Technology and Choral Music: A Special Focus Issue of ACDA’s Choral Journal

Comments

1. philip copeland says

   June 16, 2011 at 5:37 pm

   All great comments, Ryan.

    

   Why don’t you turn those thoughts into an article for the special focus issue?  I can add you to the “possible contributor” list and you can sketch out a broader outline for your article.

    

   Interested?

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2. Ryan Kelly says

   June 15, 2011 at 9:26 am

   I’m sure you’re already thinking a bit along this line, but it is worth mentioning–and that is, technology changes so fast, a special interest issue that is planned a year in advance can be, if we’re not careful, DOA with obsolete technology already in the journal. Articles focused solely on an operating system or a single piece of hardward (like the Ipad) seem to me to have a very short shelf life (technology moving too fast) and small application (applies to only a very select group of readers–Ipad owners, or Android operating system users).

    

   My concern, for the Choral Journal, is that it maintains presence, validity, and relevance in the “world of journals,” if that makes sense…and that this issue would be obsolete 12-18 months after its issue. At the risk of making comparisons, while technology articles do find their way into NATS “Journal of Singing,” they are from a journalistic perspective, contributing to the world of research, if you will. Perhaps, “mini-articles” like the “Chorale Musician’s Ipad” and “Android Apps” might be better suited as supplemental online-articles instead of printed in the journal?

    

   Ideas for broader techology-related articles that might last longer for our journal’s readership might include:

    

   – Technology, social media and marketing: Understanding today’s audience, their uses of technology, and how to connect with them

   – Instead of “using Facebook to connect with students”, how about a “Crossfire-style” article presenting to diametrically opposed perspectives on whether one SHOULD use Facebook to “connect” with students?

   – Unless “technology-focus” is code for computers, how about: “Technology in Performance: Distraction or Dynamic”? This could go two ways–practical would be one way, where discussions of mic techniques, special use of lighting, sound effects, projections, etc. could offer ideas to conductors. Another way it could go, which I think would be very interesting, would be a research-based article that observed choral concerts that utilize “non-traditional” technology in performances, interviewed concert-goers, and interpretted the effects of technology on the concert audience, their perceptions and reactions.

   – Use of live broadcast (Skype an obvious software means, but I would keep it less specific…Skype was just bought out, and who knows what changes might be coming to it) for concerts, or to promote interconnected choral programs and outreach (between different schools, or cities or countries), or for auditions, or interviews, etc.

    

   I’m sure I could think of more given the time. I just wanted to throw out the suggestion that articles be a little less hardware model/software specific and broad enough that a reader 4 years from now would still find value in this issue of the journal.

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3. philip copeland says

   June 14, 2011 at 7:09 am

   Austen,

    

   I appreciate your reply.

    

   My task is to enable other choral musicians to use technology to better manage their organization, teach more effectively, and engage the “Digital Generation” with tools they use.

    

   You have a valid point in wondering about the negative impacts of technology, especially as it relates to community and relationships.  I think that is an important thing to keep in mind as we go forward – would you be interested in writing about it for the Choral Journal?

    

   I recently found this book from The Chronicle of Higher Education Site (article is called Geeks at the Beach) [see below].  You can use it as a resource for your article!

    

    

   Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other (Basic Books). You’re not as good at multitasking as you think. That’s a key take-away from the latest book by Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who blends personal observations with case studies from her research on how children, teenagers, and elderly people interact with various gadgets. She’s not antitechnology—her once-gushing views on virtual identity landed her on the cover of Wired magazine in the 1990s, as outlined in a Chronicle profile this year. In her new book, she argues that we’re so excited about checking e-mail and Facebook that we’re neglecting face-to-face relationships, but that it’s not too late to make some “corrections” to our high-tech habits. It’s time to turn off the BlackBerry for a few minutes and set some ground rules for blending cyberspace with personal space.—Jeffrey R. Young

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4. Austen Wilson says

   June 13, 2011 at 1:44 pm

   I think figuring out how to use technology in effective ways is important.  I have resources that I use all the time that are online and have helped me immensely in my current position.

    

   However, I some caveats to think about.

    

   Isn’t one of the primary goals of choral music to embrace our humanity, connect with others, and create community?  Does technology help or hinder this?  I don’t have an answer to this second question, but I think it’s important to ponder.

    

   If we’re going to have a Special Focus issue on technology, could we have a Special Focus Issue on how to create community in our ensembles and foster human interaction?

    

   Forgive me if this quote is misattributed or not 100% accurate “Why hard-wire the world if you short-circuit the soul.” (Tom Brokaw)

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5. John Howell says

   June 13, 2011 at 12:03 pm

   Philip:  Sigh …

    

   Not only does my currect ensemble perform early music, but we actually use old fashioned things like music on paper and acoustic instruments and unprocessed voices!!  I know; it’s all so retro!!!

    

   Of course my (college) students can find anything on the internet, find our performance locations on their GPS, find recordings of our music on YouTube (which baffles me), and find one another instantly by cellphone or texting, and I contact them all with rehearsal schedules and comments by email (already an old technology), but none of that has anything to do with CHORAL music!!!

    

   All the best,

   John

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