Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Joys Of Modern Technology

Recently I haven't been out and about to any shows or anything like that, and I haven't been playing music all that much myself (though I did play through the first two movements of Widor's Suite in Eb on my flute the other day to bust out of a funk, and New Century Schoolbook has shows coming up end of the month) but I've been in a very thoughtful mood lately, and one of the things I've been thinking about is this...
People in general (ie, people who love music, being the only people who count, right?) are pretty lucky to live in an era right now where it's easy to get a hold of the devices necessary to make some rad music and get it out there where people can hear it. This does have a downside - the accessibility of technology has lead to a glut of bands and it's much rarer now for a rock band to make their living that way.. but anybody with the will and means to save up a couple hundred bucks to get some gear and something to record with can make a CD or post on the magical internets and have their music heard, and that's pretty amazing.
This thought came to me while I was listening to my ipod on the bus - (on random mode, my favourite way to listen to music) and the Modern Lovers' "Important In Your Life" finished, to be followed by "Haircuts In The Sky" by former? (they haven't played for about a year, but are putting out a new album soon) portland band "Noise From The Sky" - composed of some of my best and oldest friends, and I thought about how fortunate it is that I was able to listen to something recorded in my ex-boyfriend's basement. Today, as I was riding home from a late breakfast, I ran into my good friend John Lee and he invited me into his house to listen to some recordings he had made.
I guess if there's a point to this, it's go take advantage of the awesomeness available to you, and make something cool. Take a moment to truly appreciate the rad stuff other people around are making. Put in a good word for your friends' projects. Let's share some love.

7 comments:

Goldie Davich said...

OMG Amber Dawn! I totally TO THE MUTHA F'ing MAX agree with you.
LOL. I love it. I love it. I LOVE IT!
I've often thought, just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD!!!

Anonymous said...

Very well said and I could not agree more. I just tonight finished editing my interview with Westfold - while I was listening to it I just kept thinking "how can people NOT have heard of this band?" But that is why I started this project, invested money in recording equipment and sprained my poor brain learning basic sound editing (it is freakin' hard!) Thank you for posting this. Portland has so much to offer - foolish to not get out there and enjoy the music and spread the word! Now, please excuse me . . . I am going out to a show tonight!

Goldie Davich said...

Have fun Evy! I am dying to post a link to your interview!!! You are so inspirational and supportive... I'm always glad you stop by offer your two cents!!

Anonymous said...

could not agree more, infact this weekend will be the icing on the cake for internet love from the dp basement

my fall resolution is to see more and listen to my muse on random

Unknown said...

i'm down, A-Dawn!! i LOVE that goldie and other friends i have yet to meet are so actively and awesomely putting these tools to use. Isn't it great to live in a world where WE own the means of production?? i swear i'd be institutionalized if it weren't for interactive media and its gurus. like you!

also, i greatly admire your self-taught audio editing skills. can you tell me how you learned??

Amber Dawn said...

Maria - I volunteered with KBOO for several years on their youth program, and had an ex boyfriend set me up with a copy of cool edit pro - most of it was just experimentation with that program - although Audacity is free and works very well too. It's all very visually arranged - you see the sound represented as a waveform, and you can just physically select sections and move them around or cut them out, etc.. if that makes sense?

swiss miss said...

love it