Have a think back and remember all the things that have changed in your workflow since the year began - all the plug-ins, the new services and even brand new pieces of must-have software.
But what have been the biggest things this year to hit the electronic music scene? Let's take a look at the Top 5 things to happen to Electronic Music in 2009...
Whatever your opinion of DJ Hero, there is no denying that, much like Guitar Hero before it, it will open its music scene of choice to a massive new audience.
The combination of Pop, Dance and Hip Hop music has thoroughly brought Electronic music to the gaming masses, solidifying a sense of interest in production and, perhaps more importantly, performance of the genre in a whole new generation.
This could have massive repercussions on the electronic music scene - a huge influx of people buying DJ gear as they realise their calling in life requires a mixer and some headphones perhaps? Or a slew of punters rushing to find tutorials on producing music, so that they can be on the sequel?
We'll have to wait and see!
4. Spotify
This is a huge thing for all music producers - being able to get their music out with a new and exciting platform... or looking out for the newest way to get exploited by a large company. Either way it's something big.
3. Accurate Pitch Bending
Gone are the days of chipmunk-style vocals; technological advances this year have allowed us to pitch up several octaves whilst still retaining the natural sound on the vocals, preserving the punch of the percussion or the grit of the guitars.
Scooter will be crying into their pitch-bending plug-in.
2. Flexible Time Stretching
Software such as Propellerhead's "Record" and Logic Pro 9 has made it an industry standard that audio can now be manipulated just as easily as MIDI, without tempo being an issue any more.
Hell, some DAWs allow you to not even record to a click track and then can automatically put you in time! Maybe talent would be a thing of the past if it were not for the need to stay in tune...
1. Melodyne DNA
Think of the uses for synth-creation and sample manipulation - being able to grab and change that harmonic overtone in a synth sound without having to spend years EQ-ing a patch to perfection.
This also has massive repercussions elsewhere - remixing will be changed forever; chordal instruments can be pitch (and time) corrected as easily as vocals now, and robots will take over the world.
Okay, perhaps that's a slight overstatement, but with so many seemingly sci-fi technological advances happening in such a short space of time, it's easy to lose track of what's real and what's not.
If 2009 has shown us anything, there are certainly some changes coming to the music world in the future; that's for sure.
