Genji Siraisi releases Drum Nugs Free (AIFF) Drum Loops

Genji Siraisi releases Drum Nugs Free (AIFF) Drum Loops
31st March 2009

Genji Siraisi, producer, composer and musician, most well known as founding member and drummer for Groove Collective, has released what is set to be the first in a series of live drum loop packages. The project, called Drum Nugs, is based around a series of recordings done on different kits in various venues - the first installment was recorded in four different cities in two countries.

The loops mostly fall into the acoustic breakbeat category but they range stylistically from old school breaks to Jazz, Latin, Rock and beyond. Some of the beats have been processed heavily putting them into a more modern realm and making them suitable for a wide variety of uses.

If your looking for that human drum element, to add some grit to your tracks or just some new old school breaks to play with this may be what you are looking for.

The Free pack consists of 62 AIFF loops. A donation is requested but not necessary for download and there is a full version of 631 AIFF loops available for $10.

If others blog, home made musicians mog?

Home Made Musicians should try out thise new music community blogging app being developed....looks like could be a killa!

Social music lovers become 'Moggers' from PhysOrg.com

The launch of a site intertwining music blogging into a social network could be an opportunity for MOG to segue into a deal with major players in the music industry including music labels and online music stores, if not also appeal to online advertisers.
[...]

Free Audio Tools that Work with Flash

This could be a good way of making music videos in flash and adding home
made music to it.

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=457504

Free Audio Tools that Work with Flash

Date: Mar 24, 2006 By James Gonzalez

One of Flash's many strengths is its capability to consistently and
reliably play back sound across a wide variety of computer platforms and
environments. Flash has a comprehensive set of utilities and tools to
work with audio, but there are several free, dedicated audio tools that
can do an even better job. James Gonzalez reviews several free audio
tools that he has used professionally and with his students to
streamline audio work with Flash.

One of Flash’s many strengths is its capability to consistently and
reliably play back sound across a wide variety of computer platforms and
environments. This capability may in fact be the best reason to use
Flash for projects in which sound is an important component.

Flash has a comprehensive set of utilities and tools to work with audio,
but there are several free, dedicated audio tools that can do a better
job. For example, you can set compression settings in Flash, but I find
that using a dedicated audio application is faster and yields better
results.

This article reviews several free audio tools that I have used
professionally and with my students to streamline audio work with Flash.

Read full article here:
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=457504

Free Keyboard Magazine Deadline, 2006 Competition, etc

*****************************************************************
USA SONGWRITING COMPETITION
http://www.songwriting.net

3/22/06
*****************************************************************

** FREE KEYBOARD MAGAZINE Deadline FOR 11th ANNUAL USA SONGWRITING
COMPETITION

Celebrating our 11th consecutive year, 2006 USA Songwriting Competition
is now accepting entries! Winning songs will receive radio airplay in
United States and Canada along with great prizes such as a Top Prize of
over $50,000.

Sponsors of the 2006 Competition are: New Music Weekly, Keyboard
magazine, Sony, Audio-Technica, Ibanez Guitars, D'Addario Strings,
Peavey, Sam Ash Music Stores, IK Multimedia, Hear Technologies,
MixDownMedia.com, Indie Bible, Garritan Music Software, Acoustic Cafe,
Livewire Contacts, Loggins Promotion, Superdups.com and XM Radio.

Also, there's FREE 11th ANNIVERSARY early entry bonus: first 1,000
entries postmarked by March 31 or earlier will each receive a FREE
Keyboard magazine subscription (1 full year!). That's great value of
getting music magazine subscription just by entering! Last few days to
get this special gift. Please obtain the entry form at:
http://www.songwriting.net/entryform.html

===[ Sponsored in part by D'Addario Strings ]====================
Every good gig starts with Getting Loaded! Unsigned bands are invited to
upload their original track on www.getmeloaded.tv Winner will be featured
in a TV spot to air on Fuse and get a ton of gear from D?Addario, Ibanez,
& more. www.getmeloaded.tv
==================================================================

2005 WINNING SONG
Many have asked where you can listen to the top winning song "Miracle"
written by Hakim Young. Winning song "Miracle" can be heard on Columbia
Records/Sony Music website, as it is now signed to Columbia/Sony. You
need to select the song "Miracle" on the music player on the website at:
http://www.stjuste.com

===[ Sponsored in part by IBANEZ Guitars ]========================
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==================================================================

*** IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) Featured Artists Spotlight

Featured Artists of the Month are:
~Kate and Kacey Coppola
~Dave Potts
~Suzanne Teng
~High Range Band

For more details of the artists, please visit:
http://www.inacoustic.com/artists2.html

For complete list of 2nd Annual IAMA winners, please go to:
http://www.inacoustic.com/winners.html

==================================================================
The Music Business registry is the Music Industries leading provider of
accurate up-to-the minute contact information for A&R, Music Publishers,
Record Producers, Music Attorney's and Music Supervisors.
www.musicregistry.com
==================================================================

HAVING SOMETHING TO CONTRIBUTE by Ritch Esra

Today, more than ever, we work in an industry where enormous changes are
happening with greater frequency. Whether change represents enormous
upheaval or unprecedented opportunity to you often depends on how well
equipped you are to handle one of today's most valuable
commodities-information.

