1980 – Intermix by David Berlin for Horn and Fixed media – Written for his longtime music partner and hornist, Jack Scrandrett this worked was premiered for the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble in 1981. Unlike other works, this composition explores with the sounds of electroacoustics with the hornist being both on and off stage when performing. With this kind of shift in timbre, the performer is challenged by focusing on balancing to make sure that their fixed media does not overpower them in the very beginning of the work.
1981 – Dialog by Vladimir Djambazov for Horn and Tape – Written by the Bulgarian composer, this work is written for four channel tape and each of the tapes are notated within the score acting as a fixed media with minimalistic qualities presented by the performer. Comprised with a large variety of extended techniques, the work won the grand prize in the International Horn Composition Competition in the same year it was written.
1981 – The first portable computer in the likes of the modern-day laptop was first invented by the Osborne Computer Corporation. The first model, known as the Osborne 1 weighed a near 25 pounds and sold for nearly $1,800 at the time of its first release. The screen was only 5 inches wide and the keyboard acted as the lid for the portable computer; after the initial sales of the Osborne 1, portable batteries were sold at an additional cost.
1982 – After the invention of the Compact Disc (CD) and CD-ROM by James Russell, Sony introducing an on-the-go product in relation to Russell’s invention, the portable CD Player. This transportable device made CD’s a little more accessible for anyone to transport with them instead of the original patent’s more remote status in the late 1960s and 1970s. The first prototypes of the CD Player were actually introduced prior to Sony’s mass production and were used as Red Book CD Players that were in ties with the Rainbow Books series as the first audio books that were accessible on the go.
1986 – Seventy-three seconds after launch, NASA’s space shuttle, the Challenger, underwent a massive explosive killing the astronauts and school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first civilian to go into space. The explosion happened because of two rubber O-rings that were designated to seal the rocket boosters failed due to cold temperatures the morning of the departure of the space shuttle. This led to NASA have a temporary hold on space expeditions for several years.
1988 – Finale Music Notation Software was developed by Phil Farrand, this music notation software is wildly used by many composers, students, amateurs and professionals alike as the primary source of digitally inputting music into a notation format. Since its creation, Finale has provided many updates and versions available to benefit the needs of many musicians around the world.
1989 – Dragons in the Sky by Mark Schultz for Horn, Percussion and Tape – Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's work Silmarillion based on the Great Battle between the elves and Morgoth, Schultz captures the imagery of this battle into the work with the addition of percussion to enact the sounds of war in relation with the French horn. The work isn’t too difficult for the horn player, but it does comprise of a large variety of extended techniques that are not commonly found in horn literature.
1989 (November) – The demolition of the Berlin Wall began and would last nearly a year ending in 1990. This was done due to the unrest between the division of East and West Germany due to restrictions of travel between the two halves, as well as some political changes throughout Eastern Europe.