An article boston.com did for the Macworld Expo, 2004 Summer.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/gallery/mac_music/

 

 

Mac Music

(Boston.com Photo / Simon Holroyd)

 

 

Boston.com recently visited Berklee College of Music for a lesson in music-making, Mac-style.

Gadi Sassoon is a double major in Jazz Composition and Music Synthesis. Originally from Milan, Italy, Sassoon currently lives in Boston. Here, Sassoon demonstrates how he composes with a Mac and keyboard.

Listen to Gadi Sassoon - Koinobori (sorry, offline)

 

Says Sassoon about his use of the Mac, "What do I do with my Mac? Everything I can. My laptop is my musical instrument, my compositional sketchbook, my performing workstation and production environment...the computer has given me the possibility to achieve any sound my imagination can conceive."

Here, Sassoon uses a sequencer program on his Powerbook G4 computer -- a requirement for all incoming freshman at the college -- to outline a composition on the spot.

 

Berklee offers a variety of music programs for students. The Music Synthesis program has been available to students for over 10 years at the school. Graduates from the Music Sythesis program have many career options, according to Kurt Biederwolf, chair of the Berklee Music Synthesis department. "A unique aspect of the Music Synthesis major is the versatility of our curriculum ... our graduates adapt to a wide range of professional situations involving technology and music/sound production."

Biederwolf said that graduates typically get involved in composition and sound design for feature films, videogames, television shows/commercials, and multimedia companies.

 

Chris Oquist was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and also lived in Brazil and Chile before settling in Boston. He served as Director of Marketing for Berklee's student run record label, Heavy Rotation Records, and is now an Executive Director for the label. Berklee has received a $100,000 endowment from Sony to help provide scholarships in the Music Business/Management program.

 

Listen to Heavy Rotation Records' tracks:

Producer Nick - Britney Spears' Boyfriend (sorry, offline)

Heather Bright - Didja (sorry, offline)

Decadence - Less of a Man (sorry, offline)

 

Dream Studios, a simulated state-of-the-art music studio, esigned and developed by Berklee faculty and students, uses computers for audio production.

In a lab at the Berklee College of Music, music takes a different tune with the aid of computers. Here, keyboards hang on the wall in a Berklee lab. These keyboards are plugged into students' Powerbook computers and used as a tool for composing music alongside the computer.

 

The Mac computer music program appears on screen as if the composer were working with an actual musical instrument, amplifier and synthesizer equipment. The computer shows a diagram of what a real sound system looks like, including images of red, yellow, blue, green and white wires spiraled around each other hooking up synthesizers, speakers, audio components, microphones and instruments.

Shown in this picture, mixing boards interface with Mac computers in the Berklee labs.

 

The music program at Berklee is constantly evolving. Biederwolf said the incremental changes in technology are occurring more rapidly than ever, "and we need to adapt quickly. The elements of musicianship never change, despite changes in production styles and the ebb and flow of the popularity of genres."

At left, is an example of a private workstation in Berklee's music lab.

 

What is the future of technology in the music industry? According to Biederwolf, the future is here, "and we'll see a continuation of trends being established," he said. A higher demand for musical "content" will be met by a growing group of self-produced musicians working in personal studio spaces. They will be networked with other musicians that will be able to collaborate via high-speed communication protocols. Here, a workstation in one of Berklee's labs marks the beginning of an artists' career in music composition.

 

Watch the Techno Rave Ensemble, a Mac-aided Berklee music group (sorry, offline)