The Music Business Registry (A&R Registry, Publisher Registry, Music
Attorney Registry, Record Producer Registry & The Film/Television Music
Guide have been "The Standard" in contact information for the Music
Business Community Over the last 14 years. What the registry's are most
effective at is providing you with the most up-to-date and through
contact information you need to develop the necessary relationships that
can help move your career to forward. Developing relationships with the
A&R, publishing record producers or the film and television music
supervisors are all part of the fundamental foundation of building a
career as a successful songwriter.

One of the most important elements to remember as a songwriter in
developing relationships with A&R people, record producers And music
supervisors is to always keep the needs of the project first and
foremost in your mind. Do you have something that Can make a
contribution to this project? Do you even know the needs of the
project? This is especially true in the world of Film & Television.
It's not about your song as much as it's about serving the needs of the
project. Those who truly understand this have a much higher rate of success.

There are many ways to develop relationships with the A&R community.
One of the best ways I have found is to do your homework! It's the
difference between wanting something from someone vs. having something
to offer! Research what artists they work with and what are their needs
at this time. Remember, timing is everything! Having the perfect song
for Faith Hill song when she's just finished her new CD isn't going to
help you. You must do your homework. You must also be creative in your
approach so that you stand out. Don't cold call A&R executives you have
no relationship with. Instead, you may want to try something unique and
Out of the ordinary, like sending a note to them in a baby shoe that
says "Now that I've got my foot in the door, how about lending Me an
ear? And ask to send them a song (1) that is right for their needs.
Doing something like this will make you stand out from The hundreds who
just want someone to listen to their songs. Remember, it's about having
something to offer vs: wanting something. Think about how this principle
works in your life. Don't you gravitate more toward those who have
something to contribute to you Rather than those who constantly want
something from you? Well it's no different in the music business.

Written by Ritch Esra
The Music Business Registry
www.musicregistry.com

** COMPILATION CD [sponsored by WWW.SUPERDUPS.COM]
"NEW MUSIC NOW Vol 3" - THE USA SONGWRITING COMPETITION COMPILATION CD
sponsored by SUPERDUPS.COM. USA Songwriting Competition's CD
Compilation. This CD will include the 2005 winners such as Hakim Young.
Details will be out shortly.

** COOL MERCHANDISE
You can now purchase our cool USA Songwriting Competition T-shirts, Hats
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===[Sponsored in part by Loggins Promotion]=================
LOGGINS PROMOTION is the leading radio promotion and marketing
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==================================================================

*USA SONGWRITING COMPETITION SPONSORS "ONE TO WATCH" SEGMENT OF ACOUSTIC
CAFÉ, A POPULAR RADIO SHOW

Audio clips as well as information on featured up and coming acts heard
on Acoustic Café, a popular radio show is featured on USA Songwriting
Competition's site. It is syndicated in over 60 radio stations nationwide.

For more information, visit:
http://www.songwriting.net/onetowatch.html

===[Sponsored in part by New Music Weekly]======================
NEW MUSIC WEEKLY covers the radio and music industry within its
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by radio stations who "break" the hits first, has become the
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visit: www.newmusicweekly.com or call 310-325-9997

==================================================================

*RADIO STATIONS THAT WILL PLAY YOUR MATERIAL:

Craig's Music - the radio voice of independent music
http://www.craigsmusic.net
This show is broadcast on 1550 KYCY-AM San Francisco

XM Radio Unsigned
http://unsigned.xmradio.com

Unsigned Underground
230 S. Main St., Newtown, CT 06470
PH: 203-426-2030 FX: 203-426-2036
Darryl Gregory info@unsignedunderground.net
www.unsignedunderground.net
This show is broadcast on WVOF 88.5 Fairfield University, Weds. 4PM to
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KRCK-FM 97.7
73-733 Fred Waring Dr. #201, Palm Desert, CA 92260
PH: 760-341-0123 FX: 760-341-7455
The Big KC kc@krck.com
http://www.krck.com
KRCK supports local talent and encourages independent artists. Rock &
Alternative format.

