No musician is an island anymore
| Posted in Feature
Keyboards, microphones, computer music software, drums, guitars and amplifiers – not so long ago, the musicians who used the gear in each of these categories would have seemed isolated from one another. They were experts in their own field, with only a passing interest in their band-mate’s instruments. They were islands on the sea of songwriting.
Those were the days when guitarists came up with song ideas that were worked on by the band in the rehearsal room, later to be taken into hired studios where a house engineer would charge by the hour to record and mix a demo. I should know – my old band’s first demo was recorded in a tiny studio in London, under the pressure of a ticking clock and the sure knowledge that we couldn’t afford an extra day to finish our three songs…
In fact, it had already taken us weeks to save enough for just one day-long session. Considering the stress we were under, it’s no wonder that when we finally left the studio and nervously slotted the final mix-down cassette into a car stereo, we found ourselves listening not to the next big thing, but 20 minutes of fluffed riffs and dodgy vocals.
When I compare that experience to my most recent attempt at recording, the difference is remarkable. That session was for a song called Smoking Kills, which recently featured on a compilation CD. Though the quality of the recording is far superior to my old band’s efforts (there are less mistakes too) the song was recorded not in a professional facility, but in a friend’s front room.
What’s more, the engineer in question was kind enough to play acoustic guitar for me on the track as well, as I had injured my hand. Though the kindly chap in question is quite rightly considered one of my local area’s leading engineers, he also plays guitar, bass, keyboard and programs a mean drum. He’s one of a generation of musicians for whom the term musical instrument applies just as readily to a dedicated music computer, the Digidesign Eleven Rack, or Sample Logic Morphestra, as his beloved acoustic guitar.
Nor is he a rare example. In my immediate circle of friends I know a gigging singer-guitarist whose home recorded efforts sound just as polished as any major-label release, and a drumming-obsessive who is as deft with a guitar or a copy of Logic Studio as he is with a tightly-tuned tom.
The days when people considered themselves to be either a guitarist, a drummer, or an engineer have waned. Instead, we’re all simply musicians now. Every category in that list above holds treasure for those who have the inclination to cross the water to the next island.
About Barney Jameson
A contributor, editor and in some cases creator of more music and pro audio magazines than he cares to remember, Barney Jameson is a veteran of writing about gear, and a pretty keen singer songwriter to boot.
Having started his musical education reading old copies of the Melody Maker while riding the tube to University in the mid-nineties, Barney once sang in a band called Sugarstone, troubling record company chequebooks not quite enough to make it a career option. Instead, he achieved his goal of starting a music magazine of his own when he founded Playmusic in the early noughties. Later on, having exploited VIP access to as many festivals as possible, he wrote about the pro audio industry throughout Europe and the Middle East, travelling to far-flung destinations such as Dubai, Doha and Muscat (nice mountains).
As the latest addition to the DV247 team, Barney has big plans. But when he’s not plotting online domination of the musical instrument world, he keeps himself busy writing songs on a battered old acoustic guitar and playing them to audiences in his home town.
Tags: amplification, computer music software, Digidesign Eleven Rack, Drums, Guitar, keyboards, Logic Studio, Microphones, music computer, Musical Instruments, Sample Logic Morphestra