AT to stage DJ demo at Mac music day
In a Bonfire Day explosion of sound Shrewsbury’s Darwin Shopping Centre will sparkle with extravagant musical creations – courtesy of a computer keyboard.
Time was when aspiring DJs needed enough muscle to carry more than 200 vinyl records to their gigs.
And of course aspiring guitarists would secretly buy Bert Weedon’s Play In A Day to master the all-important three basic chords on the acoustic.
But Apple experts AT Computers will show anyone can create fabulous music, or be a DJ, with some basic software and kit, linked to your PC or laptop.
AT Computers in the Upper Mall are staging a free music workshop in their Shrewsbury store on Saturday, November 5, starting at 11am right through to 4pm when it ends with a jamming and question and answer session.
AT, set up 16 years ago as an authorised Apple premium reseller (corr term), also has stores at Worcester and Swansea and all of their staff are officially Apple trained.
The free music workshop is the brainchild of Worcester store manager John Langford, a university educated engineer, keyboard player and part-time DJ, who will run the Shrewsbury workshop.
“Basically we are Apple specialists and we want people to come along who might be interested or curious in creating music and get involved in a very hands-on experience and ask questions,” said John.
“I organised the first event in Worcester and it was a great success. We have a college and university here with students who study media and music. Initially it was planned as a one-off but it was so successful we decided to make it a road show for the other stores.
“The idea is people can simply pop into the store and see how you can start DJaying just by running some software.
“In the morning I start by introducing people to DJaying using the Mac and featuring the M-Audio Torque MixLab and DJay3 software.
“Then after that we move on to creating music and composition using GarageBand and M-Audio KeyRig keyboards.”
It sounds very technical and no doubt will terrify technophobes but John says it really is easy.
“These days it’s much easier than it was even 10 years ago. In the ‘old’ days you had a keyboard which might contain different sound combinations, such as string and percussion, but now you simply have a keyboard and all the sounds are in the Mac.
“I can show people techniques for layering track by track and tips on editing to make it all sound very professional. Just with your laptop and the right software bundle you can make your own jingles for your i-movies.”
Russell Hall, Operations Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: "This is really cutting edge stuff and should be a real attraction for people who are into their music.
“It really is amazing what you can do with today’s technology and the fact is that you can see it and more importantly see how to operate it right here at the Darwin Centre.”
At 1pm John will show visitors to the store how to create music with Logic featuring M-Audio KeyRig keyboards, guitars and voice recording. At 2pm he goes into advanced DJaying techniques using a range of M-Audio headphones and the M-Audio Torque MixLab and at 3pm advanced Logic Studio techniques, ending at 4pm with a jamming session.
John says there is still a big demand for DJays. “People are not aware that it is something you can do with a laptop, you don’t need to carry 200 vinyls to a venue, everything you need can be in your laptop,” said John who has his own home studio.
Check out the Apple specialists and details of the event at www.atcomputers.co.uk
