Ableton Live & Novation Launchpad Performance

Ableton Live/Novation Launchpad - Progtronica weekly Dj Performance series Part 2 from Nigel Sifantus on Vimeo.

Beardyman Live in the Underbelly: 1 Hour Set

Nice 1 Hour Beardyman set here on Youtube.

NAMM 2010: AKAI APC20 – The Left Hand of Ableton Live

.:Akai APC20:.

First news from NAMM is trickling in. Akai has announced a new version of their APC line with the APC20. This is essentially half of the previously released APC40 from last year. The new APC20 features everything but some send effects, additional knobs and the crossfader from its older brother.

From the press online it appears that the APC20 is meant to be more of a companion kit then a standalone. You can chain up to six of them together.

Price is $199

Richard Devine Improvs on OpenLabs D-Beat

I have always loved the idea of the Openlabs gear, but the price often times made me cringe. Above is a great video showcasing what their newest box can do with some traditional and no so traditional Windows software.

Machinedrum Monomachine Liveset Practice

Quick Little liveset studio practice on just a Monomachine and Machinedrum

ProtoFields: Composed on a Buchla 200

Simply a tremendous demonstration of what a modular can do in the right hands.

Arduino Didgeridoo

Not really a LivePA video, but this is a fantastic video of a didgeridoo modified with an arduino chipset. Incredible how cool drone sounds can be. 

Yamaha Announces Tenori-On Orange

Been a while since our last post. I can't say that will never happen again, but lets hope I can keep on top of things going forward.

Yamaha has announced a new more affordable version of their Tenori-On performance product. The Tenori-On Orange features the same basic soundset and touch array as the original Tenori-On, but comes in a plastic shell (compared to Magnesium) without an LCD screen. It is expected to start shipping in December for a street price around $1,000.

via Engadget.com

APC Unboxing and First Impressions

Some members over at the LivePA.org boards have gotten their grubby littles hands on the new Akai APC40 for Ableton Live. Here is some great unboxing video and some comments.

Akai APC40 - Opening the box from Tom Cosm on Vimeo.

via LivePA.org


Wesley D. Quotes:

The clip launching is sweet. Very sweet. The lower bank of knobs is rather worthless to me. I'll be keeping the PX-7 as part of the rig for it's 16 awesome feeling knobs that have a beginning and end!!! I was really hoping I could use a single controller. Perhaps with some tweaking.... Here's the problem, the lower knobs want to control single devices. Right now for this to work I would need to instruct the knobs to ignore device 1, and then have discreet knobs routed to just a few places on other devices. On my PX-7 I have a HPF and LPF on each channel. I grab the knob, I change the filter. Here I have to first select the track, then I have to scoot to the next device, then I only control that single device. It sucks, but after less than 5 minutes I already want to edit this thing. I don't want to assume control over individual devices. I want to choose my device routings and have them show up when I select that channel. This sucks kinda bad, it means I'll have to edit before I can mix with EQ or filters. I can only mix with volume out of the box. I suppose I could load an EQ as the first device in each channel, but I don't feel like it. I like the way I've had it set up.

I've also solved my device woes, EFFECTS RACKS FTW!!! Easily dedicate knobs to whatever device you like, and the 8 knobs correspond to the track you have selected. That's powerful as hell, makes it like those DJ mixers where you select a track and then go play with FX, only so much more.

As far as navigation, I think I could get used to this. The 'zoom out' thing when you press shift is pretty sweet. Very intuitive. You can sorta 'see' your set in blocks, then press the block you wanna go to. I very easily routed my 8th lower knob to control 'scroll'. So I can scan around to see, then use 'shift+pad' to jump to the box where I need it. I love how the matrix shows you where the clips are, I think you still need the monitor, but this helps you look at it less frequently. Having 40 pads to launch clips with is just plain sweet. No two ways about that.

There doesn't seem to be a way to control FX on the sends, but I don't care. I'm running the Remote Zero together with the APC40 right now for all my discrete nit picky routings.

The APC40 kicks serious ass at what it does. My first impression was pretty bad, but with a little time (less than an hour) I'm reworking my set to be way more powerful than it was yesterday.

Orbital's New Live Setup

Orbital are back!!! At least for one performance, and pictures of their new live setup are up on the net. Looks like some fantastic analog porn in this shot. Anyone know what modular is in the back? http://www.loopz.co.uk/

via LivePA.org

Teenage Engineering Operator-1 at Musikmesse

The internets have exploded yesterday about Teenage Engineering’s Operator-1 synth. Some deemed it to be an April fools day hoax, others thought it to be amazing. Well we have some brief video from NAMM and it is indeed real. Too bad we didn’t get any sound examples out of it, but we do know that we will probably be seeing a finished version sometime early 2010.

Teenage Engineering: OP-1 Synthesizer & Controller

 

Teenage Engineering Operator 1

I love the resurgence of boutique synths manufacturers that we seem to be having right now. With all the advancements in software there is still interesting hardware coming out. Coming through the pipes today I saw that there is a new company called Teenage Engineering (awesome name btw) that is developing a great looking synth/midi controller call ed the OP-1.

It has your standard midi controller options, but what is interesting is some of the standalone features. It has 8 synthesizer models, 8 samplers and effects built into an extremely tiny package. It also has a full color OLED display with some very unique UI chhoices.

