Category — Production Tools

I just discovered that there is a new Flickr group dedicated to Audio Art. It’s basically a nice collection of artistic pictures of audio equipment, and there’s actually some pretty good looking pics.

Feel like nerding out?  Check out the Flickr Audio Art Gallery

It’s not quite time yet to throw out your old keyboard, but the AirPiano might make you want to. The Airpiano is a musical interface that allows you to play and control software based instruments by simply moving your hands above it.

Above the AirPiano is a virtual matrix of keys and faders, each assigned with MIDI messages and ready to be triggered. The length of a triggered note is equivalent to the time a hand
is placed on the corresponding virtual key.
This is also confirmed by LED feedback.

Here’s some videos to check out.

The Airpiano is only a prototype at the moment, so there’s no word on whether you could actually wind up with one of these in the future.

via Geeky Gadgets

Check out the new Korg Nanoseries USB powered slim-line controllers, perfect for dj’s on the road using DAW’s or recording software to make remixes. I’m liking the simple look and layout of all the controllers, although they look rather easy to break. The Nano Pad also looks like it might be useful as a sample pad for use during DJ sets.

Expected to release in October 2008.

There was recently an article on Mix Magazine that covered the top recording studios of 2008. Having worked as a sound engineer at a couple studios I definitely found myself drooling over some of the pictures. Although I ultimately decided that being an engineer wasn’t the right job for me (based on the obscene work hours, and my frightening dependence on caffeine), just seeing the array of beautiful studio architecture and enough audio equipment to play with for a lifetime, I couldn’t help but question whether I made the right choice to quit.

Here are a few pictures to wet your appetite, to see the full article click here.

These high-end turntables just keep coming out of nowhere…this time its the Acutus Reference Turntable. While this one certainly has a sleeker look than the Disc Master, its no easier on the pockets at $24,000. Even more baffling than the price, is the fact that the tonearm is sold seperately.

Oh and in case you were wondering what the box on the left is..its the power-supply.

So I was in the middle of recording a new demo last night in my apartment, when I was rudely interrupted by a security officer that seemed to pop out of nowhere. Apparently I had been blasting the music too loud, had received numerous complaints, and since I obviously didn’t hear the doorbell, the security guy had invited himself into my apt. to tell me to turn it off. Aside from getting completely freaked out and nearly knocking over one of my speakers when he tapped me on the shoulder, the incident got me thinking that I badly need to do some sound insulation. Instead of dishing out the dough for pro-foam, or looking like an idiot by using egg-crates I decided to do what this Los Angeles-based commercial and movie composer Brad Breeck did…using quilted down blankets from IKEA to cover the walls, and putting rubber underneath my carpets. I know using blankets is nothing new, but these look just like a tiled white wall. So if you’re in a similar situation…there ya go!

Here’s a pic of his studio…

via Unplggd

San Francisco native and hip hop legend DJ Shadow has teamed up with Nokia to launch the “What does your city sound like” experiment; a competition which asks entrants to capture the “sounds that define [their] city; a moving train, a taxi driver” etc. Winners will be picked by Dj Shadow himself, and prizes include limited edition Nokia Recording Kits, and DJ Shadow cellular wallpaper packs. Shadow started it off with his track simply titled “San Francisco”, give it a listen below.

As a side hobby I have dabbled quite a bit in producing remixes as well as original tracks. While it is certainly nothing new for dj’s to begin producing their own music, it has become quite the trend over the last several years. I believe this is mostly on account of the whole process having been made much easier and cheaper with programs like Reason or Logic, which allow virtually anyone with a laptop to make music. To make something that actually sounded good however you still needed a hint of music knowledge. But today is another day, and now with the Kaossilator made by Korg making sweet sweet music has never been easier. All you have to do is pick one of the 100 synth, effect, or drum sounds, and slide your finger over the touch-pad which has a scale function that will give you perfect sounding music “phrases” every time. Check out the video to see what I mean.

I used to work at a recording studio in Boston some years back, and I remember struggling to contain my laughter behind the mixing board as enthusiastic singers would come in acting like the next Whitney, and proceed to lay down the most atrocious, ear-splintering vocals. While most of them were beyond saving, some actually wound up with some decent sounding tracks thanks to the wonders of Auto-Tune, a piece of software (used by many prominent artists) that corrects off-pitch vocal recordings. The software was heavily scrutinized for assisting no-talent artists make good songs, but one could often tell if a singer used it since it would often leave a vocoder style effect on the vocals (ex. listen to any song by T-Pain).

Well fortunately for rock-star wannabe’s around the world, the technology has evolved even further into something truly amazing. Celemonys’ Direct Note Access took the idea behind auto-tune and built upon it to not only allow for non-destructive vocal editing (changing the pitch or timing of a vocal recording without a difference in audio quality), but to extend the function to recordings of instruments as well. So what does that ultimately mean? Watch the video below and be amazed.