creative deconstruction

Music Hack Day – Geeks Can be Rockstars Too

Posted on 26. May, 2010 by refe in NEWS, TECHNOLOGY

Music Hack Day San Francisco 2010

The following is a guest report by Kevin English of Fairtilizer and Eleetmusic.com.

Music Hack Day San Francisco gave me that awkward feeling that tends to surface when I am slightly outside of my comfort zone. It was an event like none I had ever seen, in a city that I’d never been, so I guess it was normal that I’d have some nervous excitement. As native Californians sipped their early Saturday morning coffee, geeks from around the globe gathered at Automatic Lounge, headquarters for the creators of Word Press, for 48 hours of unadulterated programming.

Perfectly placed on The Embarcadero at Pier 38 just a few blocks south of the San Francisco Giants’ baseball stadium, our home for the weekend was a curbside first floor loft with gigantic windows and vaulted wood beamed ceilings. Inside, there were more black-framed glasses than MacBooks, the most comfortable office furniture imaginable, and a palpable desire to create the best new music applications.

Programming on site at Music Hack Day

This installment of Music Hack Day, hosted by Paul Lamere, Director of the Application Development Community at The Echo Nest (a musical intelligence company), had an added bit of excitement due to the release of the illustrious iPad. Paul ran the event with an iron fist, only allowing the best hackers to attend and staying on schedule within fractions of a second. I was not only impressed by the types of data collected by The Echo Nest, but also by the way that this information was presented, allowing developers to build their own applications on the spot.

I flew in to meet my colleagues from Fairtilizer (the do it yourself music club) and to announce our newly created API (Application Programming Interface) to the hacker community. Bandcamp, who were also virgins of API development were present alongside veterans from Soundcloud, Last.fm and many more music tech companies. It’s become common place for internet companies such as ours to share information residing within our database with “hackers”, encouraging them to create the latest viral application, or, at worst, an enhanced user experience.

24 Hours, 101 Hackers, 30 Hacks

On day two I arrived back at Automatic Lounge to find the developers fervently working to finish up their makeshift applications. It was apparent that some had not showered or changed clothes, only stopping for caffeinated drinks and bathroom breaks. The tension in the room began to mount as reporters and bloggers were allowed in to cover the awards ceremony. More than just the company sponsored prizes were at stake –they would soon present their work to la crème de la crème of music hackers from around the world. If I remember correctly, there were 101 hackers present who created a total of 30 hacks in a 24 hour period.

Here are some of my favorites:

Bragging Rights – [Web] Because you found it first, man.

Beatport Beatdown - [Web] Review top downloads on Beatport in Songbird while controlling display and playback via punching bag

The Profoundilizer – [iPad] By adding musical interludes, make the tale of your mundane existence sound as profound as an episode of This American Life.

Rj Patriot – [iPhone] Navigate yourself around the world of national anthems using the compass on RjDj. (When its creator pointed his iPhone down towards hell, the US national anthem played to a mixed response of laughter and growls.)

**WINNER** ISticks (w/iTaiko and iSteelPan) – drumsticks for any modern touch device (complete with instructions to make your own).

iSteelPan with drumsticks from ayman on Vimeo

New Frontier in Music and Technology

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m no programmer, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that we have reached a new frontier in the nexus between music and technology. Record labels have fought and continue to fight at their own peril to keep their products private, while a new group of music enthusiasts tout open source applications and services…not to become rich and famous, but to make our lives as music lovers more enjoyable.

Music hackers are the people pushing our industry forward, not label executives or A&R reps. The value that comes with a greater user experience will soon outweigh that of a file format, which is why a video game like Harmonix’s Rock Band is able to monetize at a deeper level than a CD or MP3.

The question about how artists will make money is answered very precisely in this forum. When you have millions of micro payments ($3) for the T-Pain Vocoder iPhone app, that question seems silly. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, look beyond the tip of your nose to see where the innovations lie. It’s true we all can’t be T-Pain, but would it have mattered if we were the ones who came up with the idea and hired Smule to program it for us? I think not. If that was the case how do we explain the runaway success of the Magic Piano and Leaf Trombone made by the same company? No brand recognition there, just pure innovation.

If you are reading this with your face turned up in defiance of the truth, recognize that you are in a rut, shake the cobwebs out and join the geeks – because if they don’t already, they will very soon run the new music industry.

Tags: api, echo nest, ipad, iphone, music hack day