Music technology (electronic and digital)
Digital music technology encompasses digital instruments, computers, electronic effects units, software, or digital audio equipment by a performer, composer, sound engineer, DJ, or record producer to produce, perform[1] or record music. The term refers to electronic devices, instruments, computer hardware, and software used in performance, playback, recording, composition, mixing, analysis, and editing of music.
This article focuses on digital music technology and only references analog technology to provide historical context. For more detailed information on analog music technologies, see Music technology (electric)Computers in music technology after 1980s[edit]
Following the widespread adoption of MIDI, computer-based MIDI editors and sequencers were developed. MIDI-to-CV/Gate converters were then used to enable analogue synthesizers to be controlled by a MIDI sequencer.[19]
Reduced prices in personal computers caused the masses to turn away from the more expensive workstations. Advancements in technology have increased the speed of hardware processing and the capacity of memory units. Software developers write new, more powerful programs for sequencing, recording, notating, and mastering music.
Digital audio workstation software, such as Pro Tools, Logic, and many others, have gained popularity among the vast array of contemporary music technology in recent years. Such programs allow the user to record acoustic sounds with a microphone or software instrument, which may then be layered and organized along a timeline and edited on a flat-panel display of a computer. Recorded segments can be copied and duplicated ad infinitum, without any loss of fidelity or added noise (a major contrast from analog recording, in which every copy leads to a loss of fidelity and added noise). Digital music can be edited and processed using a multitude of audio effects. Contemporary classical music sometimes uses computer-generated sounds—either pre-recorded or generated and manipulated live—in conjunction or juxtaposed on classical acoustic instruments like the cello or violin. Music is scored with commercially available notation software.[44]
In addition to the digital audio workstations and music notation software, which facilitate the creation of fixed media (material that does not change each time it is performed), software facilitating interactive or generative music continues to emerge. Composition based on conditions or rules (algorithmic composition) has given rise to software which can automatically generate music based on input conditions or rules. Thus, the resulting music evolves each time conditions change. Examples of this technology include software designed for writing music for video games—where music evolves as a player advances through a level or when certain characters appear—or music generated from artificial intelligence trained to convert biometrics like EEG or ECG readings into music.[45] Because this music is based on user interaction, it will be different each time it is heard. Other examples of generative music technology include the use of sensors connected to computer and artificial intelligence to generate music based on captured data, such as environmental factors, the movements of dancers, or physical inputs from a digital device such as a mouse or game controller. Software applications offering capabilities for generative and interactive music include SuperCollider, MaxMSP/Jitter, and Processing. Interactive music is made possible through physical computing, where the data from the physical world affects a computer's output and vice versa.[17]