The Chordalooks pretty neat, and it may turn out to be the next keytar.
But plenty of musical gadgets promise to give the buyer instant gratification.
Promotional videos usually show somebody sitting by a lake or in a city parkknocking out banger after banger.
Artiphon
Hard Work
Charlie Sorrel
Learning a musical instrument is hard.
It’s no wonder people are prepared to short-circuit this grueling process with gadgets and apps.
“My experience with such gear has mostly been disappointing.
Charlie Sorrel
There isnt a lot of artistic expressiveness in these devices, because everything is already predefined for the user.
The Chorda actually looks pretty neat.
you’re able to use the pads to play chords, melodies, drums, and bass lines.
Elf Audio
The thing is, you still need to learn how to use it.
It’s simple, but you still have to practice to get some coordination and fluency.
But if you’re going to practice, why not practice piano or guitar?
For already-accomplished musicians, these gadgets can be too limited.
You will soon have an idea that is tricky or impossible to implement.
and at around$200 on Kickstarter, it looks like a really interesting and affordable MIDI controller.
Speaking of software, apps might be the best way for beginners to get into music making.
GarageBand on the iPad offers a far deeper, and yet equally approachable experience.
Technology has broken down many of the barriers to making music.
You no longer have to learn an instrument to make great music.
And that’s the catch.
If you want to do anything well, it’s going to take time and effort.
And we might want to do that ourselves.
But as soon as we realize we have to put in some time and effort, we give up.
In some ways, the only thing that separates us from these experts is time and commitment.
And the fact is, there are no shortcuts for those.
