WITH JUST one computer program one can already layer beats, rhythm, melodies — the works. It actually takes considerable skill to be able to write a song with all these bells and whistles, but there are a lot of people who have been pretty successful with it. (My friend Anton Ramos has had a series of “Chill Out” albums in the market for some time now.) It is here that we witness the direct use of technology on music. What we call “techno” music only came about when drum machines, synthesizers, and loops were already available.

But I’m not about to switch and go techno. In a way, I really don’t have to. See, even acoustic music is not purely analog like most people assume it is. Acoustic music, after all, simply means music in the absence of electrical amplification. Obviously, though, I’m not performing entirely acoustically. Primarily, I use a standard orchestra model acoustic guitar that has a magnetic acoustic pick-up to amplify my sound on stage. I also use a Fishman Tranducer Natural 1 magnetic pick-up, which you can buy separately and could be easily installed on most acoustic guitars. 

I have a series of digital-based equipment. I use a KORG chromatic tuner and sometimes I use a guitar processor that emulates different kinds of acoustic guitar sounds. For kicks, I sometimes use a processor designed to do drum loops or a midi format gadget to imitate other instruments while I pluck my guitar. For example, I can emulate the sound of a mandolin, a piano, or even any woodwind instrument with a midi processor attached to my guitar. This kind of setup on stage is not that really complicated. It actually enhances my imagination and helps me create more music and to realize how I want to sound whether on stage or studio. New technology enables me to experiment and expand my songwriting and arranging capabilities.

Now imagine what the advances in technology can do for a whole band setup. From time to time, I get onstage with a whole band and I see just how much of the technology affects the performance. Basically, convenience plays a big part: If ever I need a whole horn section, I don’t really have to hire an entire set of musicians. My keyboard player can always set that up with a click of a button. My guitar player can always pick out or even replicate a certain guitar tone that I would want in order to capture the authenticity of what I want to play. 

One of the main issues when it comes to recording is storage. In the past you need to have a whole library to store all those analog tapes. Archiving them was such a nightmare! But thanks to the digital format, storage problems are now a thing of the past. Files can now be compressed and stored instantly into a disk even up to the size of my fingernail. 

In my case, I basically record on my Mac Powerbook using either Protools or Garageband for demos. I eventually save my tracks on an external hard drive the size of an average man’s wallet. The great thing about it is that I get to bring that to almost any recording studio in the world. For example, I could do an acoustic guitar track or even a vocal track on my computer at home. Then, I can store it and bring it the next day to the studio. All they have to do is import that file and layer it to what has already been done. 

I’ve already done that several times, among them while Pido was doing his first solo album. We did back-up vocal tracks, keys, strings, and electric guitars on his PC at home. We then stored the data on a DVD-R disc and brought them in the studio. We only had to combine them with the tracks that had to be done in the studio (i.e. drums, vocals, bass).

But let’s not forget my nifty little iPod, which has acted as my music library in my pocket — and more. The music compressed in our mp3 players are mostly in AAC format, a format that is highly compressed than in mp3 form. This simply tells us that we can maximize the storage of our disk space. I’ve stored my entire music collection on my iPod, yet I still have space for songs that I may have to learn for a TV appearances or shows. Nowadays, when you get to appear on TV to do a number, the network usually delivers study material via wav file format. I simply put that in my iPod and eventually learn the song just about anywhere, and whenever I have the time.

I would have wanted the experience that the Beatles had when recording in Abbey Road. But I’m pretty much content with the way we use technology today to better our music. The purity of music will always be there, the moment someone hums a tune, when I wake up in the morning and start playing my guitar. Yet I have no qualms about embracing technology for all the possibilities it offers me and my music. In the near future, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like acoustic me would be able to come up with a great album that was done with a laptop, right in his very own bedroom.

Singer/songwriter/daydreamer Paolo Santos’s current album is “Paolo Santos Live at 19 East” under EMI Records. He is a regular on the RPN-9 musical show “Sabado Boys.”