Steve Wozniak would be the first to admit he’s no great shakes on the guitar.
But most people probably wouldn’t hold that against him seeing as he, along with Steve Jobs, co-founded Apple Computer Inc. (now Apple Inc.), a company that radically changed the world as we know it. He designed Apple’s first line of products, the Apple I and Apple II, and also influenced the popular Macintosh computers. Along the way, his involvement in the world of technology has come to affect nearly everyone on the planet.
On Saturday, Wozniak will be on hand at the annual NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) trade show in Anaheim to talk music and technology. NAMM provides a showcase for the latest innovations in musical instruments and music-related products and services.
“In college I picked up a couple of song books and started teaching myself guitar by ear,” he said. “I became a fan of certain guitars over others, but I’m not playing right at the moment. I go to a lot of concerts but not the big, huge produced shows. I go to smaller places in San Francisco. My wife and I attend about 50 concerts a year and usually I watch how they are picking the guitar — how they get the sound.”
Wozniak, affectionately known to his fans as “Woz,” said he’s especially impressed by singer/songwriters who can perform a song they created from the ground up.
“You start out with tiny little things and then you work on that and combine those with more notes and chords,” he said. “You build those little blocks into bars and finally … you get a song. You don’t know how similar that is to creating computer coding.”
So what impresses Wozniak the most in regard to Apple’s contribution to the music industry?
“There are a lot of points,” he said. “Apple had a very key role in making computers that could edit music and do track-on-track recording — even before MIDI. And over time, the people who create music — the creative minds — have seemed to favor Apple. Apple also came out with GarageBand, which is a low-cost studio you can have at home.”
Viewed in the context of what has traditionally been high-cost, brick-and-mortar recording studios, GarageBand for Mac is nothing short of amazing.
It’s a whole music-creation studio inside a user’s Mac with a complete sound library that features software instruments, presets for guitar and voice, and virtual session drummers.
“When we first started Apple we were big music fans, but we never did think that computers would have enough memory to store a song, or that it could be compressed and sound so good,” Wozniak said. “But the platforms eventually grew into that. It’s companies like Apple that really believed in that.”
Wozniak said he treasures the working relationship he had with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2011.
“I am so thankful for the relationship I had with Steve before Apple, during the first phase and when he returned,” he said. “I saw different aspects of his personality. One thing he was very good at was always going for the best. He had the insight to know that. I was lucky.”
Wozniak left Apple in 1985 and became involved in a variety of business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing hands-on learning and creativity for students. He is currently chief scientist at Primary Data, a data visualization company.
Wozniak will open Saturday morning’s breakfast session and NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond said he’s thrilled to have him participate.
“Since the days of Thomas Edison, the NAMM Show has been the place where great thinkers have come together to create the future,” Lamond said in a statement. “NAMM Members coming to Anaheim will benefit from a robust show floor filled with the latest innovations, educational sessions that cannot be found anywhere else and the chance to hear iconic speakers and thought leaders like Steve Wozniak.”
Wozniak will talk about lessons learning during the founding of Apple and will also address innovations in business, entrepreneurship and his passion for music.
“Music is an enormous part of my life,” he said. “It plays an integral role in creating the whole person, creative innovators that will shape the future.”
This year’s NAMM show will feature nearly 1,600 exhibiting companies representing more than 5,000 brands. A variety of guitars, drums, synthesizers, pianos, band and orchestra instruments, recording equipment, DJ gear and music technology will be on display.
