I'm working data entry from midnight to 8:30 am (love the hours), and my
coworkers listen to the radio all night every night.  It's great!  I just
graduated with a degree in music, and yet I had stopped enjoying listening
to music.  I've never been a pop fan, but I'm finding it pretty stimulating.

Because in just about every song currently on the charts, there is a healthy
portion of either granular synthesis or (more likely) spectral
manipulation.  Either someone's vocal ornamentation is made to sound
digital, or the vocals are made to sound like baby-voice, or there's
granular synthesis over top of everything.  The urban music crowd is eating
it up, and I know how to do it!
What makes "cutting-edge" (as they see it) computer techniques so popular in
these styles?  It used to be hip to be low-tech, to have the cheapest gear
(808), or even just two guys taking turns making mouth percussion and
rapping.  Then again, it used to be hip to rap about social injustice and
fighting the establishment, rather than owning lots of stuff.  Supply and
demand, I guess.

On the other hand, there's a lot about regular, gimmickless audio production
that I don't know.  At any rate, I'm glad I have Csound to guide me.  I'm
moving to Romania soon, and I have a feeling my knowledge of these things
will be rare there.  Whether there'll be a demand for it, I don't know.  I
guess the only thing is to learn more and more and more.



-Chuckk


-- 
http://www.badmuthahubbard.com