You may not be familiar with the company Tronical but you will know their work because they are responsible for Gibson’s Robot Guitar tuning systems. Well judging by this video it appears that Tronical are about to launch some standalone systems that can be retrofit to pretty much any guitar be it a Les Paul [...]
Category: Recording
DigiTech iPB-10 iPad Pedalboard
Here’s an overview and demo of the new iPB-10 Programmable Pedalboard – the first iPad pedal board.
Features:
- Users can drag and drop up to 10 different pedals, in any order, to each pedalboard, and can add an amp and cabinet to complete each setup.
- It offers 87 different pedals, 54 amps, and 26 cabinets to choose from.
- The iPB-10 uses multiple Audio DNA2 processors to provide no-latency signal processing with 24-bit A/D/A converters.
- The iPB-10 will work without an iPad plugged in to it. The 2 digit LED display on the unit that indicates the current preset bank, though there is also a master volume knob on the back panel of the unit. (At this time users will not be able to edit, adjust, or save presets without an iPad.)
- For those worrying about your iPad being damaged on the floor – You can connect the iPad to the DigiTech iPB-10 via an extension cable and mount the iPad on a mic stand.
The DigiTech iPB-10 is compatible with all models of iPad 2 & iPad. It’s available now for about $500.
Your one-stop website for downloading individual mp3s
I’ve had mp3skull bookmarked forever now, but more and more lately I find myself using it to find download links for singles (rather than full albums). Full albums just aren’t worth it anymore especially when I only seem to like one or two songs off of a 15-track disc.
So that’s where mp3skull comes in. Use it to enlarge your DJ tracklist, or just use it to skirt paying $1.99 for higher bitrate mp3s. It’s just a nice site I’d like to share and add to my collection here on the site.
(Via Doobybrain.com.)
Portastudio on iPad, with Faux Cassette, and Everything Old is New Again
If it’s an iconic piece of hardware or software, there’s at least a decent chance you could be seeing it in virtual iPad form soon.
Tascam’s Portastudio, released today, is a particularly striking example. The famed, budget cassette multitrack recorder, the box on which countless demos and quick songwriter creations was forged, appears on Apple’s tablet. There’s even a fake cassette tape, which I have to say is a little bit unnerving.
This is all nostalgia, right? Well, no, actually: those big, simplified plastic controls and memorable layout work because they’re so easy to use. The problem with a lot of software design of the past couple of decades is that it’s somewhat inhumane. Given endless space and often-increasing, ever-cheaper system resources, music software has been, charitably, less-than-friendly. Resembling a 70s jumbo jet cockpit, UI controls multiply and shrink to the point that they challenge all but an 18-year-old pair of eyes. Add in clunky default OS widgets, collapsible tabs and dockable windows that add still more complexity, and you wind up with a trainwreck. What these hardware emulations prove is that you could learn something from hardware – even when the need for blank space, big knobs and faders and buttons, limited controls, and standard hardware inputs and readouts is gone.
So, back to the original product, what does $10 get your iPad? If you know how a Portastudio works, you probably already know most of the answer, but here’s a quick rundown:
- Cassette tape-style transport. (Linear transport, I might add. Seriously. You have to rewind and fast forward to get around.)
- Routing to four inputs.
- Mixdown to stereo (via a dialog box, so that’s the point where you break the illusion).
- Simple EQ.
- File sharing, via iTunes or Soundcloud. (This last item is what makes this a useful tool and not just a novelty.)
- Support for ‘a few’ class-compliant audio interfaces, though your mileage may vary.
The development work was done by a well-loved developer, Chris Randall / Audio Damage. (Chris I think does learn hardware’s design lessons in his UIs.) See his blog post:
Hey, Look What I Made…
The bad news: no bounce, which seems a major oversight. Ironically, Tascam also has to admit that they don’t have any class-compliant audio interfaces. (Doh!) In case you’re wondering, they also say flat out in the FAQ, don’t expect versions for other operating systems soon — too bad, as this would seem fairly ideal in a reduced form on iPhone and iPod touch.
