Bone Flute to Auto-Tune: On the Long History of Music and Technology

For music practitioners, scholars and consumers, “music and technology” tends to mean recording, electronics or computers - suggesting that before or without these things, we have “just music.” This presentation will advance a broader view of “music and technology” in order to think about how music has shaped our tools and tools have shaped our music across their long history. In particular, this presentation will look at technologies of audiovisual culture that informed musical thought and practice in the period from Haydn to Beethoven; and use a historical perspective to critique prevailing assumptions about the functions and effects of music technology today, suggesting alternative directions for the future.