I am a digital media consultant, and besides video work I often deal with audio projects. Here is a cool tool for the novice or expert to create music, not easily, but it does work.
Ujam is a web 2.0 tool that allows the user to input a vocal or instrumental analog audio signal into a hosted flash engine creating musical compositions based on a single monophonic melody. A cool concept really, and in my opinion the way of the future, but Ujam leaves much to be desired, it is unfortunately still in Alpha, hopefully they can get development issues hammered out.
So I am on my 7th hour of working with ujam and though it has numerous issues I have found some use for it, and hopefully will find some work arounds to my core issues.
A core issue to be sure. When someone tries to sell you on a product and it routinely cannot accomplish the basic function it was designed for, well, they might just lose a customer or two. Not only does recorded audio not sync up to a specified tempo, the harmonies generated by Ujam are almost always off.
Anyway here is how I used Ujam and actually got some functionality out of it.
1. I went back to my personal audio archive, by that I mean original music/ideas I have produced, and selected a monophonic vocal track and instrumental track. I selected both .wav files from an unfinished project I call "Lonely in Vegas". It has a vocal melody and guitar track that I am fond of, so I decided to use both.
2. I imported the vocal track, with no other purpose than to play with the vocal effects available in Ujam, it actually has better auto-tune capabilities than my current version of Logic Pro, minus any parameter controls. So, I toyed with the vocal line until I got something a little less than T-Pain, spit out an mp3 from Ujam, and imported back into Logic Pro. Success! In my opinion this right here is enough to warrant use. Once again, import vocal audio, add free effects, export audio and use to your liking. That is a huge plus for musicians.
(I love auto-tune effects, I will always use them, and could care less what critics say, so there...)
3. I then imported the monophonic guitar track and allowed Ujam to create a less than satisfactory harmony. I fortunately know the chords for the song, since I wrote it. So I went at making making edits to Ujam's harmonic sensibilities, and my god, did it take forever. Just switching chords was time consuming, and like I said I knew what they were, not to mention browser crashes, and freeze ups. In the end though I managed to piece together a harmonic line that would work with my existing audio. I did several Ujam instrument mp3 exports, three separate acoustic guitar tracks, a bass, a string quartet, and some percussion. I imported them all back into Logic Pro, and after minimal mixing I exported this demo.
Anyway here is how I used Ujam and actually got some functionality out of it.
1. I went back to my personal audio archive, by that I mean original music/ideas I have produced, and selected a monophonic vocal track and instrumental track. I selected both .wav files from an unfinished project I call "Lonely in Vegas". It has a vocal melody and guitar track that I am fond of, so I decided to use both.
2. I imported the vocal track, with no other purpose than to play with the vocal effects available in Ujam, it actually has better auto-tune capabilities than my current version of Logic Pro, minus any parameter controls. So, I toyed with the vocal line until I got something a little less than T-Pain, spit out an mp3 from Ujam, and imported back into Logic Pro. Success! In my opinion this right here is enough to warrant use. Once again, import vocal audio, add free effects, export audio and use to your liking. That is a huge plus for musicians.
(I love auto-tune effects, I will always use them, and could care less what critics say, so there...)
3. I then imported the monophonic guitar track and allowed Ujam to create a less than satisfactory harmony. I fortunately know the chords for the song, since I wrote it. So I went at making making edits to Ujam's harmonic sensibilities, and my god, did it take forever. Just switching chords was time consuming, and like I said I knew what they were, not to mention browser crashes, and freeze ups. In the end though I managed to piece together a harmonic line that would work with my existing audio. I did several Ujam instrument mp3 exports, three separate acoustic guitar tracks, a bass, a string quartet, and some percussion. I imported them all back into Logic Pro, and after minimal mixing I exported this demo.
A personal note on why I chose Ujam
From my perspective any tool that has the potential to unlock a persons musical mystery is worth investigating. Why? Because, I for one am still wondering why I played original music for over a decade, and why I carried a tape recorder around for all those years, recording literally hundreds of melodies. I can tell you, it wasn't for entertainment sake, money or status. My muse, unfortunately, comes from the category commonly referred to as "other", and it takes a lot for me to want work at it. When it comes to my musical intelligence I am lazy, cynical, and selfish. If I am not pleased by my instrument, my interphase, my location, or my musicians... I won't play, and I make no apologies. For years I have dreamed of a tool that could tap right into my brain, capture and manipulate, the raw melodies that wander there. Ujam hints at this, and points toward the future, but sadly, as my most difficult client likes to say, "not good enough..." Still, fun to play around with.
Hey, I am only a consumer of music, but the melody has lots of potential. I would love to share this tool with some of my more musically inclined students that don't have access to GarageBand. They could use this tool, or struggle through this tool to create a project. Technology is always changing, and I would love to hear if you find a tool that could do this, but was more developed. I love how you found the Web 2.0 tool that works for you and persevered through the struggle, as you always do! Thanks for sharing Adam!
ReplyDelete