But the radical simplicity of this app could be its appeal. I may actually fire this up to use as a recording sketchpad, especially with hardware synths, Game Boys, and so on.
http://tascam.com/product/portastudio/
And forget the app itself: this ought to be a perfect time to look back and remember what made the original PortaStudio great – and wonder why so often those same design principles are lost.
One of the famed Tascam models, the sort that may well bring up fond memories of mobile recording. (Not quite the right model, but you get the idea.) Photo (CC-BY-SA) Lucius Kwok (the developer), via Wikimedia Commons
(Via Create Digital Music.)
3 ways to improve your guitar sounds in Logic’s Amp Designer
There are a lot of guitar simulation plug-ins available for digital musicians these days. Included with Logic 9 is Amp Designer and Pedal Board – a welcome departure from the older Guitar Amp Pro plug-in. They stack up very well against the competition and are versatile in tone, emulation and layout. In my opinion, the clean amps achieve impressive results when compared to their hardware cousins.
Beyond the presets, there’s a lot more you can do with Amp Designer that is apparent. Toby Pitman goes much deeper in his excellent tutorial, ‘Logic 402 – Logic’s Guitar Recording Toolbox’. Packed with tips and tricks and practical step-by-step approaches to using both Amp Designer and Pedal Board.
In this Quick Tip I’m going to highlight 3 useful tips for guitar tone sculpting glory built-in to Amp Designer.
01 – Move the Mic
When recording a traditional guitar amp there are a two important considerations: what type of mic to use and where to position the mic. The resulting tone can be vastly different if the mic is placed dead-center or to the side of the speaker cone.
In Amp Designer you can choose between using a Condenser, Ribbon or Dynamic microphone emulation from the Mic pop-up menu.
Hover your mouse over the cabinet on the right of the interface (above the Mic pop-up menu) and the Speaker Adjustment graphic is displayed. Drag the white dot to adjust the placement of the mic. Generally, for Rock and brighter guitar tones place it to the side as shown below.
02 – More Equalizers
There are plenty of Amp types and presets. If you still can’t create quite the guitar sound you’re looking for you can mix and match the Model, Amp and Cabinet to build your own custom amp! This incredible… but one lesser known tip is you can choose different EQ types per amp.
Mouse over the word ‘EQ’ and click to display the EQ pop-up menu. From here you can choose between Bright British, Vintage, U.S. Classic, Modern and Boutique.
I find myself tending towards the Vintage and U.S. Classic more often than not.
03 – More Reverb
Rather than insert an instance of Space Designer (or other reverb plug-in) on your guitar channel strip to add space to your sound, you can set the reverb levels directly on the Amp Designer interface. Like the EQ, Amp Designer comes with more than one Reverb type.
Click on the Reverb label (top, middle of the amp) to display this Reverb type pop-up menu.
You can choose between Vintage Spring, Simple Spring, Mellow Spring, Bright Spring, Dark Spring, Resonant Spring, Boutique Spring, Sweet Reverb, Rich Reverb and Warm Reverb.
It’s well worth checking these types out on your guitar sounds. The change to your sound can be dramatic and save you from using a separate reverb plug-in!
Check out Toby Pitman’s Logic 402 – Logic’s Guitar Recording Toolbox to learn much, much more about how to get the best out of Amp Designer, Pedal Board and Logic’s other built-in tools for guitarists.
Love The Way You Lie
Gianni Luminati does a rendition of “Love The Way You Lie” with loop pedals, a kids xylophone, a drum set, and a ukulele.
Even if you’re sick of this song you should really watch this
Adobe Audition Comes to the Mac
Adobe has announced that the public beta of Adobe Audition, its professional audio editing suite, is now available for Mac OS X. Adobe Audition has been available for Windows since 2003 (when Adobe acquired the Windows program, Cool Edit Pro) but this beta marks its first appearance on the Mac.
Audition is a digital audio workstation, similar to Pro Tools or Logic Pro. Adobe Audition for Mac boasts a fast new audio playback engine, native multi-channel support for 5.1 surround sound, noise reduction capabilities and audio effects like de-hummers and volume leveling.
In a company announcement, Jim Guerard, vice president and general manager for Dynamic Media at Adobe, said Audition for Mac is part of an ongoing mission to provide ‘industry leading, cross-platform content creation tools for creative professionals.’
