Thread: Do you consider the laptop to be a musical instrument?

Not really, but that is just my opinion. To make a laptop play music it surely needs software, which is not already there. So without the software can it play music?


Margaret

Yes,more so than the guitar...

A laptop? Why a laptop particularly? I think a PC can be a musical instrument, in the sense that it can be an instrument for creating music.

I do MIDI versions of renaissance dance music, which are orchestrated unauthentically but creatively. It is probably a pretty low-grade kind of music, but music it is.

Yes,more so than the guitar...

lol.


I'm sick of hearing ****** loud and incoherent noise coming from music tech computers and their attached speakers. Until I actually hear some music come out of them they are NOT instruments.

Basically I'm reserving my opinion until they prove it.

This is an interesting question indeed and sort of similar to "are stereo speakers instruments"? Well, obviously they emit the organised sound closely matching that... of original instruments used in a recording.

I actually suspect that this thread was inspired by seeing some videos of music actually composed for speakers used as instruments (with interference applied to them or whatever) or the one with a laptop used with a chamber orchestra to "mix live" baroque pieces or something like that.

Well, I shall give a twist to the thread by saying this: I think the true instruments are acoustic instruments. The electronic ones are just artificially creating something which may match the original acoustic ones. I have no intention of igniting an endless "ping pong" of argumentative posts. Just use it as an example of a way of thinking, not necessarily right or wrong. However, I have come to some interesting points in this area and would be more than happy to see your comments on the following:

1. electronic pianos

They can also play the sounds of "violin" etc. are an obvious attempt at closely matching the "original" in one box and yet are no match for a separate instrument with its subtle individual colours and richness - so even though you can learn how to play piano using such devices or imitate the sound of symphonic violins, it still is no match for a Bosendorfer or a Stradivarius

2. things like theremin etc.

They can imitate eerie soprano-like sounds as well as cello-like etc. and still - do not fully reflect a real human voice or a real cello

3. acoustic vs. electro-acoustic

Come to think of it, many cultures around the world developed very similar instruments - regardless whether Chinese, Japanese, Native American, African etc. - there are many similar flute-like instruments, guitar-like instruments, harp-like etc. So I tend to believe that the instruments themselves are just physical representations of some higher order of more abstract and universal things like harmonies etc. However, these abstract things gain their perceivable shape and richness only when physical objects interact with the air whereas a stream of electrons coming into the equation will only give an additional twist or an approximation lacking depth and multidimensionality.

Just to give you an example for the last hypothesis: electric guitars are loved by metal fans for their ability to create powerful "heavy" sound - and yet, the cello section of an orchestra can give you something as heavy and intense, and yet a bit more complex and perhaps more pleasant to the ear. Similarly, guitars are loved for their "rough" sound but this is also something you typically get from a wheel fiddle (also called the hurdy gurdy):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy

I generally believe the common misconception that electronically you can create more varied sounds is somehow incorrect - in the way that there are a lot of forgotten or only regionally known instruments (wheel fiddle, daf, cajon etc.) which can offer a lot in terms of variety.

And yet there is another twist to the story. Having said all that, I rarely listen to live instruments playing. So, I am listening to an approximation generated by means of the speakers or earbuds combined with the circuitry of a computer, home stereo system or portable media player. And therefore, the question could be: in our daily listening, do we actually listen to instruments?

2. theremin

The only electronic device that is an instrument (be it limited).

And how about this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes_Martenot

Completely ruins Turangalîla-Symphonie - absolutely amazing piece, but it just sounds like a childish bird type whistle whenever that horrible contraption plays. Haven't heard it other pieces. Plus, it lacks the expresivity and subtlety of wind similar sounding/played actual instruments. The theremin is limited in it's expression, but at least it does have some.

I think on balance a laptop CAN be a musical instrument, if it is used by someone in a
musically interesting way, not just dial twisting or 'tapping' emptily. In general, I'm not a great fan of electronic/electric instruments, but I think they can be effective at times. I guess I think more of those in the context of jazz or even some exploratory pop overall though. But some of the laptop effects by skilled player like, say, percussionist Ikue Mori, I find very interesting & appealing.

Ed

Let me reword what I mean:

If everyone in the world played trumpet or oboe the way I did, I would not consider it an instrument. Now relate that to a computer.

Also, it MUST be creative, as said above, adjusting the volume of a track you pre-created (I know it is much more involved than that...), does not constitute enough creativity in my mind.

A laptop is just a general purpose device so it can be converted into a synthesiser/VSI and/or midi controller with software/samples and played from a chromatic keyboard or presumably any other device that comes with musical intent.