Press "Enter" to skip to content

Music for dummies

It’s never been easier to be a musician than it is right now.

From Garageband to Ableton, there is software out there that can help even the most rhythmically challenged person create profound, layered drum tracks. Just about anyone with a laptop and some money to spend on equipment can be considered a DJ. Is this readily available technology making it too easy?

This is definitely a two-sided issue.

Obviously one needs some kind of skill to be able to navigate through the different music production software. In most instances, one needs a general sense of rhythm and some understanding of music theory, whether that’s chord progressions or scales.

On the flip-side, though, we are an incredibly tech-savvy generation, so learning new programs is not difficult for us. Pair that with software that will literally synchronize anything you record to a specific tempo you can create, and it’s a pretty easy fix for those of us lacking rhythm.

This is not meant to discredit anyone who creates music this way. Producing your own beats on a drum machine and adding different synths over it is a fun way to spend any afternoon (or entire day).

Prior to this “made for radio” era we’ve entered, being a musician meant having moderate instrumental ability. I can’t imagine The Beatles or The Rolling Stones would have the diverse, awe-inspiring songs we know today if all their songs and instrumentation were created solely on a computer program.

In France, music-made-easy has surpassed anything we could have ever imagined. Why? Robots are doing it.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Scientists in France have created algorithms for robots to compose music in the style of artists like The Beatles, Bach and John Coltrane, to name a few. We have gotten to the point that we don’t even need people to create music. Thanks, technology!

Does this mean we are losing our soul? I’m not talking about the spiritual kind of soul, but that goosebump-inducing, lose-yourself-in-your-instrument kind of soul. As a self-taught guitarist, I can tell you firsthand there is no better feeling than being lost in something you’re playing, whether you’ve written it yourself or not.

So to my fellow creators—create. But remember that passion is better heard when it is analog.

Copyright © 2023, The Scout, Bradley University. All rights reserved.
The Scout is published by members of the student body of Bradley University. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the University.