Mac users can download the beta version of Adobe Audition at labs.adobe.com/technologies/audition. The program requires an Intel Mac running Mac OS X 10.5.7 or Mac OS X 10.6. There is no serial number or activation for this download, but it will expire when the beta period ends.
Adobe also offers Adobe Soundbooth, its audio package for users that are not audio professionals. In other words, it’s more of a consumer-grade tool. On its FAQ page, Adobe says that one priority of bringing Audition to the Mac is to improve workflows by providing solid integration with Adobe Premiere Pro.
Adobe has put a lot of work into making Premiere Pro more competitive with Apple’s Final Cut Studio — especially in CS5. In my own experience (which isn’t in a professional capacity, but does include multi-track, multi-source editing), I’ve found Premiere Pro CS5 for Mac to be better and more efficient than Final Cut Studio in many arenas. However, while Final Cut Studio can easily integrate with Logic Pro and Avid’s Media Composer can integrate with Pro Tools, Premiere Pro for Mac lacks its own professional audio component. With Audition for Mac, that gap is now filled.
It’s exciting to see Adobe bring its professional audio toolset to Mac OS X. We look forward to bugging our audio professional friends to see how it stacks up against the competition, especially in Adobe-laden workflows.
(Via Mashable!.)
10 Cool Tips and Tricks for GarageBand 11
The new GarageBand features are impressive. You can fix your guitarist’s inability to keep a beat. You can extend that final note of your song. You can even keep track of your progress as you learn the guitar or keyboards.
But before you get the guitar, keyboards or mics out, it’s actually helpful if you know how to use some of the big ticket items without fumbling around for hours. We even highlighted a few little known features to help round out your GarageBand knowledge.
How to Set Up Missed Call Notifications in Google Voice
Over the weekend, Google announced a new feature for Google Voice: The ability to receive notifications of missed calls in e-mail form. It’s a welcome feature, but as is often the case with new Google application additions, it’s hidden away in the settings menu, and the blog post about it didn’t clearly explain exactly how it works.
It’s easy to turn on the notifications for calls going to your Google Voice number, but it’s a little more complicated to get the feature working with your ‘real’ mobile number. Here we’ll explain how to set up both.
Enabling Missed Call E-mails
To enable the missed call e-mails for your Google Voice number, log in to Google Voice and locate the ‘Settings’ link in the top right corner of the screen, immediately to the right of your e-mail address and phone number.
Click there and two options will pop up: ‘Voice settings’ and ‘Google Account settings.’ Click on ‘Voice settings’ to proceed.
Once you’re on the Settings page, click on the ‘Calls’ tab. You’ll see the ‘Missed Calls’ section at the very bottom with two options. You can check ‘Place missed calls in the inbox’ to get notifications at the Voice application website only or check ‘Send missed calls to my e-mail’ to have the notifications e-mailed to your attached Google account e-mail address instead. You can also check both boxes if you want to get notifications in both places.
Check the options you want, then click the ‘Save changes’ button at the bottom. Now whenever you miss a call to your Google Voice phone number, you’ll receive a notification that simply says: ‘Missed call from: (xxx) xxx-xxxx at 1:50 p.m.’
Getting Notifications for Missed Calls to Your Real Number
To receive notifications of calls placed to your real number, not just your Google Voice number, you’ll have to enable Google voicemail for your phone. To do this, navigate to the ‘Phones’ tab in Settings and find the link to ‘Activate Google voicemail on this phone.’
A little window will pop up that includes an activation code. Verify that your carrier has been accurately identified at the top, then pick up your phone to dial the activation code exactly as it appears in the window. Hit ‘Call’ or Send’ as Google suggests.
On many smartphones, you’ll receive immediate confirmation that multiple forwarding features have been enabled. If you didn’t receive a confirmation, you might want to have someone dial your real number to test it.
If it worked, the rules you set for e-mail or inbox notifications of missed calls will apply to your actual number, not just your Google Voice number. To disable this link, just repeat the process by clicking on the new option that says ‘Deactivate Google voicemail on this phone.’
(Via Mashable.)
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