Ever wanted to be a rock or pop star and create your own hits? An incredible new music app created by two brothers from Glasgow can now let you do just that.
Andy Anderson, 35, is a self-taught musician and producer who worked with the band Circuit in the City for years, before realising he wanted to open up the closed, exclusive and expensive world of making music to everyone he could.
And to do that he teamed up with his tech-savvy brother Frankie to create the easy-to-use 8D Music And Video Studio which they say allows anyone to make music, record their singing and even get it onto platforms like Spotify and iTunes.
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Andy said: “Producing or making music is hard – it takes years of work, investment and effort and it can be really frustrating.
“So few people get the chance to try it or know enough to properly give it a go, and of course, there are loads of people out there who would love to make and release their own song but it’s a distant dream.
“That’s what I wanted to change. I felt that frustration myself, I was self-taught and spent years and a lot of money building a studio – but even then, you’re never happy as you’re never right on the cutting edge. There’s always new equipment and techniques, better studios with bigger budgets which just will sound better.
The duo says the app blows the complex nature of production "wide open" by allowing anyone to create their own song using a pre-loaded selection of samples and instrument parts.
Adding that the real genius of the app is that it then mixes and masters the song, to make it sound like a proper, professionally-created and mixed tune.
You can even record your own vocals over the top of your new song, so if you also want to be a singer, that’s all covered too.
With all of the production free, the only cost is a one-off £14.99 fee to have your new song uploaded and made available across all the key digital stream and sales platforms, like Spotify, Apple Music and so on.
Andy added: “I really wanted to open up this world to everyone. I get a lot of joy from making music and I wanted to share that with more people, give them the chance to see behind the curtain and learn the fulfilment you can experience from nailing your own song for the first time.
“From there, I had the idea to build a music-making app, a virtual studio anyone could use to make new original songs.
“My brother Frankie is an app developer so I went to him with the idea and we both worked together creating 8D Music and Video Studio.”
According to Andy, the app genuinely couldn’t be easier to use – he explained that a super-simple layout shows sections of your new song sitting empty.
You scroll across various instrument and vocal options at the top of your screen, select the instrument section you want, open it up and listen to the available sounds to choose your favourite.
Then you drag it down and place it where you want it to appear in the song.
That’s it. It’s that simple. Repeat as often as you want, using whatever samples you like, and then you hit process and the software mixes, masters, and creates your finished song.
If you want to add your own vocals you then hit the mic icon and record yourself or someone else singing, and you’re done.
You can download it, send it to your pals, work on it more, or go ahead and pay your one-off fee and upload it to the world.
So in a matter of minutes, you’re an artist and producer in your own right, with a song available to stream and download all over the world.
Andy said: “We’ve made the app simple to use by combining hundreds of samples from traditional instruments like the banjo to big synths that you simply drag and drop onto the timeline to create your song.
“Every sample in the app has been created to work hand in hand with each other so no matter what samples you use, your song will sound great.
“All samples are mixed in 8D which is a form of audio production that uses binaural panning effects and other techniques to create a three-dimensional sound experience - the sounds move and swirl around the listener's head with the use of headphones or earbuds.
"This makes the listening experience more immersive and enjoyable. You feel like you’re in another world.
“So the end song sounds incredible, but making it is so easy that a toddler could create their own song in minutes.
“We've taken away all the elements of making music that takes up time and learning and let you get your hands dirty straight away. Think of it like someone putting paint and a blank canvas in front of you and just telling you to have fun. That’s the idea.”
There are huge plans for 8D Music And Video Studio, including adding genre-specific sample packs, so if you only want to make rock, dance, pop or traditional music, you can download a different pack and have all the samples you need.
You can even get any royalties generated by your song in downloads or streams – and the 8D team will help set that up for you.
He said: “This can all be done within the app - once you’ve made your song you’re only a few clicks away from getting released to all digital stores.
“Anyone can now be a proper artist on Spotify and so on next to their favourite artists without being a musician and spending thousands on equipment and learning.
“The App is completely free to use and share your creations – the only cost is a £14.99 charge for us to distribute it to all the stores.
“We don’t take any royalties, the creator of the song can start earning money from their track straight away.
“All they need is a Distrokid account which is a simple sign-up, we give you all the steps required to get this set up and we put it all in place for you.”
While other producers may not be overly thrilled at the keys to the kingdom being handed to the public, Andy just wants to spread the buzz of creating music – and of course, ultimately encourage more newcomers to decide to go deeper and properly try to learn the craft of production if they enjoy what they do with 8d Music Studio.
Andy stated: “The goal is to give everyone that buzz of making music simply easily and quickly. Everything moves so fast these days people don't have the time to do everything they want to so we can speed up that process if you’ve always wanted to make music or be an artist.
“The app was created between me and my brother from my home studio as a way to help everyone get on a musical journey and feel that buzz of creating music without having to spend years learning why not put it out there.
“Most people don't have time to invest in this, so having this app to dip your toe in the water and have something that sounds great straight away is a way to encourage people to move forward in their musical journey without being disheartened time and time again.”
8D Music and Video Studio is available now as a free download on Apple and Android. The only cost is a one-off payment of £14.99 to have your song uploaded and distributed to all digital music platforms.
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