House Music - Source Site:http://

Newsflash: Breakbeat still exists! Yes you callous bastard the sound that was complete destroyed by rave has been licking it's wounds quietly. Getting more and more pissed off about being homogenized in the early 2000s. But with the bassline, dubstep sounds heating up - Breakbeat's ears perked up and were like "oh shit I can do THAT too!". And that brings us here where the BodySnatchers throw down a mighty set of breaks synthesized with wobbly basslines and filthy crunk samples. The Body Snatchers have a new album coming out late June 08 on Aquasky's label Passenger. Keep an eye out... - Source Site:http://www.thebodysnatchers.co.uk/

Filewile Dub/Reggae Set played May 2008 @ Schatzalp, Switzerland. Setup: Laptops, EFX (Spacedrum, Kaoss Pad, etc.), Turntables and of course a Roland Space Echo were on Stage. - Source Site:http://www.blastfm.ch

The good news: Digidesign has made a pre-release version of Pro Tools 7.4 (all versions — M-Powered, LE, and HD) available for Mac OS X Leopard. You’re advised not to install this on a critical system and to keep regular backups, but if you’ve got a new machine waiting for a Leopard-ready version, you can give this a go now.

Update: Information on Pro Tools Compatibility for Mac OS X 10.5.3

The reason you might still want to wait on Leopard upgrading, in case this hasn’t already made you cautious: not all RTAS plug-ins are expected to be “Leopard-ready.” (TDM plug-ins run on Digi’s DSP hardware and are apparently unaffected once the host works.) We’re told developers are being advised to test rigorously because of changes to Mac OS X. This may not be limited to Digidesign. Based on reports from readers, while users are on the whole happier with 10.5.3 than 10.5.2, there are still some kinks to work out — including users of products other than just those from Digidesign and M-Audio. Best advice: stick with Tiger 10.4.x if you can for the most stable alternative.

Pro Tools Plug-in Compatibility with Leopard

Just as being patient now is advisable, though, it’s equally good advice to reserve judgment on Leopard until the OS matures. Changes made to 10.5 promise better performance on multiple-core systems, for instance — so while the short-term side effect may be glitchy audio until bugs are ironed out, once software is mature, you may squeeze out more performance. The problem is, we can’t know either way until other issues are resolved first. That means patience pays off doubly: sticking with the most stable option if you can is a good way to avoid trouble, while waiting to see how things go means you could reap some rewards upgrading once the software matures. (On the other hand, some readers have no problem, so if you have more than one machine or a new machine that requires Leopard, I’d say go for 10.5.3)

I’ll say those two words I tend to say all the time: stay tuned.

Thanks to Ray Tovey and others for the tips!

Our friend Marc (”M-.-n”) writes to let us know version 1.0 of music tracker (think alternative sequencer / music making tool) LittleGPTracker is here, with quite a lot in the way of new features. As always, the banner feature of LGPT is its ability to run on the open, Linux-based GamePark mobile game console, making it an ideal choice for tracking on the go. But it runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux desktop systems, too, with features enhanced in this release. The list from Marc:

• Sample library & import support


• Groove support for odd time signature


• Debian build & JACK support


• Allows creation of project from the program itself


• new Feedback parameters at the instrument level


• new Looper Sync looping mode for automatic looping on the current tempo


• Engine optimization


• New rendering system allowing to render directly from the application


• either the mixdown or the 8 separated tracks.


• External joystick control on all platforms

littlegptracker.com

Debian build, eh, with JACK? Have to try this on the Ubuntu Studio system I just installed. For your viewing enjoyment, here’s Patric C and M-.-n playing with 2 GP2x, each running LGPT.

Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

When I reviewed JazzMutant’s Lemur at the end of 2005 (printed in the February 2006 Keyboard Magazine), I wondered if what we were really waiting for wasn’t a computer screen. At the time, I wrote:

There’s no question that multi-touch touchscreens represent the future of computer interfaces, and the Lemur is the biggest leap yet toward that science fiction future. For now, the challenge is that the Lemur’s features lie somewhere between a computer display and music controller, without effectively supplanting either one. The Lemur sacrifices the sensitivity and tactile feedback of physical controls in the name of flexibility, but that payoff is limited by the restrictions of its pre-built interface objects and the difficulty of configuring new layouts and assigning them to software controls.

