Computers in Music Education: Amplifying Musicality (review)

In Computers in Music Education: Amplifying Musicality, Andrew R. Brown explores the methods by which computers can enhance music-making and aid in the development of musical intelligence. Although Mr. Brown’s discussions primarily target elementary-through high school– level music educators, the materials presented are of great interest to me as an instructor of undergraduate university students. The wide range of computer skills possessed by incoming college students make this book apropos at the university level as well. Teachers-in-training may not have sufficient exposure to technology during their education studies to keep pace with the rapidly-advancing skill sets necessary to implement effective technology-enhanced learning when they leave the academy. To this end, the text has the potential to act not only as an aid to teachers on the job, but also to students preparing for a career, or indeed, as the author notes, to parents, administrators, and seasoned professors alike.

The first section of the book, “Context,” consists of three chapters. In Chapter 1, “Ways of Making Music with Technology,” Mr. Brown admits that although computers are “the most visible technological change with which we are currently engaged . . . the full impact of their influence is yet to be understood” (p. 3). This poignant truism funnels into another statement that will undoubtedly resonate with many readers: “The impact of technologies in turning musical ideas into musical realities depends as much on attitudes as it does on equipment” (p. 3). A tripartite view of computers (that they can act as a tool, medium, or musical instrument) lays the foundation for much of the book. This view is solidly underscored through the ideas of Marshall McLuhan and the author’s notion of “amplification”: that the nuances of musicianship can be brought into focus effectively through technology-enhanced teaching.

Chapter 2, “Philosophical Considerations,” continues with these themes, and adds the notion of technological invisibility to the discussion. The ideas of John Dewey and McLuhan abound in the chapter, providing a way of stepping back and examining what is really being discussed. As many of us are aware, technology’s ability to hide its inner workings, create metaphors for physical-world objects, and obfuscate the complexity of our activities create many challenges. Mr. Brown notes that technology will also act to redefine musicianship, and an awareness of this is critical before attempting to tackle more specific issues like hardware and software.

Chapter 3, “Brief History of Music Technology,” bears similarity to other texts on the same subject, though Mr. Brown expands slightly by covering pre-electronic technologies such as harps, drums, and the advent of music printing (p. 32). A quick progression from these advancements all the way up to current electronic music technology is codified by the notion “layers of persistence”: that certain themes reappear while others remain transient (p. 37).

The second section of the book, Production,” reflects the first third of Mr. Brown’s tripartite tool-medium-instrument model. His coverage of audio recording in Chapter 4 brief in its presentation but up-to-date, with mentions of spatialization, effects, and emerging media. The discussion of the educational applications of digital recording (p. 54) offers idea-generating material to teachers, and offers examples such as recorded portfolios and the use of recordings as assessment tools.

The coverage in Chapter 5 of music publishing software discusses not only the computer’s ability to provide common-practice music notation tools but also examines how instructors might use these tools for learning purposes. This section also contains valuable discussion on how to choose notation software and hardware.

Progressing further, the coverage in Chapter 6 of MIDI sequencing software presents an interesting comparison: that the MIDI sequencer is the musical analogue of word...