A hobby of mine, or should I call it a "passion", is songwriting and I've been doing it for almost 20 years now. The guys I write with are geographically separated and we have limited time in the main studio to get what we need done. We all have computer-based recording gear at our respective homes and work on tunes by recording overdub tracks to an MP3 master track that we create in the studio. We rely on email to send tracks to each other for review and ultimately to be added to the master song file. Enter Gmail. We started by using the ISP mail that we each have and quickly realized that the storage limitations of those mail systems were a barrier to the creative process. One of the guys who I write with showed me Gmail and I was floored by the amount of storage that is available to every user. Needless to say, we are all on Gmail now.
The chat feature of Gmail has been quite useful to us as well - I send an MP3 mixdown of the master combined with a take that I did on bass guitar to my writing partners. As they are listening, they are able to comment on the performance in real time. While it is not the same vibe as collaborating in the studio, it is certainly a step towards that.
David Friend, Technology Services and Solutions
Canada
Labels: keeping in touch