Skip to main content

The Digitalization of Musical Instruments and Musical Practice

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Digitalization in Industry

Abstract

Facing the possibilities of digital music production and the Internet, the “digital revolution” promised to bring about new aesthetic possibilities as well as a democratization of music culture. How did the promises play out in the experience of musicians? This article traces the main developments in the musical instruments industry in the course of digitalization and discusses its effects on artistic strategies and musical practice. It argues for a differentiated view of the effects of digitalization for musicians. On the one hand, the computer expanded the artistic possibilities of musicians while it facilitated the precarization of working conditions on the other.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Akrich, M. (1992). The Description of Technical Objects. In W. E. Bijker & J. Law (Eds.), Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (pp. 205–224). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ames, C. (1987). Automated Composition in Retrospect: 1956–1986. Leonardo, 20(2), 169–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbrook, R., & Cameron, A. (1996). The Californian Ideology. Science as Culture, 6(1), 44–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates, E. (2012). The Social Life of Musical Instruments. Ethnomusicology, 56(3), 363–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bense, A. T. (2014). Musik und Virtualität. Digitale Virtualität im Kontext computerbasierter Musikproduktion. Osnabrück: Electronic Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjørn, K. (2017). Push Turn Move: Interface Design in Electronic Music. Copenhagen: Bjooks Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bovermann, T., de Campo, A., Egermann, H., Hardjowirogo, S., & Weinzierl, S. (Eds.). (2017). Musical Instruments in the 21st Century: Identities, Configurations, Practices. Singapore: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, H.-J. (Ed.). (2002). Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, H.-J. (Ed.). (2016). Creativity: Technology and Music. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockhaus, I. (2017). Kultsounds. Die prägendsten Klänge der Popmusik 1960–2014. Bielefeld: Transcript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brøvig-Hanssen, R., & Danielsen, A. (2016). Digital Signatures: The Impact of Digitization on Popular Music Sound. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Buxmann, P., Diefenbach, H., & Hess, T. (2013). The Software Industry: Economic Principles, Strategies, Perspectives. Heidelberg and New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, N. (2008). The Analysis of Generative Music Programs. Organised Sound, 13 (3), 237–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, N., McLean, A., Rohrhuber, J., & Ward, A. (2003). Live Coding in Laptop Performance. Organised Sound, 8(3), 321–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Custodis, M. (2013). Playing with Music—Featuring Sound in Games. In P. Moormann (Ed.), Music and Game (pp. 159–170). Wiesbaden: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickel, S., & Schrape, J. (2015). Dezentralisierung, Demokratisierung, Emanzipation. Zur Architektur des digitalen Technikutopismus. Leviathan, 43(3), 442–463.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diduck, R. A. (2018). Mad Skills: MIDI and Music Technology in the Twentieth Century. London: Repeater.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eno, B. (1996). Generative Music. Motion Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/eno1.html.

  • Friedewald, M. (2003). Die fortwährende Konstruktion des Computernutzers. Leitbilder in der Geschichte der Mensch-Computer-Interaktion. Technikgeschichte, 70(4), 255–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, T. (2007). Wired Shut. Copyright and the Shape of Digital Culture. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goltz, F. (2018). Ableton Link—A Technology to Synchronize Music Software. In H. von Coler, F. Neumann, & D. Runge (Eds.), Proceedings of the Linux Audio Conference 2018 (pp. 39–42). Berlin. Retrieved from https://lac.linuxaudio.org/2018/pdf/LAC2018_proceedings.pdf.

  • Großmann, R. (2010). Distanzierte Verhältnisse. Zur Musikinstrumentalisierung der Reproduktionsmedien. Retrieved from http://www2.hu-berlin.de/fpm/popscrip/themen/pst09/pst09_grossmann.html.

  • Grote, F. (2016). Interfaces for Sound: Representing Material in Pop Music Production. In R. Großmann & G. Hajdu (Eds.), SMC 2016 Proceedings: 13th Sound & Music Computing Conference (pp. 193–196). Hamburg: Zentrum für Mikrotonale Musik und Multimediale Komposition (ZM4). Retrieved from https://smc2016.hfmt-hamburg.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SMC2016_proceedings.pdf.

  • Gugerli, D. (2018). Wie die Welt in den Computer kam. Zur Entstehung digitaler Wirklichkeit. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardjowirogo, S. (2017). Instrumentality: On the Construction of Instrumental Identity. In T. Bovermann, et al. (Eds.), Musical Instruments in the 21st Century: Identities, Configurations, Practices (pp. 9–24). Singapore: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hess, T., & Ünlü, V. (2004). Systeme für das Management digitaler Rechte. Wirtschaftsinformatik, 46(4), 273–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, H. (1979). Kultur für alle. Perspektiven und Modelle. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hracs, B. J. (2016). Working Harder and Working Smarter: The Survival Strategies of Contemporary Independent Musicians. In B. J. Hracs, M. Seman, & T. E. Virani (Eds.), The Production and Consumption of Music in the Digital Age (pp. 41–55). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyysalo, S., Jensen, T. E., & Oudshoorn, N. (Eds.). (2016). The New Production of Users: Changing Innovation Collectives and Involvement Strategies. New York: Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Music Software Trade Association. (2017). Myths. Retrieved from http://www.imsta.org/myths.php.