If the Lemur could be truly fused with the computer display, rather than requiring an entirely independent interface, it would become a must-buy.

JazzMutant Lemur Review

At the same time, I marveled at what multi-touch could mean: interfaces that were as flexible as software, powerful live performance capabilities, and the ability to navigate sound spatialization and timbre in new, freer ways. Rather than a solution in search of a problem (as multi-touch image resizing is, arguably), these were tasks that just weren’t possible via any other interface.

The video above, showing multi-touch integrated with the next version of Windows 7 (expected at the end of next year), demonstrates one thing to me: multi-touch is coming, and it’ll be mainstream. And that’s huge for creative performance.

Microsoft demonstrates Multi-touch at D: All Things Digital Conference [Windows Vista Team Blog]

When Touch Makes Sense

Ironically, because Microsoft is the first to show off this technology in something resembling a consumer-ready, standard computer, people are lukewarm. (Do you think the reaction would have been this way if it had been Apple showing the same demo?) Now, I’m all for skepticism. It’s nice to see Lifehacker asking its readers whether touch is really necessary. That was the question I asked in regards to the Lemur, as well: touch isn’t the answer to everything. You lose tactical feedback, and a certain amount of accuracy. On the multi-touch iPhone, this is an especially big deal: I can easily out-type any iPhone user on my Blackberry, and multi-touch doesn’t mean a whole lot on a small form factor that can only comfortably accommodate one or two fingers at a time. Lastly, no technology can change the physical size of your finger relative to, say, a stylus.

But when it comes to music performance, I’m convinced multi-touch can be very powerful. Forget Microsoft’s lame piano demo or obligatory but meaningless photo resizing. Onstage, a multi-touch display is ideal. You can make quick gestures, quickly point at stuff without taking your eyes off the screen, and use large-scale interfaces built for performance. Imagine reaching over to quickly swap instruments, or switch between song sets, or make a rapid gesture to adjust the timbre of a sound, or navigate surround sound spatialization. And imagine that you’ll be able to do this without having to content with another piece of gear, as on the Lemur, but on a mainstream laptop, with any software you like.

Beyond Microsoft

What’s ultimately fantastic about the Microsoft announcement is that it should have implications beyond just Windows. Unlike the proprietary, one-device iPhone, having Windows 7 support multi-touch means lots of hardware should follow, with the economy of scale and access that everyone may benefit. Even Microsoft’s commitment to the relatively niche-oriented tablet PC has driven down digitizer prices (a step, not incidentally, toward this announcement). You can buy an affordable tablet PC right now with Linux installed, if you like. While Microsoft has a leg up in the enabling software for multi-touch, I don’t think it’ll be impractical for other frameworks or open-source frameworks to follow. In fact, the real challenge is to think about interface design in a new way. (In an interview with CDM, the developers of the upcoming Circle soft synth specifically mentioned thinking about making touch work in future as a design goal, and they use the cross-platform JUCE framework.)

And while they didn’t make a specific announcement, I would expect Microsoft to be likewise aggressive about promoting multi-touch capabilities in their own application development frameworks. Ultimately, I believe the most interesting multi-touch interfaces will continue to come from individual developers and researchers, not the likes of Microsoft and Apple. That’s been true already, so imagine what will happen when those folks have cheap hardware ready to go and can focus on design. The OLPC project, of course, promised a multi-touch laptop replacement, as well; that’s basically just a mock-up and I’ll believe it when I see it, but someone is going to deliver a multi-touch machine soon. (It’ll be interesting to see if we hear anything from Apple, as well.)

Yep, I Want It

Don’t get me wrong: tangible, hardware controls aren’t going anywhere. On the contrary, I think the experience of using multi-touch displays, which even with haptics are a long way from giving real tactile feedback, reminds us of the range of ways in which software design and hardware interface can fuse. But by going beyond QWERTY and mouse/trackpad, multi-touch displays could make for an exciting future.

