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Weekend Edition explores the
impact of new technology
on the art and business
of making music today.
The Internet has been revolutionary for connecting musicians with their fans. But new companies like eJamming AUDiiO and Indaba Music are developing technology for online collaborations — between musicians.
()Throughout the month of November 2008, NPR's Weekend Edition is exploring how musicians are using new tools to create and market their music. You can check out the schedule, the blog where we're documenting our work, and the archived stories which have already aired, full of exclusive Web-only content.
Click here to listen to a conversation with series producer Ned Wharton.
Take a look behind the scenes, and let us know your thoughts, at the Weekend Edition blog:
November 2:
November 9:
Violin Convention: At the Violin Society of America's annual gathering, luthiers across the country presented their ultralight, experimental string instruments. Sadie Babits sends us an audio postcard from the conference in Portland, Ore.
Old Music, New Technology: Is the state-of-the-art for classical players still rooted in 17th century Italian instruments? Liane Hansen visits with Brooklyn violin-maker Sam Zygmuntowicz, who is using new technologies to study old instruments and build new ones.
November 16:
November 23:
November 30:
For musicians just a decade ago, radio was the only way to make it big. The Internet has changed that. Artists like City and Colour can build an audience by sending out their music over various networks. But in a crowded online world, just putting it out there isn't enough.
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Liane Hansen speaks with Music & Technology series producer Ned Wharton, who offers a few final thoughts on the month-long multimedia project.
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For a good singer, automatic tuning software tidies up off-key and wrong notes. It can even make you sound like a robot — or at least like R&B singer T-Pain. But what could it do for Weekend Edition host Liane Hansen?
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Award-winning record producers Larry Klein, John Leventhal and Steve Rodby help create the sonic landscapes for Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin and Pat Metheny. They explain how they use studio technology — delicately, of course — to create great recordings.
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Tod Machover's goal is to put music into the hands of people who want to play it — or at least imagine it. He and his team at MIT helped to create Guitar Hero, and one of his latest projects helps people with disabilities write and perform music.
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A mecca for classical composers looking for ways to bridge music and technology, IRCAM in Paris has been an incubator for some of the most compelling developments in contemporary classical music and acoustics of the past three decades.
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At the home workshop of Sam Zygmuntowicz, form follows function: The Brooklyn-based luthier, who has designed instruments for Joshua Bell and Yo-Yo Ma, is scientifically analyzing great violins of the past to make even better ones for today.
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The annual Violin Society of America conference showcases new, experimental concepts in the world of strings. But hidden behind the balsa wood violins and shrunken violas are craftsmen who prize great-sounding instruments above all.
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Students at the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University are learning technological and entrepreneurial skills so they can compete in a changing marketplace. The students all have different ambitions, but their artistic director says what they really need is passion.
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Evan Eisenberg's The Recording Angel, which examines the idea of music as a commodity, was published more than 20 years ago. But with recorded music going digital, Eisenberg thought it was time for an update. He discusses how technology has fundamentally changed recorded music.
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