The music recording process is constantly
evolving. No longer is music production and distribution in the hands of big name studios. Rather, thousands of musicians in their basements can record their works and deliver it directly to an audience. With
advances in recoding software and equipment, essentially anyone passionate enough
about recording music can set up home-studios. With more convenient and
affordable ways to record, suddenly every aspiring artist can show off that new
CD.
But most musicians know that making music is not so easy. Making music
involves dealing with many people of different backgrounds and mindsets. Getting
an entire band together can be hard. And,meeting up with that perfect jazz
flute player for your next track can mean flying halfway across the world.
Indaba
Music, an online social network and production application for musicians,
attempts to solve these problems that most musicians know all too well. 
Indaba
Music, which has an email subscriber list of some 75,000 and works with artists such as Third Eye Blind and Mariah Carey, integrates two necessary aspects of recording in order to create an
online community for musicians interested in producing and recording music. The
first feature that Indaba offers is a way to find and communicate with other
musicians worldwide through the social network.
The Indaba network aims to
provide musicians with the ability to show who they are to other musicians in
order to promote relationships based on common musical interests and mindsets.
Each
user has a personal profile on which he or she can upload songs, show off the
session currently in progress, share photos, blog, and get feedback from the
community. Through the profile, other users can add you as a contact, rate your
music, and even invite you to their recording session.
But how
is this practical? If a user from Florida connects with a user from California
and wants him/her to play on a track, how exactly can they coordinate a recording session
when they are 3,000 miles apart?
The solution: the Indaba Music community. The
second feature that Indaba offers to its users is the online production
application, which enables musicians to record sessions, mix the tracks, and
publish the results.
The
Indaba sessions are similar to traditional recording sessions: musicians can
communicate about the recordings, exchange session tracks, and figure out
compensation for involvement in the project. Because the entire process is done
online, it offers convenience and flexibility for the members. Also, sessions
can be set as public in the Indaba community, allowing for musician to audition
to play the parts needed.
After
the recording is complete, the Indaba Session Console is used as an online digital
mixer. This feature allows collaborators to mix and edit the tracks on their
computers at any time. The mixer includes standard digital audio workstation
features such as looping, panning, cropping, and mixing down.
Lastly,
the Indaba Community hosts competitions for the users. By entering their original
music into the Indaba competitions, users increase exposure and get the chance
to be recognized. With prizes, publicity, and chances to record with major
artists, the Indaba competitions help to reward users and promote their music.
Although
the profound connection one gets from playing with other musicians cannot be so
readily substituted through online communities, the Indaba Music objective is
both practical and innovative. Indaba does not try to replace face-to-face
interactions between musicians, but instead to enable music to thrive even when
personal interaction is nearly impossible. The convenience and organization of
the Indaba Music community promises to offer a great opportunity to many
musicians across the world.
By enabling musical interactions through social
networking and online recording, Indaba Music may soon be changing the way we
think of the title “studio musician”.
