Music technology

Music technology is about using tools and machines to help make, play, and enjoy music. Musicians and composers have used different kinds of technology for many years to create songs, write down ideas, and share music with others. From simple tools like tuning forks to complex computers, these technologies help artists bring their ideas to life.

There are many types of music technology. For making music with machines, you can look at Music technology (mechanical). For tools that use electricity, check out Music technology (electric). And for the latest digital tools, see Music technology (electronic and digital). These tools help musicians compose, notate their work, playback recordings, and even analyze the sounds they create.

Music technology matters because it changes how we experience music. It allows artists to try new sounds, helps people record their music easily, and makes it possible to share music around the world. Whether you’re playing a song on a digital piano or listening to music on your headphones, music technology is an important part of the musical world.

History

The earliest known use of technology in music was when people made simple flutes by drilling holes in bones. Over time, many cultures made their own instruments. The Ancient Egyptians made stringed instruments like harps, lyres, and lutes, as well as wind instruments and percussion instruments.

Later, during the Middle Ages, people began using music notation to write down melodies. The Renaissance music era saw the invention of the printing press, which made it easier to make and share sheet music. In the 20th century, inventions like the gramophone record and radio broadcasting let more people listen to music. New technologies kept changing music, adding electric instruments and digital tools that helped musicians create new sounds.

Mechanical technologies

Findings from old archaeological sites show that people made instruments by carving and piercing tools. Scientists have found flutes made from bones with holes pierced in them. China has some of the oldest musical traditions, with references to music found in ancient scriptures.

Music and chanting were used in ancient Egypt for magic and rituals, with small shells used as whistles. Evidence of musical instruments dates back to the Predynastic period, when funerary chants played an important role in Egyptian religion. The Old Kingdom saw the development of technologies for constructing harps, flutes, and double clarinets.

The Indus Valley civilization had sculptures showing old musical instruments, like the seven-holed flute. Various types of stringed instruments and drums have been found by excavations.

According to the Scriptures, Jubal was the father of harpists and organists. The harp was among the chief instruments and was used at both joyful and mournful ceremonies. Another stringed instrument of the harp class, and one also used by the ancient Greeks, was the lyre. A similar instrument was the lute, which had a large pear-shaped body, long neck, and fretted fingerboard with head screws for tuning.

In ancient Greece, instruments were divided into three categories based on how sound is produced: string, wind, and percussion. The lyre, kithara, aulos, Pan pipes, and hydraulis were among the instruments used.

The Romans may have borrowed the Greek method of notation to record their music. Roman art depicts various woodwinds, brass, percussion, and stringed instruments. Roman-style instruments are found in parts of the Empire where they did not originate and indicate that music was among the aspects of Roman culture that spread throughout the provinces.

Roman instruments include:

• The Roman tuba was a long, straight bronze trumpet with a detachable, conical mouthpiece.
• The cornu was a long tubular metal wind instrument that curved around the musician's body.
• The tibia, usually double, had two double-reed pipes.
• The askaules was a bagpipe.
• Versions of the modern flute and panpipes.
• The lyre, borrowed from the Greeks.
• The cithara was the premier musical instrument of ancient Rome.
• The lute was known by several names among the Greeks and Romans.
• The hydraulic pipe organ (hydraulis), which worked by water pressure.
• Variations of a hinged wooden or metal device, called a scabellum used to beat time.
• Drum and percussion instruments like timpani and castanets, the Egyptian sistrum, and brazen pans.
• The sistrum was a rattle consisting of rings strung across the cross-bars of a metal frame.
• Cymbala were small cymbals: metal discs with concave centres and turned rims, used in pairs which were clashed together.

A number of musical instruments later used in medieval European music were influenced by Arabic musical instruments, including the rebec (an ancestor of the violin) from the rebab and the naker from naqareh. Many European instruments have roots in earlier Eastern instruments that were adopted from the Islamic world. The Arabic rabāb, also known as the spiked fiddle, is the earliest known bowed string instrument and the ancestor of all European bowed instruments, including the rebec, the Byzantine lyra, and the violin.

During the medieval music era the plainchant tunes used for religious songs were primarily monophonic. In the early centuries of the medieval era, these chants were taught and spread by oral tradition. The earliest Medieval music did not have any kind of notational system for writing down melodies. As Rome tried to standardize the various chants across vast distances of its empire, a form of music notation was needed to write down the melodies. Various signs written above the chant texts, called neumes were introduced. By the ninth century, it was firmly established as the primary method of musical notation.

Instruments used to perform medieval music include earlier, less mechanically sophisticated versions of a number of instruments that continue to be used in the 2010s. Medieval instruments include the flute, the wooden recorder and the related instrument called the gemshorn, and the pan flute. Medieval music used many plucked string instruments like the lute, mandore, gittern and psaltery. The dulcimers, similar in structure to the psaltery and zither, were originally plucked, but became struck by hammers in the 14th century after the arrival of new technology that made metal strings possible.

