It has? Take a synthesizer from the 1960s versus one from the current year, for example. And, while this is only tangently related, the average laptop can master music just as well as a massive counter unit from thirty years ago.
As for acoustic instruments, there are two things to consider: first, the sound of an instrument is dictated by its shape; change the shape (size), and you change its sound (not the same instrument anymore). Second, music is a largely tradition-worshipping community. People want a big, old-style guitar because it’s what their idols played with.
It has. Many instruments have electronic versions that are significantly smaller. Drum kits for example.
Lots of musicians just prefer the classic versions.
Most instruments rely on physics properties of materials - typically the standing wave frequencies of air in a closed tube to make a sound wave. That is a fixed constant and sort of dictates the shape and size of things to generate any particular note.
Which instruments?
Also: laws of physics for some of them.
I am speaking broadly about the majority.
I’ve been pondering why, despite the numerous technological advancements, they have yet to reduce in size.
Compare a tenor horn, baritone, ebephone, tuba. All basically the same shame but different sizes. Because changing the size the instrument changes the pitch.
And you’d find the same for majority of instruments.
Varying sizes of wind instruments (clarinet, obo etc)
ukulele vs an acoustic guitar
Violin, viola, cello, bass
Electric piano shrank the acoustic version. I suppose electric guitars are smaller than acoustic versions. But like you say the majority of instruments can’t just arbitrarily change size / shrink without impacting the sound
There’s also the ergonomics of having to play those instruments. A tiny violin or guitar would be very hard, if not nearly impossible to play, if not simply very uncomfortable. If we look at some electric guitars, they at least mimic the outer frame while leaving most of the body away, simply so that you have something to lean on and hold the guitar in its place.
I think they have. Not the traditional ones, obviously, but there’s nothing saying you can’t make smaller versions with tech.
The physics of their shape controls how traditional instruments sound.
Take the violin family. Violin is small, has a higher tone in general than the next bigger - the viola. Viola is a little bigger so it has a deeper richer sound than violin. Next bigger is the cello which is much deeper than the violin and quite a bit deeper than the viola, but not as deep as the biggest of them - the upright bass, or double bass, which is the bassiest bass sound that you can really get.
Now consider that each of those can be just the neck board where your finger work to hold strings down, and the part that is usually where the bowing or plucking goes on without any of the body. That’s because of technology!
I’ll look for pics or links or something
Edit to add: if you look at these Wikipedia articles - even just scanning the pics - you’ll see what I mean.
EWI
Electric violin
Electric upright bassMy phone is MUCH smaller than an orchestra, and can play any symphony. That’s technology.
You can’t just say that digital audio, (the biggest technological advancement in audio since blowing in a tube), doesn’t count.
Acoustic instruments rely on their size and shape for their acoustic properties. Reduce the size and you reduce the volume or alter the sound.
Most electronic instruments, on the other hand, have become smaller than their acoustic counterparts. Drumkits, keyboards, guitars, violins, just to name a few. While acoustic properties still matter in many electrical instruments, they’re not as important as before. I’ve seen an electronic cello that was pretty much just a plank with strings.
Sorry everyone is being mean and downvoting your comments and post. You asked a question that many people (including myself) have never really considered and gave those with answers the opportunity to share. I enjoyed the post and the (helpful) comments
Knowing about that has enriched my life!
even putting aside electronic instruments, modern building tools and materials have allowed some acoustic instruments to shrink. check out “mr curly” for an example- a contrabass clarinet that’s a bit shorter if anything than a soprano clarinet, made out of vinyl tubing. another example is the bass ukelele, an instrument smaller than a bass guitar that aproximates the sound of an upright bass thanks to thick rubber strings. in most cases the traditional form of an instrument is preferred just because of familiarity and knowledge passed down from generation to generation, so in order for something to “take off” it needs to address a specific problem, which for most instruments size is not
You can get electronic instruments that are smaller than their traditional counterparts.
Pianos can be the size of just the keyboard with electronic synthesizers, which are what the keyboards are called that can be a piano or organ or a saxamaphone or guitar or harp or that alien sounding weird instrument… Or harpsichord or barking or… I mean, keyboards can make pretty much all the sounds.
The hollow body of the violin can be done away with and have just enough parts left to hold the strings and electronic parts.
Someone mentioned digital drum pads which are flat versions of their drum counterparts.
The Electronic Wind Instrument (also known as a EWI) is like a small clarinet that can make other instruments’ sounds.
Digital organs on synth keyboards are not the size of a room.
What do you count, if not those? Yes a tuba is still huge, but that’s the traditional horn. Traditional instruments need the physics of their size. Technology has made them smaller, by creating ways to make those sounds without needing the precise physics…
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I’m no expert but I’d say it has. My Casio Privia keyboard is way thinner than a grand piano
An electric version of any instrument can be as small as you want it to be. It’s just a matter of training and ergonomics at that point.
For example, if you’ve got 10,000 hours playing the cello it wouldn’t be very easy to translate that into having equivalent skill playing a tiny electric version. But it could be done. Nooo problem!
The technology is there, it’s just that there’s no demand 🤷
Violins seem to be getting smaller every year.
It has reduced the size of synthesizers, or rolled them into software. Just about everything else needs to be the size it is for physics reasons.
It has.
A mouth organ is smaller than a church organ, isn’t it?
:-)
I got a mouth organ for ya.
Gottem
