musician
Latest
DIY iPad music breakout gives pro-grade stage presence, mixes circuitry with art (video)
If you're thinking this iPad audio breakout dock looks remarkably good considering its DIY origins, then you should know it wasn't put together by any old screwball with a soldering iron. Nope, this was made by Qubais "Reed" Ghazala, a very particular old screwball who's been blurring the lines between circuitry, music and art since the Summer of Love (that's 1967 on a normal calendar). His latest invention is all about getting pro-grade sound connections into and out of an iPad 2 -- much like an Alesis dock or Akai SynthStation, but with that special "I made this" charm and minimal price tag. Key ingredients include a Macally aluminium iPad stand and a 30-pin PodBreakout board. Hit the video after the break to get further instructions and hear Ghazala's "bottomless well of chance music" -- both come at your own risk.
Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle
This is fascinating to me -- musician Matthew Irvine Brown has compiled a set of 18 musical tracks, about an hour of music total, designed to be played in random order on the iPod shuffle. There was a lot of care and thought put into this as he designed the music to be atmospheric pieces. Even when shuffled, they'll work together no matter which order they're played. He also designed the sound of the music to fit with the iPod shuffle, hiding the glitch heard as the iPod switches tracks. As a final bonus, Matthew designed separate cover art for each track, so as a tune plays in iTunes, the cover art shows a very rough "animation." You can see a two-minute sample of the work after the break, and download all of the music for free in a zip file if you want to give it a shot. Brown also says that the work is an example of "skip button as instrument," too. You can hit the skip button whenever you want to jump to the next track and change tempo or tone as you see fit. It's a cool composition meant specifically for Apple's smallest iPod.
Griffin adapter attaches iPad to mic stand, calls it Mic Stand Mount for iPad
A few weeks ago we mentioned IK Multimedia's iKlip -- an adapter that attaches your iPad to almost any mic stand. Around that same time, Griffin announced its own version of a similar apparatus at CES 2011: the aptly if not bluntly named Griffin Mic Stand Mount for iPad. Griffin describes Mic Stand Mount for iPad as follows. Mount your iPad on a mic stand Screws onto industry standard (5/8" 27-thread-per-inch) microphone stands Fully adjustable tilt and swivel; locks safely and positively into landscape or portrait orientation Rubber inserts securely grip your iPad on its four corners Full access to volume controls, dock connector and audio jack From the pictures we've seen, these two mounts look very similar in form and function, but -- unless our eyes deceive us -- we're inclined to say the Griffin mount looks slightly more sturdy than the iKlip (but we can't say for sure until we get to try them out for ourselves in the real world). However, there appears to be one significant difference between the two. The iKlip attaches to the neck of a mic stand -- leaving the actual head of the stand free to hold something else (like a mic). The Griffin Mic Stand Mount for iPad, on the other hand, is secured to the head of a mic stand alone. This basically means, if you're a singer / instrumentalist, you'll need a separate mic stand if you go for the Griffin mount. The Griffin Mic Stand Mount for iPad is priced at US$39.99 and will be available later this month. [Via Pocket-lint]
Chiptunes documentary "Reformat the Planet" now available to watch in its entirety on Hulu
You may or may not know that chiptunes have a very special place in our hearts. Regardless, the documentary about the people behind this intriguing genre, Reformat the Planet is an enthralling watch for music fans and nerds alike -- it's a film we seriously really enjoyed. Well, now you can watch it on the internet -- Hulu, to be specific -- where it belongs. In fact, we're so crazy, we've embedded it after the break. Woohoo!