Bowed strings were used as well. The bowed lyra of the Byzantine Empire was the first recorded European bowed string instrument. The Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih of the 9th century cited the Byzantine lyra as a bowed instrument equivalent to the Arab rabāb and typical instrument of the Byzantines along with the urghun (organ), shilyani (probably a type of harp or lyre) and the salandj (probably a bagpipe). The hurdy-gurdy was a mechanical violin using a rosined wooden wheel attached to a crank to "bow" its strings. Instruments without sound boxes like the jaw harp were also popular in the time. Early versions of the organ, fiddle (or vielle), and trombone (called the sackbut) existed in the medieval era.

The Renaissance music era saw the development of many new technologies that affected the performance and distribution of songs and musical pieces. Around 1450, the printing press was invented, which made printed sheet music much less expensive and easier to mass-produce.

Many instruments originated during the Renaissance; others were variations of, or improvements upon, instruments that had existed previously in the medieval era. Brass instruments in the Renaissance were traditionally played by professionals. Some of the more common brass instruments that were played included:

• Slide trumpet: Similar to the trombone of today except that instead of a section of the body sliding, only a small part of the body near the mouthpiece and the mouthpiece itself is stationary.
• Cornett: Made of wood and was played like the recorder, but blown like a trumpet.
• Trumpet: Early trumpets from the Renaissance era had no valves, and were limited to the tones present in the overtone series. They were also made in different sizes.
• Sackbut: A different name for the trombone, which replaced the slide trumpet by the middle of the 15th century

Stringed instruments included:

• Viol: This instrument, developed in the 15th century, commonly has six strings. It was usually played with a bow.
• Lyre: Its construction is similar to a small harp, although instead of being plucked, it is strummed with a plectrum. Its strings varied in quantity from four, seven, and ten, depending on the era. It was played with the right hand, while the left hand silenced the notes that were not desired. Newer lyres were modified to be played with a bow.
• Hurdy-gurdy: (Also known as the wheel fiddle), in which the strings are sounded by a wheel which the strings pass over. Its functionality can be compared to that of a mechanical violin, in that its bow (wheel) is turned by a crank. Its distinctive sound is mainly because of its "drone strings" which provide a constant pitch similar in their sound to that of bagpipes.
• Gittern and mandore: these instruments were used throughout Europe. Forerunners of modern instruments including the mandolin and acoustic guitar.

Percussion instruments included:

• Tambourine: The tambourine is a frame drum equipped with jingles that produce a sound when the drum is struck.
• Jew's harp: An instrument that produces sound using shapes of the mouth and attempting to pronounce different vowels with one's mouth.

Woodwind instruments included:

• Shawm: A typical shawm is keyless and is about a foot long with seven finger holes and a thumb hole. The pipes were also most commonly made of wood and many of them had carvings and decorations on them. It was the most popular double reed instrument of the Renaissance period; it was commonly used in the streets with drums and trumpets because of its brilliant, piercing, and often deafening sound. To play the shawm a person puts the entire reed in their mouth, puffs out their cheeks, and blows into the pipe whilst breathing through their nose.
• Reed pipe: Made from a single short length of cane with a mouthpiece, four or five finger holes, and reed fashioned from it. The reed is made by cutting out a small tongue but leaving the base attached. It is the predecessor of the saxophone and the clarinet.
• Hornpipe: Same as reed pipe but with a bell at the end.
• Bagpipe/Bladderpipe: It used a bag made out of sheep or goat skin that would provide air pressure for a pipe. When the player takes a breath, the player only needs to squeeze the bag tucked underneath their arm to continue the tone. The mouth pipe has a simple round piece of leather hinged on to the bag end of the pipe and acts like a non-return valve. The reed is located inside the long metal mouthpiece, known as a bocal.
• Panpipe: Designed to have sixteen wooden tubes with a stopper at one end and open on the other. Each tube is a different size (thereby producing a different tone), giving it a range of an octave and a half. The player can then place their lips against the desired tube and blow across it.
• Transverse flute: The transverse flute is similar to the modern flute with a mouth hole near the stoppered end and finger holes along the body. The player blows in the side and holds the flute to the right side.
• Recorder: It uses a whistle mouthpiece, which is a beak-shaped mouthpiece, as its main source of sound production. It is usually made with seven finger holes and a thumb hole.

During the Baroque era of music technologies for keyboard instruments developed, which led to improvements in the designs of pipe organs and harpsichords, and to the development of the first pianos. During the Baroque period, organ builders developed new types of pipes and reeds that created new tonal colors. Organ builders fashioned new stops that imitated various instruments, such as the viola da gamba. The Baroque period is often thought of as organ building's "golden age," as virtually every important refinement to the instrument was brought to a peak. Builders such as Arp Schnitger, Jasper Johannsen, Zacharias Hildebrandt and Gottfried Silbermann constructed instruments that displayed both exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful sound. These organs featured well-balanced mechanical key actions, giving the organist precise control over the pipe speech. Schnitger's organs featured particularly distinctive reed timbres and large Pedal and Rückpositiv divisions.