WRHO FM
Hartwick College, 1 Hartwick Dr. Oneonta, NY, 13820O
PH: 607-431-4555 FX: 607-431-4064
Alex Cameron wrho@hartwick.edu
http://users.hartwick.edu/wrho
Please send us your promo CDs. We play all genres of music, however we
tend to lack in the Folk/Country/Jazz/Blues/ Classical/Spoken Word
genres - so more of those genres would be greatly appreciated!

indie cent exposure radio
8949 Sunset Blvd. #201, West Hollywood, CA 90069
PH: 310-943-7164 FX: 310-919-3091
Justin Goldberg
justin@indie911.com
http://www.indie911.com
Changing the way people discover and get paid for making music. As
people listen to streamed music from Indie911's media player, qualifying
artist accounts are paid for online airplay via their PayPal account.

WGRX FM
4414 Lafayette Blvd. Ste #100, Fredericksburg, VA 22408
PH: 540-891-9696 FX: 540-891-1656
Stephanie Taylor staylor@thunder1045.com
http://www.thunder1045.com
A mainstream Country station that mixes in Americana and Southern Rock.
We air a two hour Americana/Bluegrass/Texas Country show on Sunday
nights that incorporates independent artists.

Psych Rock 101 KMBH
RT8 Box 613, Brownsville, TX 78520
Texas Joe Valles Jr. vallescream@aol.com
http://www.vallesbrothersband.com
Showcasing old and new bands in the Psych Rock format only! No other
types of music are accepted! CDs - new shrinkwrapped, retail ready only!
No CDr's or homemade tapes etc. Free to email me before sending submissions.

What's the Buzz WCNI
247 Haley Rd. Ledyard, CT 06339
PH: 860-572-2705
John Fogg Jr. buzzradiowcni@aol.com
http://oak.conncoll.edu/wcni
A weekly 3 hour show. Christian Rock, Pop & Hip-Hop. I am happy to play
the music of independent artists.

*The list of radio stations are brought to you by INDIE BIBLE. You can
find the Indie Bible in these stores: Borders Books & Music, Barnes &
Noble, Sam Ash, Virgin Records, Tower Records and Mars Music. All USA
Songwriting Competition subscribers can get the $5 discounted Indie
Bible. Go to:
http://www.indiebible.com/usasong

===[ REFER A MUSICIAN FRIEND TO US ]==============================
Tell a musician or songwriter to sign up for this FREE informative
e-mail newsletter of USA Songwriting Competition with chock full
of opportunities for the musician or songwriter, please e-mail
them on where to sign-up:
http://www.songwriting.net/join.html
==================================================================

OTHER PAST WINNERS' COMMENTS & UPDATES, ETC
Steve Tannen (overall grand prize winner in 2001) is part of the duo
"The Weepies" with Deb Talan, they hit #1 On ITunes on the week of
02-12-2006 with their song "World Spins Madly On," peaked at #1 on the
iTunes US folk chart--a genre that also includes artists like Bob Dylan,
KT Tunstall and Damien Rice. As a result, Say I Am You (March 7) broke
onnto the iTunes album chart at #70. They are currently signed to
Nettwerk Records.

Jeff Talmadge (finalist, folk category) records for Corazong Records,
which released his latest CD, Blissville, on January 24. It reached No.
1 on the Roots Music Report (folk) chart in February and has been moving
up the Americana Chart.

Dave Berg (2005 USA Songwriting Competition 1st Prize Winner - Rock/Alt)
co-wrote the number 1 Country hit song by Reba McIntyre "Somebody". It
reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart and #35
on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart! "Somebody" becomes Reba's 22nd #,
breaking the record for longest span of #1 hits by a female country
performer. Dave co-wrote "Somebody" with Sam and Annie Tate.

Jen Foster (2005 USA Songwriting Competition, 1st Prize - Gospel) had
her song "Saturn" was named Top 100 songs of the year 2005 by Sirius
OurQ Radio program.

Tim Matthews won an honorable mention award in 2005 with co-writers Mary
Dana and Cory Batten with their song "It's Not Love". He also won an
honorable mention award with "Can't Help Calling Your Name" in 1999. The
same song was cut by Jason Sellers on both of his RCA/BNA albums.
Besides Jason Sellers, Tim Matthews have had cuts by Neal McCoy, Marcel
Chagnon, Jeannie Kendall (of The Kendalls), and Lauren Lucas.

