Batch of new software titles can turn composers on a budget into...

Mozart on a Mac

By Beatrice E. Garcia, KRT Campus

MIAMI—Jose Tillan composed “10,000 Meters High,” a short piece of instrumental music, literally 10,000 meters high, while on a plane ride returning home from South America.

The MTV Latin American exec and songwriter couldn’t fall asleep, so he fired up his laptop and plugged in a portable keyboard and began to write. By the time the plane landed in Miami, he had a finished piece, blended with several tracks of supporting music.

Composers today, both professionals and amateurs, can write and produce music in home recording studios using versatile recording software and powerful computers. They can combine multiple tracks, mix in various instruments and even buy the rights to recordings by well-known artists to augment their music. The final product is digital music, and the sound is very, very close to studio quality.

Much of today’s dance and electronic music is created in homes or small recording studios using such software and hardware tools, experts say.

There’s powerful, but yet easy-to-use, software such as Apple Computer’s GarageBand that can get the average Joe churning out tracks of music for home movies and presentations like a wannabe OutKast.

Denver-based rocker Matthew Moon composed all the songs for his last CD on GarageBand. Apple has hired him as a spokesman for the software, which is part of its new iLife software suite that comes installed in every new iMac computer.

There are more sophisticated applications such as Digidesign’s ProTools, which Zach Ziskin, a Fort Lauderdale singer and composer, uses to produce his music. His latest CD, “Real As The Memory,” was produced at his home studio using ProTools and a couple of other software programs.

Instead of spending a $1,000 an hour in a recording studios, musicians with talent but not lots of cash can equip a home studio for a few thousand dollars. The basics include a computer with a powerful processor (1 gigahertz or higher is best), a sound card, a big hard drive for storing music files and CD burner.

Local bands can produce most of their music themselves and go to the recording studio for the final mixing phase.

These software applications have taken a slice out the recording studios’ business.

Jorge Ojeda, producer and owner of Destune Studios, a recording studio in South Miami-Dade, said recording studios have had to change the way they market themselves, promoting talent rather than facilities.

“ A lot of artists are looking for a particular sound, so they might seek out a producer who is affiliated with a particular studio,” Ojeda said.

Of course, the quality of the music produced with these programs depends on who is using them.

“ Technology has opened a lot of doors, whether you have talent or not,” Tillan said. “But it can help break down barriers if you have talent.”

Apple’s GarageBand allows someone with no musical training to put together a song, picking from more than 1,000 loops included in the program. You can add not just a guitar, but can select from various styles such as acoustic or Spanish flamenco. Each track can adjust individually in a variety of ways including tempo and volume. If you’re an accomplished musician, you can plug your keyboard or a guitar into the computer and record a track that added to your creation.

Bryan Smith, a software expert at Apple’s Aventura, Fla., store, said user-friendly GarageBand even appeals to the pros. He said a Chicago DJ has uploaded his entire library onto two iPods and can run a session from the MP3 players, ditching the turntables and vinyl records.

Both Ziskin and Tillan, who has built a recording studio in his garage in the past year, work with ProTools, a more sophisticated digital and editing system. A full-throttle version is used by recording studios and a “lite” version can be used in a home studio equipped with desktop PC.

Ziskin said the positives of having such powerful recording tools clearly outweigh the negatives.

“ You have unprecedented control, plus the ability to try new techniques and experiment with different sounds, a luxury most bands don’t have if they are paying for studio time by the hour.”

However, Ziskin does see a downside.

Because the musician or composer has such control and flexibility, “you can edit and tweak a song to death. You can edit until all the spontaneity of a song has been obliterated.”