Web design & FOSS
Front-end web technologies and Free Open Source Software.
Tuesday 30 June 2009, 2:17 PM
Gratification, instant and otherwise
My brother lectures in music performance and technology at SERC in Bangor, Northern Ireland. We had a discussion the other day about the joy of simple programs that get beginners going, and onto the act of creation rather than the faff of configuration. He was very positive about AudioMulch, an “interative music studio” (though alas it's not Open Source).
I installed Tux Paint at the local youth centre, and it was a joy and very interesting to the young teenagers creating work straight out of the box (see above photo). The attention span seems to last about 5-10 minutes, up to a half hour session before they wandered off to eat crisps or kick a ball somewhere else.
Much to be learned about easy-to-use-tools and feedback...
PreviousComments on this post
A good way to get a grip on music software is to turn to the games consoles. Codemasters make music 3000 on the PS2, and whilst some may scoff this software is "powerful"
It lets you get a feel for it by allowing you to get started with presets. It finishes up by allowing you to interact vocaly and create music that way. In between there is a virtual keyboard, editing facilities that let you shape texture and cut the sound anyway you like. An incredible analogue style synthesiser for building your sounds from scratch and honestly losts more.
When you here someone with a natural flair using this software and puting "work" into it, the results can be outstanding and far surpass much of the dross made with thousands of pounds worth of software.
I mean we're talking a few pounds for a copy.
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