The 2010s: A Music-Making Evolution And Revolution

Our review of the past decade in music continues with a look at the ways music production has changed and how technology has revolutionized sound both onstage and in the studio.

We begin with the role of computers in live performance. Laptops are often used to playback sounds that can't easily be created in a live setting. So, host Bob Boilen went to the 9:30 club before soundcheck to meet the artist known as King Princess. She grew up around recording gear. Her father, Oliver Strauss is a recording engineer at Mission Sound in Brooklyn, so technology and music-making are second nature to the 21-year old. King Princess sheds light on how musicians take complex sounds from the studio and make them possible in a live setting.

Later, we look at the role of computers in the creative process, both as an effects processor and a compositional tool. One artist who is already making music and stretching the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence is Holly Herndon, who has an AI voice assistant she calls Spawn.