And in answer to Mary Jo Foley’s question, do I want multi-touch in a laptop? Not only do I, but stand next to me or any other digital musician struggling with a tiny trackpad onstage, and you’ll see why.

More multi-touch coverage from CDM

If you haven’t been following the Kore @ CDM site, we’ve been picking up some great tips from contributors Peter Dines and Eoin Rossney. This video has inspired me personally to dive a little deeper beneath the shrinkwrap on Kontakt 3, particularly with its scripting capabilities:

Creative Abuse of the Kontakt Sampler

Peter Dines’ tutorial on scripting and modulation in Kontakt 3 from Create Digital Media on Vimeo.

Kontakt Tutorial Video: Creative Abuse with Modulation, Scripting

Kontakt 3 users, we’ll be curious to see what you do with that one.

User-Created, Free Modular Reaktor Powers in Kore

Also in the spirit of pushing tools past their usual capabilities, Eoin Rossney talks to Jonathan Adams Leonard, aka sleen, who has built an essential set of modular power tools for Kore, constructed in Reaktor. (He did this entirely for free as a user — nice.) What I especially enjoy about this is that Jonathan is upfront about things he felt like were missing in Kore 2 — but instead of just complaining about it, actually went and built it himself. As he tells the site:

Kore 2 was an ambitious release for any software team, so instead of complaining, I did what any enlightened engineer would do and built something. In some ways, there was no choice. NI created a semi modular matrix into which audio and midi objects can live simultaneously.

… The toolpack represents my preference to communicate where possible with solutions rather than suggestions or complaints.

I like that attitude. Eoin also walks through the toolpack tool by tool, with some tips from him and Jonathan for getting the most out of them, including some very powerful MIDI and audio capabilities. We have some other ideas for how to work with Kore live, and we’re learning from some folks who are using it out in performance, as well, so you can expect more on these issues soon.

Sound Design, Drum Machines, DSP

Also on the site: I find some percussion sound goodies from the So Percussion Ensemble by making use of the Kore Browser’s metadata options, and take a look at a pack full of retro drum machines from Crumar to Linn to Moog and Roland which could be a good use for your free sound pack. Make sure to authorize Kore this week if you have bought it, so you get the Massive synth free.

And lastly, while this is likely to convert even more of my weekends and evenings into sound programming time, I’m especially excited by Peter pointing to this set of tutorials on Core, the DSP geeks-only low-level sound programming engine deep in Reaktor:
She Blinded Me With DSP Science: Learn Core with Reaktor

That’s “Core” with a “C”, part of Reaktor, as opposed to Kore, a separate product. (Hey, I promised you this site wouldn’t just be about Kore.) Reaktor geeks, if anyone wants to join me on this brain-busting journey to the center of Reaktor, say so in comments and we can form an impromptu user group.

Stay tuned, we’ve got plenty more in the hopper for this site. Head over to kore.noisepages.com, or subscribe to the site’s RSS feed. And if you’re not seeing what you want, let us know in comments or contact us directly.

This is a profound comment on so many levels. I’ll let it speak for itself:

Yes, you can contact with me. But, if you would want that I played on your party on cassettes, then I refuse. I do not play on cassettes any more. In general, I don’t want play in the club, because people come there to drink and to search partner for copulate. This is bad.

- Artjom, Russian DJ and alternative interface researcher, commenting on Homemade Cassette Tape DJ Mixers + Max/MSP PC

We feel you, Artjom. T-shirt designs will be accepted.

Editorial note: One of the problems with the Internet is that you can’t detect tone. So let me be clear, any would-be kill-joys: I like this quote because it, haiku-like, sums up the world of music. And it mentions cassettes. What’s not to love? Jeez.

29th May 2008: easytoolz has released easy-vintage bass 01 - a free virtual analog vintage-style bass synth VST instrument for Windows. Features: 2 Oscillators with 14 waves - Octave Tune, Mix and Clipper. Low- and...

29th May 2008: Audio Ease has announced the release of the All In Bundle for Mac which includes all Audio Ease plug-ins plus Snapper in one box at a massive discount - the suggested retail price of the All In Bundl...