A lot of people have emailed me about the two videos below with genuine concern about the competition they pose to Bojam. While both are examples of online music collaboration, they don't compete, they inspire. That is because the creators of "Playing for Change" and "I'm New", Mark Johnson and Kutiman, respectively, have done the "Bojam thing", but they've done it without the platform. They've done it by gathering audio and video clips and compiling them into music videos. Bojam is the platform that allows you to do that and record, all from your home computer.
But what's different about these two videos? Let's start with "Playing for Change".
Playing for Change - Stand By Me
Playing for Change is a documentary of film maker Mark Johnson going around the world to capture various musicians multi-track recording different parts to "Stand By Me". The final cut includes all of the musicians. There are a couple key points to note here: (1) When recording multi-track music, location and time don't matter. You simply listen to what has already been recorded and record your part on top of that; (2) Music has no language barrier. Whether you speak Russian or Spanish, you can understand a drum beat or the sound of a guitar; (3) Cover songs make recording easier. Musicians playing together for the first time usually play covers because everybody knows the notes and how to start and stop. Covers quickly engage the musician and the audience and also tend to have a nostalgia effect.
Bojam lets anybody do what Johnson does in "Playing for Change" - go around the world and find musicians to record different parts to the same song, then mix them together into a single fluid mix. Better yet, they can do it without ever buying a plane ticket.
Kutiman - I'm New
Kutiman, on the other hand, created his mix without the musicians being aware that they were part of a collaborative product. By collecting, editing and remixing YouTube videos of musicians playing independent songs, he demonstrates the power of transformation. With simple remixing tools, a single user can mix and match various recordings to create a new and sometimes radically different version. The Bojam user needs to be able to accomplish both of the tasks in these videos, remote multitrack recording AND remixing.
These works also show the importance of video. Had you listened to an MP3 of these songs, you probably would not understand what was going on. The video shows you real people, creating music ALONE, while at the same time collaborating with the global community. While the music demonstrates the finished product, the video tells the story.
