14 DAY TRIAL // A couple of kids in Mali used a Windows PC left behind by members of the Peace Corps in order to produce music and to send it to Darek Mazzone, a KEXP DJ and Microsoft consultant, who hosts the “Wo’ Pop” show. “This is a revolution. This is a renaissance,” Mazzone said. “Those kids never would have been heard before.”
“Many people cannot afford to drop $2,500 on a laptop – that’s a year’s salary in some places. We’re really fighting that. Does not being able to afford a Mac mean you can’t create?” he asked.
Windows 7 is the official sponsor of the 7th Annual Decibel International Festival of Electronic Music, Visual Art, and New Media, an event which Microsoft is using in order to fight the perception that Macs and not Windows PCs are the tools for DJs to produce music professionally.
Mazzone says that this is a misconception, and that not only are Windows 7 machines perfectly suited to create music, but they are also more affordable compared to Mac computers.
“In this environment, including DJ culture and experience, the PC – especially the PC laptop – has really revolutionized the music process,” he added. “We want to tell as many people as possible that you can do so much more with Windows 7.”
At the free educational panels, workshops, and screenings associated with the Decibel (dB) Conference, Windows 7 will be the presenting partner, the software giant informed.
The event is scheduled to take place between September 22 and 26 in venues around Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Mazzone and fellow DJ Dave Pezzner will participate at the event this year, both of them relying on Windows 7 to create, produce and perform their music.
According to Mazzone Windows 7 laptops mean that artists no longer need a full recording studio to create music and share it with the world. The Decibel Conference is an excellent opportunity to show this to artists and the public.
“The main objective is to drive an authentic, perception-changing discussion around Windows 7 from someone deeply engaged in the product who is influential among their community,” Mazzone explained.
And of course, thanks to its ubiquity, Windows could prove to be the key digital instrument supporting the universal language of music.
Just keep in mind, scratches, cuts, turntables, mixers, beats, samples, loops, and Windows 7 can make beautiful music together.