Musicians ditch studios for tech such as GiO for Macs

Article by Jefferson Graham

I found this article to be very interesting because of its connection to a topic we slightly discussed in class--Uplaya. NPR did a piece about Uplaya and how it rates music based on sounds that are pleasing to the brain. Artists are starting to use Uplaya more and more to try and produce chart toppers. However, there was some concern regarding Uplaya and that fact that sometimes original music is what is popular.

Graham's article talks about Apple's GarageBand program and GiO for Mac computers. The article is interesting because it talks about how people can record songs by using computerized mixers right from home. GarageBand now offers the ability for a guitar to be plugged straight into the computer using a USB connector.

Graham does a good job explaining the programs but he leaves the technology and the hard facts off to the side. For example, "(If you have an older Mac and don't have GarageBand '09, you'll need to fork over $79 for the current iLife suite.)" and also, "(Note to guitar players: Besides the axe and software, you'll also need a USB-to-guitar interface cable, and they're not cheap, averaging around $100.)."

I feel as though he shouldn't leave this kind of information as an afterthought. The use of parentheses is a little odd and disconnects the information from his article. Quite honestly, the information in parentheses is exactly what I want to know. I think this article would have more value if he touched a bit more on these types of facts.

The information presented is valuable but I feel as though there wasn't enough information for me to form an opinion. There wasn't too much information regarding pros and cons of each program and exactly what the use of these programs. Graham discusses the value of not having to go to the studio to record music but what about the cons such as those people in the studio losing their jobs or music losing its creativity.

Overall I feel Graham's story was useful in putting some knowledge out there regarding programs like GarageBand and GiO (actually I'm not even sure what I learned about GiO) but there was a lot lacking from his article.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-10-13-apogee-gio-music_N.htm

That's all for now folks