To many people, listening to their favorite music as they go about business is a necessity. To others, it is simply a diversion as they go about the boring day-to-day chores we have in life. For some, it is a sensual experience and a form of creative self-expression, whether as an active participant or merely an avid listener.
I myself don’t just enjoy music; I live and breathe for music. I am a musician/songwriter and when I am not writing music or playing music somehow life is not the same for me. This is how I express my emotions, share thoughts, and converse with the world around me. Many times I get lost in the height of a passionate compositional piece, only to find the time has passed by so quickly that I have forgotten all the things on my mind that have been bothering me.
As technology becomes more advanced, sometimes the creative and artistic aspects of music become less vital to the world than the equipment it’s transmitted on. We might ask ourselves what life would be like without technology, but consider life without some form of music. Without the passion that some music can give us, all the devices that we have at our disposal wouldn’t be quite as interesting.
Consider watching television without music in the background; or a movie without a soundtrack. Who cares about how large the screen is or clear the picture is? How exciting would the picture our eyes focus on be without our aural senses participating?
I don’t care how many mp3 players or stereo systems are on the market. No one would be buying these products if we as human beings didn’t crave some form of music to soothe our souls. At times, technological advancement in our lives can stress us out. We reach for our headphones and listen to music to help us cope.
I must admit, being a musician that composes and plays totally by my senses, I don’t know what I would do without the technological advances in music in the past decade. I would not be able to do what I do as effectively or as effortlessly if it weren’t for digital multi trackers, compact disk recorders, and all the other high-tech devices at my disposal. At one time, an amateur musician could not afford to own any of these devices or be capable of operating them without some kind of experience in recording engineering. So for me, technology and music are a perfect mix.
