So, i got me an iPad and...

Well, finally i accepted my fate and bought myself an iPad. 64 Gb that i'm having a hard time to fill with stuff. I should probably have bought a 32 Gb version with 3G instead of only the wi Fi version. I bought mine second hand, apparently from a student who was more interested in the hard, cold cash, instead of Apple's new device.

Is it worth it? Well, you could do more stuff with a nice laptop and Reason. But on the other hand, it's pretty easy to operate and it's pretty portable and battery life is eternal. I used to carry with me a Roland PMA-5 to play with. It now rests in a shelf, disguised as a book. It's a nice machine, though, don't misunderstand me. The difference is that the iPad can be a thousand things instead. It can replace your Tenori On, your Lemur and your Korg Kaoss Pad.

There are some shortcomings, though. If you want to put samples inside, you have to use WiFi. There's no audio input, although the built in mic is pretty good.

Anyways, no more text, here are some videos of the musical apps for the iPad. Currently there are 938 musical applications in the App Store, and i'll just be reviewing the most relevant for me, in a completely random way.

All the audio was recorded separately, i later added the voiceover. Please excuse my wildly varying accent. It changes randomly, according to the last movie i saw.

Here's the Reactable App:



And here are some of my favourite apps.

Making music on your iPad / iPhone / iPod touch.

Let me begin this article by stating two things:

1) First than anything, I am not an Apple fan. In fact, i hate Apple. I think that Apple product owners are basically pretentious cunts who like to own expensive stuff and gloat about it in exclusive New York clubs, like to wear white pants and crocs and are most of the time friends with or fans of Paris Hilton, and possibly they are Paris Hilton themselves.

I am a PC person. A Google person. A DIY person. I hate Apple's policy of giving you a nice computer that is never really yours to hack, use, or slash at your will, unless you do the following:



Ipad smoke. Don't breath that. Seriously.

2) Most of what i'm writing in this article can be found in this article, and it's better written, it's wittier and smarter, and i'm certain that the writer smells better than me. Yes, he probably smells like Pierce Brosnan, or at least what i fantasize about how Pierce Brosnan smells like.

Okay, now, let's get to it.

What do you get when you get an iPad ? Well, not much, if you buy the whole thing you get 64 Gb storage, a built in microphone and a capacitive 9 inches multitouch screen. Plus limited conectivity to every other device at home.

However, the good thing is not in the specs department, but on the software and how it uses the multitouch screen for musical purposes.

We already had some decent music apps on the iphone/ipod platform, and they were good but heavily hindered by the small screen size. Example:



Nice ladies, huh ? But now, look at this beauty:



The problem that i see, is that we still don't have enough ways to get audio inside the iPad. And it's not due to lack of connectivity, it's due to how Apple forces us to handle files inside this specific OS. However, the idea is there.

Now check this other video:



Nice, huh ? The iPad seems like a JazzMutant Lemur killer. Poor Jazzmutant. And it could potentially become a Monome killer. And perhaps a Novation Launchpad killer. Jesus, the iPad could be the Dexter of electronic musical instruments.

When it comes to virtual instruments, the iPad really shines.



You can get the lite version of the Minisynth at the App Store for free. The greatest thing is having the synth and the controller in a single thing, and it being multitouch lets it to be really played. I have a Tablet PC with several VSTs, and it's fun, but in the end it's forcefully monophonic. With the iPad you can actually play a chord and at the same time move the pitch and modulation wheels.

And finally here's the one that irritates me the most:



Not because it's an Electribe in software form - It's because it sounds and looks exactly like my US$350 ESX-1 Electribe. Damn it.

Now, before someone jumps and tells me that i've become an Apphole, let me tell you why you shouldn't go and buy an iPad right now.

1) It's expensive, really. I got a nice HP TC1100 Tablet PC with better specs for US$ 192, used. I don't understand why people get rid of these. If you want an iPad with all the bells and whistles you should expect to pay at this moment nearly US$ 1000. Because there aren't any. Fanbois and early adopters rushed to buy the spawn of Steve Jobs, so that left the average audience (who could give a real use to the stuff) without access to the product. Good luck with finding one and not being ripped off at Ebay.

