough acoustic volume for live performance, but they can be used unplugged for quiet practice. Semi-acoustic guitars are noted for being able to provide a sweet, plaintive, or funky tone. They are used in many genres, including jazz, blues, funk , sixties pop, and indie rock . They generally have cello-style F-shaped sound holes , which can be blocked off to further reduce feedback. Whereas chambered guitars are made, like solid-body guitars, from

2622-686: A specific type of 45 rpm phonograph record other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and 33 rpm long play (LP), but as of 2024 , also applies to mid-length CDs and downloads as well. EPs are considered "less expensive and time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album, and have long been popular with punk and indie bands. In K-pop and J-pop , they are usually referred to as mini-albums . EPs were released in various sizes in different eras. The earliest multi-track records, issued around 1919 by Grey Gull Records , were vertically cut 78 rpm discs known as "2-in-1" records. These had finer grooves than usual, like Edison Disc Records . By 1949, when

2736-439: A standard 45 rpm phonograph . In the early era, record companies released the entire content of LPs as 45 rpm EPs. These were usually 10-inch (25-cm) LPs (released until the mid-1950s) split onto two 7-inch EPs or 12-inch (30-cm) LPs split onto three 7-inch EPs, either sold separately or together in gatefold covers. This practice became much less common with the advent of triple-speed-available phonographs. Introduced by RCA in

2850-422: A subject that teens all over the world can relate to. It's the teen perspective and we wanted to address it through our music." The fourth track, "Wishlist" is an uplifting and anthemic guitar-driven pop-rock song, co-written by Huening Kai, Taehyun and Yeonjun . Lyrically, it portrays the story of a boy who prepares a gift for his love. The closing track, "Way Home" ( 하굣길 ) is a future R&B song knitted with

2964-399: A tip and sleeve configuration referred to as a TS phone connector . The voltage is usually around 1 to 9 millivolts . A few guitars, such as Rickenbacker guitars equipped with Rick-O-Sound , feature stereo output. There are a variety of ways the "stereo" effect may be implemented. Commonly, but not exclusively, stereo guitars route the neck and bridge pickups to separate output buses on

3078-405: A top so heavily reinforced that it essentially functioned as a solid-body instrument. Unlike acoustic guitars, solid-body electric guitars have no vibrating soundboard to amplify string vibration. Instead, solid-body instruments depend on electric pickups, and an amplifier ("amp") and speaker . The solid body ensures that the amplified sound reproduces the string vibration alone, thus avoiding

3192-410: A trilogy of three EPs, beginning with She Is Coming , stated: "By delivering a trio of EPs throughout a period of several months, Miley is giving her fans more of what they want, only in smaller doses. When an artist drops an album, they run the risk of it being forgotten in a few weeks, at which point they need to start work on the follow-up, while still promoting and touring their recent effort. Miley

3306-667: A triple single-coil guitar. The history of electric guitars has been summarized by Guitar World magazine, and the earliest electric guitar on their top 10 list is the Ro-Pat-In Electro A-25 "Frying Pan" (1932) described as "The first-fully functioning solid-body electric guitar to be manufactured and sold". It was the first electric guitar used in a publicly promoted performance, performed by Gage Brewer in Wichita, Kansas in October 1932. The most recent electric guitar on this list

3420-590: A typical small radius of approximately 7.25 inches (18.4 cm). Some manufacturers have experimented with fret profile and material, fret layout, number of frets, and modifications of the fingerboard surface for various reasons. Some innovations were intended to improve playability by ergonomic means, such as Warmoth Guitars' compound radius fingerboard. Scalloped fingerboards added enhanced microtonality during fast legato runs. Fanned frets intend to provide each string with an optimal playing tension and enhanced musicality. Some guitars have no frets , while others, like

3534-409: A way to reduce or counter the sound, as they are designed to "buck" (in the verb sense of oppose or resist ) the hum, hence their name. The high combined inductance of the two coils also leads to the richer, "fatter" tone associated with humbucking pickups. Electric guitar necks vary in composition and shape. The primary metric of guitar necks is the scale length , which is the vibrating length of

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3648-409: A wood post with a neck attached and two hollow-body halves attached to the sides for appearance only — shares nothing in common for design or hardware with the solid-body Gibson Les Paul , designed by Ted McCarty and introduced in 1952. The feedback associated with amplified hollow-bodied electric guitars was understood long before Paul's "log" was created in 1940; Gage Brewer's Ro-Pat-In of 1932 had