  • Kirn, P. (2012). Avid’s Sibelius Scoring Tool Marches on, but Without Its Creators, as Users Protest. Retrieved from http://cdm.link/2012/08/avids-sibelius-scoring-tool-marches-on-but-without-its-creators-as-users-protest/.

  • Kopytoff, I. (1986). The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process. In A. Appadurai (Ed.), The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective (pp. 64–91). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, M. (2018). Digitales Instrumentarium. Die Musikapp als zukünftiges Instrument in der Musikschule. üben & musizieren, 1, 40–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreidler, J. (2012). Musik mit Musik. Texte 2005–2011. Hofheim: Wolke.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. (1996). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lazzarini, V. (2013). The Development of Computer Music Programming Systems. Journal of New Music Research, 42(1), 97–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, G. E. (2000). Too Many Notes: Complexity and Culture in Voyager. Leonardo Music Journal, 10, 33–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews, M. V. (1963). The Digital Computer as a Musical Instrument. Science, 142(3592), 553–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MIMO Consortium. (2011). Revision of the Hornbostel-Sachs Classification of Musical Instruments. Retrieved from http://www.mimo-international.com/documents/Hornbostel%20Sachs.pdf.

  • Möllenkamp, A. (2014). Paradigms of Music Software Development. In T. Klouche & E. R. Miranda (Eds.), Proceedings of the 9th Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology—CIM 14 (pp. 61–63). Berlin: Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Möllenkamp, A. (2017a). Musiksoftware und die Demokratisierung der Musikkultur. Zu den Effekten der Digitalisierung für Musiker. In Samples 15. Retrieved from http://gfpm-samples.de/Samples15/moellenkamp.pdf.

  • Möllenkamp, A. (2017b). The Computer as a Musical Instrument: Music Software and Musical Practice in Transformation. In C. Restle, B. Brilmayer, & S. Hardjowirogo (Eds.), Good Vibrations: A History of Electronic Musical Instruments (pp. 55–59). Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neukom, M. (2005). Signale, Systeme und Klangsynthese. Grundlagen der Computermusik. Bern: Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pflüger, J. (2004). Writing, Building, Growing: Leitvorstellungen der Programmiergeschichte. In H. D. Hellige (Ed.), Geschichten der Informatik (pp. 275–320). Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Poser, S. (2016). Glücksmaschinen und Maschinenglück. Grundlagen einer Technik- und Kulturgeschichte des technisierten Spiels. Bielefeld: Transcript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puckette, M. (2002). Max at Seventeen. Computer Music Journal, 26(4), 31–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reckwitz, A. (2012). Die Erfindung der Kreativität. Zum Prozess gesellschaftlicher Ästhetisierung. Berlin: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roads, C. (2015). Composing Electronic Music: A New Aesthetic. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, R. (1993). Interactive Music Systems: Machine Listening and Composing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruschkowski, A. (2019). Elektronische Klänge und musikalische Entdeckungen. Stuttgart: Reclam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrape, J. (2016). Open-Source-Projekte als Utopie, Methode und Innovationstrategie. Historische Entwicklung - sozioökonomische Kontexte - Typologie. Glückstadt: Hülsbusch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sello, J. T. (2014). Die Klanginstallation. Ein interdisziplinäres Versuchslabor zwischen Kunst, Musik und Forschung. Hamburg: Kovač.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, C., & Varian, H. R. (2002). Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform Capitalism. Cambridge, UK: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stallman, R. M. (2002). Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays. Boston, MA: Free Software Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stange-Elbe, J., & Bronner, K. (2008). Musikinstrumentenindustrie im digitalen Paradigmenwechsel. In G. Gensch, E. Stöckler, & P. Tschmuck (Eds.), Musikrezeption, Musikdistribution und Musikproduktion. Der Wandel des Wertschöpfungsnetzwerks in der Musikwirtschaft (pp. 311–334). Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statista. (2019). App Stores. Retrieved from https://de.statista.com/statistik/studie/id/23703/dokument/app-stores-statista-dossier/.

  • Théberge, P. (1997). Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tschmuck, P. (2008). Vom Tonträger zur Musikdienstleistung - Der Paradigmenwechsel in der Musikindustrie. In G. Gerhard, E. M. Stöckler, & P. Tschmuck (Eds.), Musikrezeption, Musikdistribution und Musikproduktion. Der Wandel des Wertschöpfungsnetzwerks in der Musikwirtschaft (pp. 141–162). Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turkle, S. (1984). The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Hornbostel, E. M., & Sachs, C. (1914). Systematik der Musikinstrumente. Ein Versuch. Zeitschrift Für Ethnologie, 46(4–5), 553–590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warnke, M. (2011). Ästhetik des Digitalen. In H. Graber, D. Landwehr, V. Sellier, P. Haber, & C. Rosiny (Eds.), Kultur digital. Begriffe, Hintergründe, Beispiele (pp. 145–160). Basel and Zürich: Merian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zicarelli, D. (2002). How I Learned to Love a Program That Does Nothing. Computer Music Journal, 26(4), 44–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Möllenkamp .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Möllenkamp, A. (2019). The Digitalization of Musical Instruments and Musical Practice. In: Meyer, U., Schaupp, S., Seibt, D. (eds) Digitalization in Industry. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28258-5_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics