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Mixing console pioneer Rupert Neve dies at 94
Rupert Neve, whose mixing consoles helped bring classic rock to life, has died at the age of 94.
NASA will pay private companies to collect Moon dirt samples
NASA is looking to buy Moon dirt from private companies before its 2024 Moon mission.
What we're listening to: Big|Brave and Beloved
In this installment of our audio IRL, managing editor Terrence O'Brien sings... er, types the praises of a band and a genre that isn't for everyone. Senior news editor Billy Steele gets nostalgic for his glory days as one of his favorite bands is back together.
The latest 'Pokémon Go' event is all about rock
With the one year anniversary of Pokémon Go approaching, Niantic and the Pokémon Company have launched (another) in-game event called Adventure Week. From May 18th until May 25th, trainers will encounter an increasing number of Rock-type Pokémon, including Omanyte, Kabuto and their "Evolutions." Players will also be more likely to see rare Rock critters, including Aerodactyl, Onix and Sudowoodo, the companies say.
Watch the rock band Deerhoof experiment with sound at CERN
You knew that CERN was big on experimentation when it built the Large Hadron Collider, but it just took that curiosity in a strange, fascinating new direction. ATLAS physicist James Beacham has kicked off Ex/Noise/CERN, an initiative that has musicians experiment with sound at CERN in tribute to the institute's physics breakthroughs. The first band in the mix is the out-there indie group Deerhoof, and the results are about as odd as you'd expect -- the rockers' fuzz and bass sounds very, very different in an LHC magnet test facility versus a stage. Most of what they play in the clip below wouldn't be considered melodic, to put it mildly, but that's part of the point. This is the sort of listening that usually involves a dark room, some big headphones and an open mind. Here's hoping that the series carries on for a long while, and pushes more than a few creative boundaries. [Image credit: Marine Bass/CERN]
Marshall's 'London' is a smartphone for music lovers
For a long time, Marshall's bread and butter was guitar amps. Then came headphones and Bluetooth speakers (via its partnership with Zound, makers of Urbanears) -- a fairly fitting diversification. Today, the brand is moving on to phones, announcing the "London," an Android (Lollipop) device for music lovers. We bet you weren't expecting that? Us neither, to be honest. But it's happening, and we'd be lying if we said we weren't a little curious.
Rocking All Over The World crowdsources rock history
Rocking All Over the World is a free app for iPhone and iPad that asks you to help crowdsource rock history. Everybody has their own experiences, memories, and pictures from events they've attended. This app asks everyone to share those things to create a map showing where so many great things happened. Rocking All Over the World requires iOS 5.1 and up. The app presents you an interactive map upon which are pins where events have occurred in the past. For example, when I checked Boston I discovered that there had been a Led Zeppelin riot there. I then tapped on it to read what happened (I leave this as an exercise for the reader). The map behaves exactly as you'd expect so you can move around the world and see what is out there. You can also search, but only by items already in the database. You can't use the search to find a specific place (for example, Hurd and West Shore Rd in Bethel, NY) so if you want to place a pin at a specific location, it may take a bit of work to get there. Once you have your location, you can drop a pin there, tap on the text that appears above it, and begin entering your information. The process is quite simple though it does require a connection to your Facebook account in order to upload images or submit entries. When I tried to submit an entry for Woodstock, I told it that it could not post to Facebook for me and then my submission went into an endless spinner. Whether my denying posting privileges is the cause I do not know. Alas, Woodstock is still not in the database. And probably rightly so. The intent of this app is for people to share their own experiences. I was an one year old when Woodstock happened, so I'm not the best person to create that entry. I like the concept of the app and may pull it out from time to time as I travel just to see what I might be near. I wonder how many people have enough events to share to make this an app they use a lot versus one they look at once in a blue moon when they remember it exists or stumble upon it in whatever folder it is in. But I hope it does get used. I think it would be a lot of fun to open up Rocking All Over the World and see the shared experiences of lots of people.
