A Song Of Convenience: Cool Tools For The Songwriter

Speed your songwriting along with these handy resources

In today’s world of modern technology, creating music has never been easier. While many of us still remember a time when making a record meant getting into a car and traveling to a prohibitively-priced recording facility, the last 20 years have afforded any after-school jam band with a few bucks the ability to make stellar-sounding recordings in the comfort of their own closets.

But while the tools have advanced, at times it’s seemed like our natural ability to write songs has regressed. In 2007, Atlanta–based record producer Polow da Don was the recipient of some intense backlash after the release of Usher’s “Love in This Club”. Beat-making aficionados all over the Internet brought the heat after it was discovered that an unaltered stock loop from Apple Garageband had been used to create the main melody of the track. To this day, a quick spin around YouTube will produce countless “Polow EXPOSED” hate videos.

When all is said and done, though, one can’t help but wonder if all that harsh judgment is really warranted. It’s true that many of our gadgets have taken most of the hard work out of songwriting...