Sound has been around since the beginning of time. Marshall McLuhan believes that the first space that existed in the world was the acoustic space. This space was filled with sound from nature, and our ancestors had to learn how to live around the sounds they heard. Our ears used to be the most important part of us, because being able to hear was key to living.
Soon after the acoustic space, there came speech and language. Humankind invented speech to communicate with one another, creating language. Dr. Justin Wildridge stated in an article that “voice would have been the first and most natural means of expression in our distant ancestors, used to bond. . . It is from these humble beginnings that the music we enjoy today evolved. (WIldridge, 2019).
Music was born to tell stories. When the space of writing came around, people began to write down their musical lyrics and scores to share with others. Soon musical technology, like instruments, were created to improve upon music. And music has evolved even more, through multiple periods of style, into what we have today. The sound went from just voices to great symphonies of instruments. And while we don’t walk around the world using our ears as much as our eyes anymore, sound still floods our world.
Music is made to tell stories, celebrate instances, teach lessons, and more since the beginning of time. Music can be best described as an expressive language that reflects the culture it is from. But as culture inspires music, music has inspired new cultures. Since the beginning of speech, music has created a culture of listeners. Music created a culture of artists that bring melody to the world. And music created a culture of fans who live their lives to the music, never missing a beat.
Sound can be heard anywhere and by anyone. Technology has improved so sound could be recorded, shared, and played. A growth in technology has even made it possible for those who have lost their natural hearing, to hear again. With wireless technology, people can hear sounds they need anywhere at any time. As technology grows to recognize our own voices as we tell it what to play and when, there are endless possibilities for improvement.
Now it is time to turn to the future of music. Music has been in the lives of humans once speech and language was created, and has continued to stay with us. New technologies have continued to grow and push the limits of music. Even in this current day, we are seeing the future of music happen. There are artists that have never even existed, like the Japanese idol Hatsune Miku who is nothing more than a computer program for artists to use her voice, and a hologram in concerts.