Inputs/Outputs

• 3.5mm input for audio/external microphone
• 3.5mm output for line out /headphones
• 3-pole power-connector for charging the internal battery or for use with power adaptor.
• The power connector itself is the same as used in robotic automation applications
• USB 2.0 port for hooking up your OP to your computer transferring your recorded music
• Two holes special machined for carry strap
• Turn the machine upside-down there are two M6 holes for use with our Studio System parts.

The retro simplistic design ala  the Casio VL-1 looks great as well. Actually it sort of looks like an Ableton Live instrument brought to life.

A release date and price is not yet announce as the machine is still being developed, but Teenage Engineering is expected to produce an initially 100 units for Beta testing. You can sign up for more information at their website to try to get on the Beta list.

Wacom Releases NextBeat NXT-1000 DJ Interface

 

Wacom NextBeat NXT-1000 Press Release (.PDF)

Wacom, makers of the very useful and cool tablets for artists has mysteriously decided to jump into the DJ market. Their newest product is called the NextBeat. It appears to be a self contained unit and not a midi controller. Overall I can’t say I am impressed.

There aren’t any features spilling out yet, but it does appear that the controller section can lift off from the body of the device allowing you to “roam” while you DJ. 

The Press release states that a website for the product should launch tomorrow (March 18th) at http://www.nextbeat.com

via Gizmodo.com

MGMT - Kids: Performed on iPod Touch & iPhone

Not sure what to make of this video. On the one hand it is cool, but on the other hand I think the iPod touch and iPhone have to be able to do better than this. The women need to sing out a little bit.

Radikal Technologies Spectralis 2 Teaser Video #1

Dr. Who Theme on Two Tesla Coils

 

I am a total sucker for Tesla Coil performances and I cannot think of a better song that is worthy of being performed on one. Here we have two Tesla Coils performing the Dr. Who theme in total geeky fashion.

via Wired.com

NAMM 2009 Beat Kangz Beat Thang: Yes, it is real!!!!!

Gearwire.com got a great NAMM show video with the Vice President of Beat Kangz and their new Beat Thang Groovebox. There was a lot of pre-show hype about this thing, but almost no reports from the show floor. Gotta say, I am more excited about this after seeing the video. There is even a nice video of them building a beat with it.

NAMM 2009: SonicState.com – Korg Microkorg XL demo

 

Korg always had a hit with their ubercheap and very accessible Microkorg. They are releaseing a new version though now that incorporates their MMT synthesis technology and updates the look with a retro feel (see what I did there?). SonicState.com got a new close up of the new little synth and I have to admit it sounds fantastic. I personally really dig the aesthetics on this one too so lets hope Korg prices it right because it was the cheap price more than anything that sold the original Microkorg.

NAMM 2009: Sonicstate Gets Teases Peek at Spectralis 2

SonicState.com Spectralis 2 Teaser (Sorry Video not embeddable)

The Drool worthy Spectralis 2 has rumored to be making an appearance at NAMM. Along with the Beat Thang though there was nary an announcement regarding it. SonicState.com however seems to be on the ball as they have announced a full review coming soon. In the mean time they have posted a super short little teaser on their site.

NAMM 2009: Akai EWI USB Wind Controller

http://www.akaipro.com/

This announcement gets a big “YES!!!” in my book. I have always had an infatuation with wind controllers (probably because I am a saxophone and clarinet plaery), but their implementation in hardware has always been spotty because they generally have not been able to work with any synth you plug them into.

Hopefully Akai has been able to get around that limitation with the new EQI USB wind controller. Presumably one would expect this to be able to work within any DAW with any VST instrument, but the details are a little scare at the moment. It does say that there is a platform software for the model but that is it.

Quote: Press Release

EWI USB enables anyone, regardless of wind instrument-playing experience, to perform with the expressive capabilities of the wind instrument of their choice. The wind controller features a plug-and-play USB interface for use with the included Aria software, with Garritan and Akai Professional samples as a sound source. EWI USB is Mac and PC compatible.

Professional players will find EWI USB fully capable of performance for stage and studio with a five-octave range, breath modulation with adjustable threshold, pitch bend, adjustable vibrato, transposition and octave shifting capability, and fingering modes to emulate various electronic and acoustic instruments. Further, the Garritan/Plogue Aria software enables instrumentalists to perform with up to four instruments selected from the full collection of more than 75 orchestral, band and synthesizer sounds.

While EWI USB has full professional capabilities, its attractive price point and easy-to-play design make it a perfect choice for wind students. With a removable, dishwasher-safe, interchangeable mouthpiece[ Ed. Nice touch] that works well regardless of embouchure, EWI USB is excellent for introducing students to the world of wind instruments. Former wind instrumentalists who would like to return to playing will find EWI USB easy to adapt to, eliminating much of the embouchure-building time required with a traditional instrument.

Thanks to multiple fingering modes, EWI USB perfectly emulates saxophone, flute and oboe, as well as traditional EWI and EVI trumpet. The result is completely intuitive performance, even for players who have never picked up an electronic instrument.

"With EWI USB, we are delivering an incredibly expressive instrument to a whole new world of wind players," states Gregg Stein, Director of Marketing, Akai Professional. "Traditionally, electronic wind instruments have fallen into two categories: very expensive professional instruments, and inexpensive instruments of low quality. EWI USB is the first instrument to offer professional quality at such an affordable price."