Apogee has announced the Symphony I/O, a multi-channel professional audio interface offering native Logic and Pro Tools compatibility and I/O flexibility. Symphony can function in StandAlone Mode or connect directly to a Mac via any Mac-based audio workstation. The new Symphony System also features new digital audio conversion technology, new Maestro 2 software, multiple I/O options and low latency performance. The Symphony I/O will replace AD-16X,
DA-16X and the Rosetta 800.

With flexible and scalable I/O architecture, the upgraded Symphony System now allows end-users to define a system to their specific needs. Symphony I/O’s base chassis can accommodate up to 2 I/O modules, creating any combination of analog and digital I/O with USB 2.0, Symphony and Avid’s Pro Tools connectivity.

Share/Bookmark this!

Google Docs is primarily designed to give you online access to Microsoft Office and other types of documents via a Web browser, but technically, you can store just about any type of file in the Docs database. A new iPhone app called Cloud Music, which debuted in the App Store on Monday, takes advantage of this flexibility to deliver a quick-and-dirty music locker service.
First, you have to register with Google and use your Web browser to upload some music files into Google Docs. The service offers up to 1GB of storage for free, with a maximum file size of 250MB, but you can add storage pretty cheaply–for instance, 20GB will cost you only $5 per year.
Then you can go to the App store and download Cloud Music for $1.99. The first time you log in, it’ll ask you to enter your Google ID and password. Then you’ll be able to browse through the music files, download them to a playlist, and begin to play.

find out more on cnet.com

Share/Bookmark this!

Sound Designer II: This format was originally introduced as the native file type of the veteran Macintosh-based Digidesign audio editing program of the same name. Originally, the output consisted of two linked mono files, but there is now a single stereo file version as well. You might want to export in this format if you are working with Pro Tools users on the Mac, or those aficionados still using Sound Designer!

AIFF: This is Apple’s full-bandwidth PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) file format that maintains the full audio quality of the bounce. AIFF files can have a maximum size of 2GB, which equates to stereo files of about three hours and 15 minutes at 16-bit, 44.1kHz resolution.

WAV: WAV files are, effectively, the Windows version of AIFF. These days, Macs are perfectly happy with WAV files, but Windows programs cannot always use AIFF, so if you expect your files to end up on a PC, WAV format is preferable. Sonically, there’s no difference between WAV and AIFF. Logic generates Broadcast Wave Files (BWF), so the maximum WAV file is 4GB (about six hours and 30 minutes at the CD standard bit and sample rates).

CAF: To address the limitations of AIFF and WAV files, CAF (Core Audio Format) has been introduced, and can cope with durations of up to 13 hours and 30 minutes at 44.1kHz. While bit depth and format (stereo, mono or surround) do not affect recording time, sample rate does, and the recording time is reduced to about three hours at 192kHz.

MP3 and AAC: Both of these formats use ‘perceptual encoding’ to trim down file sizes. You can select a bit rate (the higher the rate, the higher the quality, but the larger the files generated) or use variable bit rates, which change depending on the harmonic content of the audio, with lower rates during simple passages and higher rates for more harmonically complex ones.

Share/Bookmark this!

There have been numerous iPhone/iPod touch applications released, and musical instrument application is one of the popular categories among users.
Guitar, bass, piano, ocarina, the list goes on and on.
EVENNO introduces The Fingerist which is a music adapter that allows you to play those applications on iPhone/iPod touch like a real guitarist.

The Fingerist is a new style iPhone/iPod touch accessory that enables you to play your applications as if you are actually playing musical instruments.
This music adapter has a built-in speaker that operates on 3 AA batteries which will enable you to perform 6-hour stage live.

find our more on evenno.com

Share/Bookmark this!

OTTO is an electronic musical instrument for realtime manual beat slicing of audio samples.

OTTO provides a tangible user interface designed with the aim of giving the user the feel of having the sample in his hands. The musician can manipulate an audio sample in real time through the use of a restricted number of simple physical buttons and switches.

In computer music audio samples are generally represented as the waveform itself or as little colored blocks. Since the sample inside OTTO as to be controlled really fast, the performer needs to quickly understand where and how to play a specific part. The sample visualization has been designed to provide just the information needed and nothing more.

