A piece of music technology specifically a streaming platform that I had chose was YouTube. The purpose of this streaming platform was to be able to share various types of videos, and be able to do all of the following in one place. For instance, many individuals are able to view, like, share, comment, stream, post stories and download these videos on all different devices. It works to achieve this purpose because it is an app everyone has access to use. With this app they are able to watch countless of different videos on whatever they please which includes songs and music videos. I do not think there are any people that uses this technology in a way that it was not designed for. However, in the past you were only able to upload videos and different clips now Yutube has added many new features that everyone can try. I do have experience with this technology I used to use it almost everyday but now I use it everyonce in a while. With this technology you are a to see a variety of different songs  but a piece of music that I chose was “Dependent” by Keenan Te. This song was released and soon made its way to Youtube within this song it is accompanied by one voice which is in the range of alto and a piano. This song timbre could be described as smooth, and sad like. This technology influence the music it helped to  produce because it was able to be listen to by millions of people.

 https://youtu.be/H0USk7DX7ZM

A piece of music technology I have chosen is the drums. Drums are a type of membranophone, a category of instruments where sound is produced by a stretched membrane. The drums’ purpose is to keep the appropriate beat for the song or piece of music it is being played in. To do that a drummer, or percussionist, must hit the drumhead at the correct time in the song to create the beat or melody of the song. Other ways percussionists use the drums are by hitting the rim of the drum, hitting both the rim and the drumhead at the same time, or using a different item other than a drumstick to hit the drum like a brush. All these methods can create different sounds on the drum. But some people have not always used drums to keep a song in time, but instead used it to walk or march in time to the beat of the drum. I have played the drums for a little over 9 years now, giving me extensive experience with this technology which I enjoy using very much. An example of a piece of music using this technology is Van Hale’s “Hot for Teacher.” The song immediately starts with only the drums setting a fast pace for the music and an overall tone making the song energetic and fun to listen to.

A loop pedal is a tool that records a section of music and then plays it back on a loop. Most loop pedals allow a person to play more sections over the first one. And can even change the tempo as well as the direction of the playback loop, so you could play it in reverse, or what section is playing at the moment. This allows anyone to create different harmonic sounds and rhythms easily. The pedal can be used for any instrument as long as it can record the sound. Although if someone wanted to use a loop, they don’t necessarily need to use a physical pedal. Because technology is advancing, there are software’s a person can download to use this same effect from their computer or phone. I believe one of the most commonly used programs to use this would be GarageBand. Since it is already pre downloaded onto many Apple products, it is easily accessible to everyone. With garage band anyone could record anything and remix it, loop it, or add many effects to a sound. Many people can be seen using one on TikTok to cover a song or promote their own, as it became a trend for a little to try and cover a song with only a loop pedal. And I haven’t seen anyone use it in another way other than what it was meant to be used for. Personally I haven’t used a loop pedal but I have tried to use the one in the Garage band application on my computer and it worked pretty well.  

The human voice is an instrument that has existed for as long as humans have. It has provided humans with the ability to communicate with one another and make sounds. The human voice requires many parts of the body to work together to create noise and function. It states on page 11, “The human voice is essentially a wind instrument, with the lungs supplying the air, the vocal cords setting up the vibrations, and the cavities of the upper throat, mouth, and nose forming a resonating chamber”. A total of 5 parts of the body need to work together as a unit for us to make sounds and a lack of these parts will prevent us from doing so. Each of these parts plays its individual role whether it is to create vibrations or supply air to the body, so that sounds may be produced. The human voice has many uses so it is difficult for us to say it was designed for a certain purpose. However, the main function of the human voice would be to make noise or sounds that allow us to communicate with one another. In this process, we use it to make music or to act in plays. It states on page 11, “The words in secular music may express feelings, narrate a story, describe activities associated with work or play, comment on social or political situations, convey a nationalistic message, and so on”. Through the human voice, we incorporate it to create different forms of art whether it may be plays or songs. Its uses are very broad and do not have an incorrect use. I have a lot of experience with his technology as I happen to use it every day. I either use it to speak to someone or when I hum/sing to a song I like. As a matter of fact, most people tend to use this technology every day on a day-to-day basis as we all rely heavily on it. A lot of music nowadays uses the technology but from the large variety of songs, I believe the song “Hello” by Adele has the best usage of the musical technology. In the song despite the numerous amount of instruments and sounds that are played Adele’s voice remains the centerpiece of the song. With her voice, she expresses feelings of sadness and the long sense of missing someone. The technology allowed the song to sound more harmonious as it was well-balanced and did not overpower the music.  

