Technological advancements have marked the progress of information, transportation, and manufacturing. These changes have also considerably altered the way people live. In transportation, horses and carriages were replaced by cars and steam engine trains, eventually yielding to planes. In communication, letters morphed into telephones, emails and instant messages. No aspect of life remained untouched to the wave of industrialisation, least of all music.

“Mass production of instruments has liberated music from the court and put it in the hands of the people.”

Music was much changed by the moving industry – the instruments themselves, the people who enjoyed music, and how music was shared was all pushed by the incoming technology. The invention of several instruments marked the beginning of the modern orchestra. The clarinet, saxophone, and tuba were all new favourites of the 18th century. With better technology, many instruments also increased their volume, range, and precision. Steel strings replaced cat guts on the violin family, valves were added to the trumpet, the piano got a head-to-toe makeover including cast iron framing, felt hammers, and pedals. All these changed completely overhauled both the sound of the orchestra and the solo instrument. Composers flexed their artistic muscles and wrote styles such as sturm und drang (storm and stress) and bel-canto (beautiful singing), now made capable by the technology. New instruments made possible the Beethoven sonatas, the Brahms symphonies, and the Wagnerian operas, so much of which permeates our world today.

Mass production of instruments has liberated music from the court and put it in the hands of the people. With industrialisation, instruments became affordable to not only the rich and noble but to anyone who wished to learn. The popularisation of music created the bohemian romantic artist, one that made their living teaching students, writing critiques and giving concerts. Technology gave music the freedom to move away from commissions by the patron to pure creativity.

Art and Science go together

With the advent of the digital age came another revolution. Not only can music be recorded or cheaply distributed, it can also be easily manipulated. Quarter tones, distortions, sound waves at frequencies previously unheard are now ubiquitous. The line between sound and music is now thinner than ever. An explosion of genres marked this new evolutionary stage – the amount of choice is now overwhelming. Ceaselessly, technology marches on with most programs able to search through the massive aural library. The exponential technological advancements make the future of music entirely unpredictable but more exciting than ever