3762-501: Is bringing us." On the other hand, Lim Seon-hee from IZM deemed the track list as "easy listening" that still see the group "spread[ing] bright and plump energy [...] which takes a breath away." On October 6, the album distributor Dreamus reported that pre-orders for Minisode1: Blue Hour had surpassed 300,000 copies in ten days, setting the highest album pre-orders for the band. By October 25, album preorders had exceeded 400,000 copies. Minisode1: Blue Hour debuted at number 25 on

3876-478: Is doing her best to game the system by recording an album and delivering it to fans in pieces." However, this release strategy was later scrapped in favor of the conventional album release of Plastic Hearts . Major-label pop musicians who had previously employed such release strategies include Colbie Caillat with her fifth album Gypsy Heart (2014) being released following an EP of the album's first five tracks known as Gypsy Heart: Side A three months prior to

3990-545: Is made of solid wood, without functionally resonating air spaces. The first solid-body Spanish standard guitar was offered by Vivi-Tone no later than 1934. This model featured a guitar-shaped body of a single sheet of plywood affixed to a wood frame. Another early, substantially solid Spanish electric guitar, called the Electro Spanish, was marketed by the Rickenbacker guitar company in 1935 and made of Bakelite . By 1936,

4104-406: Is often used in two roles: as a rhythm guitar , which plays the chord sequences or progressions , and riffs , and sets the beat (as part of a rhythm section ); and as a lead guitar , which provides instrumental melody lines, melodic instrumental fill passages, and solos . In a small group, such as a power trio , one guitarist may switch between both roles; in larger groups there is often

4218-418: Is subtle. In acoustic and archtop guitars, wood choices more clearly affect tone. Woods typically used in solid-body electric guitars include alder (brighter, but well rounded), swamp ash (similar to alder, but with more pronounced highs and lows), mahogany (dark, bassy, warm), poplar (similar to alder), and basswood (very neutral). Maple , a very bright tonewood , is also a popular body wood but

4332-427: Is the mini-LP , which was a common album format in the 1980s. These generally contained 20–30 minutes of music and about seven tracks. A double extended play is a name typically given to vinyl records or compact discs released as a set of two discs, each of which would normally qualify as an EP. The name is thus analogous to double album . As vinyl records, the most common format for the double EP, they consist of

4446-450: Is very heavy. For this reason, it is often placed as a "cap" on a guitar made primarily of another wood. Cheaper guitars are often made of cheaper woods, such as plywood , pine , or agathis —not true hardwoods—which can affect durability and tone. Though most guitars are made of wood, any material may be used. Materials such as plastic, metal, and even cardboard have been used in some instruments. The guitar output jack typically provides

4560-615: The Record Mirror also printed EP charts. The popularity of EPs in the US had declined in the early 1960s in favor of LPs. In the UK, Cliff Richard and the Shadows , both individually and collectively, and the Beatles were the most prolific artists issuing EPs in the 1960s, many of them highly successful releases. The Beatles' Twist and Shout outsold most singles for some weeks in 1963. The success of

4674-721: The Gibson SG used by Angus Young from the group AC/DC . Some otherwise solid-bodied guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul Supreme, the PRS Singlecut, and the Fender Telecaster Thinline , are built with hollow chambers in the body. These chambers are designed to not interfere with the critical bridge and string anchor point on the solid body. In the case of Gibson and PRS, these are called chambered bodies . The motivation for this may be to reduce weight, to achieve

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4788-649: The Slingerland company introduced a wooden solid-body electric model, the Slingerland Songster 401 (and a lap steel counterpart, the Songster 400). Gibson's first production electric guitar, marketed in 1936, was the ES-150 model ("ES" for "Electric Spanish", and "150" reflecting the $ 150 price of the instrument, along with matching amplifier). The ES-150 guitar featured a single-coil, hexagonally shaped "bar" pickup, which

4902-420: The semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars. Invented in 1932 by Johannes Isaac, the electric guitar was adopted by jazz guitar players, who wanted to play single-note guitar solos in large big band ensembles. Early proponents of the electric guitar on record include Les Paul , Eddie Durham , George Barnes , Lonnie Johnson , Sister Rosetta Tharpe , T-Bone Walker , and Charlie Christian . During

5016-409: The six-string guitar (the most common type), which is usually tuned E, A, D, G, B, E, from lowest to highest strings; the seven-string guitar , which typically adds a low B string below the low E; the eight-string guitar , which typically adds a low E or F# string below the low B; and the twelve-string guitar , which has six two-string courses similar to a mandolin . In rock, the electric guitar

