I couldn’t help but run across this future application, BeatMaker. It lets you make beats on your iPhone. I have to ask…why? I don’t see how you can transfer your beats to any other application or DAW, so it seems like just a toy. Is there really a large market of people who want to pass the time in line at the post office or something making beats? I dunno, maybe there is.
It does look cool though.
It seems Moog Music is getting into the guitar business…no lefty though:
http://moogmusic.com/moogguitar/?section=product&product_id=21129
A number of Ember Members (including myself) use Metric Halo Mobile I/O audio interfaces as an integral part of our Mac-based recording system. In fact, Metric Halo is one of our hardware links on the right side of this blog.
Well, Metric Halo interfaces just got an amazing upgrade. For those without one, they are now selling the 2882 Expanded and ULN2 Expanded. Current Metric Halo Mobile I/O owners can add a 2d Card to their current interface for all the goodies. Better clock, better ADAT, lower latency, completely redesigned mixer, new +DSP effects, etc. Really, if you’re a Mac user, this is as good as it gets for the price, IMO.
If you’re not a Logic Pro user, this little public service announcement won’t mean much to you. But Logic Pro 8.0.2 just appeared via the Software Update preference pane. It is a really fantastic update, pages of bugfixes and some feature enhancements. If you use Logic Pro to compose and create music like we do, you’ll be very happy with this. If you don’t, now is a fantastic time to consider it.
Just pointing out another review I’ve written. In the May 2008 issue of Electronic Musician, I review the Novation DirectFX, a 2-in/4-out audio interface that offers a suite of latency free effects. What makes the DirectFX interesting is that its native effects are coded into the audio driver itself, so without adjusting audio buffers or anything else, you can record with no latency into your DAW, or record without effects and monitor with effects. Read the review for the full skinny.
This interface just reminds me how far we’ve come as far as cheap, good sounding gear. I can remember when if you wanted an interface to record high quality music, you’d have to spend over $1000. Certainly, you still can, but you can also buy an interface that costs under $300 that will sound better than even those $1000 interfaces of a decade ago! Of course, truly high end professional gear still is expensive, but even affordable gear these days is truly usable.
Normally, I talk about reviews that I’ve written of stuff. But I wanted to bring to your attention a review I didn’t write, in a magazine I don’t write for. Why? Because I agree with it completely.
If you’ve looked at the links on the right sidebar of this blog, you know I love GForce Virtual Instruments. GForce is the second listed software company. In the May 2008 issue of Sound on Sound, there is a glowing review of GForce’s recent softsynth, Virtual String Machine. If you subscribe to SOS, give the review a look. To sum it up, the reviewer had lots of positive things to say. As he should, it’s one of my all-time favorite instruments. It’s inspiringly, elegantly simple to use, sounds amazing, is cheap ($149), and is unique.
I highly recommend everyone check out VSM. The first day I had it, I used it in a song (the intro to the song Change; please check it out on the Sounds page in the Nimbit player). Really, it’s that good.
Yes it’s true: I have reviewed another guitar amplifier simulation package for EM this month. In the April 2008 issue of EM you’ll find my review of Waves GTR3. Check out the issue. Check out the demo of the plug-in. If you’re looking for a guitar simulation package, GTR got a lot better in this version, and it’s worth checking out.
Like most synth aficionados, I love the sound of analog synths. My main synth is the Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ‘08—analog synth goodness and tone for miles. And of course one of the classic analog monosynths of all time is the Minimoog. But spending over two-thousand dollars for a monophonic instrument, even a spectacular one, is a bit much, in my opinion.
So I was rather excited when Moog Music unveiled the Little Phatty family of monosynths based on the Minimoog but stripped down to its essential analog goodness—and under the magic two-thousand dollar price. Still, I’m a huge fan of arpeggiators, MIDI over USB for direct recording into Logic Pro, and other such goodies.Well, it seems that Moog Music has decided that they want to try and make a customer out of me after all (well, they already did for the MoogerFooger MuRF pedal, actually…). This week they’ve quietly posted information about a new Little Phatty, the Stage II.
This seems to have a couple of the features that I was really hoping for:
That’s a pretty solid collection of goodies! And I’ve read that it’s computer editor is also quite good, which sounds like it can extend it’s flexibilities even more. This one I’ll definitely check out seriously.
So every now and again, something comes around that as soon as you see it, you just know that this is going to alter the way that people make music in the future. This is one of those things.
Celemony, makers of the already popular Melodyne series of products, has just extended the line even further. There is a video on their website showing off their forthcoming Direct Note Access technology. And by “forthcoming” they don’t mean five years from now, they mean later in 2008. The first product this technology will be added to is the Melodyne Plug-in, which means you’ll be able to use it in your current audio sequencer, Mac or PC.
When this ships, if its even half as good as the video demo, it will really shake things up. Stay tuned….
For those who are interested, in the Feb 2008 edition of EM (Electronic Musician) magazine, I have written a “Quick Pick” review of the DigiTech Vocalist Live 2. If you play live solo—especially if you play live with acoustic guitar accompaniment—this might be something you really want to look into.
It’s on page 133, if you’re just flipping through the magazine on the rack. But you really want to buy the whole issue. It’s got a cool new look, lots of interesting articles on artists and digital music…and besides, if you buy it, Penton Media (parent company) will have enough revenue to continue to pay me to write reviews for them! 