As many people may know, I write what I can when I can.  The longer the interval the more stuff. So, here is some catchup!

• Meet Up
• Post NAMM
• As seen on my radar scope
• iPad

Meet Up

Special thanks to everyone who came out this past Sunday. The meet up was really cool. Dawrin Grosse did a wonderful job. Special thanks to him.  We do have video, we are working on that…

The next meet up is February 28, 2010 at 7pm at the Walnut Room. This is the a Controllerism special we are calling “The Petting Zoo“. I will have more details out soon, but for now I will drop the short list:

• Jazz Mutant Lemur
• Monome 128
• Launchpad (I will not be presenting)
• DJ Tech Tools MIDI Fighter
• Percussa Audio Cubes
• Snyderphonics Manta
• Livid DIY (this product is still in beta testing, but we have access to it already)
• Arduinome (wiki link – this is a Aruino chip that works like a Monome)

So, pretty good huh? This is definitely a first as far as I know. The intent is to end the evening with a number of small and discrete workstations where each one of these is set up and available for testing and questions after the presentations.  So we will NOT be talking at you, instead we will be sharing. Only at NAMM or Messe will you see this many controllers on Ableton!

I think there is more swag available too (no promises, hopefully no one actually hung them self on the lanyards).

March 14 is Cache Flowe as our guest. Here is a collection of the visuals he is working on (flicker). This is gonna be great!

Post NAMM

Not much really. I covered most of the best stuff already. We do have “The Bridge” on the way. On that topic, I am looking for any collaborator/takers on getting a site up for this topic. We own the domains seratoableton.com and serato-ableton.com. All I need is content! Contact me on this (info [at] the site in your URL bar is the email).

Best synths and keyboard article / NAMM round up.

Here is a day 3 review on Synthtopia. Thanks Mark at Modulate This!

http://www.abletonserato.com/ good stuff? Time will tell.

As Seen On My Radar Scope

What is in your DJ bag? I found this informative. (soul)

When Ableton meets Serato is one of the best Q&A’s I have seen.  Worth reading if you  are interested in “The Bridge”.

Ghetto fab home made controller :

How many know about phase cancellation?  As a self declared PWM junkie, this is right up my alley, check out the post at Ableton Tweets. video too!

Off topic a little but good stuff – the 4th amendment in the cloud.

How to make a Vocoder in Ableton:

Video processing device for Max (for Live) from Cycling 74. This is not my strength or a topic I chase, but the article is detailed and informative.

Yet another Bridge video (YABV): There are more on the Vimeo page.

[Live] “Bridge” 2/4 from Masato TSUTSUI on Vimeo.

So, is Pinky cool? This could see me getting Max for Live a little faster.  Let me know!

Oliver (Things to Come) chimes in on The Bridge. He likes!

Oh, how I long for you… tube drum machine.

iPad

I want. I think the unit is a total flop in general, but the ability to control Ableton is already there. A full 10″ touch screen interface is so worth $499, even if it is flawed and generally received as iFlop. Sorry to the fanboy crowd, I am reading well over 10 times more “Apple is dumb” articles than praise for the unit.

Regardless, I want one. Here is an article on the implications for the audio engineer.

More soon! Warp your world! –Marc

Those of you who know me will laugh at this post.  The iPad is released.  The announcement is still going on, but I thought I would get a quick post out there in the interest of $34rch 3ng!n3$.

The facts so far (deemed pretty accurate):

• Flash Storage
• 10 hour bat life
• Just under 10″ diag (screen dimension)
• Accelerometer and compass on board
• Uses iPhone OS
• Yes, app store
• 1.5 lb
• 0.5″ thick
• Speaker and Mic

Why is this interesting, what does it have to do with Ableton?

Well, this will make an amazing outsourced screen GUI.  No CPU load, only (QoS absent) wifi communication.  Time to think about isolated private wireless LANs as an external controller.

This will creep into Ableton. Price not declared yet. I will update with more if there is anything interesting.

–Marc

Watching out for new stuff rolling out. DKO Darren is in the event. As well as other friends.  Plus the pesky Twitter and RSS feeds are moving along.

The next months or year will have a distinctive DJ lean in Ableton (I predict).  Previously I have commented on how the gap between Ableton and DJ software is rapidly closing.  The Serato – Ableton “Bridge” is the first tidal wave.

The guys at DJ Tech tools have a day 1 review of DJ orientated gear on their site here. Thank you!

Music Radar has an article on “The Bridge”, not much added to the discussion yet, but fine coverage nonetheless. They provide great coverage here with a day 2 round up.

The Bride is only one (official) day old and we are about to get a glacial melt of video tutorials and demos. I will be watching this closely and posting all the goodies. (send me links of what you find! – help is appreciated).

On the DJ topic, we (Ableton Denver / Colorado) are in the early planning stages of a DJ Collaboration night where we look at technique and tools available for the (merging) audio types.

Other New Products from NAMM

Tascam is releasing more new stuff. Tascam is a personal favorite with the dry approach, small footprint of the middle-ware, and outstanding driver support for current and legacy hardware. Head over to this Gear Junkie post for a few new product introductions.

This is interesting from Hercules (Gear Junkies coverage):

I look at things like this and wonder “What will this do with Ableton?” More buttons / knobs, you get it!

