Music And Technology In The 21st Century
A BRIEF OVERVIEW BY PAUL McGETTRICK
Over the past twenty years, the impact of developments in technology on almost all areas of musical activity, and the wider music industry, has been profound, and often, transforming in nature. In this article, Paul McGettrick provides an overview of this impact and highlights future trends, challenges, and opportunities.
Throughout history, developments in technology have always had an impact on musical activity. From the earliest sound-producing objects, through the evolution and development of instruments such as the piano, flute, and violin, musicians have embraced and made use of the technologies of their time. The invention of the printing press brought improvements in music notation and greater access to sheet music.
In the more recent past, developments in recording, broadcasting, communications, electronics, and computing, have made the most significant impact. Recorded sound, and subsequently, radio and television broadcasting, brought a new and broader world of musics into peoples' homes, making the global 'local'. The 1920s saw the appearance of the first electronic musical instruments, the theremin and the ondes martenot; later in the century, electric guitars and synthesizers[1] - first analogue and then digital - were to gain a more widespread acceptance. The arrival of tape recording enabled the manipulation of recordings of natural sounds, facilitating the musique concrète[2] of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry in the 1940s. In the following decade, Karlheinz Stockhausen pioneered the use of electronics and synthesis techniques where sounds are both produced and modified by purely electronic means.
It is hardly an exaggeration to suggest that we are currently in a phase of technological development which differs in nature, scale, and sheer speed of musical impact from any that has gone before. Within this phase, four events to date stand out as being of particular significance: the development in 1981 of the personal computer, the introduction in 1983 of MIDI[3], the widespread impact of digital[4] technologies, and, most recently, the pervasiveness of computer networks.[5]
The Impact of Technology on Music Today
Traditionally the preserve of research centres, universities, and recording studios - largely due to cost factors - the musical applications of technology are today to be seen wherever musical activity is encountered. The computer revolution in digital audio, the availability of powerful computers at affordable prices, and the empowering potential of these machines - both individually and in networks - have created new possibilities and career opportunities in almost every sphere of musical activity, and opened up new avenues of research that were scarcely imaginable twenty years ago.
In composition, two broad approaches[6] to the use of technology may be discerned, with some composers choosing to use it to assist existing compositional practices while others seek to explore new possibilities offered by the new technologies. A computer in conjunction with a sound card or module, notation or sequencing[7] software, and amplifier, speakers, and printer, becomes a powerful composer's workstation. It facilitates score input through a variety of input methods,[8] offers orchestration and playback facilities, and powerful editing capabilities, and makes full printouts of the score, and even parts extraction, available at the click of a mouse button. Some composers have enthusiastically embraced technology for this range of capabilities. For others the physical act of notating music on manuscript paper remains a fundamentally important part of the creative process, one for which they prefer not to enlist the support of technology. In the end, technology simply offers a range of facilities and capabilities from which the composer can choose.
The new technologies also offer new compositional possibilities, particularly in areas such as electro-acoustic[9] and algorithmic[10] composition, some of which involve a reappraisal of the very nature of composition and performance. Instead of writing for a pianist, quartet, or orchestra, composers may now become sound artists, with total control over the composition and the 'performance', as they have the tools, such as sound synthesis[11] and manipulation programs[12], which allow them begin with a completely blank canvas and actually create and manipulate the sounds themselves. Often there is no score, with the finished composition existing solely as an audio recording in digital format. Indeed, much music being composed today provides only an aural experience - there is no visual performance element as there are no performers[13].
The boundaries between composition, performance, and improvisation all blur with the combined use of electronic instruments, gesture-tracking devices[14] in conjunction with music programming environments,[15] and recorded sound. Technological developments facilitating the transition from non-realtime to realtime[16] modes of operation in sound synthesis - and thus live synthesis for example - have also helped to broaden the range of performance possibilities. The remarkable success of the Drake Music Project [17] highlights the hugely beneficial impact of new performance interfaces for musicians with physical disabilities who are unable to play conventional musical instruments.
In music education there are now many excellent aural-training[18] and music theory[19] applications, and authoring environments[20] - requiring minimal experience of technology on the part of the user - which enable music educators to design interactive CD-based educational packages featuring synchronised text, graphics, and audio. The number of hypermedia[21] applications is increasing with good examples in music history, analysis, and orchestration. Many recent music education initiatives are technology-based,[22] some[23] exploiting the potential of the internet to facilitate distance learning.
In the field of musicology many of the main resource materials are now available online[24]; some recent publications are online-only[25] and incorporate multimedia[26]. Other research resources provide access to abstracts of music literature[27], documentation on music sources[28], and bibliographic records for doctoral dissertations in musicology[29]. A scan of the annual directory Computing in Musicology [30] reveals the myriad of applications of technology in the study of many musics and musical issues, with specialised musicological toolkits[31] often being used.
In the wider music industry the impact of developments in technology has been dramatic[32]. As sales of commercial CDs continue to decline[33] and sales of blank CDs rise - largely because of the impact of digital technologies and the internet[34] - new distribution models are emerging[35]. There is an increasing loss of tangibility as music can be easily transferred in the form of computer files from one device to another. Traditional recording studios are having to diversify because of the affordability of computer music workstations to many of their previous clients. In music publishing, internet-publishing alliances[36] are being formed between the traditional music publishers and the main music notation software companies. For the composer and performer, many of the developments are positive - even liberating in some instances - as musicians now have access to tools which enable them to bypass many of the industry layers previously associated with recording, production, marketing, and distribution: the web is a great shop window. On the negative side the readily available access to large archives of music over the internet and the ease with which these music files can be copied has led to digital rights management becoming an issue of major concern.
Emergence of Music Technology as a Discipline
One of the outcomes of all this technology-based activity in music has been the emergence of Music Technology / Computer Music[37] as a discipline of teaching, learning, and research in third-level educational institutions, responding to the demand for courses in the musical applications of these new technologies. Embracing Music, Engineering, and Computer Science and concerned with technology-based research and activity in sound and music, music technology bridges the traditionally perceived Arts-Science divide and is a perfect example of inter-disciplinary activity today. In the early 1990s various taxonomies[38] were being proposed for this new field of study, but even a glance at outline music technology syllabi today gives an indication of the scope of the discipline: it includes subject areas such as Acoustics & Psychoacoustics; Electro-acoustic Music & Composition; Sound Synthesis & Manipulation; Music Programming; MIDI: Theory & Practice; Recording, Editing & Production; Digital Audio; Digital Signal Processing; Technology in Music Education; Music, Multimedia, & the Internet; Interactive systems. Music Technology has a particularly strong profile in Ireland, with four[39] institutions offering postgraduate programmes in 2003-4 and two[40] of the main research centres situated here. The music technologists graduating from these courses emerge both as artists and scientists. There are also many centres and colleges offering vocational courses - targeted more towards the specific needs of the recording industry - in the related areas of sound and audio engineering.
The research profile and maturity of Music Technology as a discipline is reflected in both the number of research centres[41] worldwide and the number and diversity of international conferences held, the most important of which is the annual International Computer Music Conference. There is a substantial volume of literature in the field, with the works of Roads[42] and Dodge & Jerse[43] providing comprehensive overviews of the discipline and many publishers[44] with titles across the whole music technology spectrum. Peer-reviewed journals include the Computer Music Journal and Organised Sound, while magazines such as Sound on Sound and Electronic Musician are oriented more towards the home studio owner.
A further outcome of technology's impact on music can be seen in the diversity of new employment opportunities available to those who have an understanding of the new technologies and can apply them creatively: music and sound design for film, TV, radio, CD ROMS, world wide web, and games; sound engineer (freelance, studio, TV, radio, concert venue); technology-based composition and performance; employment in internet and digital media companies; CD production and internet promotion for musicians; application development (music / sound programming); music and sound algorithms (e.g. pattern matching, composition, digital signal processing); technology-based music education; location and studio recording; music typesetting; music software and hardware companies.
The Musician's Workstation in 2004
The engine at the heart of all the musical applications described earlier is the personal computer. A computer is essentially an Input-Process-Output machine - with a storage facility - extremely efficient at processing alphanumeric data. At the core of any computer is the processor or CPU (Central Processing Unit). Such has been the level of success in advancing computing technology in general, and processing power in particular, that we now have desktop and even laptop computers with vastly greater power and capabilities than the large mainframe computers of years ago. It is worthwhile at this point examining briefly how this inanimate number cruncher can wear so many musical hats.
Sound can be represented numerically through the process of digital recording or sampling[45]. With sound and music software installed and appropriate hardware attached - such as microphone, audio and MIDI interface, electronic keyboard, and headphones or amplified speakers - the computer becomes a powerful music workstation which can fulfil a diversity of roles previously filled by many separate pieces of music hardware[46]. Another outcome of the improvements in processing power has been the transition from non-realtime to realtime modes of operation, mentioned earlier, facilitating for example instant auditioning of complex sound manipulations and live synthesis.
A computer music workstation[47] in 2003 might have the following general specification:
Desktop or Laptop Computer[48]
Multi I/O[49] Digital Audio and MIDI Interface[50]
Active Loudspeakers[51]
Microphones[52]
Sound and Music software[53]
Such a virtual studio environment, in conjunction with high-speed networks, is the working environment of choice for many of today's digital musicians. Many excellent sound and music applications[54] can be downloaded free of charge from the internet; others have review copies available. The annual Frankfurt Music Fair in March showcases the latest products from the main music hardware and software companies.
Future Trends, Challenges and Opportunities
Current research and development is a good indicator of future trends and opportunities in music technology. Technology will continue to become more powerful, affordable, and invisible. High-speed networks - increasingly wireless - will facilitate a greater diversity of online and interactive music applications, many of them in the field of music education. Machine interfaces will be more musician-friendly and new performance instruments will be developed - many not requiring physical contact with the instrument. Music search engines[55] will enable powerful queries to be made of music archives. Convergence will be a prominent feature of new hardware devices and software environments[56]. As in the mainstream computing world where the free software movement is gaining momentum, similar initiatives[57] in the music technology world are beginning to show signs of promise. The range of tools available to composers will continue to increase and will facilitate collaborations across art forms.
Along with the opportunities will come many challenges. In order to fully exploit the musical potential of developments in technology, musicians will need to be receptive to learning about the possibilities afforded by the new technologies while, at the same time, remembering that these are just tools, and no substitute for creativity. While there will be a need for training courses[58] to fill the knowledge vacuum created by the ever-changing nature and speed of developments, musicians themselves will also need to be more proactive in influencing, and collaborating on development. Perhaps the largest ongoing challenges are in the areas of digital rights management, intellectual property, and in creating accepted standards for the representation and storage of audio and music - issues which often discourage the development of certain kinds of applications that are technically feasible. Technology itself can contribute to the resolution of these issues in the same way that MIDI was developed in 1983 to allow electronic music instruments from different manufacturers 'speak' to each other.
Technology in the form of computing, or whatever form it manifests itself in the future, is just a tool, albeit an extremely powerful one with something to offer every musician. The impact of technology on music over the last twenty years has been profound and empowering, and in some areas transforming and liberating. The continuing challenge for musicians will not only be in harnessing the potential of technology for creative purposes but in actively contributing to the technological developments of the future.
Paul McGettrick is a lecturer in music technology at Dundalk Institute of Technology.
Notes
[1] Synthesizers provide the means to design sounds by specifying characteristics such as waveform, amplitude, and frequency components.
[2] Music which uses as its source material natural - as opposed to electronic - sounds.
[3] Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a 'language' for electronic musical instruments.
[4] Digital technologies enable, for example, sound to be represented numerically and stored as a computer file.
[5] The internet in particular has created opportunities for many musicians and impacted significantly on the music industry.
[6] Moore labelled them 'traditionalist' and 'revisionist' - see F.R. Moore, 'A Technological Approach to Music' in J. Paynter et al. (Eds) Companion to Contemporary Musical Thought, Vol. 2. (Routledge, 1992).
[7] Software for multitrack recording, editing, and playback.
[8] The computer keyboard and mouse are the primary means of input; the addition of a MIDI-capable electronic piano keyboard offers a further input option.
[9] Music composed with, or altered by, electronics.
[10] Composition in which computer programming plays a prominent role in the music generation process.
[11] B. Vercoe's Csound, an extremely powerful sound synthesis environment, is a free internet download; Reaktor is a more visual commercial alternative.
[12] CDP (the Composer's Desktop Project) is a powerful suite of sound manipulation tools specifically designed for electroacoustic composition. Wavelab and Soundforge are primarily sound editors.
[13] See T. Wishart On Sonic Art (Routledge, 1996); for web introductions see 'Sound Transformations in Electroacoustic Music' by L. Landy and 'Computer Sound Transformation' by T. Wishart.
[14] Examples are the MIDI-based ICube, Atomic Pro, MIDI Creator & Gesture, and Soundbeam. When used in conjunction with sound modules they effectively become new performance instruments.
[15] Max/MSP and PD (Pure Data) are examples of MIDI and audio programming environments. See T. Winkler Composing Interactive Music (MIT Press, 2001) for an introduction to the compositional applications of Max.
[16] In realtime modes of operation sound synthesis calculations are immediately output i.e. heard (as opposed to non-realtime where there is a time delay).
[17] A charity providing the opportunity for people with disability to compose and perform their own music.
[18] Earope and Auralia are good examples.
[19] Musition and the Sibelius suite of music education applications are examples.
[20] CALMA (Computer Assisted Learning for Musical Awareness, University of Huddersfield) is free and downloadable from the web; Timesketch editor is a similar commercially available authoring environment.
