Throughout the course of a musician’s journey usually comes a time when they are intrigued with songwriting. Modern day technology has made it possible for people to write songs using an app on their smart phones. We live at a time where the average person has production tools right at their fingertips. Famous composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach couldn’t have possibly dreamed of the astonishing devices that we have today for creating and editing music. In the mid-nineties Roland Corporation came out with their Personal Music Assistant that they called the PMA-5. The PMA-5 was pretty much a palm pilot for musicians. You could sequence and edit up to 8 midi tracks using either a midi device connected or one the device itself with it’s touchscreen keyboard. You could also create chord progression charts that would take your loops and adapt them to the chord changes that you specify. I was introduced to this device in a Music Technology class offered at Schoolcraft College and sure enough I ran out and bought one first opportunity I had. The Roland PMA-5 was a breakthrough item in the midi-sequencing/recording field. This device gave you the ability to write rhythms, melodies, and whole songs easily and anywhere. Fast forward to 2012 I look at the PMA-5 and I still see a cool device but it certainly looks like an archaic device. There have been a whole gamut of products for midi and recording. I believe the last reel to reel tape company went out of business 5 or more years ago. 99 percent of music is recorded digitally using computers and computer software. While there is constant change in the area of production tools for music, the knowledge and understanding of good songwriting has transcended time. Instruments, tastes, and styles change but the notes and chords used to make them have always been the same. Some people think that if they just get this new piece of equipment or that new device then they will have what it takes to write songs. Instead of acquiring new devices you can study new ideas and methods that will help you to write creatively in the styles that you like.
Grosse Pointe Music Academy will be offering a Songwriting Workshop class for students ages 10 and up.
During this 2 hour workshop students will be introduced to various songwriting techniques and learn the keys to improving everyday.
Saturday, February 25th at 12pm in Grosse Pointe
Sunday, February 26th at 12pm in Canton
This class sounds fantastic! We need more outlets for those of us who are creatively minded! Will this class use any of the modern technology that you mentioned in this post?
How exciting! I love this. It’s so great to see such a wide array of classes offered through Grosse Pointe Music Academy. There is literally something for everyone in the family! Thank you.