Originally posted by Jon Campbell on January 20, 2019
Media consumption in the modern era is predominantly mobile. Whether it’s in the car on in earbuds on the bus, the primary method many of us use to consume audio, in the form of music or podcast, is on the move. The Canadian artist Drake’s music was streamed from Spotify 8.2 billion times in 2018 alone, with the vast majority of those being sent to mobile devices.
In a parallel to this move, there is an increased push to mobile creation of audio. Musicians are now finding themselves able to create in whatever space suits them and whenever the mood strikes. No longer are albums purely created in expensive studios but in parks, on public transit, and in backyards. In the fall of 2018 Abbey Road Studios, home of such recording artists as the Beatles and Pink Floyd released Topline. Topline is an app designed by Abbey Road’s audio engineers to allow songwriters to record and multitrack their performances on their mobile devices. Now artists can record, master, and share their creations, all in a mobile and musician-friendly setting. Topline also includes a feature to geotag the recordings so that the music is tied to place, not just to the artist.
The rise of place-based music creation and geotagged performance links musical creation to place, and adds another layer to both music creation and to the geographic and social understanding of place. Soon, just as one can search for a location on Instagram to see images of a given location, one will be able to listen to music created in that location bringing another dimension to the world.
Links:
Topline App: https://www.abbeyroad.com/apps
Soundtrap: https://www.soundtrap.com/ (another excellent recording app more suited to an educational setting)
I remember back to when I played in a band (it was not good) and we decided to record. The amount of time, money, and equipment made this such an arduous task that we really questioned if it was worth it (it wasn’t; we sucked). I really like the idea of these apps being used for educational recording. It allows for guided experimentation into the aspects of recording for an entire class without the financial burden of a lot of equipment. Further, the location aspect could be used for more various curricular subjects. Example: Biology – students’ task is to go for a walk in the woods and capture both a picture and a sound recording of a bird. Back in class, they can then share their information and attempt to figure out the species. They could then build a map, using the geotags of the recordings, of sightings around their community. Maybe this could be shared with a local bird watching group; allowing the class to not only break out of the classroom, but form bonds within their community.