| Experiencing Music Technology |
Cengage Learning/Schirmer
|
Experiencing Music Technology (3rd Ed Update)by David B. Williams and Peter R. WebsterInternet support for the textbook published by Cengage Learning/Schirmer Books. Experiencing Music Technology is one of the leading college textbooks for music technology courses. ISBN 0-495-56554-7 |  |
| Site Navigation: EMT Home > 3rd Ed Preface |
Welcome
to the UPDATE for the Third Edition of Experiencing Music Technology. If you are familiar with
early versions of this textbook, we hope you will appreciate the changes herein and find this
version as useful as the last. If you are a new reader, enjoy this
introduction to music technology and its role in the contemporary music
scene.
Writing about this field is exciting business. Many times during the last year, we have stopped the process of reviewing and testing new software and hardware, remarking to each other how truly amazing the achievements of the field have been since our last edition. In 1993 when we first decided to create this textbook, we were motivated in large part by the power of music technology to enhance the musical experience of musicians of all ages and experience levels. As researchers, educators, and musicians, we saw the role of music technology as a major force in teaching the technical aspects of music and, perhaps most importantly, in encouraging the creative experience of music composition, improvisation, performance, and music listening. More than four years later as we conclude this edition updated, we believe this more than ever before.
Of course, maintaining such a book presents us with one obvious challenge: the persistence of change. Developments in hardware, software, and even the very culture of music technology itself, seem to escalate exponentially. Since 1999, we have seen (1) major operating system changes in both windows-based and Macintosh computers, (2) tripling of the power of personal computers while experiencing major drops in cost, (3) literally hundreds of new music software titles in every major category by companies in the United States and abroad, (4) new hardware devices for a variety of music needs at all price points, and (5) major shifts in the way music is acquired and enjoyed by us all. Just a few of the new technologies we have seen emerge include mobile computing, wireless, DVD and surround sound, soft synths and effects, and the prevailing dominance of digital audio, with a bias toward software rather than hardware solutions. All of this has an obvious effect on the ability of anyone to maintain a credible accounting of the field for those in and outside of academe.
The task is made a little easier because of the approach we have taken since the start. In each edition, we concentrate less on the specifics of each software program or piece of hardware and devote most of our space to what to expect in, for example, a good MIDI keyboard or sequencing program. We do include reference to specific products that are as current as possible to be sure, but we do so with the idea that the specifics are of less important than the direction of the technology. This approach continues in the third edition.
What also keeps the book current is our attention to the future. In the second edition, for example, we anticipated the growth of the Internet as a resource for teaching and for music productivity. Our design for categorizing computer-assisted instruction continues to be valid and useful for bringing order to this important part of music technology. Certainly the tendency for digital audio to be used more pervasively as part of sequencing and notation software has been carried to levels beyond our expectations. Predicted advances in DVD, computer connectivity, and other hardware and data structure content seems to have come to pass in the last three years. In this edition we continue to chronicle what is clearly on the horizon for the next short term, including such developments as Internet 2 for musicians, wireless and mobile computing, surround sound and MPEG, miniaturization, and software emulation of hardware.
Readers will note that we have also retained our accent on people and how they put technology to use (procedures) as the most important elements of music technology. Based on our continued experience as teachers, consultants, and workshop leaders, we continue to believe in the critical importance of understanding the underlying concepts and data structures for how music software and hardware function to help us be more musical and use the technology to full advantage. We also have continued to organize topic material into larger sections called viewports. For us, Viewports are "portals " for "viewing" and organizing major topics that reflect people's common use of music technology, such as digital audio, notation, and computer-assisted instruction. We have created revised modules in each larger section to reflect the concepts of data structures, software, and hardware.
Since our last writing, we have been pleased to hear from many students and instructors who have used the book; our research shows that the book is the most widely used in introductory college and university courses and this positive response has been most gratifying. We also find it is used in many other settings such as public school, community college, and for self-study. We are deeply indebted to the reviewers of the last edition, some known to us, and others who remain anonymous. Many have offered extensive and detailed suggestions for change and we have included as many of those suggestions as possible.
In the last version of the third edition, we incorporated many changes and these continue in the current upgraded edition. For example, we continue our emphasis on music and people. We have retained the structure that begins with overall issues of operating systems and Internet use, followed by several sections on digital audio and MIDI. We moved to notation and then end with computer-aided instruction. Throughout the book, we try to reflect the most leading-edge topics in music software, hardware, and data structures.
This update includes several new features. The majority of the screen shots have been completely redone to reflect the inevitable changes in software and hardware development in the last three years. We have included new software titles and deleted others, based on our understanding of the changing scenes in music production and in music instruction software. When appropriate, we have reflected the changes in major operating systems, including the development of Microsoft's Vista OS for PC computers and the new Leopard version of OS X for Macintosh. All of the hardware and key concepts have been reviewed, updated where needed, and new technologies and products replaced or added to reflect the current computer and computer music scene.
Perhaps the biggest change has been our decision to move the many project tutorials for software from a bundled DVD to online sources. After discussions with many users of the book--both instructors and students--and after considering changes in bookstore procedures and the obvious flexibility of online distribution, we are happy to provide a set of the most used tutorials in their current version as an online resource. Throughout the text, we include links to the projects in the same way we have always done. For information on access to these step-by-step project tutorials on important music software, consult our book website at www.emtbook.net.
