In today’s “there’s an app for that” world, we have the tools for virtually everything. We can communicate, connect, browse, and create all at our fingertips with the technology, hard-ware, and software all around. It is an empowering thing to have because it makes anybody creative. Case in point: for those that watched the live Superbowl half-time show with Fergie and the Black Eye Peas, it was painfully obvious by her performance that without the magic of technology, the lady can’t sing.
This digital age has transformed music in particular into something that can be done by just about anybody. There are so many tools and resources where individuals can experiment with loops, samples, and other mixes to become their own musician. Software is becoming simpler to use and more automatic in nature that mixers and composers are coming up everywhere and YouTube stars are all over the web.
Genres of music that weren’t possible not too long ago are now all over the internet. Electronica, hiphop, house, and other types of music are going far with their sounds and are much appreciated by the public.
The revolutionary tools have opened up the doors of many aspiring musicians but sadly it has also closed the doors of more technical/skilled genres of music. As experimental as the new music may be, they usually do not stray from the usual beats and melodies. Pop music especially, can be mixed, matched, and ultimately sound similar.
It is from this usual formula that genres like jazz and classic rock are fading into the background because of their more challenging play-ability. Which begs the question, is digital music really music? It is, of course, but maybe this is just a generation where everyone has the chance to be a musician with the trendy genres. It is just unfortunate that the “automatic composing” nature of it prevents musicians from coming up with something truly unique unless they create the loops and samples all on their own. Hopefully with the development of newer software, musicians may find better ways to experiment on every single detail instead of using pre-made elements in their music. And can we please cut down on the auto-tune vocals!