2) It lacks connectivity. Sure, it has WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G (some models) but those features are severely crippled by Apple, who do not want you to mess with their computer. Besides, it only has a built-in microphone as a device to input audio, and a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack as audio output.

3) It is not a real computer. Okay, okay, don't hit me, but the truth is, and Steve Jobs said so, that it is a device that fills the niche/ecosystem not occupied by smartphones and notebooks. So you can't buy Reason 4 and put it in there. You cannot buy Logic Audio (yet) and put it in there. You cannot expand it. You cannot change the battery. You cannot format it and install Ubuntu. You cannot run this wonderful site (Hobnox Audio Tool) on it because it doesn't support Flash ("and it won't, EVUH !" according to Steve Jobs). You can't download your free VSTi and put them in there because THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY TO DO THAT.

4) It doesn't do multitasking. So you can't play stuff on a virtual synth, and record it at the same time. A pity.

However, why should we be optimistic and not dispair about the iPad ?

Well, for a start, it is a new thing. It opens spaces, and creates new forms of interacting with technology. Okay, okay, that sounds like taken from a leaflet, but it's true. There's a whole new field in music making since Apple got their greedy hands in this area. And we have a beautiful girl to prove our point. Come on, korean girl. Show them:



Secondly, it will become better with time. It doesn't have USB ports, cameras or other stuff, but once the device becomes massive, the only way to sell more iPads would be to add more features. Apple announced OS 4.0 in a couple of months, and it will (allegedly) support multitasking. So the best is yet to come.

Thirdly, the creation of this kind of device forces competition amongst hardware manufacturers. Both Hewlett Packard and Microsoft announced a couple of similar products (the HP Slate and the Microsoft Courier) and then both decided to withdraw these plans and go back to the drawing board after the iPad came out. That doesn't mean defeat, on the contrary, it's just that the iPad stated clearly that Apple could offer a device that 1) began working as soon as you pressed the ON button, and 2) multitouch was not just a gimmick, but an useful feature and a major selling point. Microsoft and HP are forced to come out with BETTER products if they wanted to get their share of the market.

And fourth, but not least importante, there are the jailbreakers. These are people who armed with only their knowledge of C++ and their desire for a free world, not like 1984, are willing to develop a free application that will let you own your iPad. They are our only hope. They and booze. In large amounts.

So, should you run like an idiot to the next Apple store and buy an iPad ? Well, no, not at this moment. I'd suggest you to wait for the next iteration, which will probably be better and won't fry your balls while you surf the internet with it. However, i'd suggest you to keep your eyes open because this one is just a sign of good things to come in the near future. Of course that if you have the money and want to have the latest gadget right now, go buy it. I will wait until the next generation comes out and lamerz all over the world will turn to ebay to sell their ipads for 100 dollars. Then i will buy six of them and build a multitasking, multi-input, multi-output, 384 Gb sized iCube.

Yeah, don't steal that name from me, Apple. I've registered it.

How to have a number 1 - the KLF way

Excellent music blog Loudat has posted the KLF's legendary 'Manual'.

Subtitled 'How to have a number one the easy way' it is an absolute gem. Comic, serious, full of bile and useful advice, here's just a taster of the text:

"Firstly, you must be skint and on the dole. Anybody with a proper job
or tied up with full time education will not have the time to devote
to see it through. Also, being on the dole gives you a clearer
perspective on how much of society is run. If you are already a
musician stop playing your instrument. Even better, sell the junk. It
will become clearer later on but just take our word for it for the
time being. Sitting around tinkering with the Portastudio or musical
gear (either ancient or modern) just complicates and distracts you
from the main objective. Even worse than being a musician is being a
musician in a band. Real bands never get to Number One - unless they
are puppets."

The book also comes with a guarantee that if you follow the advice to the letter and don't have a number one hit, they will refund the cover price. If you follow the instructions and DO have a number one, the KLF will take you for a night out in Madagascar.

Excellent stuff.

Here it is.

And here's a reminder of the wonderfully f*cked-up chart topper that inspired the book:

Vinyl CDs

Textured CDs, printed to look like vinyl and put in 7"-style sleeves. Cool for attention-grabbing promo CDs?
More info here.