Count The beats: Training your ear with RelativePitch
Relative pitch, let alone perfect pitch (some people are born with it, everyone else has to learn!) is an invaluable skill required when it comes to playing an instrument and understanding the music you are hearing. Thankfully, Easy Ear Training has developed a nifty little app to help you along with all your pitch training needs. The idea is to learn how to hear the difference between two musical notes in a given key / octave, and be able to identify what that difference is, based on the root note. This is otherwise known as an interval: the space between two notes. For example, a minor 3rd, or a perfect 5th (think the Star Wars theme tune!). For a great description of what an interval is, click here. I also came across this iTunes U video lesson by Shawn "Thunder" Wallace [iTunes Link] describing the difference between perfect pitch, relative pitch and something that Shawn calls true pitch. Very interesting! This may sound rather complicated, but really you don't need to know any of the theory when it comes to using the Relative Pitch app. At its simplest, it will help you to hear with more detail what it is that you're listening too Relative Pitch [iTunes Link] consists of two main modes: training and testing. When you open the app, you kick off with the first lesson (of which there are 14) in the training mode. Once the first lesson is complete, a corresponding test is unlocked to examine what you have learned. On passing that test the next lesson is unlocked, and so forth. Relative Pitch will teach you to distinguish ascending, descending and harmonic intervals across four octaves. With in-app volume control, in-depth customization of the training mode, and even being able to choose the root note of the octave you want to train from, you'll make strides. Whether you are a seasoned musician or a complete beginner, Relative Pitch will have you listening with a sharpened ear and a greater appreciation of the music you love. The Relative Pitch app costs £4.99, but there is a lite free version of the app here [iTunes Link] so you can try it out. Also, keep an eye out for the revamped Easy Ear Training website launching in the coming weeks.
Atlantica Online: Now you can take Pocahontas to The Rock
No, our headline is not a typo. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to have Pocahontas in your adventuring party or what it would be like to turn Alcatraz Prison into a dungeon, wonder no more! Atlantica Online's latest update has added both! Now you too can show the "Colors of the Wind" (aka elemental spells shot at your face) to the backwards prisoners of Alcatraz!Pocahontas and Alcatraz aren't the only significant additions in their latest update either. Atlantica also has two new player classes to try out -- the musician and the maniac. The musician is a guitar wielding spellcaster available to all players, able to hit two enemies in a row with a blast of their music. The second class, the Maniac, is more of a crazed, power saw wielding class that's only available to players who already have on class at level 100 or above. Creating a maniac will set you back down at level 1, but his power saw can attack all enemies in a single row on the battlefield, making this guy pretty powerful.This is just a small taste of the patch notes for this release. For all of the crazy details, head on over to Atlantica's site to check them out.[via IGN]
Professor Noel Gallagher gives lecture on game violence
Rock star and noted media violence expert Noel Gallagher used a recent public appearance to speak out against the influence of violent video games, according to the BBC. While accepting an award at London's Silver Clef Music Awards, Professor Emeritus Gallagher mentioned games as one possible cause for the prevalence of youth-oriented knife violence throughout England."People say it's through violent video games and I guess that's got something to do with it," said Gallagher, whose wide-ranging, cross-cultural sociological studies on the relationship between media exposure and real-world violence have changed the way we all look at this complex problem. "If kids are sitting up all night smoking super skunk [cannabis] and they come so desensitised [sic] to crime because they're playing these video games, it's really, really scary," he added while adjusting the Amalfi Prize hanging around his neck.Gallagher is the best-selling author of Burning the Razor's Edge: How Super-Skunk Smoking and Our Knife-Obsessed Media Landscape are Turning Our Kids to Crime.[Thanks, GunForHire]
Who needs a record label? Submit your own music to the iTMS with Tunecore
Are you a musician with some tracks that deserve their time in the iTMS spotlight? No one's promising you'll make the Top Songs list, but Tunecore can at least help you take a shot.While Apple offers an online application through which you can ask them to 'consider your music for the iTMS,' Tunecore (notice the hip 'beta' marking) can actually submit your music to not only the iTMS, but Rhapsody, MusicNet and Napster too. They offer what I would consider a reasonable one-time fee structure (meaning: the don't take a % of each song/album sale), and they can add your music to a number of international stores (not just the U.S.) with 'more coming soon!' One last feature to note about their service which might be music to indie musicians' ears: you keep all the rights and ownership of your music, i.e. - Tunecore a middle-man who actually remains a middle-man.This sounds like a great service. I hope more musicians can use it to hop on the digital distribution bandwagon.[thanks Andre Dupont!]
