What has a shoe brand got to do with music? Something pretty significant! Clothing and footwear brand, Converse, in partnership with Music Technology platform and online musician community Indaba Music, has just launched Rubber Tracks, a free recording studio, and a massive audio samples library.

Musicians all over the globe can access this library, any time. The organizers of the project have decided to put it online so that the public can make use of its impressive audio library. Synthtopia puts it this way – “Creators are free to explore, download, experiment, and create using library samples and can use the resulting works in unlimited ways.”

For those who are just toying with the idea of becoming professional musicians, newbie songwriters, startup bands, or struggling artists, this milestone is just too good to pass. Recording sessions on professional studios are just a fraction less than exorbitant.

Anyway, let’s see what a real pro – Rick Camp, RC1 Productions & Master Mix Live – Las Vegas, NV, says about this: “For the Do It Yourselfer, on a little small Pro Tools rig that you probably paid $400 for and you can do it for free, do it in your bedroom. Or you could go to a project studio and maybe spend, you know, a few thousand dollars. Or you could go to a big studio and spend, you know, 10, 15, $20,000 to cut a track” Camp has done work with Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Usher, Dr. Dre, Earth Wind & Fire. A music library of samples this big is a gift from the music gods.

As of late, the studio library has unleashed more than eleven thousand samples. If that doesn’t impress you, I don’t know what will. “The library is massive, featuring over 10 days of one-shots, stems, and loops recorded at Converse’s Rubber Tracks Studio,” Synthtopia added in a blog post featuring Converse’s Sample Library.

Converse Chief Marketing Officer Geoff Cottrill in a press release said, “by opening Converse Rubber Tracks, it’s a way for us to say thank you to musicians all over who have helped us become the brand we are and to provide a place for new artists to have access to resources they may not be able to afford […] This is our way to invest in the future of music and we couldn’t be more excited about it.” he added.

Shoes and music can actually blend well, don’t you think?

Featured photo credit: Photo Credit: MTI Berklee via Compfight cc via compfight.com

Technology has taken a vantage leap in providing solutions for man. Before now, technology used to appear complex and would require a great deal of expertise to handle solutions available. Today, we have technology applicable in the simplest human activities as smart products with intelligent algorithms powering them as they make error-free judgments and provide intelligent and analytic solutions.

Does technology have all the answers?

This article from Credit Suisse, tells us that technology does not have all the answers because it has been found to exhibit “similar biases,” as humans. No one can discredit the impact of technology, but it is not totally free of human input and this is the reason we experience these biases in many areas we have technology holding foot.

Creating technological solutions transparently

This article suggests that the process of creating technological solutions be made transparent and subject to contribution from many people who would end up as users of the product – male, female, young, old, learned, unlearned and all other preferences as we have them. It also underscores the importance of having women on product development teams. This approach is not sure to eliminate all forms of bias, but it is a good way to start in order to appraise the full benefits of technology.

Technology as the connecting tool

Technology so far has been a major connecting tool amongst us humans. It is used and appreciated by all regardless of race, language and sex. In order to keep it less subjective to these arguments about human biases. I believe we should gather opinions on products and solutions before making them available to the public. This could be done by gathering input from intended target users and receiving feedback across the stages of production.

“Recognizing the problem is a start…success will depend on inclusive technologies that meet this vast untapped market.” This cannot be more apt especially at a time when we look up to technology for solutions. We should not muzzle our progress with technology by battling algorithm bias. The first way to avoid this battle is by reading this article here.