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Denver, 7:00 AM
Thu Dec 3
64 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/23/09
The product itself sounds like a pretty good idea to me. More than one music producer got into their craft by playing Codemasters' Music back on the Playstation, and anything that gets people making and understanding music is a good thing in my books. I haven't actually played about with the software, so I can't vouch for how well it achieves what it sets out to, but I've heard plenty of positive comments. I'm sure it's no Logic, but as an entry-grade tool, it looks quite promising.
As for the use of this kind of software in schools, I approve. We played around with Cubase in school, and the fact is that computer music production is as important to modern music as is the playing of live instruments. And where I live, I'd say a majority of kids listen to genres (grime, funky, techno, hip hop, etc.) where live instrumentation played in a studio setting is a rarity.
You're much more likely to get an enthusiastic response from kids if you give them opportunities to express themselves creatively within the cultural milieu that is most familiar to them. There might be an argument about whether this particular piece of software is the most appropriate educational tool for doing that, but if music education is to remain relevant, it has to stay with the curve of modern music.
11/23/09
Please do not get me wrong, I use DAWs and VSTs as a past time (Live 8 user <3), but without my keyboard skills my music would turn into the standard drag-and-drop looping affair.
If they are mixing the two, then I'm all for it, but how it is phrased here gives me the impression that they are simply phasing out instruments all together. This has a danger of killing creativity, no?
11/23/09
But at the same time, there are plenty of producers who create everything in the machine. For some people, the visual format suits the way they think far better than interaction with a physical instrument does.
I think you have to look at any technology or restriction on the technical not as an obstacle, but as something that can be exploited to new, probably unseen creative effect.
A great example is Django Reinhardt. His fretting hand got horribly burned, and he was left with the use of only two fingers. Rather than giving up on his guitar playing, or seeing it as a limiting factor on his creativity within the jazz form, he learned how to adapt to the new way he had to interface with his instrument, and has gone down as one of the most talented, creative, and influential guitarists of all time.
With new technology it's never obvious how musicians will have to adjust in order to make the most of what is at their disposal, but they do always adjust in the end. Perhaps a traditional instrumentalist will sit down to use a DAW and find it like a shackle on their creativity, but for a kid who has been raised from an early age only to understand music from inside a computer? The possibilities are vast.
11/23/09
A bit like today's pop industry actually =/
11/23/09
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11/23/09
The budget cut issue is not something I'm qualified to talk about; I'm not American, let alone from New York.
On the other hand, what you have is a piece of software (which, like most, has been made by a commercial company) that is being put to good educational use, and which has been acquired, along with the hardware and other educational resources, at no cost to the school, in a time when finances are stretched.
Is it to Sony's advantage to have kids playing on PSPs in school? Of course it is. But is it some kind of sinister campaign of indoctrination or subliminal advertising? I don't think it is. It would be lovely if the kids were learning music production on generic PCs, using open source software, but there is still real educational value in what is being done here, and it sounds as if the teaching staff have been successful in building a strong curriculum around the tools at their disposal.
As far as I can see, the school is in no way beholden to Sony, or to Rockstar. There is no edict saying that form now on the school may conduct musical education using no other resource than Beaterator.
Schools need products. Pens, paper, desks, textbooks, basketball hoops - these things are all made by commercial organisations, and sometimes schools pay for them, and sometimes they are donated. That's how education works. It cannot be entirely divorced from business.
Maybe Sony is getting an awesome deal from this, but it sounds to me as if the kids are getting a pretty good deal, under the circumstances, as well.
11/23/09
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10/15/09
semi-related: I didn't like Timbo's production on the original Shock Value... Tracks off Life and Times part 3 was his better production. BP3 was also very nice. =/ #beaterator
10/15/09
Or perhaps you should listen to more Arabic music. #beaterator
10/15/09
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10/15/09
Great, I've reduced myself to toilet humor. #beaterator
10/15/09
[edit] #TMI
10/15/09
10/15/09
Sick sick man. #beaterator
10/15/09
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10/15/09
Angels singing and all of that.
10/15/09
@Yossarian: You're a funny funny man. I can't top that, your multiple beatertors sunk my toilet station. #beaterator
10/09/09
10/09/09
I used to be dead-set against music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I thought they were a waste of time and that kids should be practicing real instruments instead. Yes, I thumbed my nose at the music game genre and then put on my monocle and sipped a cup of Earl Grey.
A few summers ago I worked at a local band/orchestra/guitar retail store to pocket some money to pay for tuition. In the span of 2 1/2 months, I sold over $15,000 in guitars primarily to kids between the ages of 10-15. I'd never quite seen a run on guitars like this before. In my usual banter with customers while they're looking at instruments, I usually ask what's inspired the customer/recipient (in this case, mostly kids) to want to pick up the guitar. Answer in a shocking majority of purchases:
Guitar Hero and Rock Band
Fast forward to last winter where I'm student teaching with an elementary music program. I brought my Wii and a copy of Wii Music in as sort of a treat for kids who behaved well during class. Once every other week or so I'd let them play Wii Music for the last half of class (and every day during lunch when the weather outside was foul I'd have the music room open for them to play as well). A week or so after starting this I get a phone call from a parent that goes something like this:
Parent: Would you happen to know where I can rent a trumpet?
Me: Sure, here's the name of a music store I work for and contract with. Might I ask why you're interested?
Parent: Oh, [Child's name] said he enjoyed that Wii Music game you let him play during lunch so we went and bought a copy for home. He played a lot of the instruments in it and really liked the trumpet, we asked if he'd like to learn to play for real and he jumped at the chance.
I'm not sure if music games can actually teach music (though I think there's possibilities to teach rhythmic feel which is wonderful), but what I am sure of is that these music games have opened up a lot of possibilities for kids who would otherwise be uninterested. As far as I'm concerned, if music games can pull kids into music and perhaps inspire them to pick up real instruments, they are nothing short of successful.
10/09/09
10/09/09
Or better yet, in musician terms, a gateway drug.
10/09/09
10/09/09
Perfect for people like me!
10/09/09
Edit: OK, never mind.
10/09/09
10/09/09
That is all.
p.s. I have a picture but for some reason uploading is not working for me today.
10/09/09
10/09/09
Personally I think the Dreamcast was the first to pioneer both formats. Rez used music as a companion that accompanied you throughout the game. Although the interactions did not depend on music so to speak, the game became synonymous with beat creation.
Space Channel 5 was one of the first games based solely on music user interface reactions. Simon Says, but much much cooler. I might be wrong here but you could even go as far to say that SC5 was the precursor to the DDR game fad that was so popular at one time.
Wipeout is another that turned a corner in terms of musical involvement. Although it did not use music as a mechanism for gameplay, it was if I recall the first game to publicly market itself based upon what music the game actually contained. The game tailored itself around the electronic music explosion that hit the US and Europe during the mid 90's. At one point Sony showcased the game in trendy nightclubs across the country. The Soundtrack was as big of a hit as the game itself.
I won't venture into what Guitar Hero and the like has achieved or what the latest and greatest is, but it is nice to reflect on how Video games have proven to be an outstanding medium in terms of reaching out to people that would otherwise have no desire to pursue music in other ways.
*Whistles some Ocarina of Time tunes*