Brian Transeau, better-known in the dance-music world as BT, is one of the top DJs and remixers in the world. And he gets some of his best work done on a plane.
Using a laptop computer and an audio-editing program, BT can work on songs anywhere, and often does. Transeau has worked with Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan and Peter Gabriel, among others, and released several of his own dance records. His production work on the song "Pop" from Nsync's last record is one of the projects he did while flying.
"I did a lot of the vocal edits on a plane," said BT. "I cut and pieced the vocal together. There's something like 2,000 or 3,000 edits in that three-minute song, and I did that sitting on a plane."
Working on the go has become standard operating procedure in the music industry. Times have changed: Twenty years ago, a studio was the only place where professional recordings could be made; even five years ago, desktop computers were just starting to get enough horsepower to make great records. Today, a laptop offers plenty of power to make a great-sounding track -- and that portability is changing the way music is made.
For instance, guitar hero Steve Vai recorded his Alive in an Ultra World live album on location using an Apple PowerBook and Logic, a multitrack recording program. "Technology changes, and you really have to stay on top of it," Vai said.
In another sign of the increased prominence of laptops in the recording process, as of this fall, new students at the Berklee College of Music have to buy a PowerBook, a MIDI keyboard controller and a copy of Reason, a popular software synthesis and sampling program.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60639,00.html
Using a laptop computer and an audio-editing program, BT can work on songs anywhere, and often does. Transeau has worked with Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan and Peter Gabriel, among others, and released several of his own dance records. His production work on the song "Pop" from Nsync's last record is one of the projects he did while flying.
"I did a lot of the vocal edits on a plane," said BT. "I cut and pieced the vocal together. There's something like 2,000 or 3,000 edits in that three-minute song, and I did that sitting on a plane."
Working on the go has become standard operating procedure in the music industry. Times have changed: Twenty years ago, a studio was the only place where professional recordings could be made; even five years ago, desktop computers were just starting to get enough horsepower to make great records. Today, a laptop offers plenty of power to make a great-sounding track -- and that portability is changing the way music is made.
For instance, guitar hero Steve Vai recorded his Alive in an Ultra World live album on location using an Apple PowerBook and Logic, a multitrack recording program. "Technology changes, and you really have to stay on top of it," Vai said.
In another sign of the increased prominence of laptops in the recording process, as of this fall, new students at the Berklee College of Music have to buy a PowerBook, a MIDI keyboard controller and a copy of Reason, a popular software synthesis and sampling program.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60639,00.html