How digital magic made this aging music fan a happy bunny

Despite working in new media (I’m not sure what it’s called nowadays – it’s getting a bit long in the tooth to be called “new” anything) for 13 years, there are still some digital applications that strike me as nothing short of magic. 

Okay, I’ve long since got over email and the web and mobile phones and digital video recorders – I enjoy them all enormously, and they’ve made a big and largely beneficial difference to my life – but they’re now too much part of the warp and weft of my existence to deliver the visceral thrill they once did. As for slightly more recent innovations – social networks and smart-phones and iPads - well, I’m just too old to care that much.

But what I do care about – and what I still regard as so close to magic that it wouldn’t be out of place at Hogwarts - is the hardware and software that allows me to waste oodles of time making and recording music in the privacy of my home.

Now, if you’re easily embarrassed, exit right now. If you’re made of sterner stuff – or are simply in an indulgent mood – please listen to "Thanks, Al!"

Welcome back. Yes, it isn’t really a song, and there isn’t much of a tune, and there’s only one chord, but it’s more an exercise in layering on mainly percussive sounds that are vaguely authentic – i.e. they might well have been created live by (admittedly below-par) session musicians in an American studio anytime between 1965 and 1985 (which allows the synthesizer to sneak in near the end). The title, “Thanks, Al”, represents a nod towards the great soul singer and song-writer, Al Green – the drum and bass parts are very simplified versions of those on his 1974 masterpiece, “Take Me to the River”. 

This “project” (as the lingo has it) was created using one electric guitar (without an amplifier), a standard iMac computer, and Apple’s Garage Band software, which comes free with MacBooks and desktops. It didn’t even involve a Midi Controller – i.e. an organ-style keyboard which you plug into the computer to access all the various “software instruments” on offer – from grand pianos to wacky synthesizers to horn sections to bass guitars to lush strings and even church bells. You can “play” these “instruments” using the standard Mac keyboard. (There are also hundreds of pre-recorded “loops” available for those without any musical ability whatsoever, but I reckon that’s cheating.) 

As for the electric guitar, you just plug that into the back of the iMac, and then get to choose from about twenty pre-set “tones” (e.g. Memphis Clean. Stadium Solo, Heavy Metal etc.), or you can create your very own guitar sound using a host of different simulated amplifiers and infinitely adjustable effects “pedals” (i.e. Delay, Sustain, Overdrive, etc.) The song you may or may not have just listened to was made up of fifteen separate tracks each creating a different type of sound.  

I first got into all this stuff five years ago, when I bought the Cubase software programme, an Edirol midi controller, a Behringer pre-amp and a Sennheiser condenser microphone (the last two were necessary to record real non-amplified instruments, such as an acoustic guitar and the human voice), and I had to buy a better sound-card to process the digital racket that ensued. Unfortunately, like a kid in a sweet shop, I overdid it, and ended up spending half my time making noise when I should have been working. Part of the problem was the ability to download endless (legally) free virtual instruments and effects pedals from the internet. After nine months, facing penury, I packed everything away, and was a good boy for nearly five years. 

Then I bought a Mac last year and couldn’t help having a bit of a play with Garage Band, and finally succumbed to temptation a few weeks ago. This time I want to concentrate on doing the most I can with what I’ve already got – although I may have to succumb and buy what’s mysteriously known simply as an “interface” in order to record my wonderful Taylor acoustic (quite possibly my favourite possession). I’d also love to find a way of creating a genuine rock and roll saxophone sound – without having to buy one and learning to play it. I also wouldn’t mind …. but no, that way lies madness. 

My current ambition is a simple one: to come as close as possible to recreating the primitive sound of the music I love from the 1950s and 1960s. Here’s a go at a simple rock and roll instrumental, "On the Prowl".

I have no illusions about my minuscule musical talent, or about the quality of what I’m capable of producing – but it’s hard to think of any respectable or harmless activity which is quite as joyously absorbing as this one.

My thanks to all the developers whose dedication and genius made it possible for this aging music fan to enjoy himself so extravagantly without harming the planet, other people, or himself.

Told you it was magic.

It’s just a pity that while the digital age has made it easier for complete amateurs like myself to sound at least moderately competent, it also seems to have destroyed the ability of professionals to make any music even remotely worth listening to. Swings and roundabouts.