everyday

Create Digital Music has a nice review of the Edirol PCR-M1 Ultra Slim Keyboard. This keyboard looks like it would fit quite nicely on my desk. Of course I would need to get my new digital auio workstation up and running first. I currently have a Midiman Radium 61 which I like very much, but it is pretty big for desktop use.

On a totally unrelated side note: I really need to finish my new weblog, I really want to be able to categorize my posts.

In the past I have attempted to record audio on a portable device, a MiniDisc player to be exact. And while this produced very nice results, I’ve wanted to be able to get very high quality recordings with something that didn’t require a backpack and a Shirpa loaded down with batteries. Well, Create Digital Music has an article on just such a device, the M-Audio FlashTracker. The details are subject to change, but so far it will be capable of encoding a variety of 24 bit/96kHz files, USB 2.0, has multiple line-ins (mic, line, digital), and is small. I currently have a number of M-Audio products, the Delta 1010, DMP-3, Studiophile DX-4 and a Midisport 2×2. All of these products are of a very high quality and I have absolutely no regrets with any of them. If the price point of the FlashTracker is low enough (as most of M-Audio’s gear is) and the storage is not some goofy proprietary medium, I will definitely consider adding this to my collection of recording equipment that I use far too infrequently.

There are a number of competing products, but they are all too expensive or do not encode at a high enough rate. Edirol has had the R-1 out for a while now, but I think it is priced a tad high (a quick search on Froogle lists $439.00). Some “professional” equipment goes for even more.

I found this new music interface, monome, while reading the CreateDigitalMusic blog. The demonstration videos (1,2) absolutely blew me away. The concept is so simple, but the resulting control over music is immense. It isn’t often that something comes along to completely “wow” me, but the monome certainly has. Of course the monome isn’t in full-scale production yet, so hopefully the $500 price tag will drop. Even at that price I still want one, that isn’t really saying much since the list of things that I want is only surpassed by the list of things that I can’t afford.

While working on the update to this weblog late last night a song came up on the random shuffling of iTunes that piqued my interest. I found myself asking myself “who is this?”, as in which band was this. Without actually paying attention to the music more closely I simply clicked on iTunes and was pleasantly surprised that it was something that I had written last month! It felt good to have a song that was something I actually liked. So, I thought I would share it with the rest of you. Like everything I do, it is horribly incomplete. It is really just a few bars that repeat over and over, with a melody played over it. I don’t so much like the melody, but the music is good (I think).

2005-12-16.mp3 Not currently available!

It was created with Sonar 5.0 Producer Edition using, Reaktor 5 and TimewARP 2600 plug-ins. I really like Reaktor 5 and the TimewARP 2600. Reaktor 5 is an insanely customizeable software synthesizer, you can actually create your own new synths, but it is really complicated. The TimewARP 2600 is a software version of the classic ARP 2600 synth that one of my favourite bands, Depeche Mode, has used to create some amazing music.

I just spent the entire weekend (except for the sleeping bits) recording music! I had a chance to use my new DAW to record a band called “On Being Human”. It is so much fun being involved in music, now if only I could make money doing this instead of spending money to be able to.

I just ordered the requisite parts to finally build my DAW! I have been contemplating building just such a computer for some time now. The aggravation of dealing with my current PCs lack of power and penchant for freezing up at the most inopportune moments has been the primary driving force behind my desire to build a dedicated DAW. I have given careful consideration to the parts that I have ordered and I believe that this system will serve me well. It will be based on an AMD Athlon 64 bit processor. Some of the other features are built in RAID 0/1/0+1 and a video card with dual outputs which will allow for multiple monitors. The only thing I am not sure of is the case to house all of this audio processing power. Currently I am planning on housing it in a rack-mount server case, but the one that I have is enormous. It will not fit in a standard audio rack as it is 6 inches too deep. I may just purchase a standard desktop case (the old ones that lay horizontal) and attach it to a rack-mount shelf.

via: Music Thing

Music thing has an entry about “The endless joy of loops“. The two videos referenced in the article are amazing! Even if you don’t like the music itself, the melding of talent and technology is, well, amazing. I particulalry enjoyed the one by Dosh.

soapbox warning: The future of music is this. No more gigantic studios pumping out formulaic, pubescent pop music hits. No more catering to the whims of 12 year old girls. No more bowing to Wal-Mart’s evangelically driven ethical demands. No more CD’s. Just a kid in his bedroom making music that blows people away with a laptop, some headphones and a broadband internet connection.