5130-418: The wolf tones and unwanted feedback associated with amplified acoustic guitars. These guitars are generally made of hardwood covered with a hard polymer finish, often polyester or lacquer. In large production facilities, the wood is stored for three to six months in a wood-drying kiln before being cut to shape. Premium custom-built guitars are frequently made with much older , hand-selected wood. One of

5244-569: The "Frying Pan", and set out to capture a new audience through its release of the Electro-Spanish Model B and the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts , which was the first full 25-inch scale electric guitar ever produced. The Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was revolutionary for its time, providing players a full 25-inch scale, with easy access to 17 frets free of the body. Unlike other lap-steel electrified instruments produced during

5358-458: The "conflicts of reality and reflects on the current need for a pause in real life." Minisode1: Blue Hour is primarily a disco , rock , R&B album that experiments with several other genres. The opening track, "Ghosting" is a nostalgic indie-rock and '80s nu-gaze soft ballad . It begins with vocal harmonies and vintage sound in the chorus before advancing in a melodic arrangement of electric guitars and synthesizers . Lyrically,

5472-488: The 1950s and 1960s, the electric guitar became the most important instrument in popular music . It has evolved into an instrument that is capable of a multitude of sounds and styles in genres ranging from pop and rock to folk to country music , blues and jazz . It served as a major component in the development of electric blues , rock and roll , rock music , heavy metal music and many other genres of music. Electric guitar design and construction varies greatly in

5586-529: The 1950s. Examples are Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender from 1956 and "Just for You", " Peace in the Valley " and " Jailhouse Rock " from 1957, and the Kinks ' Kinksize Session from 1964. Twelve-inch EPs were similar, but generally had between three and five tracks and a length of over 12 minutes. Like seven-inch EPs, these were given titles. EP releases were also issued in cassette and 10-inch vinyl formats. With

5700-511: The 1980s) were introduced in 1970, with tracks selected from an album and packaging resembling the album they were taken from. This mini-LP format also became popular in America in the early 1970s for promotional releases, and also for use in jukeboxes . In 2010, Warner Bros. Records revived the format with their "Six-Pak" offering of six songs on a compact disc. Due to the increased popularity of music downloads and music streaming beginning

5814-521: The 45 rpm single and 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm LP were competing formats, 7-inch 45 rpm singles had a maximum playing time of only about four minutes per side. Partly as an attempt to compete with the LP introduced in 1948 by rival Columbia , RCA Victor introduced "Extended Play" 45s during 1952 . Their narrower grooves, achieved by lowering the cutting levels and sound compression optionally, enabled them to hold up to 7.5 minutes per side—but still be played by

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5928-589: The Broadcaster. Another notable solid-body design is the Fender Stratocaster , which was introduced in 1954 and became extremely popular among musicians in the 1960s and 1970s for its wide tonal capabilities and more comfortable ergonomics than other models. Different styles of guitar have different pick-up styles, the main being 2 or 3 " single-coil " pick-ups or a double humbucker , with the Stratocaster being

6042-452: The EP in Britain lasted until around 1967, but it later had a strong revival with punk rock in the late 1970s and the adaptation of the format for 12-inch and CD singles. The British band Cocteau Twins made prolific use of the EP format, releasing ten EP's between 1982 and 1995. In the Philippines , seven-inch EPs marketed as " mini-LPs " (but distinctly different from the mini-LPs of

6156-528: The Hot Albums with 24,462 units sold. In December 2020, the EP received a platinum certification from the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), denoting 250,000 shipments. Credits adapted from Spotify and Tidal . Notes Credits adapted from Tidal . Shipments figures based on certification alone. Extended play An extended play (EP) originally referred to

6270-581: The US Billboard 200 chart at number 25, becoming the band's highest-charting album in the country. It charted at number one on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart , becoming the band's second consecutive chart-topper, and also entered Billboard Japan 's Hot Albums at number two. To promote the album, Tomorrow X Together appeared on several South Korean music programs including M Countdown , Music Bank , and Show Champion . Following

6384-432: The US Billboard 200 chart on the issue dated November 21, 2020, selling 19,000 equivalent album units in that week, becoming Tomorrow X Together's first top-forty and highest-charting album in the country. Additionally, it reached number one on both Billboard World Albums and Top Album Sales charts. The album opened at number three on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart , selling 303,190 copies in its first week, surpassing

