Is new music simply all about technology?
It’s not just guitar hero that’s getting a whole load of people back into the idea of writing and recording their own songs. The hugely successful game may have inspired countless wannabe rock stars to pick up a guitar and start rocking out but with so much new technology available to budding musicians, it seems the cutting edge of new music is becoming less Gibson and more… Game Boy?? No, you didn’t read that wrong. As musicians are constantly trying to come up with more and more ways to stay ahead of the crowd people are finding inspiration in all kinds of unexpected places, from state of the art phones to old toys and retro games consoles. Here are a few of the more innovative and unique uses for technology in music that we’ve found:
Old Nintendo Gameboys – perhaps one of the strangest musical creations around, DJ Scotch Egg doesn’t actually use any normal DJ equipment but produces his tracks entirely using sound effects and software from Game Boys. But they’re not fancy new consoles like we’re used to nowadays – he only uses the old chunky grey ones we all remember playing in the early 90s. This unusual approach not only works surprisingly well (he even manages to pull it off live and gives a very energetic performance) but it’s also a a bit of a trip down memory lane as you pick out the sounds you recognize from the games of your childhood!
iPhones – Due to play a series of gigs at Wembley Stadium in July supporting Take That, Gary Go’s set is something a bit different to what you’d usually expect from a pop concert. He doesn’t play any actual musical instruments live, and he doesn’t have a band – he just does it all on his trusty iPhone. In fact, he wrote, played and recorded a number of the tracks on his album using only software he had downloaded to his phone. It should be an interesting show to watch, provided no one decides to call him half way through!
Laptops – OK so maybe this one’s not quite so weird and wonderful, it’s not exactly unusual to see a laptop being used onstage during a show. But what makes the laptop such an important part of making your own music is that if you have one you literally don’t need anything else. With so many different programs for musicians out there, able to recreate the sound of any instrument almost perfectly, and then record and mix your tracks, it’s just a case of picking the right DJ software and going for it. Gone are the days of ‘but I don’t know how to play the guitar’ and ‘I don’t know the first thing about recording music’, these days truly anyone can be a rock star.
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