Harpsichord builders in the Southern Netherlands built instruments with two keyboards that could be used for transposition. These Flemish instruments served as the model for Baroque-era harpsichord construction in other nations. In France, the double keyboards were adapted to control different choirs of strings, making a more musically flexible instrument (e.g., the upper manual could be set to a quiet lute stop, while the lower manual could be set to a stop with multiple string choirs, for a louder sound). Instruments from the peak of the French tradition, by makers such as the Blanchet family and Pascal Taskin, are among the most widely admired of all harpsichords and are frequently used as models for the construction of modern instruments. In England, the Kirkman and Shudi firms produced sophisticated harpsichords of great power and sonority. German builders extended the sound repertoire of the instrument by adding sixteen-foot choirs, adding to the lower register and two-foot choirs, which added to the upper register.

The piano was invented during the Baroque era by the expert harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, Italy, who was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. Cristofori invented the piano at some point before 1700. While the clavichord allowed expressive control of volume, with harder or louder key presses creating louder sound (and vice versa) and fairly sustained notes, it was too quiet for large performances. The harpsichord produced a sufficiently loud sound, but offered little expressive control over each note. Pressing a harpsichord key harder or softer had no effect on the instrument's loudness. The piano offered the best of both, combining loudness with dynamic control. Cristofori's great success was solving, with no prior example, the fundamental mechanical problem of piano design: the hammer must strike the string, but not remain in contact with it (as a tangent remains in contact with a clavichord string) because this would damp the sound. Moreover, the hammer must return to its rest position without bouncing violently, and it must be possible to repeat the same note rapidly. Cristofori's piano action was a model for the many approaches to piano actions that followed. Cristofori's early instruments were much louder and had more sustain than the clavichord. Even though the piano was invented in 1700, the harpsichord and pipe organ continued to be widely used in orchestra and chamber music concerts until the end of the 1700s. It took time for the new piano to gain in popularity. By 1800, though, the piano generally was used in place of the harpsichord (although pipe organ continued to be used in church music such as Masses).

During the Classical Era the piano underwent tremendous changes that led to the modern form of the instrument. This revolution was in response to a preference by composers and pianists for a more powerful, sustained piano sound, and was made possible by the ongoing Industrial Revolution with resources such as high-quality steel piano wire for strings, and precision casting for the production of iron frames. Over time, the tonal range of the piano was also increased from the five octaves of Mozart's day to the 7-plus range found on modern pianos. This technological advancement of the piano was pioneered by John Broadwood and Robert Stodart, who made improvements to Bartolomeo Cristofori's previous piano escapement action. Cristofori's action was popularized by his pupils, Johannes Zumpe and Americus Backers, as the "English" action, but it was considered rudimentary despite its efficiency. So, with the improved materials of the industrial revolution, this action was refined by Robert Stodart in 1777, and then by John Broadwood in 1780, allowing the piano to produce better dynamics and sound. They quickly gained a reputation for the splendour and powerful tone of their instruments, with Broadwood constructing ones that were progressively larger, louder, and more robustly constructed.

They sent pianos to both Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, and were the first firm to build pianos with a range of more than five octaves: five octaves and a fifth (interval) during the 1790s, six octaves by 1810 (Beethoven used the extra notes in his later works), and seven octaves by 1820. The Viennese makers similarly followed these trends; however the two schools used different piano actions: Broadwoods were more robust, Viennese instruments were more sensitive.

Beethoven's instrumentation for orchestra added piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones to the triumphal finale of his Symphony No. 5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver storm and sunshine in the Sixth. Beethoven's use of piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones, and untuned percussion in his Ninth Symphony expanded the sound of the orchestra.

During the Romantic music era one of the key ways that new compositions became known to the public was by the sales of sheet music, which amateur music lovers would perform at home on their piano or in chamber music groups, such as string quartets.

The industrial revolution also brought improvements to brass instruments. Specifically, the invention of brass valves (beginning in 1814) allowed many brass instruments to become fully chromatic, and they made their way into orchestras and other music groups. The keys on the first chromatic trumpet, the keyed trumpet, were replaced by valves. Other brass instruments followed, such as the french horn, tuba, and euphonium. Hector Berlioz was the first to use these new instruments in his Overture to Les Francs-juges in 1826. Their usage was soon followed in Fromental Halévy's Opera La Juive, premiered in 1835. Saxophones, which are not brass but are considered woodwind instruments, were also invented around the 1840s by Adolphe Sax. He desired the over-blowing aspect that woodwind instruments had which allowed them to get overtones, so it was designed using a single-reed mouthpiece. Sax applied for and received a patent for his instrument in 1846, and serious usage of his instrument began slowly over time. However, this instrument would not be widespread until long after the romantic period, as support from the classical community quickly waned, and instead gained interest from contemporary musicians in the United States during the 20th century.

