The One Man iPad Band
Ingredients: one iPad, a cool dude, and a green screen. Everything you hear was recorded with an iPad. Apps used: garageband and thumb jam
Background info on Thumb Jam:
ThumbJam is a powerful musical performance experience. You get over 30 high-quality real instruments multi-sampled exclusively for this app. Hundreds of included scales allow you to effortlessly play in any style from rock to classical, whether you are a musical novice or a seasoned professional.
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Jordan Rudess, the world-renowned keyboardist for Dream Theater says:
“ThumbJam stands at the very top of the overcrowded music app world. The sounds included absolutely rival those found in pro instruments and making music on the app is a total joy. The only problem I have with this app is that I did not make it myself! Luckily, I’m able to work with the developer and offer a few good feature ideas as well as some choice sounds from my personal collection!”
Two signature sounds from Jordan are featured in the application!
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Even if you’ve only played air guitar, ThumbJam lets you sound like a pro. Pick an instrument and jam — with all the scales to choose from you’ll never hit a wrong note. The high quality instrument samples will make you sound like you just skipped years of music lessons.
For the performing musician, this app is awesome for soloing on an instrument you didn’t bring along. Play in any key, any style — go from a string ensemble to a wailing guitar. ThumbJam was developed and tested by musicians to feel and sound like a real instrument. You’ll be surprised at how expressive it can be, make sure to check out the videos and audio at thumbjam.com. ThumbJam makes use of tilt and shake to add vibrato, tremolo, note bends, and volume swells for more realistic and expressive results. It supports up to five simultaneous touches and up to 16 voice polyphony. Delay and lush stereo reverb add depth to the sound. Put on your headphones or plug in to your home stereo and prepare to be blown away. Build your own loops from the ground up or import your favorites and jam from there. Layer as many loops as you want, with different instruments for each. Export your loops as audio files or Ardour DAW sessions via WiFi. Copy and paste audio from other apps using Sonoma Wire Works AudioCopy/Paste as well the general pasteboard used by BeatMaker.
Want to jam with your friends? ThumbJam lets you broadcast tempo, key, and scale to other nearby devices via Bluetooth so you can play together live. Even better, you can use it as a MIDI or OSC controller over WiFi to control software instruments on your computer! The app includes a huge variety of scales, from western to eastern. Save your favorites for quick access. You can even import new scales in the Scala format for complete flexibility. You can also record your own samples using a built-in or attached microphone and play them instantly. Create your own presets with different settings, scales and keys based on the existing instruments. You can even import samples from other apps using audio copy and paste!
Included instruments:
+ Cello, Violin, Viola
+ Upright Bass (plucked and bowed)
+ Several drumkits
+ Darabukka
+ Djembe
+ Electric Guitar
+ Electric Bass
+ Trumpet
+ Trombone
+ Tenor Sax
+ Flute
+ Low Whistle
+ Acoustic Guitar
+ Hammered Dulcimer
+ Mandolin
+ Cittern
+ Grand Piano
+ Drawbar Organ (2 types)
+ Rhodes
+ Pipe Organ
+ Synth Strings
+ Synth Choir
+ Theremin
+ Sawtooth Waveform
+ Sine Waveform
+ Triangle Waveform
And from Jordan Rudess:
+ JR Zendrix
+ JR Smooth Steel
Teaser pics of the new Rockmate for iPad
Fingerlab is bringing the amazing new app called Rockmate to the app store soon. “We have developed Rockmate with the intention of delivering the best realtime rock music performance environment for iPad. Your guitars are always well tuned, no need to carry your drum-set or to patch your keyboard. A smart metronome and a realtime looper will help you to compose and record your songs and demos. Share your recording by mail, Facebook or iTunes sharing folders.”