Sarah Lewis, the lead singer of Jag Star (2002 USA Songwriting
Competition Overall Grand Prize winner) had her song "Leavin'", chosen
as a trailor song for MTV's new TV program, "The Hills", which is a
spin-off of "Laguna Beach". She and her band has performed with Simple
Plan and Bowling For Soup.

Jonathan Kingham (2000 USA Songwriting Competition Overall Grand Prize
winner) signed a development deal with Universal South Records and is
currently writing and recording with some of the top writers and players
in Nashville.

~Were you a finalist or past winner of the USA Songwriting Competition
and have some interesting news on yourself? If so, please e-mail us at:
info@songwriting.net

===[ Sponsored in part by BANDIT A&R NEWSLETTER ]=================
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A&R NEWSLETTER will tell you about Labels, Publishers, Managements etc
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==================================================================

MUSIC RESOURCES
*ExtraPlay.com - Worldwide music promotion and distribution.
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channels world wide 24 hours a day, everyday, non stop. Playing and
promoting bands and artists songs from all around the world.
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*Doak Turner's newsletter sent to over 10,000 songwriters and music
industry professionals every week. The site is a great resource for
songwriters.
http://www.nashvillemuse.com

*Australian Country Music Listeners Association
http://www.acmla.com.au

*New Music Weekly
http://www.newmusicweekly.com

*Loggins Radio Promotion
http://www.logginspromotion.com

*OnlineRock - music community providing musicians with the tools and
services needed to create, promote and sell their music. Nearly 25,000
bands are currently promoting their music at OnlineRock. Bands and
musicians are invited to submit their CDs for reviews.
http://www.onlinerock.com

*SongBridge
http://www.thesongbridge.com

*The Music Broker - We pitch unsigned talent to Record Companies, Music
Publishers and Film/TV studios. We represent only the best
songwriters/artists we can find
http://www.TheMusicBroker.net

*Mediaguide - proprietary technology monitors nearly 2,500 US radio
stations 24 hours/day, 7 days/week
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*XM Radio - Sign up for XM Radio to get XM Unsigned, the radio program
hosted by DJ Billy Zero
http://www.xmradio.com

*Music2deal.com - facilitates a direct link between professionals in
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http://www.songs2deal.com

*Hal Leonard
http://www.halleonard.com

*Ibanez
http://www.ibanez.com

*Sony
http://www.sonystyle.com

*Livewire Contacts
http://www.livewiremusician.com

*IK Multimedia
http://www.ikmultimedia.com

*Onlinegigs - the only fully automated booking and promotional tool for
today's music industry.
http://www.onlinegigs.com

*Songsalive! - a non-profit organization supporting and promoting
songwriters and composers worldwide.
http://www.songsalive.org

*Hot Indie News
http://www.hotindienews.com

===[ To Advertise ]===============================================
To advertise in the newsletter, please e-mail: ira@songwriting.net
==================================================================

~~USA Songwriting Competition would like to thank all artists that
performed at our SXSW showcase last week in Austin, TX. We would also
like to thank all those that came to our showcase to support our artists
and songwriters. Be sure to get your entries in early for the free
Keyboard magazine subscription. Thanks to Keyboard magazine for your
support and a great magazine!

Warmest Regards,

....Jessica Brandon, Artist Relations ~~

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USA Songwriting Competition
*World's Leading International Songwriting Competition*
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info@songwriting.net

Freeware - SYNTHFONT Version 1.0.34 Released

http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1030.html

SYNTHFONT

SynthFont is a free/donationware tool for playing/rendering MIDI files
using SoundFonts and other similar sound sources (WAV, DLS, GIGA and
also VST Instruments).

SynthFont is intended to mimic the behavior of SoundFont compatible
hardware/soundcards like SoundBlaster Live! or Audigy and SynthFont is
(almost) modulator aware, which Live! is not. But SynthFont is more. It
provides an interface into the SoundFont structure and has basic editing
capabilities. It also displays various data about the loaded MIDI file
through the piano roll and the event list. Finally, there is a simple
playlist feature for storing the files you are currently working on.

SynthFont also supports VST effects - there are 17 busses in all: one
master bus and 16 channel busses.

VSTSynthFont

VSTSynthFont (VSF), a separate VST instrument version of SynthFont is
also available. It is a completely independent module, which you can use
without SF installed. It does not have any of the SoundFont tools SF
has, nor can it display any MIDI information as it does not handle MIDI
files.

vERSION 1.0.34 Download (http://www.synthfont.com/)

A new digital revolution

http://www.physorg.com/news11628.html

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

DIY Tunes Turn It Up

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,70203-0.html?tw=wn_index_3

DIY Tunes Turn It Up

Commentary by Clive Thompson | Also by this reporter
02:00 AM Feb, 13, 2006

Barely 10 minutes after I had opened Electroplankton, my apartment was
awash in ambient techno. I had coaxed the Sun-Animalcule to plink out a
steel-drum melody. I had used the BeatneS to unleash a growling, acidy
beat. And I'd spun the Lumiloops until each was ululating in perfect,
oscillating harmony.

