Democratisation of The Arts

Last week, I downloaded an app called GarageBand and discovered to my amazement that suddenly I could be a musician. Well, not a John Mayer. But, a lot more than an air-guitaring table-percussionist. Cool.

What's GarageBand? For 5 $, its a guitar, piano, keyboards, drum kit and a mini recording studio all rolled into one and in your pocket ! You can now create music anytime, anywhere.

Wait, there's more - smart instruments. Smart guitar. Smart drums. Smart keyboards. Just tap away randomly and the app produces an in-tune riff, a smooth melody. With a bit of practice, you can come close to a college band level in a few hours.

GarageBand is just a simple manifestation of the tsunami headed our way in the creative arts. Till the last century, creativity in the fields of music, writing, painting and sculpture , photography and movies was the domain of only gifted souls. Artistry had strict access-control : years of practice, discipline and dedication led to the mastery of any complex art form. As a consequence, our world was split between the talented geniuses, the rank-amateurs and the vast majority that could only consume as creation was beyond their reach. This stemmed from the daunting process of creation - it requires the dexterity of articulating your emotions in some form of language. And each artform had its own unique language ... whether written, spoken, sung, painted, sculpted or captured on film.Then, technology started simplifying the process of creativity in these fields - new tools emerged, for example the desktop computers revolutionised word processing and keyboards made music easier to create. This blog post is an obvious example of this phenomena. But, GarageBand portends of a future where anyone can create and be artistic. It somewhat obviates the need to learn the "language" of music. Artistry is no longer the preserve of the born talented and those who dedicate years to mastering an artform - a novice can piece together a nifty tune in a few hours. It breaks down the process of creation into its basic building blocks, but with a slight twist. Each of these blocks is also a semi-finished musical piece in itself and when combined with other blocks, becomes complete. All you have to do is to put together a few of these blocks, with some musical imagination ofcourse, and voila! you have a song ready.

GarageBand, and the many copycats that will follow, will spawn a new generation of musicians. The long tail (made famous by Chris Anderson) suddenly got way longer.

PS : Here's one song that i created in an hour or so .... enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XocRrdNRFzA&feature=youtu.be

Also, see the link below to find out how the pros do it ... no one better than Sir Paul McCartney, right !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8FzxXd12Jw&feature=related

Vignettes Of Orlando

Come January and the professional dirt busters gather in networking communion under the sunshine of Orlando. Could it be that with the northern hemisphere reeling under a severe winter, the possibility of hitting a golf course or a late afternoon jog by a lake brought droves of cleaning folks to the Sunshine State? Nah, it was all about business and networking! (wink, wink).

But, this post has nothing to do with the machinations of corporations in closed door meetings or what the future beckons for the humble housewife and her suds. It is about the state of being of a cultural cornucopia that is America.
I just soaked in the fleeting glimpses of the American life and am trying to distil them here. The super-size-everything phenomena, capitalism in all it's glory and the pursuit of the American dream caught my eye more than anything else. Yes, three topics, one blog post and hopefully, five comments !

It used to be the land of the prosperous middle class and their American dream. I was more amazed by how ubiquitous Starbucks and their super large coffee cups are - how a normal human being can gulp down almost a litre of coffee in one go is a modern day miracle. The only thing shrinking in this land is the level of service in all airlines. When all food chains are going up on serving sizes, why are airlines going the other way ? No wonder they are going bankrupt ! The American obsession with size is visible everywhere - SUV cabs, desserts, supermarket aisles !

Enough and more has been said on the state of the American economy, but what struck me most was the strength of its capitalist roots. Advertising is all about driving consumption and competitive as hell. Microsoft even had a full page ad in USA Today trashing Google's new privacy policy and why consumers should switch to Bing. And heaven help you if you choose not to pay gratuity at a restaurant or to a driver, after being overtly reminded if it had slipped your mind. Orlando, being the vacation darling of the US, has a huge infrastructure supported mostly by recent immigrants. I ran into a Turk, a Pakistani and a Haitian - all immigrants chasing the American dream, which feels more chimerical with every passing day. Possibly, capitalism teaches well living beyond your resources, with the hope that the American ingenuity will create those resources one day. Yes, this is also the land of eternal optimism! Infact, a recommendation also came my way - The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley, to get over the doom and gloom scenarios prevalent in business and social commentaries these days.

Yes, it was sunny and nice and I missed the golf, the run, the Seaworld and the Disneyland ..... Orlando could not seduce me enough to go beyond the business at hand.