Music & Education Talks: Tomorrow's World

Hi all. I'm Stephanie, together with Virtual Sheet Music. And today I want to talk about technological development in the face of music. Now, I'm not talking about the invention of new instruments for humans to use and manipulate at will. This has happened time and again throughout music history, and is well documented. The invention of the clarinet, for example, had composers rubbing their hands with glee in the 1700s. So much so, that within a short space of time it came to occupy a fixed place in the orchestra.

The piano was another musical invention that impacted not only upon the way composers wrote, but upon the actual usage of tuning systems themselves. In more recent times, the use of synthesizers, electric instruments due to technology and so on, all reveal that there is no music without technological development. Now, by technology, I'm talking about the changes that will move us towards 2030, 2040, and beyond, affecting us all individually and collectively at every turn, from politics to social aspects, from the arts to education.

Now, to get you in the mood, I've included in the below script, a link which outlines a series of predictions about tomorrow's world from various experts, though who those said experts are is never actually made clear. Anyhow, you'll see that it has everything from population statistics, through to planet colonization. Fact or fiction, it's an interesting take on our future. And for my part, has me more than a little perturbed, for a variety of non-musical reasons, hence those particular opinions will be left out of the video.

The prediction that struck me most, and which does however have a bearing on music, was the speculation that people will be amputating their limbs, I'm assuming by the way, limbs that are healthy, to install low cost high tech prosthetics. Now, for me, this is simply a no-no. I'd almost call it a form of deliberate body mutilation in the name of perfection that a prosthetic presumably "promises." Emphasis on the word "promise" here. Now, over and above my personal distaste, there is a musical question. If you've prosthetic arms and hands, then is it you actually playing the instrument? And while we're at it, should there come a time where we can replace vocal chords, then who'll be doing the singing?

Now, this is not as banal a question as it might seem, and there are already parallels in other areas. Remember the double leg amputee athlete, Oscar Pistorius, he was the first disabled athlete to participate in the Olympics, as opposed to the Paralympics, despite objections that his artificial limbs gave him an unfair advantage. Whatever the science behind these claims, and no matter how pro you are when it comes to giving all of humanity the same chances, it is certainly an issue which leaves more questions than answers.

Turning back then to pre-fabricated robotic limbs, presumably learned the shape of robotic arm and fingers can be determined by the purchaser, who can then use this to his or her advantage on said instrument. Once installed, it's then just a question of sending the right communications down the nervous system, to be translated by the attached robotics, for the sounds you want. In effect, it's similar to the other idea that you'll have seen in the link. That of uploading brains into robotic carriers. The robotic bodies, the mule if you like, to the brain's commands.

The issue of course, is that instruments were designed around the human body, with all its strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies. A chin rest was designed for the chin. The choice of having 12 piano notes per octave must have been in part for the practical reason that we've got 10 fingers. A mouthpiece was designed for the mouth. Instrumental development would have taken a very different path if we'd had, say, 3 arms or 32 fingers.

The implication, at least for me, is that the human body is an essential factor in instrumental performance, you kinda can't have one without the other. And let's not forget the DNA Dicer work, which renders a person firstly, physically right for a chosen instrument. Secondly, mentally up to the task of discipline, [inaudible 00:04:40], setting, objectives, etc. And thirdly, prepared to take and gamble in one of the more uncertain career choices of the 21st century. It's these factors that contribute to the wonder of seeing a person perform, you know, the human physical, mental, emotional baggage. Is there a wonder beyond the scientific obviously, of seeing a top notch instrumentally specific prosthetic being used to handle about partita?

But there are other issues of course, especially when considering the human brain being uploaded into a robotic receptacle. I personally see the body as a manifestation of the mind, and therefore of my emotions, a holy trinity, so to speak, where one factor cannot exist without the other. And where there is ultimately no division between one aspect and the next. This is the fullness of being human. And humanity is an integral part of music. You give me a robot without loaded emotions, intellect, and a super precise technique, well, what am I supposed to think? Better designed body parts for robots, who knows? Twenty fingers, four arms, you know, whatever, to handle, you know, Chopin, Liszt. Together with top notch programming, just doesn't do it for me. Now, if you go online, you'll see many examples of musician robots, from the primitive to the [inaudible 00:06:12].

Finishing off today's futuristic musical considerations then is a final slightly scary implication. Will there be a time when we stop producing making music and delegate that responsibility to robots? Technology, after all, is fast rendering obsolete many jobs, so it should come as no surprise that music is likewise subject to this trend. With a society so based on excessive unhampered consumerism in any case, maybe humans as musical consumers will be merely the logical extension of such a philosophy in music.

So, with all this discussed today, please do write to me with your thoughts on tomorrow's world. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Bye.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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