Record producer Steve Levine and Dirty Vegas's Steve Smith demo in action with GarageBand

When record producer Steve Levine and Dirty Vegas’ Steve Smith demonstrated the benefits of GarageBand at the recent RMX’05 awards in London's Apple Store, you might think that being a music mogul and an international DJ would give them a bit of an edge. But, say competition finalists Germaine Rolle and Emma-Louise Travers, musical talent is not the be-all and end-all - individual creativity and good guidance can be just as important.

Emma, 17 from Birmingham, came second in the 16-18 age category of the competition, where students were asked to remix “loops”, or samples of songs, by different recording artists such as Kasabian and Natasha Bedingfield into a three-minute track. 

Emma’s track “Betray” is a catchy piece, featuring her breathy, edgy vocals. She became involved in the competition through her local youth centre in Kingstanding. Guidance came from producer “Boydie”, who was representing Sound Futures, a branch of one of the Action Zones of UK charity Youth Music. The organisation provides music-making opportunities for young people from less privileged backgrounds.

“I had never used the technology before,” says Emma, “and at first I found it really confusing but then it became an easy process. I used my vocals to answer back the male voice on the loop.” Emma says the process was helped by the simplicity of the software and Boydie, who says that fresh ideas are the key. “Emma did her own melody,” he says, “and created her own composition.”

But it wasn’t without its problems says Emma. “The hard thing was, if I liked a beat, to put say a piano or guitar instrumental to it. Hearing it all together felt really good, as it was my type of music, music that I would want to hear.”

We're Jammin'
Germaine, aged 14, from Walthamstow, East London, was winner of the 15-and-under category with his track “Jammin”. Steel drums form the basic backdrop and the song has a distinct urban rap feel to it.

Germaine entered the competition through the Walthamstow City Learning Centre and his father, Kirwan Rolle, who runs GarageBand training sessions at the centre, was on hand to give guidance.

Clearly Germaine had a definite idea of what he wanted to produce. “I play by sound,” he says, “I started with the vocals and built the music around that. GarageBand was easy to use, even if you’re not good at music. When I started I didn’t have a clue about computers.”

Trainer Kirwan encouraged Germaine to use GarageBand as creatively as possible. “Getting kids to use GarageBand helps them to focus and to be creative,” he explains. “The teacher can show them, for example, where a horn goes into the composition, or guitar strings. They can continue opening little doors for them.”

And although the beauty lies in the fact that the software is simple, Kirwan feels it can show students that the different stages of the music process. “Garageband is not made to get to the premiership. After the first stage, they can move on to a higher level of music production and mixing by moving on to the Logic software, for example.”

Building for the future
And though the gold-framed disc may be on the wall and the Apple gear up and running, there are longer-lasting benefits of the competition. For one, students gain confidence using technology. Emma says, “Before this, I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t want to go near a computer but now I am going to buy myself a laptop. And it’s given me more confidence to sing.”

Producer Boydie feels schools could benefit from getting students into the competition. “If kids can get their hands on something which creates music so quickly, their response is better,” he says. “They can burn a CD of their work there and take it home to parents who can relate to the music, creating a lot more interest.”

The TES was media partner for RMX’05. Sponsors were dbass.org (where entries were posted), Sony BMG and Youth Music