6498-497: The US in 1952, EMI issued the first EPs in Britain in April 1954. EPs were typically compilations of singles or album samplers and were played at 45 rpm on 7-inch (18-cm) discs, with two songs on each side. The manufacturing price of an EP was a little more than that of a single. Thus, they were a bargain for those who did not own the LPs from which the tracks were taken. RCA had success in

6612-544: The United Kingdom, an EP can appear either on the album or the single chart. The Official Chart Company classifies any record with more than four tracks (not counting alternative versions of featured songs, if present) or with a playing time of more than 25 minutes as an album for sales-chart purposes. If priced as a single, they will not qualify for the main album chart but can appear in the separate Budget Albums chart. An intermediate format between EPs and full-length LPs

6726-517: The United States, the Recording Industry Association of America , the organization that declares releases "gold" or "platinum" based on numbers of sales, defines an EP as containing three to five songs or under 30 minutes. On the other hand, The Recording Academy 's rules for Grammy Awards state that any release with five or more different songs and a running time of over 15 minutes is considered an album, with no mention of EPs. In

6840-424: The advent of the compact disc (CD), more music was often included on "single" releases, with four or five tracks being common, and playing times of up to 25 minutes. These extended-length singles became known as maxi singles and while commensurate in length to an EP were distinguished by being designed to feature a single song, with the remaining songs considered B-sides , whereas an EP was designed not to feature

6954-474: The album release, the band held a media showcase at the Yes24 Live Hall, Gwangjin-gu , Seoul, which was broadcast online through YouTube . Hours after the album's release, a special "Comeback Show", hosted by Mnet was premiered live worldwide, where they performed "Blue Hour" for the first time. On October 27, the band appeared as guests on KBS Cool FM . A dance challenge with the hashtag "#BlueHour_Moment"

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7068-413: The album was released in conjunction with a pixel art teaser. The VR and AR versions of concept photos were released on October 6 and 8, respectively. The EP's track list was revealed on October 9. From October 12 to 16, individual video teasers of each member were uploaded to YouTube . The first group teaser for the music video of the album's lead single "Blue Hour" was released on October 18, followed by

7182-501: The album, including British singer-songwriter Charli XCX on the track "We Lost the Summer". As a disco , rock , and R&B album that experiments with indie-rock , nu-gaze , dancehall , and pop rock , Minisode1: Blue Hour features production from El Capitxn, Slow Rabbit, Pdogg, Sam Klempner, and Shin Kung. Written and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic , the album lyrically narrates

7296-449: The amount of movement over the pickups. Because of their natural qualities, magnetic pickups tend to pick up ambient, usually unwanted electromagnetic interference or EMI. This mains hum results in a tone of 50 or 60 cycles per second depending on the powerline frequency of the local alternating current supply. The resulting hum is particularly strong with single-coil pickups. Double-coil or " humbucker " pickups were invented as

7410-616: The back of the guitar by metal ferrules . Many believe this design improves a guitar's sustain and timbre . A few examples of string-through body guitars are the Fender Telecaster Thinline , the Fender Telecaster Deluxe , the B.C. Rich IT Warlock and Mockingbird, and the Schecter Omen 6 and 7 series. Compared to an acoustic guitar, which has a hollow body, electric guitars make much less audible sound when their strings are plucked, so electric guitars are normally plugged into

7524-425: The band revealed that the album was written and recorded entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic . Minisode1 : Blue Hour is our pitstop as we prepare to move onto our next series. It's about the feeling of unfamiliarity that can sometimes hit us all when our relationships with our friends undergo a change. What we've really tried to do through this EP was to deliver a story that only we can tell. It's our take on

7638-408: The band's previous music." Writing for the same publication, Hong Dam-young opined that "the group seemed to have switched gears from the previous EP, which showed a darker side of the bandmates and depicted their youthful struggles," adding "the new music shows they have overcome those struggles." Music journalist Jeff Benjamin praised the album as "a meditation through the high and low points this year

7752-677: The band's previous record of 181,000 copies with The Dream Chapter: Eternity . Minisode1: Blue Hour was the seventh best-selling album of October 2020 in South Korea, selling 415,761 physical copies. The EP claimed the top spot on the Oricon Albums Chart on the chart issue dated October 26 – November 1, 2020, with 32,057 copies sold, becoming TXT's second number-one album in Japan, following The Dream Chapter: Eternity . It also topped Billboard Japan 's Top Albums Sales and charted at number two on

7866-418: The body at the base of the guitar. These appear on Rickenbackers , Gretsches , Epiphones , a wide variety of archtop guitars , particularly jazz guitars , and the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. Pictured is a tremolo arm or vibrato tailpiece - style bridge and tailpiece system, often called a whammy bar or trem . It uses a lever ("vibrato arm") attached to the bridge that can temporarily slacken or tighten

