BlogNora Young and Karl Kohut go face to face on technology

I enjoy Twitter very much. It's like having a fun cocktail party going on in the next room that you can dip in and out of.

—Nora Young, Author & CBC Broadcaster

Is a self still a self when it's filtered through technology? As we all get more plugged in, our virtual selves are taking more of a front seat in our social and professional spaces.

Nora Young, the creator and host of CBC's Spark, has been exploring the wild and wonderful intersections between culture and technology, and has gathered her findings into a new book, The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us. Local musician, Karl Kohut, brings a musical angle to the same questions with his work on the vocoder, an electronic contraption which transforms the human voice.

In preparation for their joint performance on Thursday evening, I asked them both to talk about their relationship with technology.

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Give us a snapshot (screen capture?) of the technology you depend on in your day-to-day life.
KARL: As a freelance musician, I play about 200 dates a year and I depend on my iPhone to keep me connected when I'm away from home.

My Google calendar is just a tap of the screen away, meaning I can check my availability and respond to gig requests immediately.

My current vocoder setup is a piece of technology that is remarkably affordable and portable, and I'm thankful for that - the vocoder used by jazz great Herbie Hancock in the late 70s cost $20,000 at the time.

I'm also an information junkie: I love reading Wikipedia articles and keeping up to date with the latest news.

NORA: Like Karl, I run my life on Google calendar; if it's not in the calendar, it doesn't exist.

I'm kind of compulsive about productivity tools. I try out tons of them in a (fruitless) desire to be more organized and productive.

The only one I've really found to be very helpful is Ommwriter. It's a word processing program that basically takes over your computer desktop, making it difficult (though not impossible) to multitask. When I really need to sit down, focus, and write, it's hugely helpful.

I enjoy Twitter very much. It's like having a fun cocktail party going on in the next room that you can dip in and out of.

What excites you most using emerging technologies in your work life?
KARL: The Internet has enabled musicians from around the world to be influenced by one another, much more so than ever before. Access to music is no longer a limitation.

There is far more content available - I can watch my favourite musicians on YouTube, download recordings of their latest performances, and learn more about them through interviews and blog posts.

I can watch a live video stream from a jazz club in New York and feel like I'm there, which is something that didn't exist a few years ago.

NORA: The transition to digital as a means of distribution is so exciting for radio: whether it's podcasts or streaming audio, it opens up what we do to an international audience.

It also makes it so much easier to learn from what other broadcasters and podcasters around the world are doing. For instance, we have a great relationship with a tech show called Future Tense, out of Australia's public radio service, which we would have had no idea about in an earlier era.

What do you want your "virtual" self to say about your "real" self?
KARL: In terms of social media, this is an issue that's been tough for me to reconcile. I value privacy and don't feel like I need to put my thoughts on Facebook or Twitter for the world to see.

At the same time, being a working musician has an inherently social aspect, and it's important to remain connected with fellow musicians and friends.

NORA: One of the challenges of social media for me is in trying to be authentic without revealing too much of my private self.

It's part of my career to be on Twitter, to blog, etc, and I really don't want to use those tools simply as platforms for self-promotion or 'Brand Me,' but at the same time, I'm a pretty private person.

It's almost like a third Nora, somewhere between broadcaster/public Nora and private Nora.

Nora asks Karl: What is it about the vocoder - with its marriage of the human voice and the synthesized - that interests you as an artist?
KARL: I think of the vocoder as an augmented reality device for my voice. It gives me a limitless vocal range and perfect intonation.

I try to play the vocoder like a real singer would sing, with the kinds of pitch bends and vibrato that a soul or R&B vocalist might use.

After using the vocoder for a while, there comes a point where your brain believes that the synthesized voice is your own voice, which is a wonderful experience. There are few sounds that can simultaneously be robotic and human.

Karl asks Nora: What is the most intriguing music-related technological development you've encountered or discussed on Spark?
NORA: We did a story a couple of years ago on how production styles in pop music have changed due to the mp3 format, to use the brassy 'sizzling' quality of compressed audio to new effect.

It led into a broader discussion of the way recorded music has long changed according to the possibilities and limitations of the recording and distribution technology used.  

Charlene Diehl is the Director of THIN AIR, and host of this Signature Series event. 

You can attend this event featuring Nora Young, with the Karl Kohut Electric Quartet on Thursday June 7 at 8:00 p.m at the The Park Theatre