1. Personally, I find a lot of value in combining knowledge from multiple fields. Everyone brings something different to the table, and while a specialist from any one of the fields of art, science and math, and technology could probably use the equipment and software which we have explored so far to create music, by combining their knowledge these experts can use the equipment to its fullest extent by exploring and creating much more than any one of them could do alone. For example, While a music major could probably use Finale and compose a standard song, by knowing why certain frequencies which sound good together are mathematically related, they could explore new harmonies between different frequencies. A sound technician who understands the physics of sound can better design a surround sound system, or better align the speakers in a concert hall to produce the best sound. A scientist who knows the basics of how to manipulate sound with a program like Sonar could play around for a while, but by understanding the principles of traditional western music theory they could begin to write their own music. The ways which these different fields can positively benefit each other are countless.
2. I have a number of different things which i would really like to explore before the end of this course. I think that the two main ideas that i wish to act upon are i) I would like to use Finale to compose something of worth in my eyes, either for myself or with the instruments designed by others, and ii) I would like to experiment with frequencies between the standard semitones, and create a MIDI instrument using them that not only allows me to play about with them at length, but also sounds good.