7980-430: The body. Set-in necks are glued to the body at the factory. This is the traditional type of joint. Leo Fender pioneered bolt-on necks on electric guitars to facilitate easy adjustment and replacement. Neck-through instruments extend the neck to the length of the instrument so that it forms the center of the body. While a set-in neck can be carefully unglued by a skilled luthier , and a bolt-on neck can simply be unscrewed,

8094-555: The bridge on top of the instrument, resulting in a weak signal. Electric guitars were originally designed by acoustic guitar makers and instrument manufacturers. The demand for amplified guitars began during the big band era; as orchestras increased in size, guitar players soon realized the necessity in guitar amplification and electrification. The first electric guitars used in jazz were hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies with electromagnetic transducers . The first electrically amplified stringed instrument to be marketed commercially

8208-546: The closer the fret spacing. Opinions vary regarding the effect of scale length on tone and feel. Popular opinion holds that longer scale length contributes to greater amplitude . Reports of playing feel are greatly complicated by the many factors involved in this perception. String gauge and design, neck construction and relief, guitar setup, playing style, and other factors contribute to the subjective impression of playability or feel. Necks are described as bolt-on , set-in , or neck-through , depending on how they attach to

8322-487: The conclusion of the three-part "Dream Chapter" series which depicted stories of growth, Big Hit Entertainment posted a motion graphic video on YouTube and Weverse on September 21, 2020, which revealed that Tomorrow X Together would be releasing their third EP , Minisode1: Blue Hour the following month. According to press release, the EP serves as "a short episode told by Tomorrow X Together before they progress into their next series." In an interview with Teen Vogue ,

8436-399: The different parts of an electric guitar. The headstock (1) contains the metal machine heads (1.1), which use a worm gear for tuning. The nut (1.4)—a thin fret-like strip of metal, plastic, graphite, or bone—supports the strings at the headstock end of the instrument. The frets (2.3) are thin metal strips that stop the string at the correct pitch when the player pushes a string against

8550-538: The effects of different woods or materials on the electric guitar sound. Several neck shapes appear on guitars, including shapes known as C necks, U necks, and V necks. These refer to the cross-sectional shape of the neck (especially near the nut). Several sizes of fret wire are available, with traditional players often preferring thin frets, and metal shredders liking thick frets. Thin frets are considered better for playing chords, while thick frets allow lead guitarists to bend notes with less effort. An electric guitar with

8664-493: The emotions from the perspective of a teenager who has faced changes in his life. The album's artwork and visuals illustrate the connection that can be felt through online communication despite being physically far. Minisode1: Blue Hour received generally favourable reviews from music critics , with praise towards the emotional narrative. Commercially, the album debuted at number three on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart , selling over 300,000 copies in its first week. The EP entered

8778-502: The experiences of unforeseen circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have tried to tell it through our own sound and fresh energy. Minisode1: Blue Hour consists of five songs written from the perspective of a teenager who is "isolated and lost in emotions amid the unprecedented pandemic." The songwriting is characterized by hopefulness, loneliness, unfamiliarity, loss of routine, desperation, empathy , and connection. It explores

8892-420: The fingerboard. The truss rod (1.2) is a metal rod (usually adjustable) that counters the tension of the strings to keep the neck straight. Position markers (2.2) provide the player with a reference to the playing position on the fingerboard. The neck and fretboard (2.1) extend from the body. At the neck joint (2.4), the neck is either glued or bolted to the body. The body (3) is typically made of wood with

9006-432: The first improvements on the vibrato system in many years when, in the late 1970s, he experimented with "locking" nuts and bridges that prevent the guitar from losing tuning, even under heavy vibrato bar use. The fourth type of system employs string-through body anchoring. The strings pass over the bridge saddles, then through holes through the top of the guitar body to the back. The strings are typically anchored in place at

9120-432: The first solid-body guitars was invented by Les Paul . Gibson did not present their Gibson Les Paul guitar prototypes to the public, as they did not believe the solid-body style would catch on. Another early solid-body Spanish style guitar, resembling what would become Gibson's Les Paul guitar a decade later, was developed in 1941 by O.W. Appleton, of Nogales, Arizona. Appleton made contact with both Gibson and Fender but