Listen to Soundgarden in DTS 11.1 sound on your headphones
A while back I talked about the new SRS system for improving audio on Macs and iOS devices. DTS has now jumped into the sound improvement fray with the first Rock album released in DTS Headphone: X format, which claims to recreate an 11.1 channel system on standard headphones and speakers. The music is the 20th anniversary release of Soundgarden's Superunknown album from 1994. You can listen to album samples by downloading the free app at the iTunes store. The idea behind the DTS Headphone: X format is to let you listen as a producer would. "Bands have been releasing albums in surround sound for years now, but no technology has been able to provide fans with a true feeling of what it was like to be in the studio with the band. That's why I find DTS' Headphone:X technology so fascinating. The experience Soundgarden's fans will hear over headphones is identical to how I heard the mix in the studio when producing the surround sound version," commented Grammy® Award-winning producer and engineer, Adam Kasper. DTS Headphone:X enables content producers to capture the acoustics of a high-quality audio production studio on consumer-end products. The technology externalizes and expands sound. That means listeners perceive the sound as coming from high quality loudspeakers located some distance around them. With benefits for both producers and consumers, the DTS Headphone:X technology presents a whole new way to enjoy entertainment content over headphones. Soundgarden is also releasing the album as a 2 CD set, including the remastered tracks from 1994, and a disc of demos, rehearsals, B-sides and more. There is also a Super Deluxe 5 CD set with additional mixes and a Blu-ray audio multichannel mix. I gave the new mix a listen via the app that is available today. I used the Beyerdynamic headphones I just completed a review of, and the sound really was terrific. The app lets you select the way you are listening; ear buds, over ear, on ear headphones, or speakers. You can hear the spatial cues move with each setting. I didn't have the plain old 2 channel mix to compare, but the sounds of the DTS 11.1 channel mix did seem to be quite different than standard headphone listening. Rather than hear the music "in my head," there were instruments in front of me, and arrayed to the sides and behind me. I also felt some instruments originated above me. I thought the DTS 11.1 mix did a good job of sounding likes I was listening to speakers with the instruments in real space. I'd love to hear more music released this way, as hard rock is not always the best way to judge sound quality. I'd prefer to hear some acoustic instruments to really judge the effect. The free app provides some demo tracks, and you can get the full Soundgarden tracks with a code that ships with the Super Deluxe 5 CD set CD. The downside is the only way to get all the tracks is to buy that CD for US$99.00. That's a pretty steep toll, and I think people who like the group should be able to just buy the digital edition through the app. The Soundgarden app album samples and the ability to get all the tracks requires iOS 7 or later. It is optimized for the iPhone 5. The app is not universal. I liked the DTS 11.1 sound very much. I'd be happy to hear a wider variety of music. If you'd like to try the DTS sound, head over to the Soundgarden website and have your headphones ready to go. The DTS sound is terrific, but having the whole album in DTS 11.1 channel sound requires the hundred dollar deluxe CD set purchase, and if this terrific technology is going to take off it's got to be less pricey and with fewer strings attached.
Mozilla kicks off Firefox OS tablet developer program, teases new ZTE phones
As it turns out, Mozilla's Panasonic smart TV deal is just the start of its Firefox OS plans for this year. The web pioneer has just unveiled a tablet developer program that will give dedicated contributors both reference hardware (initially from Foxconn) and other resources; they'll help create the tablet-native Firefox OS in the same communal fashion that Mozilla builds its desktop browser. The firm tells us that it wants to start the program shortly after CES, with a goal of finishing its slate interface sometime this year. The company is also providing the first details of ZTE's second-generation FFOS smartphones. The Open family is expanding to include two upgraded models, the Open C and the dual-core Open II; there isn't much more to say at this point, although we should learn more in the near future. If you're looking for something more tangible, you'll be happy to hear that VIA Technologies has released a version of its tiny APC Rock desktop PC with Mozilla's OS pre-installed. The bare system is available by itself for $59, while those who want it in a recycled case (Paper) will pay $99.
