Introduction to Music Technology

Two case studies

Does the tool change the music?

A violin technique that recording invented
A composition method that only exists because of records

The recording changed how violins are played

Before recording, vibrato was a rare ornament. Joseph Joachim’s 1903 recording of Bach is almost entirely straight tone.
Fritz Kreisler became the first violinist to vibrate continuously, and by the 1930s Jascha Heifetz’s constant vibrato defined the modern violin sound.
Mark Katz calls this a “phonograph effect”: a change in musical behavior caused by recording technology.

Katz gives three reasons the phonograph pushed vibrato from ornament to default:

Vibrato projected through the acoustic recording horn. A straight tone got lost in the surface noise, while vibrato’s pulsing intensity cut through, like a blinking light in fog.
Recording made mistakes permanent. Vibrato oscillates the pitch fast enough that the ear hears a single average, which gives the player room to correct intonation on the fly.
Recording removed the performer’s body. Listeners could no longer see passion, so players put it in the sound.

Listening pair: Mischa Elman’s straight-tone 1910 recording of Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat, then Heifetz’s 1918 recording of the same piece. On the high E-flat, Elman nearly disappears and Heifetz rings out.

Source: Mark Katz, Capturing Sound, rev. ed., ch. 4, “Aesthetics Out of Exigency.”

Sampling quotes a performance

Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” (1989) stacks dense, chopped samples because the degraded vinyl sound itself carried the message.
Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You” (1998) samples Camille Yarbrough’s 1975 “Take Yo’ Praise,” slowed down, with the vinyl crackle left loud.
The Grey Album (2004) mixed Jay-Z’s vocals with Beatles samples.

Fields that touch music technology

Audio engineering: Broadcast/Sound Engineering Technician (BLS)
Music production: Music Producer (Berklee Online)
Acoustics: Senior Acoustic Engineer (ASA)
Sound design: Sound Designer (Prospects)
Game audio: Sound Designer (PlayStation)
Music education: NAfME and music therapy: AMTA

Hardware: sound capture and production

Microphones convert sound waves into electrical signals. The main types are dynamic, condenser, and ribbon.
Loudspeakers convert electrical signals back into sound waves.
Pickups come in two families: magnetic coils for electric guitars and basses, and piezoelectric elements for acoustic instruments.

Electronic instruments

Theremin

The theremin is one of the earliest electronic instruments, and you play it without touching it.

Synthesizers

Synthesizers generate sound electrically and shape it with filters, envelopes, and modulation.

Buchla synthesizer demo

Software tools

Software synthesizers are virtual instruments that model hardware or invent new sounds.
Sample libraries are collections of recorded sounds ready for music creation.
Audio effects process sound digitally, and DAWs like REAPER tie all of it together.

Activities in music technology

Sequencing arranges musical elements for playback, and composing creates the material in the first place.
Mixing balances the tracks of a recording, and mastering prepares the finished mix for release.
Live sound, programming, and live coding carry the same skills onto the stage.

Live coding demonstration

Quick activity: 120 years of electronic music

Katz gave us two inventions that changed music. Now go find your own.

Visit 120years.net
Spend a few minutes browsing the site
Pick one instrument, invention, or story that stands out to you

Turn to a partner or small group and share what you found:
- What is it called and when was it made?
- What stood out to you about its design, sound, or history?
- Can you connect it to anything you already know about music or sound design?

Whole class discussion

Volunteers share highlights. Guiding questions:
- Did anyone find an instrument that feels like an ancestor to today’s tech?
- Did you notice recurring themes in invention or use?
- Which ones seemed totally bizarre or impractical?
- Katz’s question, applied backward: what did this invention change about how people made music?

Source

The two case studies come from Mark Katz, Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music, rev. ed. (University of California Press, 2010), chapters 1, 4, and 7.