9234-443: The format with Elvis Presley , issuing 28 EPs between 1956 and 1967 , many of which topped the separate Billboard EP chart during its brief existence. Other than those published by RCA, EPs were relatively uncommon in the United States and Canada, but they were widely sold in the United Kingdom, and in some other European countries, during the 1950s and 1960s. In Sweden, the EP was a popular record format, with as much as 85% of

9348-406: The full album; and Jessie J 's fourth studio album R.O.S.E. (2018) which was released as four EPs in as many days entitled R (Realisations) , O (Obsessions) , S (Sex) and E (Empowerment) . The first EPs were seven-inch vinyl records with more tracks than a normal single (typically four of them). Although they shared size and speed with singles, they were a recognizably different format than

9462-404: The groove on the physical record could be wider and thus allow for a louder album. In the 1960s and 1970s, record companies released EP versions of long-play (LP) albums for use in jukeboxes . These were commonly known as "compact 33s" or "little LPs". The jukebox EP was played at 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm, was pressed on seven-inch vinyl and frequently had as many as six songs. What made it EP-like

9576-916: The guitar. A stereo cable then routes each pickup to its signal chain or amplifier. For these applications, the most popular connector is a high-impedance 1 ⁄ 4 inch (6.35 mm) plug with a tip, ring, and sleeve configuration, also known as a TRS phone connector . Some studio instruments, notably certain Gibson Les Paul models, incorporate a low- impedance three-pin XLR connector for balanced audio . Many exotic arrangements and connectors exist that support features such as midi and hexaphonic pickups. The bridge and tailpiece , while serving separate purposes, work closely together to affect playing style and tone. There are four basic types of bridge and tailpiece systems on electric guitars. Within these four types are many variants. A hard-tail guitar bridge anchors

9690-401: The happiness and joy that we can still feel when connected with one another through online and virtual spaces. The bright and vivid colors represent our personal spaces. On September 21, 2020, Minisode1: Blue Hour was made available for pre-order in three versions: R, VR and AR, that were packaged in blue, pink and purple pastels , respectively. On September 29, version R of concept photos for

9804-415: The late 2000s, EPs have become a common marketing strategy for pop musicians wishing to remain relevant and deliver music in more consistent timeframes leading to or following full studio albums. In the late 2000s to early 2010s, reissues of studio albums with expanded track listings were common, with the new music often being released as stand-alone EPs. In October 2010, a Vanity Fair article regarding

9918-649: The list. The neck and fingerboard can be made from different materials; for example, a guitar may have a maple neck with a rosewood or ebony fingerboard. Today there are expensive and budget guitars exploring other options for fretboard wood for instance Pau-Ferro , both for availability and cheap price while still maintaining quality. In the 1970s, designers began to use exotic human-made materials such as aircraft-grade aluminum , carbon fiber , and ebonol . Makers known for these unusual materials include John Veleno , Travis Bean , Geoff Gould , and Alembic . Aside from possible engineering advantages, some feel that with

10032-480: The market in the late 1950s consisting of EPs. Billboard introduced a weekly EP chart in October 1957, noting that "the teen-age market apparently dominates the EP business, with seven out of the top 10 best-selling EPs featuring artists with powerful teen-age appeal — four sets by Elvis Presley, two by Pat Boone and one by Little Richard ". Other publications such as Record Retailer , New Musical Express ( NME ) , Melody Maker , Disc and Music Echo and

10146-440: The month of October. Metaphoric to the complex colors of the sky just before the sunset, the lyrics celebrate "the desire to revisit beautiful past memories via one's imagination." Explaining further on the theme in an interview with Elle , Soobin stated, "The scene is mesmerizing, but it's also too dark to recognize and 'know' the people around us, including our friends. There are concepts of unfamiliarity in familiar surroundings;

10260-423: The pickups do not produce a signal directly from the vibration of the strings, but rather from the vibration of the guitar top or body, and the amplification of the sound merely increases volume, not alters tone. Electric guitar design and construction vary greatly in the shape of the body and the configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups. However, some features are present on most guitars. The photo below shows

10374-431: The places they would rather be." The goal for the visual aspects of this album was to reflect the development of the online space as our hub of communication and togetherness while physically being home. It's become much more natural now to meet people and spend time with one another online; it's a change in our culture and the definition of the "space" we share with our friends. The visual elements are intended to represent

10488-403: The production employs funky four-on-the-floor beats, rhythm guitars , and groovy and booming bass beats. Driven by electric guitars in the bridges and bass-filled dance breaks in the segments, the soft and breezy track features smooth vocals from the band. The song's Korean title (5시 53분의 하늘에서 발견한 너와 나) is a reference to the time 5:53 PM, which is the golden hour in the city of Seoul in

