Music And Technology

I feel the growth of technology has benefited me a great deal in my musical affairs. I am able to conduct research easily, listen to a huge catalogue of music whenever I like, and experience music in more and more ways. I have gathered my thoughts on technology and music, and presented them below.

Instruments

There are lots of instruments that were traditionally acoustic and mechanical that now have electric counter-parts. I'll use the piano as my example here, as that is where most of my experience lies.

I love modern technology, and use many aspects of it in my daily life. In terms of music however I still like to do some things the traditional way. I am a pianist and own an acoustic upright piano, even though at the time of purchase there were an abundance of digital pianos I could have chosen.

Digital pianos have brought along some great advantages. As a piano tutor I find that student motivation is negatively affected if the instrument they are practising on is sub-standard. For their new interest to be cost effective, students will often acquire a cheap, old, second-hand acoustic piano, which is not in the best condition to start with. Due to maintenance costs the student may then not get the piano regularly tuned and serviced. This all results in an instrument that is poor sounding, which can contribute to low student morale. A digital piano however can now be purchased at a reasonable cost. It will never go out of tune, requires no maintenance, and apart from a little electricity requires no further financial expenditure. Further to this, many models allow you to record your playing directly onto the instrument, have built in metronomes, and a plethora of other useful tools. Many of my students now turn to the digital option to reap these benefits.

So why did I choose an acoustic piano? There are certain things a digital instrument can't fully replicate, such as the feel of the piano action when pressing a key, the "sympathetic vibrations" heard from the other strings when pressing a single note, and my satisfaction at gaining a beautiful melody from a purely mechanical creation; and of course, my piano will continue to work during a power failure!

Music Listening

Since starting this course, I have subscribed to the premium service offered by Spotify. This service allows me to stream millions of pieces of music to my computer and smartphone instantly, at any time. This has greatly increased my exposure to works that I wouldn't have otherwise heard without spending a great deal of money purchasing individual tracks or albums. A digital streaming service such as this allows a great deal of musical freedom, at no additional financial risk. I feel the benefits to my musical experience due to this have been immeasurable, gaining experience of different composers, cultures and genres. I firmly believe that with the "unlimited access for a monthly fee" format permeating more and more facets of the entertainment industry, this is the future for our music listening.

Technology provides access to music in other ways too. Performances can now be viewed live at a cinema screen, or on video streaming websites such as YouTube. Could these options dissuade people from the planning and expense of actually visiting a live performance?

Creating Music

Software such as Sibelius or Finale can be used to create professional looking scores on a home computer. These scores can then be immediately printed, e-mailed, or published on the web to be viewed by others. Someone receiving a copy of the digital file of the score can even play back the score to hear the music without it being physically performed. Other software such as Cubase provides an individual with a home studio for creating, recording and scoring music. Amateur bands now find it easy to record and upload songs to the world wide web, giving them more exposure, to a bigger audience, than ever before.

Contemporary classical composers often turn to technology to add ambiance or effects to their music. Ludovico Einaudi effectively uses electronic samples sparingly in some of his works, and in "Different Trains" Steve Reich used recorded fragments of human speech.

Conclusion

Modern technology now plays a part in all aspects of music. The most significant technological advances in my opinion has been the fusion of music and the internet. People can now access the music they want, immediately and in perfect digital quality, without ever leaving their chair. Niche artists have a solid platform to cheaply promote their works in the form of blogs, social media, and video streaming sites. Low maintenance and affordable digital instruments are available to people wanting to try a new avocation. Technology has brought with it choice and opportunity to the mainstream, and I struggle to see any significant downside to this.

Violin image by C Julius K (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Studio image by LiquidMolly (originally posted to Flickr as my studio) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons