With all of the recent technological developments in high-tech industries, how are new technologies impacting music? Of course, we all know about the negative effects digital music has had on the sale of music. Musicians and producers seem to be getting the short end of the stick as anybody anywhere can download streaming music for free. But the lesser known story is the way in which music technology is making musicians better and music richer.
More Choices for Hearing & Creating Music Than Ever
The music business starts with artistic people who have talent and a passion for music. Every musician, if they are not a vocalist, needs some kind of instrument to play. There are literally thousands of instruments available to choose from, and many of them have emerged out of cultures that created them long ago. Music News Beat lists over 600 musical instruments from around the world with links to videos that show the instrument in use. Never before have musicians had access to such a smorgasbord of instruments from which to choose and experiment with.
And new instruments are being created every day. IndustryTap wrote “Hard Rock’n Robots Strike Cord on the Music Scene,” an article about a robot band with the lead guitarist who has 78 fingers.
But the face of music creation is changing due to the availability of new mixing platforms that help musicians create music without literally playing an instrument. Of course, the old adage “garbage in, garbage out” applies, but some very talented musical people have created spectacular music using mixing technology and sold it for millions without ever leaving their bedroom, garage or basement.
In the following TED video, music technologist Matan Berkowitz discusses how he works “in the nexus of music technology and augmented reality. His unique prototypes utilize everything from EEG brainwaves and heartbeat sensors to custom-made designer hats, and have won a series of international awards in England, France and Israel.
Matan is the co-founder of Shift, a company that works with start-ups and organizations on positive impact through innovation, and DisCoTech, a framework dedicated to music technology for people with special needs. He is passionately developing a new set of tools to create, perform and understand music.”
