Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Eric Gjerde

September 3rd, 2008 – One of my favorite music sites, MusicRadar, has had a couple recent stories about artists using Garageband to create music. Garageband is a free program that ships with Apple computers and is meant to get everyone creating music. Garageband was actually one of the reasons I started this site. I felt that the technological barrier to creating music was so low, that people who hadn’t thought they could write music, now had the opportunity.

As regular readers of this site know, I usually expound the idea that it’s not important to focus on the tools, it’s important to focus on how you use what’s available to you. It is often those who have the least tools, that produce the most creative music. They are forced to come up with creative ways to make due with what they have. In the beginning, the Neptunes didn’t have much gear, and that is likely what influenced their sparse style. However, in a time when popular music production was still influenced by Phil Spector’s “wall of sound“, it was a breath of fresh air. It works with gear, it works with songwriting.

Be an expert in what you have, be it your gear or your abilities. While it’s good to have as much knowledge as possible, make sure you don’t spread yourself thin. Not to sound heavy-handed, but a foundation that’s too thin will crack and you’ll never be able to build anything lasting or meaningful. You are the most important part of the equation. Don’t get caught up in gear, software, or techniques that your favorite artists use. When I first started, I thought that I had to have this gear or that to make good music. I focused on what I didn’t have rather than what I had. Once I got over that, I became so much more productive. These days, I actually like having less choice in sounds, or gear, because it makes me be that much more creative with what I do have.

As an exercise, if any of you is into remixing, try a remix in the strictest sense: using only the materials in the original track. It’s pretty challenging because you are limited to what you can use, but it’s also liberating because you don’t have as many choices for instruments or sounds. A couple years back, I submitted a remix for Fort Minor’s “Remember the Name”. Unfortunately, my relationship with calendars is strained, so I ended up missing the deadline. Regardless, I found it immensely rewarding to have remixed the track using only what was provided by the artist. Cutting apart the melody lines into individual notes, I was able to create completely new melodies. I must admit, I’m not the best remixer out there, but I had a lot of fun doing it. If you’re interested in hearing it, you can check it out on my Indaba page. It’s the fifth track down.

Oasis using Garageband on MusicRadar

Justice using Garageband on MusicRadar