Jukebox Heroes: The Secret World's radio songs
With its contemporary setting, The Secret World has the opportunity to include not only an original score but regular songs as well. Funcom's handled this by broadcasting rock, techno, and other genre tunes over the many in-game radios, much as how Grand Theft Auto fans can tune into different stations to hear a wide variety of tracks. Not so long ago, the studio even held a contest for fans and artists to submit additional tunes to be included in the game, ending up with 11 new tracks that you might hear while clothes shopping, hanging out at a club, or perusing records at a store. Some are pretty darn good, too. So let's dispense with the traditional format of this column today and take a listen to what Radio TSW has to offer us. Alas, there will be no "Thriller." We checked.
MMO Blender: Eliot's rock odyssey
I'm upset with bards in MMOs. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that they exist. But every single game that features bards uses them wrong. The bard is always a back-line character, someone who sits in the back and heals people through gently strumming on a lute. And that depresses me, because I want to see some bards that actually rock. I want to see some music used offensively. I want to have the option of making my bard kill things through careful use of sweet riffs. You can say it sounds ridiculous, but tell me that it's somehow more ridiculous than having a bard heal you via magical singing and I will call you a liar. So let's go for it. Let's dedicate an entire MMO to bards who aren't about muzak and nurturing new age songs, but bards that are going to defeat things through the unmitigated power of rock. My only regret is that this is a week too late for Rocktober.
Vox jams guitar amps into Audio-Technica headphones, dubs them Amphones (ears-on)
Guitarists and Bassists have many tools at their disposal for practicing fresh news licks without disturbing others around them. One of our favorites is Vox's AmPlug -- a guitar amp-modeling dongle that plugs into your instrument's 1/4-inch jack, allowing you to connect headphones and an MP3 player to practice privately. Building on the idea, Vox worked with Audio-Technica to simply embed the AmPlug in a new line of headphones, dubbing them Amphones. The company quietly put the cans up on its site recently, and it's now officially ready to shout out loud about them. Guitarists can choose from AC-30 (British crunch), Lead (hi-gain) and Twin (clean) variants, and bassists can snag the Bass version, which is based on Vox's AC100. Just like the AmPlug, each Amphone features volume dials -- sadly, these don't go to 11 -- for setting gain, volume and tone, along with a fourth for a built-in effect (compression for the Bass and reverb with the AC30, for example). A duo of triple AAs power the cans and, as you'd expect, the 'phones have a 3.5mm jack for hooking in external sources as well as a 1/4 adapter to plug into your axe. These Vox-styled units will be available in the US sometime in October for $100 a pop (double the cost of an AmPlug). Hungering for more already? We were able to give a pre-production version of the AC30 model a brief run, and you'll find our initial impressions after the break.
Rock Band games to be removed from iOS App Store this month
Despite the fad of plastic instruments coming to a quiet end a few years ago, Rock Band is still a fairly popular brand, popular at parties and on the upcoming downloadable console version called Rock Band Blitz. But at least one part of Rock Band's legacy is going away for good: EA has announced that the iOS versions of the game will be off of the App Store as of July 31. Harmonix was the original creator of Rock Band, EA licensed the game and the name to put versions on the App Store (made by third-party developers), and as a result of that license expiring, Rock Band for iPhone and iPad are going bye-bye. All this means is that if you currently own one of these versions, you'll need to get it on your iPhone or Mac and back it up, because after July 31, you won't be able to reinstall it. If you haven't bought it yet, and want to, now's probably the time to do that. After the 31st, you won't be able to buy the app or any more new songs for it. Or maybe not -- Harmonix is currently at work on that Rock Band Blitz game, so there's a chance that, license back in hand, the company could release their own Rock Band game for iOS. Harmonix has released one app before (a non-game app called Vidrhythm), and while the company hasn't shown a lot of interest in Apple's platform beyond that, there's a chance the developer could take to the store itself if they thought the move would be profitable. [via Joystiq]
New MechWarrior Online trailer has no music, just giant robots
When your game involves giant robots with massive rockets, lasers and high-tech HUDs, you don't need epic rock music drowning out the sound of metallic hellfire and thundering footsteps, as MechWarrior Online demonstrates with the above teaser trailer.You also don't need dubstep, but that's only because no one ever needs dubstep. That's right, not even you.%Gallery-155258%
Space radar captures echoes of Perseid meteor shower (video)
We all know lasers make a "pew pew" sound, but shouldn't there be a sound effect button for high-speed burning meteors? Well, the US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in Texas just recorded its own, capturing echoes of the Perseid meteor shower last Friday night. Every year, the Earth orbits directly into a cloud of debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet, which burn up as they fly through the atmosphere at a staggering 133,200 mph. Similar to the sound of a lightsaber slicing through the air, they make some pretty sweet sound effects -- perfect for your next auto-tune experiment. Check out the audio with some ISS pics thrown in for good measure after the break.