10602-592: The rising cost of rare tonewoods , human-made materials may be economically preferable and more ecologically sensitive. However, wood remains popular in production instruments, though sometimes in conjunction with new materials. Vigier guitars , for example, use a wooden neck reinforced by embedding a light, carbon fiber rod in place of the usual heavier steel bar or adjustable steel truss rod. After-market necks made entirely from carbon fiber fit existing bolt-on instruments. Few, if any, extensive formal investigations have been widely published that confirm or refute claims over

10716-617: The seven-inch single. Although they could be named after a lead track, they were generally given a different title. Examples include the Beatles ' The Beatles' Hits EP from 1963, and the Troggs ' Troggs Tops EP from 1966, both of which collected previously released tracks. The playing time was generally between 10 and 15 minutes. In the UK they came in cardboard picture sleeves at a time when singles were usually issued in paper company sleeves. EPs tended to be album samplers or collections of singles. EPs of all original material began to appear in

10830-602: The shape of the body and the configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups. Guitars may have a fixed bridge or a spring-loaded hinged bridge , which lets players "bend" the pitch of notes or chords up or down, or perform vibrato effects. The sound of an electric guitar can be modified by new playing techniques such as string bending , tapping , and hammering-on , using audio feedback , or slide guitar playing. There are several types of electric guitar. Early forms were hollow-body semi-acoustic guitars , while solid body guitars developed later. String configurations include

10944-413: The song expresses a message: even though we may feel solitude in these times, we will continue to hope we still feel the same way as one another. The third track, "We Lost the Summer" ( Korean :  날씨를 잃어 버렸어 ) is a dancehall number with tropical influences, that was co-written by British singer-songwriter Charli XCX . Backed by guitar, the track takes on a "sunny" production despite delivering

11058-503: The song. They performed "Blue Hour" and "We Lost the Summer" on Kakao TV 's Comeback Show MU:Talk Live on November 2. In the second week of promotion, "Blue Hour" won first place on The Show on November 3. The band appeared on SBS Power FM 's Cultwo Show on November 8, where they performed "Blue Hour". The band performed "Blue Hour" on Genius 's "Open Mic" and MBC FM4U 's Kim Shin-Young 's Hope Song at Noon on November 17 and November 19, respectively. Tomorrow X Together released

11172-522: The songs are spread across two 12" 45 rpm discs. Also, the vinyl pressing of Hail to the Thief by Radiohead uses this practice but is considered to be a full-length album. In 1982 Cabaret Voltaire released their studio album " 2x45 " on the UK-based label Rough Trade , featuring extended tracks over four sides of two 12-inch 45 rpm discs, with graphics by artist Neville Brody . The band subsequently released

11286-426: The songs were augmented by the band's single A- and B-sides from 1967 to create a full LP –a practice that was common in the US but considered exploitative in the UK. The Style Council album The Cost of Loving was originally issued as two 12-inch EPs. It is more common for artists to release two 12-inch 45s rather than a single 12-inch LP. Though there are 11 songs that total about 40 minutes, enough for one LP,

11400-522: The strings at or directly behind the bridge and is fastened securely to the top of the instrument. These are common on carved-top guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul and the Paul Reed Smith models , and on slab-body guitars, such as the Music Man Albert Lee and Fender guitars that are not equipped with a vibrato arm. A floating or trapeze tailpiece (similar to a violin 's) fastens to

11514-456: The strings from nut to bridge. A typical Fender guitar uses a 25.5-inch (65 cm) scale length, while Gibson uses a 24.75-inch (62.9 cm) scale length in their Les Paul . While the scale length of the Les Paul is often described as 24.75 inches, it has varied through the years by as much as a half inch. Frets are positioned proportionally to scale length—the shorter the scale length,

11628-658: The strings to alter the pitch . A player can use this to create a vibrato or a portamento effect. Early vibrato systems were often unreliable and made the guitar go out of tune easily. They also had a limited pitch range. Later Fender designs were better, but Fender held the patent on these, so other companies used older designs for many years. With the expiration of the Fender patent on the Stratocaster -style vibrato, various improvements on this type of internal, multi-spring vibrato system are now available. Floyd Rose introduced one of

11742-581: The time, the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was designed to play while standing upright with the guitar on a strap, as with acoustic guitars. The Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was also the first instrument to feature a hand-operated vibrato as a standard arrangement, a device called the "Vibrola", invented by Doc Kauffman . It is estimated that fewer than 50 Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts were constructed between 1933 and 1937; fewer than 10 are known to survive today. The solid-body electric guitar

