Science, Technology and the Arts

In the book Consilience by Edward O. Wilson, two fundamental ways of knowing the world (i.e., creating knowledge) will emerge as the paradigms for the 21st Century: Science and the Arts. The Arts reveal truths about the human experience that can only be verified through such experience, but the arts also extend our vision of ourselves and expand the reality of what it is to be human.

Science produces knowledge, which can only be verified through external observation and internal verification through the exactness of mathematics. It is a knowledge that can be verified and reproduced by others, essentially establishing the reality of facts or the facts of reality.

Technology may be the magic elixir that enables these two great paradigms of knowledge making to intersect and exchange in ways we have not yet dreamed about. Technology is the enabler, extending our reach beyond the limits of imagination, empowering us in wondrous ways. But we should also note with caution that sometimes technique can overpower and replace content. Sometimes it is difficult to know the difference between technical achievement so dazzling we cannot see there is no substance.

In music, technique has been the grand interpreter of excellence. Acquiring technique has required incredible effort and achievement has been hard won and often long-suffering. What many object to in the new technology is that beginners are empowered with the expressive range almost the equivalent of masters. Such mastery comes too easily, and the outcome is still in question, at least inviting new inquiry and review.

But perhaps we need patience to understand that such replicas of achievement are not new emerging masterworks. They are really the relics and artifacts of the past in new clothing. The new technologies and processes are busily assimilating and digesting the content of the past, and we have yet to see the emergence of a true mastery of the new techniques, the new technologies. We are too easily led astray by the glib constructs of technical prowess. New master artists will emerge when completely new paradigms of understanding and expression are uncovered in new probings of the human condition.

Connectivity and the Domain of Making Music

Suddenly I realized that today a musician's computer is virtually useless unless it is connected to the Internet.

Several years ago, this was not the case. The CPU was almost the exclusive domain of activity, and being connected to the Internet was a convenience, an asset you appreciated, but your musical computing went on, regardless.

Now, musicians cannot function effectively as 21st Century creators without being connected to the Internet. For one thing, computer applications are updated with new features, functionality, and security almost daily. For another, musicians exchange music notation and sound files routinely as they compose and rehearse for performances. The Web can provide an important interactive planning space for performances and productions.

But I think that many of us are ready for a Google-like company in music that understands the concept of distributed computing, so that the computer would connect to a digital music world that erases the proprietary nature of music notation. Cross platform applications in recording and midi technology have made this concept one that can be achieved somewhat easily. But we really have a need for Logic, Cubase, Sibelius, Finale, Pro Tools, and others to become on-line processors where we can connect from anywhere in the world and work on our recordings or musical scores.

This would be the equivalent of a true musical blog, where the blogger creates musical content rather than words.

I realize that this runs counter to traditional models of capitalism, and yet, Google has been able to thrive in the world of distributed computing as a model business venture for the 21st Century. Part of the problem may be that companies that have designed music notation programs have approached these applications in a very conservative manner. These notation programs seem most useful for someone with an existing score to transfer to computer notation. These applications have achieved a phenomenal engraver-like quality and as such, are great for desk top music publishing. But such programs are so rigidly designed that they are quite frustrating for a composer. This approach to notation does not allow for intuitive sketching.

What we need is a musical sketchbook tool that exists like a blogger. It needs to accommodate the traditional notational practices while allowing for innovative interpolation of new notation to include new expressive needs for the 21st Century. More importantly, this sketching tool should reside on the server so that upgrades are maintained at the source and the person working is only concerned with the creative act of making music.