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.
This comes from Native Instruments but has a lot of generic “how to” tips for Vista (same tips different version) – If you use Vista / Windows you should go through this.
Akai is sponsoring Tresor Award contest (with Numark – the sister company with Alesis and others…). Editor note : I smoked the crossfader in a Numark mixer in 10 days. The contest seems to be “kid” orientated. The contest states “Open to 18-22 year old…”.
File under cool or fun?
Side Note:
I am sure everyone heard that Propeller Head’s Record is live (out of beta / need to pay for it now). Here is a post I bumped into on Synthtopia. For the record Record is “an electronic system designed to record, edit and play back digital audio”. Okay, movin’ on…
Synths and Gear:I am a synth head, more physical and less virtual. As much as this site is Ableton, synths really do make the world go ’round.
Either this will blow your freaking mind or you already know! The idea is simple – use images to synthesize sounds / music. I first ran into this through a friend of a friend here. (should we call him into Denver to demo some sick shit?) It was this Synthopia article that pointed me to http://photosounder.com/ and the flashback ensued.
Mix Cloud – the YouTube of Radio – did you know? Mark from Modulate This did! (They need to work on UI imho – took 5 clicks for a dumb user to get any results (youtube = 1 click) and buffering is not programmed correctly – no play while loading without click -GREAT START how ever!)
The 64 bit stuff is coming in for the Mac world such as the Gear Junkies report. Now remember, Windows was WAY ahead on the 64 bit curve. The problem was simple – few companies would write for XP 64 (with good reason) or for Vista 64 (with good reason). Keep your fingers crossed that Microsoft is not going to FAIL on version 7. I am seriously considering a move to Mc for all my mastering in studio (tracking os moving to Linux).
Faderpro.com is getting into re-mixing instruction.
And DNA has been ALL OVER the net this week, worth the mention because it really is amazing! DNA is Direct Note Access – allowing you to edit single notes in polyphonic recordings – sound like a dream, not any more. Info
Gearjunkies reports that the Voxengo Polysquasher version 2.1 update is now available for download here.
The end is near? DJ Hero? I have never played any of the *hero games (not my thing) – In fact, I jumped on Call of Duty on Friday to “Kill some Nazi’s” and only lasted 5 minutes before I decided to practice Ableton. So, here is a brightly colored Daft Punk DJ Hero spot!
Wacom is entering the market with nextbeat (slow page load) – an “instrument for creative DJs” source Gear Junkies
Open source sequencer based on Arduino (and other) chips – I ran the page through a translator, here are the bullets (more on Arduino below):
1.Hardware Step Sequencer
2.8 marks a 8 patterns each with 16 steps
3.Each track can have its own MIDI channel (input, output)
4.Internal resolution of 24 pulses per 1 / 4 note (PPQN)
5.Inclusion of external MIDI devices
6.External and internal synchronization (play, stop, resume, clock)
7.Modifying the sequence during playback
Open-source software concept
Programming by Arduino IDE
Based on Atmel ATmega1280
USB interface for communication with the PC / MAC
MIDI interface (MIDI input, MIDI output)
Silicon 28 buttons, 2 rotary encoders with confirmation and an LCD display
Apparently this bag is APC40 friendly – how do you transport your APC?
Okay – this is just plain cool! Do you know Otto? Hardware for real time slice sample control – take a look…
Mark Mosher from Modulate This found a great video on how Depeche Mode is using Ableton to real time process the drum needs. Forget about the performance and DJ types of things you can do for a minute. This is enabling more “studio trickery” to enter the realm of live music.
Have you seen the “Squarepushin on the APC” video? This is fun:
New friends? I hope so – I was selling a blade server this past week and the buyer turned me onto a company in Boulder named Spark Fun. In short – they are a technology company and offer free (online) and pay-for classes (in person) classes on a lot of circuit technologies. Do you need to get your soldering chops up? Are you about to enter the Arduino chip programming area (like me)? This looks like a great local resource!
Arduino is a physical computing platform based on a simple open hardware design for a single-board micro-controller, with embedded I/O support and a standard programming language.
Well, here is a simple starter project from Spark Fun for a MIDI controller. This unit allows you to control MIDI how ever you want. I am not sure if this guy (next video) is using such a controller, but this is essentially the building block. (beware, this will freak you out a little):
Until next time – spread the coolness and thank you.
Create Digital Music has been expanding the breakdown of the Snow Leopard compatibility grid here.
Here’s a few videos on the topic – they are of marginal interest to the music / Ableton world, but insightful to some.
And this one
People are crawling out of the rocks for this release.
Is it the low price tag?
Is it recession boredom?
Hard to say.
As I mentioned earlier, proceed slowly. Verify that your hardware and software is ready for the upgrade. Twitter, Facebook, friends, sharpie on the men’s room wall is NOT a reliable source all the time.
With Snow Leopard coming out tomorrow (28aug2009) there are a lot of people nervous. Here’s the main reason why:
Very few digital audio professionals rune one app or hardware on a (computer) Mac. A new OS release provides the opportunity for some hardware and software to work on the new OS leaving a patchwork of compatibility seriously hindering performance and work.
So far the big fail is coming from Presous (no compatibility until later October). In the interest of keeping this professional, talk to me directly on my Presonus experience. Here is a CDM article for more info.
Create Digital Music also has this article compiling the score as the information becomes available. So far CDM seems to be the most comprehensive coverage on the OS migration from a digital audio perspective.
If you know anything send it through to us or get your comment on in the CDM post(s).
What ever you do – procede carefully – here are a few tips:
Don’t upgrade right before a gig
Back up everything
Know how to roll back
Contact your hardware / software vendors regarding the new OS
Test your new gear (I usually run Ableton in the background for 24 hours or more while poking at the CPU with a sharp stick)
Have a back up plan
Consult your local pagan computer guild on what you should sacrifice to appease the digital gods in this time of great change
As for Ableton specifically I have already collected varying advice, all from reliable sources. Here is the link from Ableton (forum), a few notes I will pass along:
Regarding 8.0.4 : “While Live 8.0.4 may work without problems, we cannot guarantee compatibility yet, as internal tests are still ongoing.We will release a free Live 8 update in the next few weeks which will officially support Mac OS X 10.6″
What about 7.x? Should work, will lag in testing.
And what about 64 bit? Coming…not yet.
What should you do? “If your main concern is stability, we don’t recommend upgrading to 10.6 until compatibility for Live and all of your third-party software and hardware products has been assured by the responsible companies.”
This link will return a search for “Snow Leopard” in the forums.
I am (seriously) not a Mac person. My little white bastard box stumps me on a regular basis. It does, however, play Ableton perfectly with almost no downtime. I will be watching the digital airwaves for news and pass along anything valid to our user group.
