The modern composer : technology and the creative personality

The technologies that contemporary music composers have available to them have changed drastically in recent decades. So too have the types of music that they may compose, with some of the most lucrative areas in which composers now work including anime and gaming music. Since previous research indicates that personality can influence use of technology, this paper examines whether these changes in the creative process of composers has changed the type of individual attracted to studying composition. We report the results of a study in which 40 current students of composition completed a survey about their preferred working methods and several personality measures. Results indicate that students of composition who use music technology as part of their compositional processes have a different personality profile in comparison to those preferring more traditional methods. Technology-oriented composers tend to be more outgoing and extraverted in contrast to the typical stereotype of the classical composer who is generally viewed as introverted, moody, and angst-ridden. These results are of interest both to enhance our understanding of creativity - very little previous research has considered creativity in relation to composers of music - and to teachers of composition who deal with such differences within their classes.