Use the Cloud as a Music Portfolio

The cloud has been getting a lot of press and advertisement from productivity companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Google, just to name a few.  Musicians can take advantage of the fact that many of these virtual cloud drives will accept any type of file for storage. So how can we take advantage of this?

With music creation and performance being generated in a digital format, the opportunities abound for musicians to share their work.  A majority of cloud drives accept any type of file, so mp3 files, pdf files from printed parts, and entire files from Sibelius and Finale can be uploaded.  Soundcloud is a virtual music sharing company, which allows your music files to be shared with others quickly, based upon the the type of music you are performing or have created.  In many regards, it can be thought of as a large thumb drive on the internet where others can listen to the music you create.

Sharing your work is easy and secure in the cloud.  You can give a person permission to view only, edit, and collaborate on many of your music projects, based on the file access permissions you have given the person you are sharing with.  As an arranger on a team, this can be a time saver in completing projects on your time schedule.  As an example, one composer was listening to a jazz group in Paris.  He recorded part of a song using his phone and uploaded it to a cloud based note taking service called Evernote.  This notebook is shared with his team back in California, with a note to recreate the jazz style on a project they were working on together, as Evernote records audio, and allows you to jot a few ideas down about it within the note.  With Evernote or One Note, you can create a digital portfolio to be shared with others, or to store ideas.  Just record your tune, organize it based on style, type, etc., and you literally have a digital portfolio to refer to at any time.  One jazz drummer shared many years ago shared that he kept a cassette recorder going when he practiced, recording new ideas as he worked.  When he filled the tape with new ideas, he would listen to them and wither discard or figure out how to use the idea in his jazz performance.  The cloud becomes your  musical idea storage device. 

As more people begin to migrate from traditional storage media to digital storage media, the cloud will be there to file and store their musical ideas and  give them the capability to share their tunes with others.  

Using Cloud Based Services

The cloud can be defined as an online storage "drive" where you store information.  The advantage over traditional storage media, such as the thumbdrive, is the ability to access information from any location.  WIth cloud computing, you can access your information from a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone.  The three most popular services include Apple's Icloud, Google's Drive, and Microsoft's Skydrive.

Apple computer's Icloud allows an Apple user to create and store documents on their cloud.  Using online versions of their Iwork  software which includes Pages, Numbers, and Presentations, documents are saved online.  You can access them from your iphone, ipod touch, ipad, Macintosh computer, or any computer that has internet access, allowing you to work from anywhere.  The disadvantage with Icloud is the ability to export documents into a format that allows the Apple product to play nice with open source file formats, or MS office files.  In order to have these file formats to work with other programs, you must export the document to a office format on a Mac computer running Apple's Pages, Numbers, or Presentation software. When you do print, it will turn it into a .pdf format, which is and acceptable way of sending documents to share with others.

Google's Drive allows a Google user access to their online "Drive" account.  Here you can upload documents, create  word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation files, as well as have a storehouse for Chrome applications you choose to select with your Google account.  Many of these applications are free for users to use, and allow access by the user from a phone, tablet, or computer on any platform.  There are numerous applications that can enhance your productivity, depending upon your particular interests and needs.

Microsoft's Skydrive allows the user to create and manage documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.  You can also upload pdf and photos to your Skydrive to use wherever you may be within your documents.  Word, Excel, and Powerpoint have web versions that are more considered office "light", however for basic document work can easily meet most peoples needs.  One added bonus is an online version of One note, which is similar to a regular paper notebook.  You create a notebook. then pages within the notebook to store your information.  If you use One note, realize that the text, graphics, etc are part of a digital ink, and can be copied and pasted into office products.

Which every cloud service you choose, there are advantages and disadvantages to each one.  Decide what you are comfortable with and take care with whom  and how you allow others to access your shared files.