Kyle Gann has an interesting post over on ArtsJournal.com where he has tried to load a portable 250 Gigabyte hard disk with "...every piece I've ever used in class or even mentioned to a student." He starts out his discussion by referring to the music classroom of the future where the professor would have instant access to every piece of music ever recorded, sort of like a musical version of Borges' Library of Babel.
I think it is a fine idea. Although the Edison Cylinder was a admirable invention, as was the shellac disk, the long playing record, and the CD, being able to digitize, categorize, and search our musical heritage is a tremendous improvement with far-reaching implications. I remember when William Malloch was music directory at KPFK and the long-time music director of the Mahler Society of California. Every year Malloch and the Gustav Mahler Society would set up a listening room in a volunteers home and put on an "Mahlerthon" where they would play all of Mahler's Symphonys, from the first note of the Titan Symphony to last note of the unfinished (at least by Mahler) Tenth. You no longer need the Mahler Society to do this. You can have your own Mahlerthon and you can have as many different interpretations of each work as you have recordings.
How long will it be before all of the notes are digitized? Will the instructor in the music classroom of the future be able to look up specific chords and show contrasting examples and transitions?
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