Make Your Own Kind of Music – On a Windows PC

Recently, a few of us had the chance to spend some time with Windows DJ Darek Mazzone during his weekly modern global music show “Wo’ Pop” on KEXP, a radio station broadcasting in Seattle, New York and worldwide on the Web.

We crammed into the small DJ booth to watch Mazzone and his crew work. While Mazzone queued up his song selections, show assistants Brenda Tausch, Liza Zinina and Rebecca Campeau scoured the Web for information on each group or artist to feed into KEXP’s real-time online playlist. “Wo’ Pop” features music from what Mazzone calls the “six corners of the world” – from Cambodian rock to Cuban hip hop and everything in between.

Between sets, Mazzone talked about how the Windows PC has helped spur a creative revolution by putting the tools to record, produce and share music in the hands of anyone who has access to a Windows-based computer, some microphones and a quiet place to record.

“The PC running Windows is at the center of this… with Windows, you don’t really need to spend a whole bunch of money to get started making stuff and creating. It’s about choice, performance and simplicity.”

Mazzone and fellow Windows DJ Dave Pezzner will be sharing their knowledge and talent this week at the 7th annual Decibel International Festival of Electronic Music, Visual Art, and New Media. Windows 7 is the presenting partner of Decibel (dB) Conference, which features free educational panels, workshops and screenings. Twenty thousand people from around the world are expected to attend Decibel, which runs Sept. 22-26 at various venues in Seattle.

And we’ll be sharing, too. We’ll be posting pictures, videos and stories from Decibel this week on the Windows Experience Blog, Microsoft News Center and Twitter.

As an amateur musician (keyboard, vocals) and a fledgling producer, I’m excited to learn more about how Windows 7 can help me create, collaborate and share. I’ll share my (mis)adventures in future posts and stories, with how-to tips from the Windows DJs, videos and more. Stay tuned – you can follow me on Twitter at @sandraleduc or @microsoft and my Windows cohort Ashley Brown to get the latest updates.

*Note: The intro music on the video is “Los Revueltos” by Roberto Bonaccorso of MangoSon. Used with permission. 

Related Links & Information:

Decibel Festival and the dB Conference Start Wednesday; Windows Lounge Open Friday

Windows 7 to Turn Up Decibel(s) at Music Festival

Windows DJs – Windows Experience Blog

Decibel Festival

Decibel Conference

“Wo’ Pop” on KEXP

Posted by Sandra LeDuc
Senior Managing Editor, Microsoft News Center