Here are the features:
- Realistic design and animations
- High quality samples*
- 4 players available in one single iPad
- Realtime Looper with unlimited undo
- Metronome with light and custom sounds
- Mixer with level and pan control
- Realtime Fx (distortion, multiFX, powerchord)
- Chords progression customizable (select 2X4 chords from 160)
- Guitar open tuning
- Save your styles (Chords progression, FX, Drum, keyboard style…)
- Audio Background
- Export: .wav or .aac
- Sharing: iTunes sharing folder, Facebook and Email.
Modular Trigger Bounce
Here’s a list of the equipment used in this set:
4ms RCD
Analoge Systems RS 110 RS 360
Doepfer A 134 A 114 A 149 and more
Maestro Ringmodulator
Make Noise Brains Maths Moddemix PP Optomix QMMG René Wogglebug
Malekko AO Uncle Noisering
Moog Freqbox Ringmodulator MP201 CF 251
Toppobrillo TWF Sportmodulator Quantimator
Master Clock Logic via Kenton Pro 2000
6 x Trigger to Maths – QMMG and A 143-1- Optomix
Image Line Groove Machine Available Now
More info – http://www.image-line.com/documents/groovemachine.html
Groove Machine is a virtual groove box designed with live performance or composition in mind, or use it as a synthesizer/drum-machine combination.
Groove Machine is virtual ‘Groove Box’ within your sequencer, perfect for live performance or use it as a hybrid synthesizer, drum sampler or to create loops.
Get the groove happening
Groove Machine’s power lies in its ability to automate every parameter of the sampler, synth and effects channels on a PER-step basis.
Get a groove happening quickly and trigger samples, loops and bars/patterns on the fly from your MIDI controller or DAW software.
Focused to live performance.
Image Line recommend a MIDI controller if you want to control Groove Machine live. However, it’s still possible to use Groove Machine with a computer mouse and keyboard, just less efficient.
Groove Machine features:
- 5 hybrid (Subtractive/FM) synthesizer channels
- 8 flexible sampler channels, each with 4 sample layers
- 10 DJ-style effects + EQ and Stutter PER channel.
- Stepsequencer with per-step automation allowing PER step note sculpting of all interface parameters.
- Step / Drum sequencer / Piano roll views
- Optimized for live performance
- Internal link system for maximum compatibility with all MIDI controllers
- Multiple independent outputs for the 5 synth & 8 sampler channels
- Ideal for dub-step, trance, house & hip-hop producers
- Available in VSTi, AU & Standalone
You can check out the manual and Groove Machine YouTube video play-list to get up to speed on what Groove Machine can do for you.
Download and try the Groove Machine (Windows or Mac) demo here
Kinetic – Played live Korg EMX, IPad Sunrizer, IPad ModAxis, FutureRetro Revolution
Cool video featuring a lot of blinking lights, blips and machines in action, enjoy 
Korg EMX sequencing IPad Sunrizer for Pads, IPad also used to provide spacey effects with ModAxis app. Acid is on the FutureRetro Revolution.
“The Revolution is our latest concept synthesizer with an intuitive interface that we feel most accurately represents the principles of time and music. From ancient sundials to modern day analog clocks, time has been represented as the circle, a cycle which never ends. Time itself is nothing more than our perception of the revolution of planets as they journey through their celestial orbit. It is this motion that we call time that can be measured, divided, and arranged to provide the foundation of music. This circular cyclic theme can furthermore be found throughout music in everything from song structure and repeating rhythms to the fundamentals of sound itself, being the sine wave. With this understanding we must conclude that music is cyclic and should so be represented in its natural form.
And so it is…the Revolution, a true analog monophonic synthesizer with an easy to use step-based digital sequencer, analog and DSP effects processing, and various interfacing for controlling MIDI, CV/Gate, and Din Sync devices.
Continuing in our tradition of building quality products, this unit is housed in a rugged aluminum chassis with aluminum side panels, a high contrast white on gun metal grey finish for superior viewing of controls in dark environments, and bright blue LEDs all around.”
