A new digital revolution

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A new digital revolution

Technology : March 10, 2006

For hip-hop, techno and dance music in particular, the changes brought
about by digital music has been significant. Computer production has its
first poster-boy in hip-hop producer 9th Wonder, who makes his popular
beats with a $99 computer program that others with five-figure studios
fail to create.

Industry analysts argue that listeners can instantly tell whether a beat
came from computer rather than standalone hardware because of the clean
sound most digital producers employ. But Wonder's musical backdrops,
employed by artists such as Jay-Z, Destiny's Child and Memphis Bleek in
addition to his own group Little Brother, refute this notion all by itself.

"I can make it do any type of beat I want to," Wonder said in an
interview with Remix Magazine, referring to the program he uses, FL
Studio. "I listen for bass lines and the way I can tighten up the drums.
I can make it sound like a crispy, empty beat or a dirty beat."

Wonder writes his soulful soundtracks on the same computers millions of
Americans use everyday to send e-mails, instant message and play
computer games. This is done on a program that often "costs less than a
single good microphone," said Mike Metlay, an associate editor at
Recording Magazine.

FL Studio is only the beginning when it comes to the massive electronic
music production culture. For Windows users there are programs like
Cakewalk's Kinetic, Propellerhead's Reason and Sony's ACID while Apple
users have access to programs like the free and simple GarageBand or the
professional-grade Logic Pro. Each successive version of these programs
adds new features, making each one more and more like an
all-encompassing studio.

More exhaustive programs now create less-expensive software to compete
with the aforementioned programs. The industry standard in music
production and sequencing, Pro Tools, once only available for thousands
of dollars, now can be accessed in smaller, less intensive versions for
just a couple hundred dollars.

"This stuff starts at the fringes in the experimental and DJ culture,"
Metlay said. "(It) moves toward the mainstream as the companies
recognize larger markets. (They) realize that there's a whole world full
of people out there who have computers and might enjoy making their own
music."

It isn't all about making money for everyone, as evidenced by the free
multi-track audio editor and recorder Audacity. The software does many
of the things a $1,500 multi-track hardware recorder does but is
available for free download on the Web. This program and others like it
offer Web forums and message boards for users. This creates a massive
digital community that grows everyday.

"Free software is not just free of cost (like 'free beer')," the
Audacity Web site states. "It is free as in freedom (like 'free
speech'). Free software gives you the freedom to use a program, study
how it works, improve it, and share it with others."

A quick search on the Musician's Friend Web site, one of the more
popular musical instrument and equipment retailers, finds that the
closest thing to a program like FL Studio, an AKAI MPC1000 sequencer,
costs about $1,000. More advanced sequencers cost even more.

"You can do much more for potentially less money," says Markkus Rovito,
technology editor for Remix Magazine. "A new MPC2000XL or MPC25000 costs
about $2,000 street price. For less money than that, a person could buy
a decent PC and (FL Studio), Cakewalk Sonar Home Edition or some similar
software -- or an Apple iMac with the pre-loaded GarageBand software."

These pieces of hardware utilize a smaller screen, are less intuitive
and adaptive and can't do the wide range of things a computer program
can do. But software does have its drawbacks. For one, a computer isn't
a standalone instrument like a sequencer is.

"A computer is not designed from the ground up to make music and nothing
else," Metlay said. "Even a computer that's built for audio and never
used for anything else still uses Mac OS X or Windows XP, operating
systems that are not audio-specific. This means that there are many ways
a computer can get confused, lock up, or crash while making music that
you wouldn't see in a hardware box."

Though 9th Wonder quickly became one of hip-hop's hottest producers
using just a turntable and a Dell laptop, the number of well-known
artists who make their music solely on computers remains low. Techno
artist Moby is known for his laptop-based live shows, Metlay says, and
even jazz great Herbie Hancock occasionally replaces his synthesizer
hardware with a laptop.

For the most part, many of these inexpensive programs remain underground
just like the artists who use them. But just because producers don't use
computer software exclusively doesn't mean the digital revolution
doesn't affect music production more and more everyday.

"Ultimately, the transition to computer music production is nearly
complete," Rovito said. "There are very few professionals who don't use
a computer in some capacity in the production process, and beginners,
hobbyists and semi-pros usually take the computer route for its cost
effectiveness and practicality."

Copyright 2006 by United Press International