A piece of musical technology that is a streaming platform would be Spotify. Spotify is an easily accessible streaming service that can be downloaded to virtually all platforms. This includes desktop pcs, laptops, phones, gaming consoles, and more. The purpose of Spotify is to make music accessible in virtually any place as long as you have a device to do so. It works to achieve that purpose by making users pay anywhere from $5 to $20 a month to have access to the library of music they offer and download said music to play it anywhere. People use this technology in a way it wasn’t designed for by finding loopholes in the music system and putting literal movies on there and also make new genres on spotify alown. I have experience with this technology as I use Spotify almost daily during my daily routine. I love using it and it is a great form of Technology.

A piece of music that uses this technology that actually originated in Spotify and the depths of underground music would be a song named “Goodbye” by Sewerslvt. Spotify and other streaming services allowed Sewerslvt to have a cult following and eventually explode onto other platforms while still being a cult in a sense. Her music has helped thousands of people around the world, and it started the resurgance of a genre called “breakcore”.

The piece of music technology that I chose to write about for this blog post is an instrument. I chose the piano. A piano is an instrument that was invented in 1700 and is “used to play two parts simultaneously.” It is actually classified as being a string instrument as well as a percussion instrument and not every piano has the exact same number of keys. It is versatile and allows for different textures to be produced. By a person pressing down on its keys, a hammer inside of the instrument hits the strings and that is what creates the sounds that make the music. Sound is produced automatically when the keys are pressed which helps achieve the sounds of music. I was not able to find ways that people have used the piano for things other than its intended purpose because I feel like there is not any other way to use this instrument besides to create music with its keyboard. I do not have any personal experience with this instrument but I have always wanted to learn to play the piano but I unfortunately never did. An example of a piece of music that uses piano in it is “Someone Like You” by Adele. The use of the piano in this song helps to maintain the solemn vibe that this song has. And, in this song, the only musical technology being used is just the piano and Adele’s voice. That makes the song more simple and so you focus more on the lyrics of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQl3WQQoQ0

A piece of music technology: The human voice (singing)

What is its purpose: Humans value their voices highly. They serve as our primary means of communication with the outside world, including both our thoughts and our feelings and personalities.

How does it work to achieve that purpose: To produce sound, your vocal cords vibrate. Inside the voice box (larynx), the vocal cords are tiny bands of muscle and other tissues. When the margins of the vocal cords come together, the air from your lungs causes them to vibrate.

Are there any people that use this technology in a way that it wasn’t designed for: In general, the human voice was a form meant to be used as a way of communication; just to speak. So, if it is used in any other way, it would be considered abnormal, but as time went on, humans began to discover the different ways that their voices can be used. For example, singing, ventriloquism, etc. So as forms of voices began to develop, it was widely accepted that voices are something that can have multiple effects on the world. 

Do you have any experience with this technology: I do have experience with this kind of technology. I do sing, but not professionally. I grew up singing as I have a very musical family. It is something that I picked up and enjoy doing. I still get stage fright to perform in front of people, so many don’t know what my singing voice sounds like. I wish to grow in this aspect of myself in the future and better my voice by getting vocal training.  

Song: Lyrical: Mere Dholna | Bhool Bhulaiyaa | Vidya Balan | Shreya Ghoshal, M.G. Sreekumar | Pritam

How did the technology influence the music it helped to produce: The voices that sang this song, had a great role in the effect that it needed to produce in order to portray the correct stance and reflect what was happening in the movie at the same time. Shreya Ghosal is considered one of the best singers in the Bollywood Industry. It’s been said no one can do what she can. You’ll even notice that the singers as well go off in a “Sargam” in the middle of the musical piece. Every beat matched the voices. That takes talent and breath control to do. The song is focused on love with Indian Classical Elements intertwined with it as well. The Indian Classical part, specifically the Sargam, was placed in this song to fit into the role of the “old times” that was shown in the video. This was something that singers and classical dancers frequented at the time. It still is recognized today, but many countries have adapted the western style of music that many of us listen to in this age of time. The fact that both the male and female voices were light and airy, and had the runs at the end, illustrated the mood and vibe that is needed in a song that is about love. Voices can play a very important part in music because voices can imply many different emotions and textures to make a song go to the next level and make the listener feel the intent of the song. If the singers did not perform the way that they did in this song, it wouldn’t have been one of the veterans of Bollywood music.