MUSC2320 (40,000 Years of Music Technology) course reviews and ratings at Northeastern (NEU). Compare professors with RateMyProfessor reviews.
Surveys the relationship between music and technology from the Paleolithic Age to the present. Examines the origins and impact of diverse musical instruments, with attention to connections between musical and technological developments; the reasons instruments are accepted, modified, or abandoned; and debates about the effects of new technologies on music. Considers such forces as standardization, institutionalization, and commodification, as well as experimentation, hacker, and DIY cultures. Asks whether music technologies are “just tools” or rather carry with them ethical values and ramifications. By studying the sociocultural history of such instruments as the violin, piano, electric guitar and synthesizer, offers students an opportunity to gain an understanding of the interplay between technological change and the enduring human need for music.
Data updated October 2026.