MY DIGITAL-AUDIO-EVOVLUTION-IN-A-BLOG...
It's the summer of 2007 and it's a bit daunting to pick a point in time to think back on. Where to begin a recap of my exposure to what had been referred to as multimedia? In particular, how did I get here from my original intent of being an electronic music composer?
From the start, all things electronic were cool. Using synthesizers to create music seemed to me to be the final frontier in composing beyond rhythm and pitch; the ultimate in color and orchestration. But the technology seemed to take on its own agenda, its own evolution. Moving into the digital world, the simple radio-era analog "synths" became systems with vast amount of memory, perfectly reproducing every nuance of timbre and performance. With MIDI, music's own computer language, sonic expression became more of an abstract science fraught with methodologies. The massive leaps in memory and processing put the digital recording into the hands of mere mortals, and soon there were jobs for everybody in this quirky field.
For me it was always about being playful. I love to jam. I love to noodle. I love to play. So what better application for digital sound chops than the game industry? Easily the most engaging use of the media, it is probably most responsible for opening up new ears to electronic sounds, quirky beats, and mystical anthems. What a perfect place to work and have a front row seat to the continuing evolution of audio technology! Fascinating intersections like MP3 compression and high-speed internet created a paradigm shift in not only games, but how music was consumed everywhere. So called "interactive music" became a herald of the game music scene, and tantalized the experimental composer in many of us. Solutions for bandwidth, storage, and performance became creative challenges. Again, we have more work than we know what to do with.
As I wake up in present day, what do I find? Full media production capabilities in portable laptop systems, global connectivity for distribution and retrieval, interactive games rivaling any other kind of media penetration, and all of this amazing stuff taken for granted as just part of our lives. In my life as an academic, it seems to be the birthright of my students to have this laid out for them, so they can just get on with the job of getting rich. But does the history of the craft provide anything else besides nostalgia and background for getting a good gig? Could it possibly point to the next step in audio technology? Or the next paradigm shift in cultural development? This is what I'd like to stick around for. This is what I'd like to write about.
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I don't know when they 1st had a music business. I guess when there were more than two village musicians doin their schtick around the campfire- there arose a new problem.
From 200 years ago when Schubert (or some stuffed-shirt) said "Give me a business-man over a musician anyday" to the present day media mycology.
How do you grow a far reaching organic music network at a cold inhospitable '1' and '0' address?
The answer is a dual focus: marry the organic with the digital.
A-koo-gital. acoustic + digital.
I have many a strong resentments against my Dad; He- a left-brainer, moderate, intellectual to a fault and me- a right-brainer, risk-taker, romanticist.
No worries. When unwinding musicology all the way to it's roots- you hear over and over again that music is math.
Pythagorus wanted us to know this from the start.
Ah crap! You mean I'm confronting my Dad anyway???
Lately, I'm reading Simon Canns 'How To Make A Noise'
I wanted to understand more of how one strand of a tone (tone generator) binds with others to make sounds (and yup, harmony).
It's easier than I thought (noise to filter to envelope! great fun!!!).
I'm a not too shabby singer and likewise on the guitar.
Combine all these with a fundamental digital know how and I've got some great fun on the playgrounds of musicians like Ronald Jenkees and countless others.
Peace and Prosperity be yours!!
For me, good music comes from the heart and is communicated through a pencil and manuscript paper. I have a lot of midi technology at my disposal. However, as useful as it may be, it is merely a means of fast-tracking my music to the public. Hopefully, the music is good at the root level, or all the fast-tracking in the world is for nothing.
Couldn't agree with you more, Brad!! For any good music, game or electronic, there still has to be a good musical idea.
=dj=
Hey David,
You'll be the first to agree that the plethora of gadgets and easy access to technology is not a replacement for creativity nor for even competent compositional craftsmanship. What disappoints me the most in today's interactive music is this obsession to regurgitate broad lambastic strings in some minor key for any battle scene. There are some very creative VG composers out there, but their ideas are either not being heard, or producers just don't care.
What happened to fresh musical ideas? The video game business is just churning out crap at an unprecedented rate, today. OK, so maybe the old days had it's crap too. But, man, If I hear one more Holst-derived Mars piece I'm going to puke.
Before people start complaining that I don't know what I'm talking about by providing their favorite fresh VG music, let me admit that, yes, good interactive music does exist. I just want composers to understand that there is no substitute to learning the basics of harmony, orchestration, and (my biggest complaint) understanding how to develop a musical idea.
brad