[21] Hypermedia applications combine voice, music, still pictures, full-motion video and text. An example is Kid Riffs, a compositional environment for children.
[22] Excellent examples are the House of Music in Vienna and Ceol (devoted to Irish traditional music), previously in Dublin, but now relocating to Dundalk IT.
[23] Scoiltrad, for example, focuses on instrumental tuition in Irish traditional music over the Internet.
[24] These include, for example, Stanley Sadie (ed.) New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2001) and the principal peer-reviewed journals.
[25] Music Theory Online
[26] Ethnomusicology Online
[27] RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale / International Repertory of Music Literature)
[28] RISM (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales / International Inventory of Musical Sources)
[29] Doctoral dissertations in musicology online.
[30] W.B. Hewlett & E. Selfridge-Field eds (1985-Present) Computing in Musicology (Centre for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities)
[31] D. Huron's Humdrum toolkit and D. O Maidin's CPNView are examples.
[32] See 'The Fall of the Music Industry' in Wired, (February 2003). For information on the state of the music industry in Ireland see Shaping the Future: A Strategic Plan for the Future of the Irish Music Industry (Music Board of Ireland, 2003) and also The Economic Significance of the Irish Music Industry (Music Board of Ireland, 2003).
[33] See IFPI annual yearbook The Recording Industry in Numbers (2001 and 2003).
[34] File sharing and download initiatives such as Napster, Kazaa and Peer to Peer technology have impacted significantly on CD sales.
[35] Examples are recent online initiatives by Apple (Itunes) and EMI for downloading music.
[36] Both Boosey & Hawkes and Hal Leonard (music publishers) have agreed online distribution deals with Sibelius (music notation software company).
[37] The two terms are now practically synonymous.
[38] See S.T. Pope. 'A Taxonomy of Computer Music' in Computer Music Journal (Spring, 1994) MIT Press; also A. Camurri, G. De Poli, and D. Rocchesso. 'A taxonomy for sound and music computing' in Computer Music Journal, 19(2):4-5, 1995 MIT Press.
[39] University of Limerick, Queen's University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, NUI Maynooth; also Dundalk Institute of Technology (from September 2004).
[40] Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast and Media Lab Europe in Dublin.
[41] Three of the principal research centres are IRCAM (Paris), Media Lab (Massachusetts), and the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (USA). See also Note 40 above.
[42] C. Roads. The Computer Music Tutorial (MIT Press, 1996).
[43] C. Dodge & T. Jerse. Computer Music 2nd ed. (Schirmer, 2001).
[44] Focal Press, for example, has a comprehensive range of music technology texts.
[45] In digital recording, samples of the amplitude of a waveform are taken at regular intervals and each sample is returned as a number. Related representations include MIDI and notation schemes.
[46] Synthesizer, sampler, mixer, effects unit etc. - devices with internal processors and each with its own modus operandi, usually a small LCD display with knobs and buttons
[47] The addition of a controller such as an electronic MIDI-capable piano keyboard and a laser printer would increase the input and output options.
[48] At the time of writing the following computer specification would be suitable for musical purposes: Pentium 4 or Apple G5 machine, 1GB RAM, large fast (7200 rpm) hard disk; USB2 and Firewire ports.
[49] Input/Output
[50] Some audio-interface manufacturers: RME, Maudio, MOTU, Digidesign, Aardvark.
[51] Some manufacturers of active (i.e. with amplifier) loudspeakers: Genelec, Mackie.
[52] Some microphone manufacturers: Shure, AKG, Rode, Neumann.
[53] Examples include Cubase SX (Sequencing); Sibelius (Notation); Wavelab, CDP (Sound Editing and Manipulation); Pro Tools, Audition (Multi-track recording and editing); Reaktor, Csound (Sound synthesis); Halion (Sampling); Earope, Calma (Music Education).
[54] Csound, Calma (see Note 53); NotePad (notation).
[55] The musical equivalent of text search engines such as Google.
[56] One indicator of this is the purchase of music technology companies by digital media, computing and publishing companies e.g. Apple acquiring Emagic.
[57] The EU-funded AGNULA project - creating a distribution of the free operating system Linux optimised for audio and music - is one such initiative.
[58] There is a particular challenge for music educators to keep abreast of developments in technology and a need for more in-service training similar to the Computers in Teaching Initiative (Music) in the UK.
While the author (FMC) has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the information contained in this article is accurate, such information is not guaranteed. The author and the FMC will not be held responsible for individual decisions taken as a result of information contained in this article which is intended for general information purposes.
