What Technology Cannot Do

You know, for everything I say about how technology is improving our auditory enjoyment of music; how it's advancing music production quality, giving us more and more excellent songs, I have to take a step back and say there are some things technology cannot do to music.

Technology cannot create that feeling that you get when you listen to something truly beautiful. Maybe this is a matter of taste, but I truly believe that sound bites and computer chips, no matter how pitch-perfect and flawless, can't give you goosebumps. They can't make you cry. They can make you want to listen again and again, but in the end, imperfections are what make a song perfect. Does that make sense? When I want to listen to a fun dance tune, that's one thing - bring out the AutoTune, I'm all ears. But when I'm in the mood to hear true art, true beauty, I look for one thing - the skill that it takes to make it.

Maybe it's because I'm in a choir who does operatic, choral music, but to me, nothing and no one demonstrates the true futility of technology than Pavarotti singing Nussun Dorma. This is classical music, but dear God it's absolutely gorgeous. There's no editing in this; actually, the backing choir could probably have been amped a little more and there's some annoying distortion, but you HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS. The imperfections are what make it so legendary - that he can pull notes like this so deep from within his body and make it look like there's so little effort involved. This is LIVE. This is not in a studio. This is Pavarotti and his voice, with a full orchestra behind him.

And so I sound like my grandpa, but where can true artisanship, true beauty, and true emotion be expressed in electronica or techno? How can Lady Gaga (no matter how much I love her) call herself an artist? THIS is art. THIS is true music. And it just goes to show that real talent, real musical might, transcends all technology.