The Wallace Initiative commissioned working papers/artistic responses from Bay Area artists about deepening, expanding, and diversifying cultural participation, hoping to generate new ideas and spark conversations between regional artists and arts organizations.
John Santos, composer, bandleader, educator, and recipeint of The San Francisco Foundation‘s 2011 In the spirit of the Helen Crocker Russell Award, writes on what role evolving technology plays in how music is created and disseminated, as well as the implications on the art form as a whole in his essay Music and Technology.
By nature the computer is an evolving technology, with new programs and software emerging every day for unlimited uses including storing data, composing and creating written scores, recording, editing, and performing … Someone with a poor sense of time or tuning can record and electronically adjust the time and tuning to sound 100% accurate! Is this person a professional musician?
As a traditional musician John is wary but excited by these new advances in music, especially in a time where arts are receiving less funding. To continue exploring these ideas, click here to download a PDF of Music and Technology.
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