Are contemporary music genres influencing new production techniques?

With the advent of software based synthesisers and affordable high powered computers the way that music is being made is changing. Since Robert Moog created the mainstream keyboard based synthesiser in the 1960s, electronic keyboard music has evolved in leaps and bounds. Artists such as Wendy (nee: Walter) Carlos, Vangellis and Jean Michelle Jarre have been instrumental, if you pardon the pun, in bringing this technology to the forefront of music production.

Step forward to the eighties and synth keyboards had developed the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) which allowed keyboards to be linked together and connected to a computer. The connection to a computer allowed the newly developed software called a MIDI sequencer to be programmed in a fashion the represented a musical score. The MIDI sequencer then controlled the synth keyboards digitally and played the music that was composed on the software.

Step forward twenty years plus to current times and products such as Ableton have fully embraced the digital music production suite. Many newer music genres such as trap, dubstep, lo-fi, house, Hi-NRG, techno and trance to name a few are being solely composed on software such as Ableton. Analogue or conventional musical instruments such as drums, guitars and saxophone are played in digital form within the software suite.

Source: https://www.edmtunes.com/2017/11/ableton-announces-live-10/

Control surfaces such as keyboards and drum pads allow the artist to compose their music digitally keeping the entire score in the software and digital domain. This is instead of playing conventional instruments and recording them one by one. The mixing and mastering parts of the music production remains much the same.

A benefit from using this modern digital technique for music production, is that it costs substantially less to purchase equipment and then produce the music versus conventional recording and production. Additionally, it requires only a desktop instead of an entire studio. For this reason many music artists now compose music in their own home or even on a bus whilst travelling. The sheer portability of the technology opens the door to many who previously could not afford nor have the room for musical instruments and production equipment.

This begs the question as to whether conventional music production where you record real instruments will fade away out of existence. New music genres have come about specifically due to this new technology and could not be produced in the same way with conventional instruments and recording techniques. Will conventional recording and production become obsolete? Definitely not, as long as artists produce music, there are too many diverse genres requiring conventional recording. Have the new above-mentioned music genres influenced new music production techniques, unequivocally yes.