As many people have noted, Electroplankton -- Nintendo's hot new DS
title -- is not really a game. It doesn't have any goals; all you do is
nudge virtual plankton around onscreen until they produce pleasing
tunes. Technically, Electroplankton is a toy -- yet it's modeled after
the music-editing software professional sound engineers use to produce
songs. And the results, in the right hands, can be remarkably similar.

Consider the "Rec-Rec" plankton: You sing a line or clap a beat into
each of four fish, and they mix it together into a song. That's
basically a four-track recorder, the same tool the Beatles used on many
of their albums.

Then there's the Volvoice plankton, which samples something you say or
sing, and skews the pitch upward into a chipmunky warble, or downward
into a growl. This is exactly like the pitch-shifting plug-ins in
popular music software like Acid or Abletone Live. BeatNes, another
plankton, is a retro-'80s sampler: It breaks classic NES tunes -- such
as the theme from Super Mario Bros -- into each component note, so you
can remix and scramble them into new melodies.

The upshot? When kids play this game, it's practically like receiving
basic training in sound engineering. Electroplankton is not alone. Other
music-game titles have blurred the line between play and music-creation.
Kellin Manning used the PlayStation game Music Maker to write the songs
for his band Boomkat's first album.

What's even more interesting is that this blurring goes in the other
direction too. Even as some games look more like music-engineering
tools, today's music-engineering software looks more like a game.

Pick up a copy of Acid, Apple's Garage Band, or Reason, and you'll see
what I mean. They're all gorgeously colorful affairs, with drag-and-drop
simplicity and lots of pretty buttons and toggles to flick. You're
encouraged to muck around with loops and instruments until something
unpredictable and cool happens. Their fundamental design pushes one
toward experimentation and happy accident -- precisely the way a good
game encourages you to explore and mess about.

In essence, today's music software has learned something important from
games: Creative tools work best when they inspire playful activity.

This injection of playfulness has some interesting repercussions for
culture, too -- because it takes formerly professional activities and
brings them to the masses. This is precisely what happened to word
processing. Back in the late '70s, word-processing software was so
complex and unruly -- and tied to such ugly, proprietary hardware --
that people needed to enroll in technical-college training classes just
to learn it.

Then the Macintosh introduced the WYSIWYG interface, and word processors
suddenly transformed into something much more playful. You could remix
your document -- cutting and pasting text, fiddling with fonts, and
watching your design grow in real time.

Typographic noodling became a playful activity; kids learned it just by
goofing around onscreen. The result is a generation of people today who
think nothing of designing their own posters, invitations and CD-cover art.

The same shift happened with websites. A once-difficult craft became
point-and-click playful when Blogger and Xanga launched. Now it's
happening to video, too -- a once-professional craft is becoming
something any teenager can do with his webcam and some free software.

Of course, this democratization is a good thing for fun. But is it
necessarily a good thing for art? When Garage Band first came out,
several friends of mine e-mailed me songs they'd written. These were
people who, as far as I know, had never played an instrument in their
lives. A few of the tunes were astonishingly good -- practically
club-worthy beats. The rest?

Eh.

Turns out there's a good reason the pros are pros, which is why if I'm
ever in front of a microphone, I want Kanye West or Daniel Lanois behind
the mixing board -- not my cubicle mate.

Yet it's also possible that we're destined to reach a tipping point with
these creativity tools. The early days of web design saw some
horrifically amateurish HTML experiments -- like blinking tags -- before
teenagers finally became fluent in pirated copies of Photoshop, and the
web cleaned up.

If that's true, then maybe toy-tools like Electroplankton are the best
first step forward.

One brilliant part of the game is that it is nearly impossible to
produce horrible music: Electroplankton is designed so that even your
errors come out sounding beautiful. That could prove limiting to artists
at the upper reaches of the talent range. But, in a world where more and
more amateurs will be hitting the keyboard, it's music to my ears.

(A tip of the hat to Carl Goodman of the American Museum of the Moving
Image, who originally introduced me to this line of thinking.)

---
Clive Thompson is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine,
and a regular contributor to Wired and New York magazine. His blog is
www.collisiondetection.net.