Experiencing Music Technology, Third Edition, covers the essential topics a musician should consider when exploring the use of computers and technology in the many aspects of the music experience: listening, performing, composing, teaching, and managing. The book is designed as an introductory resource for a wide audience both inside and outside the academic setting. Though it is introductory in scope, it still provides considerable depth of coverage on critical music technology topics.
The book is modular in design, and its resources can be used in many ways. Although intended as the text for a complete undergraduate or graduate course of study devoted to music technology, it can also serve as a supplemental resource for other courses in the curriculum: general musicianship, piano pedagogy, theory and aural skills, arranging and orchestration, music composition and improvisation, instructional design, and other contemporary topics.
In addition, the book can be easily read and used for self-study by people who are simply curious about and intrigued by the use of computers for music making. Professional musicians, parents, children, computer aficionados, and lay musicians of all kinds may find the book helpful in increasing their understanding of music technology.
Experiencing Music Technology is designed to meet the following goals:
Online web-based projects are available to provide supportive tutorials to parallel the book materials. While the textbook illustrates concepts of music technology with a broad range of software examples, the Online Projects provide hands-on activities focused on specific commercial software to parallel the major topics in the book. All of the materials can be easily viewed through a Web browser.
Each software activity is a tutorial that features step-by-step directions in using a specific software application. A generous number of screen shots are provided to illustrate the steps in the tutorials. Links are included to related materials, including worksheets that students can use to track their progress and for teacher evaluation of work completed. These worksheets can be viewed and printed right from a Web browser or viewed online.
"What kind of computer should I use or buy?" is usually the first question musicians ask when they become interested in computers. As you will see, the type of computer hardware should be the last question to ask.
It is important to think of a computer not simply as a piece of hardware ready to plug in, like a television, but as a complete, integrated system. Consider that there are five essential ingredients to any computer system:
Before deciding what computer to use, for each of the five ingredients you would ask the following questions:
You can see that there are several things to think about before selecting the computer hardware.
First, consider people and the computer system. This refers to who is going to use the computer individually, in groups, or in combination: music students, children, teachers, performers, composers, conductors, or administrators. The people or musicians who use computers are the most important ingredient in building a computer system and, for that reason, a very important focus in this book.
Second, you should consider the procedure ingredient of the computer system. Now you need to think about how musicians are going to use the computer. Consider the array of tasks they would like the computer to do for them: teaching, performing, composing and arranging; marching-band charting; designing newsletters, programs, and sheet music; maintaining records, inventories, and mailing lists; writing, budgeting, and scheduling.
Third, consider the data ingredient. What kind of information is going to be processed or transformed by your computer? That's what a computer is after all: an electronic blender that transforms information. For musicians the data can be numbers, text, music notation, graphics images, music sounds, and music performance information from a keyboard, instrument controller, or drum machine.
Fourth, consider the software. The software ingredient comprises the instructions that give the computer machine its ability to perform a task. You need to investigate what computer programs are available to perform the procedure you need on the type of data you want to work with.
Finally, we arrive at the last ingredient of a computer system, the hardware. Given the decisions you have made about the people, procedures, data, and software ingredients, only now are you ready to select the best hardware for the task at hand.
In addition to the term viewport, there are a few other terms that are critical in this book. We need to be sure that we share a common understanding of what terms like musician, music experience, computer, and technology mean for us.
Musician
The term musician refers to anyone, at any level of sophistication, engaged in music experiences. This definition of musician includes the parent, child, student, teacher, administrator, performer, and composer. We realize that the usual use of this term refers to individuals with advanced skills in music, particularly in performance. However, in the interest of promoting a view of music computing that is accessible to the widest possible audience, we have chosen this more relaxed definition.
Music Experience
Music experience refers to the fundamental ways we interact with music cognitively, emotionally, and aesthetically as humans. Included in this are the processes of listening, performing, and composing music that are the hall-marks of music as art. Throughout this book, we are interested in ways that technology can enhance these fundamental aspects of experiencing music. In addition, we are concerned with how technology can aid the teaching and studying of music and the management of music activities. Although not primary music experiences, these activities are vital to music as practiced in our society.
Computer
The term computer, as used in this book, refers to small computer systems commonly known as personal computers. In creating our illustrations, we have chosen to focus on the two primary icon-based computing environments used today by musicians: (1) IBM PCs and their compatibles, commonly referred to as either "Windows " or "PC " machines, and (2) Macintosh, sometimes called "Mac ". Throughout the book we refer to these as either "Macintosh " or "PC " machines, or "Macintosh " or "Windows" operating systems, regardless of whether the versions are OS 9, OS X, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP, Vista or any future versions of these. By icon-based, we mean operating systems that use graphic images or icons for common operations with the computer. Similar operating systems can be found on other computers like the Sun workstations.
Technology
The term technology refers to computers and all of the music and non-music peripherals that are needed to perform music tasks with computers. These peripheral devices include such hardware as electronic music keyboards, MIDI controllers, printers, scanners, CD players, and so on.
| Experiencing Music Technology by David B. Williams and Peter R. Webster | Modified: Dec-2007 |