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Rock ON!
“Mom, can I do PlayStation?”
It’s a phrase I hear all too often, even though we limit “screen time” at our
house. I don’t completely despise video games, although they do seem to suck
the brain cells from my 12-year-old son’s skull, right before my eyes. That black
box comes in handy when Mom and Dad are in need of a privilege to take away
when a certain kid crosses the line.
Matt spends plenty of time doing homework, hanging with friends, and playing
sports, too. But what I’ve been wanting is something a bit more educational to
replace video games when Matt wants to noodle around with something
electronic around the house. Something educational and also fun. (That will be
just between us. Dare I use the words “educational” and “fun” in the same
sentence? Not around Matt, who’s sure he gets enough education at school.)
Digital Music-Making to the Rescue
Finally, I’ve found the answer: creating and
recording music on our home computer, using
GarageBand (approx. $99 as part of the iLife
’08 Family Pack), which we have installed on
our Mac. You can also find similar software for
Windows, such as Cakewalk Sonar Home
Studio (approx. $100), M-Audio Pro Tools
(approx. $249), Sony ACID Pro (approx. $40),
etc. Matt has been taking piano lessons
since first grade, but he was never able to
combine his love of music with his love of
pushing buttons and messing with games
and all things digital. Until now.
Chris “Sharpie” Sharp, 37, of Midland, Tex.,
knows just a little bit about this whole digital-
music thing, on a somewhat grander scale.
As the monitor engineer for Rob Thomas on
his recent solo tour and for the current
Matchbox Twenty tour (he’s also worked with
Nickelback, Usher, Evanescence, and others),
this guy understands music and the digital world.
If, like me, you need a definition of what a monitor engineer does, Sharp is the
guy off to the side of the stage who mixes the sound that the band hears in their
earpieces while they’re playing. I couldn’t think of a better-qualified person to
ask about all this electronic stuff because he is not only musically and
technically savvy, he’s also a devoted dad.
Gearing Up
Sharp and his wife, Rinda, 32, have two kids, 15-year-old daughter Destinie and
15-year-old son C.J., so he knows all about the allure of video games. But he
thinks my husband and I might be onto something by deciding to get Matt a MIDI
(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controller to use with GarageBand.
This keyboard-like device (prices start at around $200) doesn’t record sound
waves like a tape recorder does. It digitally encodes the start of a note, its pitch,
length, volume, and musical attributes, such as vibrato. As a result, MIDI music
files take up a lot less space than digitized sound files. (So there might actually
be some room left on the computer for Matt’s middle-school book reports.) Soon
he will be able to write and record his own songs and send MP3 files to his
friends.
Using a MIDI controller with computer software like GarageBand, can open up a
whole new world of creativity for a kid, Sharp says. And today’s digital
technology means that you don’t need an entire board, like the monster board
he uses on tour, to record your own music. A kid can do it at home. Pretty cool.
Going Fishing While he agrees that many parents can barely tolerate the video
games their kids crave, music is something where we can meet our kids halfway,
Sharp says. “Music speaks to each person,” he adds, noting that he tries to
share in the types of music that interest his kids while also subtly sharing his
favorite music with them. And in his line of work, he’s definitely on the “hip-dad”
side of things, which helps. “It’s sort of like fishing. You can’t force your kids to
be interested in a certain thing, but you can try different types of bait.” So you’ll
hear hip hop, rock, Tejano and other types of music around the Sharp home.
Sounds like good advice. And while my husband and I love to share our favorite
music with Matt, and we love to learn about what he likes, we’re looking forward
to hearing him make and record some fun music of his own very soon. Because
with today’s technology, a kid’s desire to play with electronic stuff can be
satisfied while he’s also learning about computers, music, and all things digital.
Take that, Dragon Ball Z!
Kathy Sena is an award-winning freelance writer and a music fan. Visit her blog
at www.parenttalktoday.com.
“Mom, can I do PlayStation?”
It’s a phrase I hear all too often, even though we limit “screen time” at our
house. I don’t completely despise video games, although they do seem to suck
the brain cells from my 12-year-old son’s skull, right before my eyes. That black
box comes in handy when Mom and Dad are in need of a privilege to take away
when a certain kid crosses the line.
Matt spends plenty of time doing homework, hanging with friends, and playing
sports, too. But what I’ve been wanting is something a bit more educational to
replace video games when Matt wants to noodle around with something
electronic around the house. Something educational and also fun. (That will be
just between us. Dare I use the words “educational” and “fun” in the same
sentence? Not around Matt, who’s sure he gets enough education at school.)
Digital Music-Making to the Rescue
Finally, I’ve found the answer: creating and
recording music on our home computer, using
GarageBand (approx. $99 as part of the iLife
’08 Family Pack), which we have installed on
our Mac. You can also find similar software for
Windows, such as Cakewalk Sonar Home
Studio (approx. $100), M-Audio Pro Tools
(approx. $249), Sony ACID Pro (approx. $40),
etc. Matt has been taking piano lessons
since first grade, but he was never able to
combine his love of music with his love of
pushing buttons and messing with games
and all things digital. Until now.
Chris “Sharpie” Sharp, 37, of Midland, Tex.,
knows just a little bit about this whole digital-
music thing, on a somewhat grander scale.
As the monitor engineer for Rob Thomas on
his recent solo tour and for the current
Matchbox Twenty tour (he’s also worked with
Nickelback, Usher, Evanescence, and others),
this guy understands music and the digital world.
If, like me, you need a definition of what a monitor engineer does, Sharp is the
guy off to the side of the stage who mixes the sound that the band hears in their
earpieces while they’re playing. I couldn’t think of a better-qualified person to
ask about all this electronic stuff because he is not only musically and
technically savvy, he’s also a devoted dad.
Gearing Up
Sharp and his wife, Rinda, 32, have two kids, 15-year-old daughter Destinie and
15-year-old son C.J., so he knows all about the allure of video games. But he
thinks my husband and I might be onto something by deciding to get Matt a MIDI
(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controller to use with GarageBand.
This keyboard-like device (prices start at around $200) doesn’t record sound
waves like a tape recorder does. It digitally encodes the start of a note, its pitch,
length, volume, and musical attributes, such as vibrato. As a result, MIDI music
files take up a lot less space than digitized sound files. (So there might actually
be some room left on the computer for Matt’s middle-school book reports.) Soon
he will be able to write and record his own songs and send MP3 files to his
friends.
Using a MIDI controller with computer software like GarageBand, can open up a
whole new world of creativity for a kid, Sharp says. And today’s digital
technology means that you don’t need an entire board, like the monster board
he uses on tour, to record your own music. A kid can do it at home. Pretty cool.
Going Fishing While he agrees that many parents can barely tolerate the video
games their kids crave, music is something where we can meet our kids halfway,
Sharp says. “Music speaks to each person,” he adds, noting that he tries to
share in the types of music that interest his kids while also subtly sharing his
favorite music with them. And in his line of work, he’s definitely on the “hip-dad”
side of things, which helps. “It’s sort of like fishing. You can’t force your kids to
be interested in a certain thing, but you can try different types of bait.” So you’ll
hear hip hop, rock, Tejano and other types of music around the Sharp home.
Sounds like good advice. And while my husband and I love to share our favorite
music with Matt, and we love to learn about what he likes, we’re looking forward
to hearing him make and record some fun music of his own very soon. Because
with today’s technology, a kid’s desire to play with electronic stuff can be
satisfied while he’s also learning about computers, music, and all things digital.
Take that, Dragon Ball Z!
Kathy Sena is an award-winning freelance writer and a music fan. Visit her blog
at www.parenttalktoday.com.
