The Art of Digital Music: 56 Visionary Artists and Insiders Reveal Their Creative Secrets (Paperback)

~ (Author), Stewart Copeland (Author) "Growing up in Munich, Robert Henke was inspired to buy a Roland Juno-6 after hearing Jean Michel Jarre's epic album Oxygene..." (more)
Key Phrases: linear music, software synthesizer, interactive music, Pro Tools, Thomas Dolby, Dave O'Neal (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Digital technology has changed everything. Here's your backstage pass.

The Art of Digital Music gathers the wisdom and groundbreaking techniques of 56 visionary artists, producers, programmers, provocateurs, instrument designers, label executives, and industry insiders into one inspiring volume.

Hear firsthand how the masters wield technology to create their amazing music--the included DVD features highlights from all 56 interviews. You'll learn studio setup tips, secrets of sampling, creative quantization, ringtone tricks, production strategies, insights from video game composers, insane distortion recipes, how to squeeze expression from loops, how to overcome software option anxiety, how to exploit happy accidents, and much more.

Derived from a year's worth of in-depth interviews, The Art of Digital Music is a richly detailed journey into the heart of computer-aided creativity. Contributors include Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette), Jack Blades, BT, LTJ Bukem, Joe Chiccarelli (Beck, Zappa), Ted Cohen, the Crystal Method, Chuck D,Thomas Dolby, Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd), The Fat Man, Dr. Fiorella Terenzi, Albhy Galuten (18 No. 1 hits), Dr. Patrick Gleeson, Peter Gotcher (founder, Digidesign), Jim Griffin, Herbie Hancock, Mark Isham, Jimmy Jam, Leslie Ann Jones (Skywalker Sound), Ikutaro Kakehashi (founder, Roland), Stephen Kay (Korg Karma), Ray Kurzweil, Roger Linn, Alan Parsons, Eric Persing (Spectrasonics), Roger Powell, Phil Ramone, Steve Reich, Bob Rock (Metallica), Nile Rodgers,Todd Rundgren, Dave Smith (Prophet-5, MIDI), David Torn, Don Was (Rolling Stones), David Zicarelli (Cycling '74), and 20 more. Ingeniously organized by both personality and topic, The Art of Digital Music combines entertainment, social commentary, and how-to information with surprising warmth and humor. Crank it up to "1"--the digital revolution is starting.

Bonus DVD (Mac/Win/video) Includes: Sound bites from all 56 interviews; Over 25 complete songs (including live recordings from a private Thomas Dolby concert, unreleased demos, and out-of-print classics); Live-performance videos; Interactive Flash movies; Royalty-free samples and loops by the artists; Behind-the-scenes photos; Web links galore.

About the Author

Kelli Richards is the former manager of music and entertainment marketing for Apple Computer. David Battino, a lifelong musician and founding editor of Music & Computers magazine and the Desktop Music Production Guide. Most recently, David was Technology Editor for Revolution, the biggest launch in music-magazine history, where he also designed and produced the monthly CD-ROM. His sound design appears in a series of Lazer-Tron

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books; Pap/DVD edition (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879308303
• ISBN-13: 978-0879308308
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #152,508 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #26 in

  Books > Entertainment > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > MIDI, Mixers, etc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some interesting interviews, thin on practical advice, lackluster DVD, August 12, 2005

By	J. Padgett "marketing professional, musician,... - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really wanted to like this book after reading all the reviews. And I must admit that some of the interviews are quite interesting. However, almost all of the 50+ interviews are limited to just two pages, with each interviewee answering just a couple of questions. The latter portions of the book are dedicated to some light advice on music production and the business of music, as well some speculation on the future of the music industry. Perhaps there are just too many topics to allow any one topic to receive a satisfying treatment. Many of the interviews read like an article you would find in Sound on Sound, Electronic Musician or such magazines (that's a good thing) but are even skimpier on content and cover a far-reaching range of topics. This biggest disappointment, however, is the DVD. It mostly contains audio excerpts of the telephone interviews and after a while you just lose interest clicking around on them. There are only a few performance-oriented video clips, but these are not the best quality and their content is of questionable interest. All in all, I think the book has some interesting elements but I'm not sure there's enough there to justify the space on your bookshelf. My advice would be to flip through it at a bookstore, read two or three of the interviews before ordering it.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Feels "dated" an no longer relevant to me...., August 23, 2006

By	Grade E "Digital Buzz" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

Honestly I'm surprised by most of the reviews I see here giving this book 5 stars. Most of the people in the book, I personally don't hold in the highest regard. They all seem "past their prime" and many sound like they are remeniscing on how it used to be. In terms of the books title "Insider reveal their creative secrets." .. I find this laughable. I've read through the entire book, and there are very few concrete, CLEAR ideas on how to improve your musical craft. If you're a person that likes to learn through explicit instruction, then this book is definitely not for you. If you simply want to read interviews from some semi-relevant people that were in the music biz at one time, then this book may be for you. I would highly recommend going to your local bookstore and scanning through a few pages before spending your money.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative Insights are the Big Value, October 18, 2006

By	G. Estes (Saratoga, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked this book quite a bit; not because it gave me step-by-step instructions on how to create music using digital technology, but more to the point because it didn't. Any book on music technology can become dated quite quickly, but when one concentrates instead on hearing a very wide variety of artists, producers, technologists and industry executives talk about how they *think*, then you have something that if not timeless is at least fresh and interesting for some time. Knowing how Todd Rundgren approaches producing or songwriting is way more valuable than knowing which button in ProTools does pitch correction.