“We now have more access to music than ever before, as listeners and consumers,
Yet somehow I feel we are making less music than ever.”

Unfortunately, I agree with this statement. Especially in Western culture, and as Western traditions infiltrate other cultures and systems, this is becoming ever more true. Traditional music, in general, relies on group music making. Even if all members of a society don’t make the music themselves, at least most, if not all, members are required to participate in some way. It is a communal way of being and communicating. With music being so readily available through technology, it becomes easier to just pull up a recording of something than spend the time learning to perform that same piece. Is it our reliance on fast information that has led to this? It could be. It takes years of hard work to get to a level of proficiency on an instrument to be able to make music comfortably, especially in a group. (In this case I am referring to the Western model of musicking, not traditional settings). I think there is also a strong belief, however ridiculous, that one must be a good musician to be able to play music and make sounds. If you’re not good at the instrument you’re learning or want to play, then you’re usually not encouraged to continue it. When did we set such high standards for musicking?

People do a lot of things for fun, even if they are not the best at it. People still try out fancy recipes in their kitchens and cook for friends, yet they won’t consider themselves a chef. People play soccer on the weekends with friends and even join local club teams, even if their team loses all the matches. They do it for the experience. They do it for the fun of it, for the social aspect, and for the love of just doing the thing.

Why does music making have to have such a high barrier to entry then? And how can we remove this barrier through our designs?

state of self-consciousness to a state of “whatever, let’s do it”. This move signifies freedom. Freedom from the constraints of social norms, freedom from the constraints of our own personal limitations and doubts, freedom perhaps even from the human form. I have seen this happen as I was flying around a virtual world as a triangle in a game. I felt liberated from judgement because I was not Marise. I was blue triangle and blue triangle could do anything it wanted. Had I been asked to sing at that point or try something I’d never tried before; I would have done it. Because even though I am shy to sing in front of people, blue triangle is not.

This same feeling of freedom can be seen in Ge’s discussion of Aaru from Assassin’s Creed. Had this scenario been in real life, the individual might have been more nervous, more aware of time passing, and more unsure of where they are going. Within the video game, it was okay to just walk in any direction without any knowledge of where you are going. This sense of wandering seems somehow okay in a video game. In life, aimless wandering is sometimes considered a waste of time. Walking in vast fields could be dangerous, scary. In a videogame, it is safe. A safe space for exploration.

Disembodiment is one way to lower inhibition, but I’m curious about the many different ways we can use technology and design to remove the barriers from music making.