Meeting some new bachelor’s students today, I had to explain that “music technology” is not a thing, it is a scientific discipline. Although many people think of a synthesizer as “a” music technology, I am trying to explain that it is based on music technology. Here, I briefly support this claim.

Defining “technology”

The word “technology” originates from the Greek techne (art, craft, skill) and logia (study). The term thus refers to tools, techniques, and systems humans create to solve problems or enhance capabilities. Technological development has been a cornerstone of human development since the beginning. This has been driven by the continuous development of knowledge in addition to the “things”. The invention of the wheel—to use a classic innovation example—wasn’t bound by the specific, physical wheel. The revolutionary aspect was figuring out how that physical, round object would enable faster transport.

Defining music technology

In the same way that technology in general is not about the things themselves, but about the knowledge that can be used to make things, music technology is not about specific musical devices. For example, the “logy” of a synthesizer is how you can create sound through electronic means.

In the same way, you could argue that a piano is based on the knowledge of how hammers can be used to hit strings in a resonating box. Or how dots on paper can represent a melody.

Music technology as a research discipline

One of the cool things about music technology as a discipline, is that it sits on the intersection of art and science. Therefore, many people—myself included—work with both artistic and scientific methods.

Generally speaking, one could argue that music technologists are involved in both creating, using, and reflecting on tools and systems used in various musical ways. Some key areas and related conferences/communities:

  • Recording sound: AES (Audio Engineering Society)
  • Syntesizing sound: SMC (Sound and Music Computing Conference)
  • Processing sound: DAFx (Digital Audio Effects Conference)
  • Composing with sound: ICMC (International Computer Music Conference)
  • Analyzing sound: ISMIR (International Society for Music Information Retrieval)
  • Interacting with sound: NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression)

As this list shows, music technology is a thriving research field with many subdisciplines. However, there is not that many of us and we are mostly “hiding” within departments with other names. I, for example, work in a musicology department. Others work in departments for computer science, electrical engineering, media studies, design, and so on. That may be one of the reasons the discipline itsef is not well known or understood.