Music and Technology: A Historical Encyclopedia

This book introduces readers to the most significant technological developments in music making and listening, including such topics as metronomes and the development of music notation as well as synthesizers, the latest music collaboration apps, and other 21st-century technologies.

Rather than focusing on technical and mechanical details, Music and Technology: A Historical Encyclopedia features the sociological role of technological developments by highlighting the roles they have played in society throughout time.

Students and music fans alike will gain valuable insight from this alphabetized encyclopedia of the most significant examples of technological changes that have impacted the creation, production, dissemination, recording, and/or consumption of music. The book also contains a chronology of milestone events in the history of music and technology as well as sidebars that focus on several key individual musicians and inventors.

Includes 100 entries on the most important technological achievements related to music making, sharing, and listening

Traces the evolution of music and technology from antiquity to the 21st century, including information on how the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the way music is created and disseminated

Approaches the content through a historical and sociological lens rather than a purely technical one

Offers bibliographic sources and a glossary of terms for readers new to this field of study

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