Day One - Hip Hop Technology Course

We had an auspicious start to the "Hip-Hop: Art, Science and Business" course at YFCR (Youth Family Community Renewal). Facilitator Thomas Daniel and myself introduced the course with lectures on Hip Hop history, African-American history and music technology.

The kids were surprisingly attentive and their grasp of the information was phenomenal. It made us realize that they are the "digital native" generation that we hear so much about. It became apparent that we as instructors will have to make a special effort to think and act at video game speed. This is actually a plus because our studio will be laptop based. Kids know computers, so our job will be made easier by using this familiar medium to introduce unfamiliar (and often complex) concepts and principles. Sound engineering, sound wave mapping, audio signal flow and many other recording studio fundamentals will be made exponentially easier to teach because of the children's inherent facility with the personal computer.

Again, day one looked very promising. We had 16 youngsters attend the lecture, and we anticipate perhaps a dozen more enrolling within the next 2 weeks.

I have an idea where I'd like to go with this course, but the real excitement awaits in the realm of unintended (hopefully positive) consequences. Lives may be changed in ways we cannot now imagine. I noticed this today in our first lecture. The future looks bright and unlimited.

We will raise the additional funds to make the course flourish at the level of its potential. We will inspire donors to support our lofty cause.

Laptop Studios: a Study of the Power and Autonomy of Sony Acid Music Software

The democratization of music production has arrived. No longer is one required to spend inordinate amounts of money just to set up a home studio. Gone are the days wherein multi-thousand dollar multitracks, mixers and synthesizers are required. Software is well on its way to replacing the standard hardware based tools of the trade. And it's about time.

Most of the gadgets that are used in the studio are computer processor-based anyway. Why not use a full blown computer to do all of the sound creating and processing? This is only logical.

In a lot of cases musicians and engineers already know this. They know that the tiny computers in the devices they regularly use are inferior by degrees to the immense processing power of the personal computer. And those various gadgets that have become the tools of the trade are so many millstones around the necks and wallets of the studio faithful.

Even hardware helpers like ProTools software fall short of what is now possible with the more advanced and smarter software on the market today. ProTools, the so-called industry standard, is so tethered to gadgets and conventional devices and practices that it only serves to delay the inevitable. Soon recording studios will be mostly virtual.

Enter Sony Acid Software.