Musicians have access to an ever-growing array of technological tools, creating a world rich with new artistic possibilities. Yet the incursion of automation technology into creative pursuits has long sparked panic about the threat to human creativity and authenticity. Relating a 120-year history of automation in music, this book provides a timely historical demonstration of how older technologies of automation gave rise to initial unease, which was then followed by integration and exploration of their generative potentials. Journeying from the player piano at the turn of the twentieth century, through the introduction of drum machines and synthesizers, to the holographic pop stars of the twenty-first century, Alyssa Michaud shows how musical subcultures have shifted the parameters of debate around the meaning of automation and creativity. In riveting prose, Automatic Artistry directly addresses the choices we now face as we adapt to the newest wave of automated musical tools.

About the Author

Alyssa Michaud is Associate Professor of Music at Ambrose University.

Reviews

"With refreshing optimism, Automatic Artistry takes on the fears around imperiled authenticity, dehumanization, and lost labor that accompany major moments in the long history of musical automation. From the player piano to Yamaha’s Vocaloid software, Alyssa Michaud shows how makers, users, critics, and musicians have navigated evolving concepts of playing versus operating, remaking ideas and ideals of realness and, crucially, creativity."—Emily I. Dolan, author of The Orchestral Revolution: Haydn and the Technologies of Timbre

"Through accounts of carefully selected music technologies spanning over a century, Michaud reveals cyclic patterns of both anxiety and creativity as technicians, musicians, and audiences have continually navigated the sometimes uneasy relationship between humans and their technologies. Automatic Artistry demonstrates that while the machines we use may be constantly changing, the ways in which we think about and interact with new technologies are often very familiar. In the end, it seems, humans will always continue to create—with passion, ingenuity, and humanity—no matter the tools at their disposal."—Paul Sanden, author of Liveness in Modern Music: Musicians, Technology, and the Perception of Performance