The piano continued to undergo technological developments in the Romantic era, up until the 1860s. By the 1820s, the center of piano building innovation had shifted to Paris, where the Pleyel firm manufactured pianos used by Frédéric Chopin and the Érard firm manufactured those used by Franz Liszt. In 1821, Sébastien Érard invented the double escapement action, which incorporated a repetition lever (also called the balancier) that permitted repeating a note even if the key had not yet risen to its maximum vertical position. This facilitated rapid playing of repeated notes, a musical device exploited by Liszt. When the invention became public, as revised by Henri Herz, the double escapement action gradually became standard in grand pianos and is still incorporated into all grand pianos currently produced. Other improvements of the mechanism included the use of felt hammer coverings instead of layered leather or cotton. Felt, which was first introduced by Jean-Henri Pape in 1826, was a more consistent material, permitting wider dynamic ranges as hammer weights and string tension increased. The sostenuto pedal, invented in 1844 by Jean-Louis Boisselot and copied by the Steinway firm in 1874, allowed a wider range of effects.

One innovation that helped create the sound of the modern piano was the use of a strong iron frame. Also called the "plate", the iron frame sits atop the soundboard, and serves as the primary bulwark against the force of string tension that can exceed 20 tons in a modern grand. The single piece cast iron frame was patented in 1825 in Boston by Alpheus Babcock, combining the metal hitch pin plate (1821, claimed by Broadwood on behalf of Samuel Hervé) and resisting bars (Thom and Allen, 1820, but also claimed by Broadwood and Érard). The increased structural integrity of the iron frame allowed the use of thicker, tenser, and more numerous strings. In 1834, the Webster & Horsfal firm of Birmingham brought out a form of piano wire made from cast steel; according to Dolge it was "so superior to the iron wire that the English firm soon had a monopoly."

Other important advances included changes to the way the piano is strung, such as the use of a "choir" of three strings rather than two for all but the lowest notes, and the implementation of an over-strung scale, in which the strings are placed in two separate planes, each with its own bridge height. The mechanical action structure of the upright piano was invented in London, England in 1826 by Robert Wornum, and upright models became the most popular model, also amplifying the sound.

With 20th-century music there was a vast increase in music listening, as the radio gained popularity and phonographs were used to replay and distribute music. The invention of sound recording and the ability to edit music gave rise to new subgenre of classical music, including the acousmatic and Musique concrète schools of electronic composition. Sound recording was also a major influence on the development of popular music genres, because it enabled recordings of songs and bands to be widely distributed. The introduction of the multitrack recording system had a major influence on rock music, because it could do much more than record a band's performance. Using a multitrack system, a band and their music producer could overdub many layers of instrument tracks and vocals, creating new sounds that would not be possible in a live performance.

The 20th-century orchestra was far more flexible than its predecessors. In Beethoven's and Felix Mendelssohn's time, the orchestra was composed of a fairly standard core of instruments which was very rarely modified. As time progressed, and as the Romantic period saw changes in accepted modification with composers such as Berlioz and Mahler, the 20th century saw that instrumentation could practically be hand-picked by the composer. Saxophones were used in some 20th-century orchestra scores such as Vaughan Williams' Symphonies No. 6 and Symphony No. 9 and William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. In the 2000s, the modern orchestra became standardized with the modern instrumentation that includes a string section, woodwinds, brass instruments, percussion, piano, celeste, and even, for some 20th century or 21st-century works, electric instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass and/or electronic instruments such as the Theremin or synthesizer.

Electric and electro-mechanical

Electric music technology uses instruments and devices that work with electricity. These include the electric piano, electric guitar, Hammond organ, and electric bass. These instruments need to be connected to amplifiers and loudspeakers to make their sound loud enough.

The electric piano makes sound when keys are pressed. The electric guitar uses pickups to turn string vibrations into electrical signals. The Hammond organ creates sound by rotating a metal tonewheel. The electric bass, similar to the electric guitar, also uses pickups to turn string vibrations into sound.

Electronic or digital

Electronic or digital music technology includes tools like computers, effects units, and software that help musicians create and perform music. These tools are used for playing, recording, mixing, and editing sounds. Today, many people use software like digital audio workstations and Pro Tools, but electronic music tools have been around since the early 1900s, like the Hammond organ.

A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that creates sounds through electric signals. These sounds can copy real instruments or create brand-new sounds. Synthesizers are usually played with a musical keyboard but can also be controlled with other devices like electronic drums.