Können eiserne Brücken nicht schön sein?

Technology is an important element of music today, and the question arises as to how it relates to it. Can technology be part of the artistic substance of music or is it merely used as an aid or tool for the production of art? The book describes the slow process towards an equal integration of the very different fields of technology and music, a process that was neither straightforward nor free of criticism: In the beginning, there was a mutual rapprochement, with technicians and engineers initially attempting to describe their field using the means of language and philosophy. Somewhat later, composers and musicians also began to use mathematical and scientific means, i.e. technology-specific parameters, to describe music, either in order to compose with them or to adapt music to the then modern music technology inventions (radio, gramophone, electric musical instruments) of the early 20th century.

With the increasing knowledge of technology and its dimensions among musicians and composers, there has also been an increase in compositional processes that operate entirely or partially with these technical means and dimensions. This applies equally to acoustic and electro-acoustic music and includes various types of compositional integration of technology. The spectrum ranges from fully composed electrotechnical procedures in acoustic music to engineer-like compositional methods, in which the music is calculated according to a construction plan, to sound art and other forms of integration.

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