In 1965, scientist and futurist Ray Kurzweil appeared as a guest on CBS’ weekly game show “I’ve Got a Secret.” His secret? He performed a piano piece that was written by a computer program he invented based on musical pattern recognition.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs would have been only 10 years old at the time, but maybe he was watching and taking notes because Apple’s music editing software, GarageBand, lets pretty much anyone replicate Kurzweil’s jaw-dropping (at the time) performance.
I say “at the time,” because after playing with the GarageBand app when it was released for the iPad last Friday, I’m astonished by its ease of use but a little frightened by what that same accessibility indicates about pop/R&B music.
For $5, you get access to hundreds of simulated instruments and prerecorded loops, as well as so-called “smart” instruments that can generate automated grooves at the touch of a finger.
The interface is fantastic, and I’ve had a blast screwing around with it. So are other people, obviously, because there are already tons of impressive YouTube videos people have created using the software. (As further evidence, if you’re reading online, listen to the track I created in about 30 minutes as an interpretation of what it would sound like if Ron Burgundy and Isaac Hayes got it on.)
Honestly, it’s scary how easy it is to quickly “compose” a catchy groove, which brings me to my earlier point about why this bodes ill for mainstream radio.
Anyone familiar with modern pop/R&B music knows the name Doctor Luke, the producer behind mega-successful hits such as Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.,” Flo Rida’s “Right Round” and pretty much everything by Ke$ha and Katy Perry. Listen to enough of his songs, and they’ll start to run together.
You can’t accuse the Doctor of slacking off as a producer, though. Who can blame him for taking advantage of a successful formula? After all, if it ain’t broke …
Obviously, there’s still a ton of creative musicians out there creating original music, and no one is holding a gun to a producer’s head to make songs by stacking up prerecorded loops like musical Lego blocks. But we keep listening to tracks created that way, which just encourages producers to keep pumping them out. There’s a reason people refer to some pop artists as “hit machines.”
What’s really unnerving is how many pop and R&B hits, including our own Usher’s “Love in This Club,” have been re-created with surprising accuracy using a piece of software that costs less than some fast-food hamburgers.
I’m not giving up on GarageBand, though. I can already tell how hugely versatile it will be, and you can’t blame the tool for a shoddy finished product.
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Earlier this week, a reader contacted me to say he missed my Essential Listening Project, which I was forced to end last year due to the financial strain of spending $50 a week on music.
If you have strong feelings either way about the return of the Project or want to know more about it, e-mail me.