Cardboard record player

Brilliant marketing idea. How do you make people take notice of your promo vinyl? How about making the sleeve it comes in a fully functional record player?

Genius.

From here.

Music lectures

Head here for videos and podcasts of lectures from some of the most innovative and creative music makers in the game today.

Everyone from A Guy Called Gerald to Steve Reich talking about their music making career and creative process.

Get the lowdown from legends such as Arthur Baker, Hank Shockley, Tony Allen and Shut Up & Dance.

Interesting stuff!

Music from the future

As Miles Davis wisely said: "My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life."

In the year 2999 we will certainly have flying cars, robot butlers and houses that know when we want the lights switched on and off. I know this because I watched Tomorrow's World when I was a youngling.

But what will the music sound like?

Well, Peppermill Records are giving you the chance to decide in a new competition.

The blurb:

Description:

It's the year 2999, and what you see above is your future. What exactly is going on? Your job is to soundtrack the above painting by celebrated futurist David Schleinkofer and write a short description of your vision.

This open competition is for a spot on a big upcoming Peppermill release, the chosen piece will be featured alongside many of the most talented forward-thinking electronic musicians around. Their works will be interpreted by illustrators while you'll be doing the exact opposite.

What we're putting together is a futuristic dance album, as the title is a play on the phrase "dance like it's 1999". However this doesn't have to sound like anything humans currently groove to, in fact we encourage you to paint way, way outside the lines.

Bass is necessary though. Deep, deep sub bass. This collection is going to feature songs using a very full range of frequencies, and experimentation with the lower end of the spectrum is a must.

When completed it'll be freely downloadable under a Creative Commons license, as all our releases are, which means people are encouraged to share the music but aren't allowed to alter it in any way or use it for commercial purposes without your consent.

Guidelines:

- interpret the painting above
- the result should be ready to be played on dancefloors 989 years from now
- use a rich range of frequencies including sub-bass
- the title should be fairly descriptive, as the painting and the song are to be a combo
- include a paragraph-long summary of your vision


The link: Clickety click

Why not have a go? And if you do, why not send us your efforts too. If we get enough sent to us, we'll do a showcase post at some point in.... THE FUTURE!!!!

Diary of a free album

Over at Fwonk*, everyone understands the beautiful feeling one gets from giving music away for free.

After weeks and months crafting sounds, sculpting waveforms, noodling with synths, slicing samples and polishing the resulting noise into something wonderful, it is with pride and pleasure that we release our musical offspring into the world to be heard and played and enjoyed.

So we've been following bass music's 'Diary of a free album' with interest.

Baoginga and I.D. - whose album 'Big Monster' provided some of the biggest dancefloor smashing moments of 2008 - have just released a free album. Their diary tracks the process, their intentions in making it a free release and their approach to self-promotion.

It makes a very interesting read and is symptomatic of the changing face of the music industry as musicians sieze the publicity tools and wrestle the creative process out of the hands of major labels.

You can hear a minimix of the album here:
I.D. & Baobinga - Bass Music Sessions Album Preview by I.D.

Read the diary here. And download the album here - it's a no-minimum, pay what you want effort, with all proceeds donated to charity.

Viejos Hombres & Per

We've had two new releases on Fwonk* records, an ambient-noise LP from Viejos Hombres de Abejón - a supergroup of three Fwonk* drone meisters, and Ettertid from Fwonk*s resident genius and polymath Per Byhring. Two new releases, and both for free!

Click on the covers below to download...

Viejos Hombres de Abejón - Viejos Hombres de Abejón
Per - Ettertid

Cable Sceptic

Look at James Randi. Take a good look at him. That's a photo of him not believing a word you say. Not a word. Not unless you can prove it.

Mr Randi is sceptical. That's his job. He makes a living debunking phoney psychics (not that there are any real psychics) but also casts his sceptical eye over ridiculous claims made by various companies.

Recently he has turned his attention to cables aimed at the 'audiophile' market. He has noticed that Pear Cables are selling their 'Anjou' speaker cables for $7250 for a 12-foot pair.

