Sunday, December 8, 2013

What Has the Impact of Computer Recording Software Been on Modern Music?

How has modern music been impacted by Computer Recording Software? And what are the pros and cons of computer recording software? Before we go into that I would like to tell you a story from my own experience to qualify my opinion.I've had the rather fortunate position of being born into a musical family. My father was a well-known guitarist and session musician and he later went on to become a very successful music producer.I grew up with musicians and artists in my Dad's home and from a very early age I knew that I wanted to become a musician. Even though my Dad was a guitarist, I had this attraction to the piano.When I was five years old I started to play and compose on the piano and at about eight or nine I started singing in sessions in the recording studio for my Dad's sessions. In those days recording studios were full of electronic and analogue equipment. The mixing desk was the size of a motor car and the magnetic multitrack tape machine was like an amusement park ride spinning around and around. You can imagine what impact this made on me as a small child. I was absolutely fascinated with the technology. The buttons the sliders and the lights just seemed so complicated but yet so mysterious.So I started to hang around in the studio every waking hour, all the school holidays, every week-end and every opportunity. My Dad who was always the producer and the sound engineers had to answer all my questions day in and out. I was inquisitive but it was driven by this raw passion, this quest to understand and conquer this obsession I had with music and music technology.When the 90s came, samplers and computers started to enter the recording studio. usually hidden somewhere in the corner on a make shift table. They played a small part initially.Computers were my second love. I studied computer programming and visual basic at primary school. This is where my Dad started to need me more and more. As Computers slowly took over all the functionality of the typical recording studio and as we started to see the power and benefits they offered, so we invested heavily into them.I composed and produced my first track for an infomercial when I was 13 or 14 years old. I started to take a lead role in my Dad's studio and he would buy what ever gear I told him to buy. Soon we had an impressive digital setup and soon I started to take over composing or producing tracks. Against all conventional wisdom I dropped out of school at 16 and went full-time into music to pursue my dream. By the time I was 18 I was working 16 hours a day and producing 100 commissioned tracks a year under my Dad's business. I was working hard but learning fast.My advantage was I had the decades of collective knowledge from the older sound engineers and my Dad around me but I had the modern tools at my disposal...and we worked from home. This was long before it was fashionable like it is today.At 21 I was married with a child and I needed to make more money to survive so I left my Dad and went on to start my own music production company. This was very difficult because I didn't have my Dad's support and financial help anymore. This was make or break for me and thank God, I have gone on to become a very successful music producer, record label owner and multi-millionaire since then.Pros of Computer Recording SoftwareThe biggest advantage I have found with computer recording software is the fact that the barrier to entry has been substantially lowered due to the increasing proliferation of computer recording software products in the market place. This has made it possible for young people to enter the recording industry with almost nothing but a computer and some software. This means the playing field has almost been leveled.Cons of Computer Recording SoftwareWhat I have noticed in my experience working with young and upcoming music producers is they tend to lack the basics when it comes to sound engineering. Mainly because it's just too easy to get a PC and start composing music in your bedroom. They also lack that apprenticeship foundation that sound engineers and music producers used to get when working with older professionals. College is not enough to learn the ins and outs of the industry or the intricacies of music production. There are also a lot of secret techniques that are getting lost because young music producers are working from home without that previous foundation of knowledge built through the decades. I get asked the same questions day in and day out e.g. "How do I get my vocals to sound fat?"Opportunity for Computer Recording SoftwareThe biggest opportunity I can see going forward is for the music producers that have a solid hold of the passed down tricks and techniques from the collective knowledge of the great producers of old and an excellent hold on sound engineering principles like recording, mixing and mastering will have the advantage to become advanced music producers.I have personally trained countless young and upcoming composers and music producers through my own apprenticeship program personally and now more recently with my online course. This is why I have set up a blog where I share my 20 years of experience and knowledge.

If you would like to learn more about computer recording software and advanced music production techniques please visit my site and get a FREE ebook Music Production 101. Computer Re

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