Abstract
As digital recording has become the standard over analog for capturing musical performance, the Digital Audio Workstation (“DAW”) has become an indispensable part of the music making process in application. However, it has not yet been recognized as such by traditional pedagogical practices within jazz and related music, with institutions requiring little to no training in music technology as it relates to instrumental performance development. As a multi-modal workstation, the DAW operates as a space in which musicians can capture creative ideas via audio recording, realize musical concepts beyond the scope of their own technical ability via sequencing, and analyze sounds through the use of programs like graphic equalizers and other tools. Integration of DAW technologies and techniques into instrumental music study will facilitate greater levels of collaboration between student, teacher, and self. In this essay I seek to identify and continue this tradition of technological mediation in jazz music by offering examples of ways in which our understanding of wind instrument technique may be augmented by connecting visual representations of recorded instrumental audio with synthesizer control interfaces in order to promote a new understanding of the necessary musical skills to be a successful musician in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis and beyond.