February 22, 2014 editorial: comments

As the editor of a music technology website, one of the things I think about a lot is the impact that technology has on the artistic side of music. Technological developments have always been a factor in the evolution of musical styles. For instance: electric instruments were key to the creation and development of rock and roll. Delay units were essential in the emergence of dub, which grew out of reggae. Electronic drum machines and samplers greatly impacted the development of hip-hop. Auto-tune went from a way to fix vocal tuning to a (very overused) creative effect. And the incredible precision editing and effects available in today’s DAW environment have made possible the technical acrobatics in dubstep and other EDM genres.

And those are just a few examples. It certainly makes sense, as musicians will take the tools available to them and get creative with them, and inevitably, new musical styles will emerge.

These days, we have the technology available to emulate a wide range of instruments from behind a MIDI controller; to process, chop up, and rearrange audio in unprecedented ways; and record mix and master entire albums from a laptop, or even now from an iPad.

It’s pretty heady stuff, and pretty exciting, but it also requires that musicians know a lot more than just how to play an instrument or sing. These days, using technology as a creative tool is part of being a musician, and that’s one of the reasons Audiofanzine exists. We’re here to help give recording musicians and producers a online community in which to learn about gear and techniques, and to communicate with each other and with us. So, please feel free to write your own user reviews, post comments on our articles, and post to our forum. We want to hear from you!

Thanks,

Mike Levine