Drum Machines and Popular Music

             Drum machines are one of the biggest contributors to the popular music of today. But when you get down to the heart and guts of a drum machine what you have is not an instrument but a computer. Drum machines are made of pads or buttons whose sensors trigger prerecorded or captured musical samples. In the early stages of drum machines, by which I mean pre-digital, the sensors triggered tape loops.

            Harry Chamberlin made the first modern day drum machines circa 1947 in California. He figured out a way to build a machine based on tape loops. This machine was called the Chamberlin Rhythmate. It had fourteen different tape loops of various samples that could be manipulated by both pitch and speed. It had an input for a microphone or guitar, so you could even record and make you own loops of what you were playing. But the most important aspect of this machine was that it had tape loops of real instruments that were recorded and could be recalled at any time.

            This brought on a whole new way of creating music. It even brought new genres like electronic music. Some other big drum machines where the Roland TR-808 which made a lot of early hip-hop records. The next step in drum machine technology was the use of sampling. The Linn LM-1 drum was the first machine to use digital sampling instead of actual tape loops. The Linn LM-1 drum sound was a distinct part of 1980’s pop music. Artists like Devo and The Human Leagues, even Prince’s all time great album Purple Rain, used this machine. Then in 1982 the Linn LM-1 drum evolved into the LinnDrum. The LinnDrum was a cheaper more technology advanced drum machine that can be most famously heard in Giorgio Moroders’s Scarface film soundtrack and the Cars Heartbeat City album. However, a major issue with drum machines such as the LinnDrumm and LM, is that they started to put session drummers out of work. Many session drummers would end up buying drum machines and then programming their own drum sounds into their machine. This was due to the fact that the industry had become accustomed too, even demanding, a drum machine produced sound. Various other drum machines gained prevalence throughout the next 10 years; the Roland TR-808 and 909, the Oberheim DMX, the E-mu Drumulator, and the Yamaha RX11.           

            Drum machines allow for thousands of samples to be pulled up and utilized during production. Any sound can be found at any time. This ability eventually led to drum programming and sequencing. Programmed drum beats are at the heart of all pop music today, most notably seen within EDM. People in today’s musical world even like to blend the real playing of drums with effected samples. This mix can probably be found in almost every song on the radio today. Music is inherently wed to technology; as one goes so does the other. Thanks to sampling and drum machines new genres of music have been created and can be enjoyed by people around the globe.

Music Distributions New Age

            First it was Radiohead and their fans. Then it was Jay Z and Samsung. Then his wife Beyonce’s “no marketing” album dropped. Now we have U2 and Apple. Since the early 2000s, when Napster started an avalanche that has made album sales almost frivolous, the music industry has sought new avenues for music distribution and sales. These avenues have come in many forms including streaming services. And don’t be mistaken; the four above mentioned alternative sale strategies are not the only attempts of their kind. But because of their popularity and scope I have chosen to focus on these for the purposes of this post.

            Last week U2 teamed up with Apple again (last time it was for the launch of their own iPod in 2004) to help with the distribution of their new album Songs of Innocence. Though precise figures are still unknown it is estimated Apple paid U2 close to100 million dollars to give away their album for “free” to the 500 million plus iTunes users worldwide. Rather than being met with applause from hordes of adoring fans, many have expressed outrage over the fact that U2’s latest musical offering music was automatically added to their iTunes accounts. Many feel U2 was paid to essentially “spam” 500 million people.

            Looking at the recent past there seems to be no right or wrong way to give away music. The public seems to be more outraged that U2 deprived them of the ability to choose than anything. Something any layperson could point out is an essential aspect of successful commerce. In late 2007, Radiohead let their fans decide how much they wanted to pay for their album. They distributed the album from their website and let the fans input any amount above one cent. According to the online music publication Pitchfork, it was an extremely successful release. The band made close to 3 million dollars and shipped close to 1.75 million CDs. However, BitTorrent downloads (free pirated MP3s) greatly exceeded CDs sold. In 2013 Samsung paid an estimated 20 million dollars to make Jay-Z’s Magna Carta… album available to Samsung users before it was released to the public. Then Jay’s wife and perhaps the most prominent female artist of her generation, Beyonce, didn’t do any marketing and just randomly dropped her album. The surprise hype seemed to positively affect sales. Both albums sold well according to current standards. But none of these artists received as much negative press as U2 for “selling out.”

            With technology constantly changing and new ways of distribution of music being utilized almost daily it is hard to guess what interesting sales methods will come next. It is in part exciting that we don’t know. Someone reading this could be the musical entrepreneur that creates the next big thing. The only certainty is that music will continue to be made and that now more than ever power lies with consumers. We can choose to purchase music and or not. We can choose to support the likes of U2 when they go to Apple for indirect sales or sponsorship. Jay-Z had his payday from Samsung. Why was it different? Maybe it’s because Samsung made the album available instead of automatically forcing people to download the album? Choice always seems to be a necessary ingredient. 

            I do believe however that musical acts will continue to choose and seek deals similar to U2’s in the continued quest for profitability. This presents a problem though. If people aren’t paying for the end product, someone must be loosing money. It also remains to be seen how the public will react to their favorite artists making art under corporate sponsorship. The simple answer is people should start buying music again. That is the only way the public can be the true sponsors of the music they love. I guess it all comes down to a choice. We can choose our greed or theirs.