M-Disc holds your data 'forever,' we go hands-on for a few minutes (video)
It was two years ago when we last wrote about Millenniata and its Millenial Disc for ultra long-term data storage of somewhere between "1,000 years" and "forever." If you'll recall, it works using a "synthetic, rock-like" layer that your data is "etched" into, rather than burned onto like other writeable discs so files don't corrupt over time. Since then, the disc's been given DoD certification for data retention in extreme conditions and redubbed M-Disc, while Hitachi-LG has signed on to produce drives. We recently got the chance to check out a few of these discs and see whether this tech will fly like a Frisbee or sink like a stone. %Gallery-130389%
Think Geek's Electric Guitar Bag holds your laptop, lets you 'rock' the commute
ThinkGeek's really letting the jams out this time. The company is no stranger to shirts emblazoned with playable instruments -- but a messenger bag? Its new Electric Rock Guitar Bag features 14 buttons for a fretboard so you can strum any songs in a Major key, and a detachable amp that cranks all the way up to an obligatory 11. You'll also have room for a 17-inch laptop, while its eight pockets can hold your Green Day and Blink-182 chord-charts. Come August 28th, 50 bucks is all it'll cost ya to rock while you're rolling during the commute, but in the meantime, we know the perfect synth player for when you wanna get that office band started.
Griffin's StompBox available to order, virtual guitar shredding now a go
Remember that Griffin-made StompBox we showed you back in January? Well, it's finally hit the market, so you can free up those virtuoso hands and get to pedal-pounding wicked sound effects. The four button foot controller works with Frontier Design's iShred LIVE app for iOS, connecting your instrument via an included GuitarConnect cable to a 1/4-inch jack. The device is "designed to work with... a guitar, bass guitar, electric violin and keyboard," so your virtual jam band session is all but guaranteed. This musical f/x dongle is available to order now for $99.99 online, or you can just head to one of Apple's boutiques to snag it. Sadly, the effects switcher doesn't come bundled with a copycat of Slash's hat, but that shouldn't stop your credit card from indulging in this latest bout of Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
BOSS's Micro BR-80 digital multitrack and field recorder fits the band and studio in your hand
Who needs a recording studio -- or even a full band -- for that next demo? Grab your guitar, BOSS' latest portable Micro BR digital recorder and a fistful of ego for a do-it-yourself session that only a mother could love. The BR-80 lets you record two tracks at once and offers eight tracks of playback along with 64 virtual tracks to mix and master any epics you're dreaming up. For hookup, it's packing aux and 1/4-inch inputs, a headphone out, and even a USB port to interface with a computer. You can also record using its onboard stereo field mics if you lose your cables at a gig. Inside, it's packing four and six-string COSM effects, DNA from its VE-20 to spice up your vocals, and eBand options. There's support for WAV and MP3 formats, but better yet, SD cards up to 32GB giving you a whopping 550 hours of recording time to lay those burnin' licks down. It's currently available and shipping for about 300 bones -- eRoadies not included. Full PR after the break.
Marshall updates Major headphone with in-line mic for more talkin' between rockin'
Marshall struck solid gold when it lent spare amp parts to Zound Industries (Urbanears) for the Major and Minor headphones, and is now releasing a remixed version of the original smash hit. The updated headset is by all means a Major headphone, but it now features an in-line remote with a mic that's sure to please on-the-move fans of the supra-aural fit. At $119, the new cans will set you back about 20 bones more than the original, although you can't put a price on the amount of rockstar-cred you'll gain. The Major is available now from Marshall Headphones' web store and at your local brick and mortar if you're GASing for some new JCM-esque headgear. %Gallery-126735%