Another interesting gadget is the Teenage Engineering OP-1. Music Radar has good coverage (including video) here. Keywords – synthesis, gadget, fun.

From the pre-Ableton day, remember the Jam Man (Digitech)?. Well, it is back, again, and here is some more Music Radar coverage on the item.

Well, that seems to sum up the biggies I see right now.  If there is anything else today I will post and.or tweet it.

As I prophesied months and months ago, we are now gaining full crossover between Ableton and Serrato.

Here is info from Ableton Central.

The press release:

Ableton and Serato present The Bridge at Winter NAMM 2010

Berlin, Germany, (January 14, 2010) – Ableton and Serato are proud to announce The Bridge at NAMM 2010 in Anaheim, California. The Bridge spans the gap between music production and DJing, creating a natural link between Ableton Live and Serato Scratch Live/ITCH. The Bridge provides a powerful fusion of DJ and production tools, opening a world of opportunities for DJing, remixing and live performance.

The Bridge works in both directions:

Ableton to Serato

The Bridge provides Ableton Transport Control (ATC), giving DJs turntable-style control of their own multitrack productions. DJs can simply drag an Ableton Live Set onto one of the decks in Scratch Live or ITCH and use their turntables, CDJ or ITCH controller to control the transport.

Serato to Ableton

The Bridge provides the ultimate mixtape creation tool. DJs can perform mixes in Serato Scratch Live or ITCH and save them as an Ableton Live Set. This way, the DJ can still perform the mix—better than cut and pasting it together in a DAW—but also has detailed editing options.

Reactions to The Bridge
“For DJs who don’t make beats yet, that turns into ‘Hey, I can make beats in here, too.’ For the guys who are beatmakers already as well as DJs, it’s great because it’s almost like you’re DJing with multitracks. And the mixtape feature was probably the best thing I’ve ever seen. People are going to get really creative, I know my brain is working already, there’s stuff that I’m going to do that I choose not to disclose right now because it’s top secret.” – DJ Jazzy Jeff

“Seeing where Ableton is at this state of technology, and all the stuff that’s in there, and thinking about Ableton and Serato together is mind boggling. I know there’s a lot of stuff that can happen… we’re all producers, we’re all DJs, your mind starts to wonder what’s coming. Everybody’s gonna get excited.”
- Kenny Dope

Catching up here – not much has been going on as we prepare fro NAMM. So the next post will be littered with coolness trickling back from the great gig in (the) Anaheim,

Starting out – Solid State Logic has released a digitally controlled analog router.  I found this via Gear Wire.

This looks cool, an audio slicer preset (via synthtopia) from Tron Audio.

I am a confessed delay junkie, so I may have to get a hold of this classic delay VST collection from V-Plugs (via Gear Wire).

Cool Product or end of days? You decide (iPhone container with keys from Akai) – see it on Matrix Synth.

Right after I buy my MPD 24 they make a cooler MPD26 in BLACK!  Blast! Look over here at Matrix Synth.

Holy crap – someone shrunk my APC – the APC20! (Matrix Synth).

This looks like fun! http://snazzyfx.com/

Yes, Serrato + Ableton is coming – I told you so (in the summer).  Synthopia gets the credit.

That is all for now.  I will micro-post as cool stuff trickles in from NAMM.

–M

I hope everyone had a good New Year.  I am still battling a sinus infection (or alien experimentation gone wrong).

We are still excited to have Darwin speaking at the next meet up.  This will be your #1 opportunity to get you Max for Live off to a sloid kick.  The details for that evening start here.

Two days Extended to Jan 10 – get DEEP discounts from Nick’s tutorials. Go here to get the whole scoop: http://nickstutorials.com/archives/585

Our studio at Colorado Music Lab is moving along. Yesterday I invested a nearly complete 8 more hours doing wiring and minor details.  We hung a ton of pictures as well.  The place is looking good!  Photos and video coming soon! Open house 23Jan2010!

The MIDI Fighter has arrived! I am working on a review right now. It is pretty awesome!

Mark over at Modulate This! has a great year in review, check it out! He is not only a great guy, but super knowledgeable.  We are lucky to have people like him in our Colorado region!Mark has alos done a good job at wrapping up some recent debate on sound quality.

Ableton 8.1 was recently release (we tweeted). Here is a point of entry at Synthopia. Also, as fo 28Dev2009 Live 8 development Halted due to bugs, read more on the forum.

Event : Basslab presents Siren

Livid Block Ne – inrto:

livid block NE Intro from Livid Instruments on Vimeo.

Richard Devine’s GrainCube Reaktor Ensemble via Synthtopia: (when did music production turn into a video game screen from the 1980’s?)

Sharpen your Launchpad Skills:

Video Shuffler / Max for Live Device Demo:

Hell Yeah – Jeep Techo!:

Quick Demo of Video Shuffler – my MaxforLive Device from digital funfair on Vimeo.

Of Note:

Free Basslines sample pack

Free Dulcimer Emulator

New Pricing on Reason

Best ‘Net Releases of 2009

Free Percussion Samples

Free Patch Library For Harmless Synthesizer from Modulate This

Free Reason ReFill – Monologue

(via Synthopia) All Xoxos Plugins Now Freeware!

Free Music Sequencer For Linux, MusE

CDM Biggest Tech Stories of 2009