The company claims that the cables have a "new and completely unique hybrid geometry for the ANJOU Speaker Cable", resulting in "sonic beauty without compare".

Review of the cables online claim they are better than any other cable they have ever tested.

Randi calls this "nonsense" and has thrown down a million-dollar challenge to anyone who can positively tell the difference between the 'Anjou' and a bog-standard speaker cable in a Pepsi-challenge test.

So far he's had no takers.

Read the full article here.

Code Organ

Code Organ is a clever little webamajig that turns internet pages into sweet sweet music.

The makers say:
THE CODEORGAN ANALYSES THE *BODY* CONTENT OF ANY WEB PAGE AND TRANSLATES THAT CONTENT INTO MUSIC. THE CODEORGAN USES A COMPLEX ALGORITHM TO DEFINE THE KEY, SYNTH STYLE AND DRUM PATTERN MOST APPROPRIATE TO THE PAGE CONTENT.

FIRSTLY, THE CODEORGAN SCANS THE PAGE CONTENTS AND REMOVES ALL
CHARACTERS NOT FOUND IN THE MUSICAL SCALE (A TO G), AND THEN ANALYSES THE REMAINING CHARACTERS TO FIND THE MOST COMMONLY USED 'NOTE'. IF THIS IS AN EVEN NUMBER THE PAGE IS TRANSLATED IN TO THE MAJOR PENTATONIC SCALE OF THAT PARTICULAR NOTE, IT BECOMES MINOR IF THERE IS AN UNEVEN NUMBER.

SECONDLY, THE CODEORGAN DEFINES WHICH SYNTHESIZER TO USE. THIS IS
BASED UPON THE TOTAL NUMBER CHARACTERS USED ON THE WEBPAGE – THERE ARE CURRENTLY 10 SYNTHESIZER EFFECTS AND THE ONE CHOSEN IS PICKED BASED UPON THE PERCENTAGE OF CONTENT.

LASTLY, THE CODEORGAN SELECTS A DRUM LOOP BASED UPON THE RATIO OF CHARACTERS ON THE PAGE VERSUS THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS THAT ARE ACTUALLY MUSICAL NOTES – THERE ARE CURRENTLY 10 DIFFERENT DRUM LOOPS TO PICK FROM.

GO AND MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TOGETHER.

THE CODEORGAN PEOPLE

It's dead clever.

Go and play.

Groovy

Fellow audio-geeks over at Synthgear.com have published these amazing pictures of vinyl record grooves under an electron microscope.

Mmmmmm, vinyl.

Read the full article here.

Oh, and if you've got some 3D glasses handy, check this out:

John Bonham Breaks

Those superb folks over at Salad Records.com have posted some awesome links to John Bonham's drum out-takes from 1979 album "In Through The Door".

Bonzo's drum stylings have been sampled by everyone from Eminem to The Prodigy. Now you can get in on the act too.

Grab the files here.

Don't fear the pirates

http://www.newmusicstrategies.com/2008/04/03/should-i-be-worried-about-piracy/

This is probably one of the most clear-headed articles on piracy, the internet, life, the universe and everything.

And here are three more things to consider:

1) People who share your music are recommending you to people who respect their taste and opinion;

2) The vast majority of people who have unauthorised copies of your music would not have ordinarily paid for it anyway;

3) Do you really want for people who cannot afford your music to be prevented from ever hearing it?

The single most effective way to stop people from copying your music is to stop making music. If that’s not an option (and why would it be?) then accepting that this is the world in which we live is a good start towards successfully negotiating the new media environment.

Free Music Tuesday - Four Tet

You can grab two full length mixes from Four Tet's very own Soundcloud page. Go get them!

Mixtape Wednesday (Yeah, we back)

Well, after an extended festive break, we're back in full effect with a load of excellent mixtapes to kick off the new decade.



First up, a mellow, groove-driven mix from Dunks entitled 'History of Jazz'. Taking in artists like Pepe De Luxe, Napz and Featurecast alongside nods to Aretha Franklin and even the Beatles, this is a simultaneously eclectic and unified mix with a laid back vibe and some smooth mixing.

