Three True Tales About Music and Technology

Have you heard the story about the android that took to the operatic stage of eighteenth century London? Of the inventor who used musical chords to power an engine and fire a canon? What about the composer who helped the most beautiful woman in the world build a missile guidance system? Three True Tales About Music and Technology re-imagines these episodes from the sometimes tumultuous history of interactions between the sonic arts and technoscience as a series of folk tales and fairy stories-that just so happen to be true.

ROBERT BARRY is a writer and composer based in London. His music has appeared in feature films, dance productions, pop charts, and DJ mixes. He is currently editor for books, film, and visual art at The Quietus and a faculty member at London's Institute for Contemporary Music Performance. As a freelance writer, his byline has appeared in Frieze, The Guardian, Wired, Art Review, Mousse, The Atlantic, and The Wire. Previous publications include a book of prose scores, Music in Text, and a history of speculative music, The Music of the Future.