There are so many ways to find the key of a sample I start to wonder if our DAWs are indeed taking away our musicianship. Prince and Freddie Mercury both predicted that technology would make the music sterile. With so many tools at our fingertips I’m starting to think they were both right. Not too many producers now a days rely on their number one tool when making music….their ears.
Granted I currently have Mixed in Key and at one point had Serato from my DJing days that could tell you the key of a record. Came in handy when mixing and you wanted to make sure you were matching the bpm and key of the next record as well. Made it easy to keep the energy going. However, now that we’ve integrated these tools into everyday use, I’m not sure if we haven’t become the computers ourselves. Think about it. At your fingertips, for free, you can create any type of music and distribute it to the world. There used to be sorta a “buy-in” when it came to producing music. You had to buy loads of equipment at a high price and once you got it home you had to read different manuals for hours. By the time you passed that equipment down you had mastered that thing like no other; or you gave up. Now, a cracked version of FL Studio (don’t recommend) and a $50 mic and the world is yours. So the question I raise is…
Is technology to blame for the lack of creativity in music today?
A producer that I am currently studying, Phil Spector (Yes, that one. Yes, I know) wanted to create music that could compete with the massive amount of records that were coming out in the 70’s. The competition was so high back then because MoTown literally had a choke hold on not only black music, but also most of the radio. Phil decided that it was time to go left and decided to create a technique known as the “Wall of Sound.” Simply put, Phil would stack so many instruments such as strings, organs, cellos, and guitars in the background of his records that a 4 piece band would sound like a 20 person orchestra. This created such a lush and rich sound that the technique would later be implemented with The Beatles, Ike and Tina Turner all the way up to Stairsailor. It was because of the fierce competition that this guy had to come up with something innovative. There were no Pro Tools shortcuts, Abelton time stretching, or FL Studio templates. He simply had to rely solely on taking a chance, not loops. As much as I love chopping up samples and using sound packs, there is something about about creating something from scratch.
At the end of it all the technology is supposed to make us better musicians by enhancing the creativity, not solely relying on it to make a record. To be honest, I’m not sure if the average producer can even call themselves a musician if they have to rely on technology to find the key of a sample. We’re supposed to use our ears and that’s something technology can’t beat.
Until a firmware update makes this blog post obsolete.