Check it out:

Dunks' History of Jazz by Dunks

Tracklist:

1. History of Jazz Intro
2. Follow Me - Red Astaire
3. Finally Moving - Pretty Lights
4. Bad Luck Blues - DJ Nu Mark & Pomo
5. Blues Banger - Audited Beats
6. Everybody Pass Me By - Pepe Deluxe
7. One Step (Featurecast Re-Edit) - Aretha Franklin
8. Farm to Follow Feat Kelster - TM Juke
9. Sounds Good - Flevans
10. Ohio City - Jugoe
11. Carlito's Cumbia - Dub Traffik Control
12. Mi Camino - DJ Lengua
13. All The Time - Napz
14. I Feel The Weight - Jon Kennedy
15. Whatever - The Opensouls
16. Skin on the Drum (Bassnectar Remix) - Michael Franti & Spearhead
17. The Sweetest - Nightmares on Wax
18. When You Gotta Go You Gotta Go - Gelka
19. Words from Michael Ruppert
20. Come Together (Los Bandidos Remix) - The Beatles
21. I'm Free - Gramatik
22. History Of Jazz Outro



While we're on a down-tempo tip, here's a heavy, head-trip of a mix from Copenhagen's Den Sorte Skole. Innovative, eclectic and atmospheric, you need this mix in your life.

Weaving tracks together using six turntables, this trio have created a deeply smoked-out mix that still gets serious rotation on the MusicObject iPod, two years after its release.

Grab the download here.

Read the tracklist (laid out so you can even see what is happening on each deck at any time) here.



Next, a huge project from Mustard Pimp - a 24-hour mixtape. This is what the letters W T F were invented for.

More than 800 tracks make up this enormous project, which, like the TV show 24, is split into handy 1-hour chunks.

Hour 1-2 : New Tracks January 2k10
Hour 2-4 : Electro,Fidget Best Of
Hour 5 : Japan
Hour 6-7 : Dubstep
Hour 8-10 : Breakbeat
Hour 11 : Big Beat,Fusion
Hour 12-14 : Drum & Bass
Hour 15-17 : Hip Hop
Hour 18-19 : Techno Classics
Hour 20 : Rock
Hour 21 : Eurodance
Hour 22 : Death,Thrash Metal
Hour 23 : Hardcore UK
Hour 24 : Speedcore,Terror MP

Even if you don't like the music, you have to admire the audacity!

Here's a preview of Hour 1:
Mustard Pimp - Jack Bauer Mixtape - Hour 1 8AM-9AM (January 2K10) by mustard pimp

And you can download all the episodes individually here (Mediafire).

I'm not even going to start typing the tracklist for these, as I value my fingers and still have a little bit of a life. But you can go here to read it.



Finally, just a heads-up that Mixcloud has announced its top 50 Cloudcasts of 2009 and there's some seriously good stuff in there.

Go here for the list and especially keep an ear out for The Sly Players wicked 'Keep Sweet Mixtape', Zinc's excellent 'Crack House Mix' and DJ Spinna's funked-up 'Boogie Bundle'.

Rave Wars

Old skool hardcore and Star Wars, together at last!

Hardcore Han Solo has come up with a novel way of shifting some vinyl. When you buy his new Rave Wars single, you not only get two tracks of hands-in-the-air breakbeat hardcore (replete with Star Wars samples), you also get a vintage Star Wars figure.

Genius.

Learn more and buy.

A butt-load of freebie goodness

Let's kick the new year off in style with a treasure trove of sampling treats!

Real Music Media is giving away all its previously paid-for packages for free.

These include 'Drum Sounds of the 1960s', 'Swing Jazz Drums' and a very meticulously multi-sampled snare.

There are also some classical guitar loops and some Mellotron bits. Well worth having in your musical arsenal.

Grab them here.

More Dave Smith TETR4 demos

Ah, my favourite soon-to-be-mine analogue synth is now in youtube. Besides Dave Smith's own demos and that bald guy over there, there was not too much info on this little beauty. Thanks to Dogboy73 who made the effort to upload these demos.









I need to sell that goddamn sampler quickly.