Billboard top 100 Songwriters List – The Artists Behind The Artists.

Some of you might have figured this out already, but not all of today’s top popular music artists write their own songs. Truth be told, the majority of Top 40 pop and country hits are actually, almost always, written by a select few. This fraternity, many of whom you may not have heard of or known in this specific capacity, is made up of the best songwriters in the world. They are responsible for hit after hit after hit. Just this past week, as routinely released on an annual basis, Billboard Magazine released its “Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 Songwriters list.” Some of these names you might recognize because they are also artists themselves. Three of the top ten are artists, Ryan Tedder who is the lead singer for One Republic, Pharrell Williams, and Calvin Harris all made the list this year. Some of you might not know but Tedder, Pharrell, and Calvin Harris have “ghost written,” co-written, or are responsible for songs released by Ellie Goulding (Burn), Beyonce (XO), Rita Ora (I Will Never Let You Down), and Ed Sheeran (Sing), just to name a few. The rest of the individuals on the list, are strictly songwriters. And it brings us to the number one songwriter of this year. How many of you have heard of Max Martin? Though his name may ring a bell, it certainly doesn’t set of paparazzi flashbulbs or blow up Google searches. Yet, Martin is perhaps the music industry’s most prolific creative mind.

            Max Martin is now tied with John Lennon and Paul McCartney for most number one Billboard charting songs of all time. Max Martin, unbeknownst to throngs of screaming fans, has defined popular music from the 90’s till now. His accomplishments are too many to name. He wrote all the music, lyrics, and melodies for all of Brittney Spears’s hits. He was responsible for both NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys’ chart toppers. His most recent work has been a vehicle for the likes of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. The reason I bring up Britney, NSYNC, and the Backstreet boys, though admittedly far past their pop primes, is because their songs and business models mark the start of an era. It was the beginning of an age when music stars transcended musicianship. It was the first time songwriting, behind the scenes, for an artist or band really came into existence. Don’t get me wrong; there have always been famous musicians who didn’t write their own stuff. Take Elton John for example. He has never written a lyric in his life, but he writes all his music and melodies. His partner Bernie Taupin, who you’ve all probably never heard of, has written the lyrics and concepts to every famous Elton John song ever. Musical history is rife with songwriting teams. But the 90s marked the beginning of an era where labels would build artists from the ground up. A strong voice, look, talent, and cultural background replaced songwriting talent as the major selling points of musical acts. Songwriting could be outsourced, very successfully I might add. In fact, it was a goldmine. And Max Martin might be the largest prize.

             If you have a couple of minutes, Google some of the people on the list and see what songs they’ve written. You might be very surprised. Google the credits to one of your favorite songs and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the names below came up as a co-writer.  In my opinion, despite their distinct lack of notoriety, these people are the true artists. There is nobility in their “ghost” like dedication to a beloved craft. They might not have the look or the voice we know. But they are the ones creating the songs that we all love. And also maybe hate. 

Hello World - The Meaning Behind The Title Of This Blog

             For most of my childhood I was surrounded by music. At age three I started going to music school and fighting off the other kids to make sure I had the rainbow colored guitar strap. Mind you; none of us three to five year olds were really playing these instruments. We were in fact having playtime with instruments while our parents enjoyed an hour or so socializing with their contemporaries.

            Ever since that guitar strap I was always making sure that the things I wanted in my life were the cool and hip things that everyone yearned for. As I grew older I continued to go to music schools and in sixth grade I started to take the guitar a little more seriously than I had previously. But being the serious, hardcore, “know it all,” rocker that most middle school boys are, I turned my head to anything that did not have huge guitar parts and awesome solos. Approaching high school I quickly learned that my friends didn’t have the same appreciation for that kind of music I was listening to and I wondered why. As I journeyed through the first two years of high school I quickly realized that 60’s, 70’s and 80’s rock wasn’t all that “cool” anymore. As a musician and music lover the music of the past, that music still spoke to me more than anything, but all my friends were listening to pop music. And in middle school and high school, artistry was often trumped by social relationships. This point is something I will refer back to. Led Zepplin and Clapton were not as cool as the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and NSYNC. These pop stars were the new rock stars of the day and I couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was the times just changing? But I’ve come to realize it was a huge combination of things. So huge were the forces at play in the music industry and internet age that it would take me to studying music at the collegiate level to fully appreciate the changing environment that I was hoping to be a part of. Technology was bringing forth new ways to distribute music. Technology was creating new types of instruments that could be played with computer keyboards. And, like most industries, there was a new generation of talent ready to fuse new and evolving elements together. All these new technological advances, people, and sounds were the stepping-stones for what popular music is today.

            As I will continue to post in this blog I will address topics such as: who are the major influencers in modern day popular music, what new technology has done for creating popular music, how technology has changed the way we make, hear and distribute music etc.

            Everyone wants that thing. Everyone wants to have discovered a feeling, a product or sound that will affect the masses. Popular music can make us feel cool because of our deep personal relationship to sound coupled with our recognition of similarity in taste with others.  Everyone wants to have the Rainbow Guitar strap. It’s something that no matter how hard you try to avoid or scoff at it’s going to find it’s way to your ears and get stuck in your head. Just like anything, popular music will always be changing but it’s always going to be that rainbow colored guitar strap that everyone wants a piece of.