[via www.lucaderosso.com]

Share/Bookmark this!

london-based japanese designer yuri suzuki is known for his interactive sound installations.
his recent experimentation has looked at the act of buying CDs which has become increasingly
more obsolete as downloading music files has gained popularity. suzuki wanted to bring value back
to the compact disc so he explored the idea of producing a CD record hybrid, first through his
series ‘physical value of sound’.

then, suzuki proposed the idea of the disc to DJ jeff mills for his new music project ‘the occurence’.
the result is a disc with a vinyl press-on on one side and a CD mix on the other, merging analog
and digital music formats into one. the disc has been produced by AXIS records and manufactured
by german company optimal media production. mills’ digital-analog album is finally on the market
in a limited edition.

[via www.designboom.com]

Share/Bookmark this!

The MoshPit Amp, by Fur, is an automata that converts headbanging movements into metal music. Through style and intensity of your head banging, you are the conductor of a virtual metal band consisting of four instruments: vocals, bass, drums and guitar. you can control the volume as well as the pattern of each instrument to create engaging musical arrangements. If you mosh really hard you can trigger a guitar solo for the ultimate rock experience. Your performance in front of the amp will additionally be supportet by a lightshow with smoke, flash and pyrotechnics.

http://www.fursr.com

[via www.random-magazine.net]

Share/Bookmark this!

get your at the Roland Shop

Share/Bookmark this!

Now available from Apple’s App store is an iPhone/iPad/iPod touch version of TC Electronic’s PolyTune guitar tuner, which allows checking the tuning of all guitar strings simultaneously. This 1:1 port of TC’s award-winning PolyTune pedal tuner offers the exact same tuning technology and features found in the pedal version. It also offers an onboard chromatic tuner with ±0.5 cent accuracy.

Polyphonic and Chromatic modes both work for guitar and a 4-, 5- and 6-string bass used with an iPhone or an iPad. The internal mic allows instant tuning of acoustic guitars; for tuning electric guitars, a mini-jack to ¼-inch adapter is required.

The first 25,000 download copies of the PolyTune iPhone App are offered free of charge; afterward the price is going to be $9.99.

For more information visit Apple’s App store or go towww.tcelectronic.com/polytune.asp.

Share/Bookmark this!

The single biggest step in transforming a ‘project studio’ into a fully fledged recording studio is when you finally have a separate control room and recording studio. This is when you can monitor the performance through your nearfield monitors, see the musician through your heavy glass window and truly begin to enjoy the process of engineering. Finally, you can twist all of those knobs in private! Ah the joy! And although there is a ton of available articles on control room acoustics, it seems that the recording studio – where the actual recording is done – is rarely discussed. This paper hopes to offer insight and ideas on what you should consider when creating your recording space.

What is the perfect recording studio?
A recording space should be flexible. In other words, it has to be able to adapt to a drum kit on Monday, a clarinet on Tuesday, a Marshall stack Wednesday and a voice-over for overdubs on Thursday. But how can one room do it all? Simple… think in terms of the live-end dead-end concept – LEDE – add a pinch of creative thought and apply it to your room. You really can’t go to far wrong.

First, think about the room itself. If is completely untreated you can be sure that when you put a drum kit in the room, it will resonate like crazy and likely be difficult to get a nice tight sound. At the other extreme, if the room is too dark or overly treated, all of the instruments you record will sound dry and unnatural. This means that you will constantly be adding artificial ambiance’ to the tracks. It comes down to balance.

This is where the LEDE concept has merit; you can have one end of your room treated with 60% of your acoustic budget while the other end could be treated more sparsely with the left over 40%. When recording drums, you could get a more controlled effect in the dead end and a more ambient sound in the live end. For voice recording, the dead end would eliminate much of the ambiance and let you add the effects as needed. Acoustic instruments such as guitars tend to sound more natural when the room acoustics are included. You could therefore position the guitar in the center of the room and have an omni-directional mic in the live-end to capture the space. There is no right – it is a matter of creatively using the space at hand.

How much material should I use?
Generally speaking, you are better to start with less and add more as you go. Start by recording in your room so that you can hear what it does. If you find that you are experiencing strange tones, you likely are hearing phase cancellation due to room modes causing a comb-filtering effect and therefore, you should consider adding more acoustic treatment.

One of the cool things about the Broadway panels is that the impaler clips make them both easy to put up and easy to relocate. Most successful studio owners start with a couple of boxes of Broadway panels and begin by creating the dead space. As you are putting panels up on the wall, nothing will happen… another panel – still nothing and then wham! All of a sudden the room will change. It will tighten up and you will hear it immediately. Stop. You are now ready to go over to the live end. This time, just think in terms of eliminating parallel surfaces. The Primacoustic Scatter Blocks are great for this as they can be placed in a random fashion around the space to tame the ambiance. Remember, this end is live.

[via primacoustic.com]

Share/Bookmark this!