VOA慢速英语2016 探访硅谷的音乐产业

Getting to Know the Music Industry in Silicon 1 Valley 探访硅谷的音乐产业

Nashville, Tennessee is known as “Music City” in the United States. But on the west coast, some people might argue Silicon Valley is just as worthy 2 of the name.

美国田纳西州纳什维尔被称为“音乐之城”。不过在西海岸，有些人可能会说，硅谷也担当得起这个名号。

The valley is home to sound and music technology companies like Dolby Laboratories, Pandora and Smule.

硅谷是很多声音与音乐技术公司的大本营，如杜比实验室、潘多拉和Smule等。

And there is Real Industry, a non-profit organization to help techies get into the music industry. Priya Shekar is program director at the non-profit. She said, “Music technology is applications of STEM subjects like electrical engineering and computer science to music and audio applications.”

“真实工业”是一个非营利性组织，帮助技术控们参与到音乐产业当中来。普利娅·谢卡是该组织的项目主任。她说，“音乐技术是电子工程和计算机科学这些骨干学科的应用。”

“That could be everything from designing new music apps, all the way to designing filters and effects that are used in audio production, to designing new instruments,” she added.

“这里什么都能做：设计新的音乐应用软件，设计新的滤声器和在音频制作中使用的音效，以及设计新的乐器等等。”她补充说。

Through a series of workshops and online classes, Real Industry connects tech students, recent graduates and professionals with mentors 4 in the music and entertainment industries.

通过一系列工作坊和在线课程，“真实工业”把理工科学生、刚毕业的学生、教授和音乐和娱乐产业的顾问们联系了起来。

The mentors come from companies like Sol Republic, Turtle Bay and Sonos. The students learn about the companies and their products.

顾问们来自于索尔、海龟湾和搜诺思等公司。学生们可以了解这些公司和他们的产品。

More than 6,000 students from around the world have taken part in the online courses, and more than 200 have attended workshops in California.

世界各地超过6000名学生参加了在线课程，超过200人参加了加利福尼亚州的工作坊。

Real Industry has also partnered with universities like Stanford in California as well as New York University and the University of Michigan. The schools hold classes like “Careers in Media Technology” on campus.

“真实工业”也和加州的斯坦福大学、纽约大学以及密歇根大学合作。这些学校会开设“音乐技术前景一览”这样的课程。

“I think a lot of jobs and responsibilities and careers go unexposed; they kind of stay behind the scenes of these companies,” said Shekar.

“我认为很多人的工作和职责都是我们看不见的；他们都在这些公司的幕后工作。”谢卡说。

She is an electrical engineer with experience creating music education applications. “Having exposure lets [students] bring context to what they’re learning in school and all their other classes, but also helps them prepare for life after school.”

她是一名有过音乐教育软件开发经历的电子工程师。“这样的曝光可以让学生们把在学校里和其他地方学的东西融会贯通，而且对他们毕业后的生活也有好处。”

For industry leaders, the experience provides invaluable 5 information.

对于产业大佬们来说，这样的经历可以提供非常宝贵的信息。

“Industry folks are learning about what the next generation is learning, being able to tap into all of that fresh innovation and all these fresh ideas from these young kids who are users of products and fans of their products,” Shekar noted 6.

“从业者们可以学到下一代人正在接触什么，能够利用到所有这些新鲜的思想，了解这些他们产品的用户和粉丝们的创新点子。”谢卡说。

For Shekar, who is from New Zealand, the experience is not unlike her move to Silicon Valley. “It’s about knowing where to take that first step. A lot of people just don’t even know where to start.”

对来自新西兰的谢卡来说，这样的经历和她迈向硅谷的举措是差不多的。“这都与迈出第一步有关。很多人甚至不知道应该从哪里开始。”

For music technologists hoping to break into the business, the answer might just be Silicon Valley.

对那些想要从事商业的音乐技术大师来说，硅谷应该是最好的选择。

Words in This Story

Silicon Valley – n. an area, in the state of California, where there are many technology companies

techie – n. someone who knows a lot about technology

application – n. a computer program that performs a particular task

STEM – n. short for science, technology, engineering and math

mentor 3 – n. someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person

tap – v. to take or use money or knowledge from a source

innovation – n. a new idea, device, or method