MUSIC x MACHINES (a sort of review)
My teacher (Dr. Richard Boulanger) asked us to write how we felt after going to MIT yesterday for this:
http://arts.mit.edu/fast/music-machines/
Heres what i wrote him:
To put together in very short words my experience on yesterdays Music x Technology forum at MIT. heres what i have to say: I have never seen such perfect harmony of art, technology and music ever in my life.
After experiencing the forum yesterday, seeing such bright people who are movers and shakers of music technology be all in one place showcasing what they have done and what they were planning to do. I really felt like i had a long way to go and that i really wanted to be more exposed to people like that. People who have paved the path and have gone against the grain primarily to sustain their personal interest, but residually contributed a huge wave / ripple effect to everyone else’s gain doing what they are doing now in Music Technology, be they DJs, Sound Designers, Software Designers, Composers, Writers, Sound Engineers, Producers and Instrumentalists.
I couldn’t explain the amount of excitement that i had seeing these people shine and how possible it was for them to achieve everything they have achieved. And couldn’t imagine the amount of hard work they had to put into their craft, dedicating their time in the “drawing board” planning, implementing and putting into action the vision that they have for their work.
After seeing the forum yesterday. i felt like it was ABSOLUTELY essential for a student of music technology to be exposed to that kind of environment. It was a taste of the high art mixed with probably a great amount of forward thinking people that have secretly shaped and have been quietly influencing the music industry today.
I want to learn everything that i saw and heard yesterday. I dont know how im gonna do it. Everything went by so quick and i did not have time to absorb everything. But i paid attention and saw a common detail. These were people who really worked hard on their vision and did not let anyone stop them. These people are resilient and have quietly gone back to the drawing board a million times to see their vision come through. They are sharp, smart and pay attention to a lot details that the rest of the crowd will overlook.
Being a student of Dr B has been incredible even if it has just been 2 weeks. I really feel like i have been slapped in the face and have seen a glimpse of the future and the kind of things a student like me can achieve. And of course, you also have to consider the fact that i am here in the US from a 3rd world country hanging by a thread with my finances studying in Berklee, any opportunity like this is golden to me. I dont know when i am ever gonna see something like this so i really really REALLY appreciated being able to see something amazing like that yesterday. If i wasn’t a student of Dr B and studying EPD, i would have probably had difficulty hearing about it.
I cannot put to words really how awesome that was. I know that theres always a scientific explanation to everything. But as cheesy as it may sound. I really considered it to be the work of God, how these people were put together to share such amazing knowledge and incredible experiences to people like me who have no clue, no idea on the amount of work and perseverance and grace these people have been given to share and endure that influenced everyone who is doing what they do in the field of music technology now.
The forum ended last night with a very nice concert featuring advancements in Music and Technology and a simple look back at what has happened the past 50 years. Dr B was part of the program and played, “Synaptogenesis” a remix of the classic tune “Synapse” made for Viola and Computer by Barry Vercoe. He used a very cool combination of Ableton Live, the new “Stutter Edit” plugin that he helped develop for Izotope, A Novation Launchpad and a pair of Nintendo Wiimotes to control the live remix of the tune. It was pretty cool to see it and hear it being mashed up right in front of you. It was very refreshing because you really do not hear music being treated in the same way with other tunes. Its not obviously your everyday radio tune and i really appreciated the remix. We just finished a “Mashup” project for our DSP class and it was sort of the exact same homework we had to do, put together elements in a musical way, making sense of everything we have learned for the past couple of semesters being in Berklee. Obviously Dr B had a better handle on it than we did, hes the teacher and knows exactly the kind of stuff that he did to make that remix happen. He was telling us 2 weeks ago that hes doing the exact same homework that he made us do and that was what he was working on. I was worrying about Phase Vocoding and making sense of all the documents that i need to read. And seeing everything that has happened put me in perspective about how and where all of this information (overload!) is going.
Im so inspired. I can’t even put justice to my feelings. I am also humbled and floored because i dont even know where to begin trying to grasp what happened last night. Its one of those moments where you just undeniably acknowledge the work of God in your life. Sure thats easy to conclude, dont understand anything? must be God. but i believe it, it has happened to me a lot of times. This is definitely one of those times. And im really grateful for that experience.
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