Early Experiments on Custom UltraNova Synth/Effects Patches
My friend Mark Mosher in a nice experiment with the UltraNova:
Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mark-mosher-live-experimental-electronic-music. I’m working on set of performances patches for the UltraNova synthesizer (the blue one on top) that lets me not only use it as a synth but also process all the other instruments in real-time. This is an early expeirment where I’m using Theremin and Blofeld synth as audio sources for UltraNova Synth and FX. Tenori-On is triggering notes on UltraNova. UltraNova is acting as a mixer and the sound card and is actually streaming audio directly to USTREAM via USB.
Avid Console in full action
Amazing test pattern on an Avid recording studio console.
IMSTA FESTA, a celebration of music technology, features exhibits from the major music technology companies on the market today as well as the highly educating Shocklee Innertainment Panel series about music, creativity and business.” – imsta.org
Video by: Oliver Chesler
Generative music performance app now released on Android
Orbits is an application for generative music performance, based around a gravity-based particle simulation. As a sandbox-type toy, there is no goal or ultimate aim.
Instructions:
Place a finger (or multiple fingers) on the screen to create particles. While you hold a finger down, the particle increases in size. Drag while holding down to set a starting direction for the particle (as if pulling back on a slingshot).Release to make the particle take off in the opposite direction. When two particles collide, they play two notes based on the particles’ sizes. The notes are locked to a scale/chord (which changes automatically), and thus are always in tune. Create particles of different sizes to get something interesting. Particles attract each other with a gravity-like force. Try to put particles in orbit around each other to create some interesting movements! Larger particles exert a more powerful force.
Press the Android menu button to open the option menu, where you can turn off the background chord or set the app into “autoplay” mode. When in autoplay, the particles will generate themselves, and you can sit back and watch what happens (you can still interact).
You can find it at the Android Market here.
Experimental sound installation – wine is included :-)
Background information on the sound installation:
Sun Boxes is a solar powered sound installation. It’s comprised of twenty speakers operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. There is a different loop in each box programmed to play a different guitar note continuously. These guitar notes make a Bb chord. Because the loops are a different length, once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time.
Sun Boxes creates space; it’s an environment to enter and exit at will. The footprint this space occupies is similar to that of a city. A metropolis. It’s a burst of technology in the middle of nature. Unlike most cities I’ve been to, it does not just take over the space. Rather Sun Boxes interfaces with the environment and collaborates with nature. It is the perfect combination of technology and and nature that create art, an environment and a metropolis.
For the past two years Documentary Filmmaker Kevin Belli has documented Sun Boxes in several locations through out New England. He has traveled through the snow to a frozen pond in Plymouth, MA. Woken up at 3AM to capture sunrise on Cadillac Mountain, in Acadia National Park,Maine. And several parks and beaches in Massachusetts. The end result will be a short documentary about the Sun Boxes and we’re planning a multi-screen installation that will show the piece in different environments.
We’d like to continue this process on Martha’s Vineyard and showcase the diversity of the island’s landscape. In 10 days Sun Boxes will be on a beach, in a field, near a lighthouse, in two galleries and on a working farm. Martha’s Vineyard offers a tremendous opportunity. All this will of course cost money. With your generous donations I’m confident a $5000 budget will pay for a majority of the expenses. To thank you I’d like to send you something unique from the trip. We will be documenting Sun Boxes on Martha’s Vineyard and want to share it. From $1 to $2500 whatever you can afford I will send you something from this trip. Photographs, recordings, prints, books it will be great.
Manual Sampling with Octatrack
In this film the track recorders, which take care of sampling, are explained.
The Octatrack DPS-1 is an 8 track dynamic performance sampler. The Octatrack is ideal for radical audio processing and performance oriented sampling. Every track features real-time pitch scaling & time stretch and the next generation Elektron step sequencer has been designed with maximum usability and efficiency in mind.
Read more about the Octatrack here:
http://www.elektron.se/products/octatrack
DATAMASKIN
