Has Technology Ruined Art? Part I: Technology's Impact

Hi, I'm Robert Estrin. Welcome to virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com.

Today, we start the first of a three-part series about technology's impact on music. Today's question is a loaded question. I'm sure it'll elicit many strong responses. The question is, "Has technology ruined music?" I'm sure there are many people who have strong emotions about the subject, but I going to try to break it down in an honest, balanced way for you to see what impact has technology had on music.

Well, it's very easy to look at current technologies and say, "Well, where there used to be live music, now they have DJs, and some musicians are put out of work and don't feel good about that." Or, other people might hear electronic dance music and say, "That's not music. In my day we played bowed instruments." There's all kinds of strong feelings, but get a little bit of perspective for a moment.

There was a time before the piano existed, before the harpsichord existed, where these were new-fangled technologies. Where, really, the original instrument, the human voice, that was the supreme instrument. And then people would bang things. And flutes developed quite early, relatively. So all of these are really technologies. So you have to ask yourself, "Did the coming of the piano ruin the harpsichord?" Some would argue yes. There are people who still specialize in baroque music and play the harpsichord in favor of the piano.

So this is really the crux of the matter. In some ways, yes, societies do move on and the technologies of each age impact the art, not just music, but all art. Architecture, for example, is a classic example. There is art in architecture and the architecture of today is dramatically different from years ago. Some people revere the old and yet there's some spectacular new art.

So ultimately, it's the nut behind the wheel. It is the person making the expression that makes all the difference in the world. These are merely tools. You might not like how some people have utilized newer tools relative to older tools, but that doesn't mean that the tools themselves have any flavor one way or the other. They're just vehicles of expression.

So while it might seem that there might be preponderance of music that you might not like because maybe a lot of it is controlled with computers or people who can't even play a musical instrument. And particularly school musicians have worked hard to master a traditional instrument might feel somehow cheated by people out there, successfully in some cases, utilizing technologies that they don't have the faintest idea how to operate or even care for the sounds.

But the good news is that we can all make our music in whatever ways that you enjoy. And there's always an audience for great music, whatever it is, whether it's the human voice or a synthesizer.

So that's my opinion. I'd love to hear from all of you. I'm bound to get a lot of different impressions and opinions on the subject. So send them to me, robert@livingpianos.com and we'll go through those. And I'll respond to some of the interesting questions in future videos for you.

Again, Robert Estrin, here at livingpianos.com and virtualsheetmusic.com.

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