That thing in your pocket can revive your failed dreams of becoming a rock star

IN 1965, during a time of counter-culture and social revolution, a young Bob Dylan took to the stage at the Newport Folk Festival, and, for the first time, played his electric guitar in concert. A strange thing happened: the crowd began to boo. Dylan struggled to finish his set. The scene became so ugly that Dylan boycotted the festival for the next 37 years.

Why did devoted fans react so badly to something new, something electric? After all, the electric guitar went on to become the route to stardom for many legendary musicians.

The answer to that question may be calling us from our iPhones.

Since breakthrough iPhone musical artists iBand went viral on YouTube last year, the 3G generation has been quick to snap up the new music-making apps as fast as they hit the Apple App Store. These brave new musicians are called “pocket bands” since their instruments can be pulled out of their pockets and bags at a moment’s notice.

It also means that rock stars of the pocket band era look nothing like the rock stars we once knew. They don’t strut around stages smashing their instruments – because their instruments are their beloved iPhones and MacBooks.

At first glance, you might mistake pocket bands for DJs. It’s quite possible to find yourself at a club in Lan Kwai Fong where these almost monkish-looking nerd musicians huddle over laptops and mobile devices to produce, well, something akin to music.

The fact that they actually are making the music – not just playing MP3s from their hard drive – may explain why Dylan’s fans found it hard to embrace his new instrument. Purists will always denounce any newcomer to the musical establishment.

Of course, the iPhone has to prove that, in the right hands, it can make great music.

While the number of music-making apps grows by the day – each offering artists new means of expressing themselves – it’s important to remember that we are still at the start of an era. Britney Spears has children older than most of today’s hottest music-making software. It’s understandable that most pocket bands are just warming up.

However, some of the early pioneers, like Hong Kong’s Snoblind, are definitely getting the hang of it. Snoblind – Regina Chang and Vincent Wong – has been experimenting with the new instruments since 2002. The duo, which cites such diverse influences as John Coltrane and Guns N’ Roses, has released songs  and albums that have gained praise from critics and climbed charts such as Channel V’s AMP, where one reached the number one slot.

According to Snoblind, tools like the iPhone and the MacBook represent nothing less than the great democratization of music making.

“Music now just depends on your idea,” says Chang. “You don’t need to know how to play an instrument to express your idea. Just play whatever music you want to play.”

“The digital music revolution is liberating people from the confines of having to have a particular skill set to produce music,” says Wong. “With traditional instruments, it takes a long time to learn your chords, scales and technique. Computers, iPods and iPhones simplify the process and let people focus on the music-making and production aspect. If they hear it in their head, they can go to the computer and bang it out.”

The iPhone has the potential to bang out any instrument sound a pocket band needs. One of the current favorites is Smule’s Ocarina – an app that emits a flute-like noise in response to blowing into the phone’s microphone. Other top downloads include DigiDrummer’s DrumPad, Guitar Hero 3 Mobile, MooCowMusic’s Pianist and Bassist and Intua’s BeatMaker.

As a pocket rock star, you can switch between all these instruments with a push of a button. And you can practice anywhere, even on the MTR.
 “If you play a traditional instrument on the MTR, you’ll get charged for causing a disturbance,” says Wong. “With an iPhone or an iPod touch, you can just whip it out and sketch out your musical ideas anywhere, anytime.” Just remember to plug in your headphones first.

The sound quality of mobile-device music still leaves a lot to be desired and sound quality is key to winning over critics. Many music historians believe the hostility toward Dylan at Newport was not because he played electric, but because he plugged into a lousy sound system.

Sound isn’t the only pocket rock problem. No matter how much you practice, no matter how good you get, a rock star has to deliver a performance.
For the pocket band generation, creating a performance typically means loading up some visuals on the MacBook and pumping them out through a projector in time to the music. In fact, it’s absolutely essential.

“Without the visual extensions of the music, it’s just the two of us looking like we’re checking our email,” says Chang. “People often mistake what we’re doing with browsing the Web.”

And somewhere in that mistake lies the secret to the success of the pocket rock star, something unprecedented in the history of musical instruments: wireless Internet connectivity.

Rock stars of the past gathered to practice in their garages. Today, the garage is online. Smule, the makers of the Ocarina, offers their users the opportunity to upload their songs and listen to budding players by scrolling over a global Ocarina map. Earlier this year, they even gave away US$1,000 to each of the top 15 user-created Ocarina YouTube videos worldwide.

With the power of social media behind the new instruments, we can expect to be hearing a lot more pocket bands. Of course, they won’t all be easy to listen to.

Remember this is a rock and roll movement in the making, not unlike Dylan’s fabled electric guitar. Without Dylan going electric, we would
never have had “Like a Rolling Stone.”  So, please, the next time you see someone begin to play their iPhone, give them half a chance before shouting, “Booooooo!”