11856-533: The title of the album is eponymous and alludes to the "story about boys who are forced to stand at the brink of the real world during the blue hour." In the lead-up to the release of the album, the band teased three versions of concept photos: R, VR and AR. Version R portrayed "the members virtually together but by themselves in an online space." The VR version rendered the band "in a limitless virtual space reflective of today’s online-dominant lifestyle." Version AR illustrated "the gap between their isolation at home and

11970-445: The track addresses the titular phrase of "ghosting" or "being ghosted" and narrates the confusion and disheartenment of being detached from the world. Soobin and Taehyun co-penned the lyrics of the track with indie-pop singer Lennon Stella . The title track, "Blue Hour" is an uptempo disco and dance track that has a synth -indebted sound. It is the group's first attempt at disco. Co-composed by Slow rabbit and Bang Si-hyuk ,

12084-685: The trend noted post-album EPs as "the next step in extending albums' shelf lives, following the "deluxe" editions that populated stores during the past few holiday seasons—add a few tracks to the back end of an album and release one of them to radio, slap on a new coat of paint, and—voila!—a stocking stuffer is born." Examples of such releases include Lady Gaga 's The Fame Monster (2009) following her debut album The Fame (2008), and Kesha 's Cannibal (2010) following her debut album Animal (2010). A 2019 article in Forbes discussing Miley Cyrus ' plan to release her then-upcoming seventh studio album as

12198-570: The vibration of its strings into electrical signals , which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers . The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb , distortion and "overdrive" ; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz , rock and heavy metal guitar playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of electric and acoustic guitars:

12312-660: The vibrations of the guitar strings into electrical signals, which could then be amplified. Commercial production began in late summer of 1932 by the Ro-Pat-In Corporation (Elect ro - Pat ent- In strument Company), in Los Angeles, a partnership of Beauchamp, Adolph Rickenbacker (originally Rickenbacher), and Paul Barth. In 1934, the company was renamed the Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company. In that year Beauchamp applied for

12426-489: Was a cast aluminium lap steel guitar nicknamed the "Frying Pan" designed in 1931 by George Beauchamp , the general manager of the National Stringed Instrument Corporation , with Paul Barth, who was vice president. George Beauchamp, along with Adolph Rickenbacker , invented the electromagnetic pickups. Coils that were wrapped around a magnet would create an electromagnetic field that converted

12540-475: Was designed by Walt Fuller. It became known as the " Charlie Christian " pickup (named for the jazz guitarist who was among the first to perform with the ES-150 guitar). The ES-150 achieved some popularity but suffered from unequal loudness across the six strings. A functioning solid-body electric guitar was designed and built in 1940 by Les Paul from an Epiphone acoustic archtop as an experiment. His " log guitar " —

12654-474: Was started on TikTok the same day. The group appeared on the October 28 episode of the variety show Weekly Idol . Tomorrow X Together began promoting the album with televised live performances on several South Korean weekly music programs , starting with Mnet's M! Countdown on October 29, where they performed "Blue Hour". The band also appeared on KBS ' Music Bank , SBS MTV 's The Show , MBC M 's Show Champion , and SBS ' Inkigayo , to perform

12768-455: Was that some songs were omitted for time purposes, and the most popular tracks were left on. Unlike most EPs before them, and most seven-inch vinyl in general (pre-1970s), these were issued in stereo . Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar . It uses one or more pickups to convert

12882-737: Was the Ibanez Jem (1987) which featured "24 frets", an impossibly thin neck" and was "designed to be the ultimate shredder machine". Numerous other important electric guitars are on the list, including Gibson ES-150 (1936), Fender Telecaster (1951), Gibson Les Paul (1952), Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet (1953), Fender Stratocaster (1954), Rickenbacker 360/12 (1964), Van Halen Frankenstrat (1975), Paul Reed Smith Custom (1985) many of these guitars were "successors" to earlier designs. Electric guitar designs eventually became culturally important and visually iconic, with various model companies selling miniature model versions of particularly famous electric guitars, for example,

12996-545: Was unable to sell the idea behind his "App" guitar to either company. In 1946, Merle Travis commissioned steel guitar builder Paul Bigsby to build him a solid-body Spanish-style electric. Bigsby delivered the guitar in 1948. The first mass-produced solid-body guitar was Fender Esquire and Fender Broadcaster (later to become the Fender Telecaster ), first made in 1950, five years after Les Paul made his prototype . The Gibson Les Paul appeared soon after to compete with

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