Digital Art: any work of art created
and stored as an array of binary elements.
Computer Art: computer-generated
digital art. More specifically, digital art
created through the use of algorithms
(procedures or sets of rules used to solve
problems).
Electronic Art: any work of art created, wholly or in part, electronically—usually through use of highly specialized software.
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There may be better
definitions, but these wll serve my purpose
here.
Electronic music made its
debut in 1964 along with the Moog synthesizer, and then
again in 1983 with revolutionary digital keyboards like
the Yamaha DX-7. Sequencers, which digitally
recorded everything one did on these keyboards,
followed soon thereafter. Almost all music today is
digitally recorded. Most popular music is performed at
least in part with electronic instruments and/or
processors, while non-avant guarde contemporary
classical music retains its preference for traditional
acoustic instruments. Composers, however, now have
access to, and commonly use, a vast array of
computerized tools to both create and engrave their
works.
Scientists presented the first computer art exhibit in 1964, but artists had to wait for the personal computer and software developers like Adobe and Corel before gaining access to the new technology. Photographers have turned to digital cameras and the "virtual" darkroom, while artists and musicians have been reveling in the possibilities offered by this new technology.
What is
"analog" and what is
"digital"?
If we draw a single, textureless
"analog" line:
0  1"
and blow it up a bit:
0 1"
the line remains a single unbroken line.
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The same line,
digitized, appears identical to the
original:
0
1"
Greatly enlarged it
appears something like this:
0 
1"
wherein each element
used to depict the line becomes apparent.
These picture elements (pixels) on a
monitor, or dots of ink on a print, are
ordinarily too small to be seen, of course.
The number of pixels per inch (ppi) on a
monitor and dots per inch (dpi) on a print,
determinces the resolution of an
image.
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A similar phenomenon takes
place with digitally reproduced music. Sound waves
captured by analog microphones are stored digitally as
a series of discrete values, then reconverted into
sound by speakers or earphones which average them out,
compressing and decompressing the air in such a way as
to recreate the original sounds. When sounds can be
stored and reproduced digitally, they can also be
generated digitally, making possible the creation of
entirely new sounds, or "instruments" with an
infinite spectrum of frequencies, attacks, lengths,
decays, timbre, effects, distortions, ambiences, and so
on.
More to come...
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