Mar 6, 2015 0
Reviews: Getting Started with Arduino, Flora, CNC, and More Books
Gadgets and gear for makers
Mar 6, 2015 0
Watch a Dreamy, Groovy Reverie Played Live on Desktop Synths
Jeremy Blake (aka Jeremy Leaird-Koch) is the kind of omni-dimensional talent who that seems tailored for the age of Web media. Yes, he’s an electronic musician, but … have a listen to his SoundCloud, and you’ll find the common thread is craft more than genre. And yes, he’s also a video editor, who’s also making imaginative and dazzling visuals.
Let’s instead just wander into his studio, virtually speaking, and let him play for us on a nice, assembled gathering of custom hardware.
And drifting off on this chillout groove is a nice way to take a pause in your day…
Ableton – Clock and recording | [Sonic Potions] LXR drum machine (clock from Ableton – clock to Zaquencer) | Behringer BCR200 – running Zaquencer | 2x MeeBlip [SE] and Access Virus A (Zaquencer) | [Teenage Engineering] OP-1 (clock from Ableton tape loops and live playing)
It’s all a nice rig, desktop units pouring over with personality. We’ve talked before about how nice the Zaquencer sequencer on the BCR is. The OP-1 pads sound gorgeous. And it’s really nice seeing the LXR drum machine as a centerpiece (instead of something more obvious like an Elektron, perhaps). It’s a remaining open hardware kit design even as others have disappeared, and while it’s not the easiest build, it’s a really cool bit of kit.
One of the bits of hardware is, of course, co-created by CDM. MeeBlip designer/engineer James and I been revisiting our own MeeBlip SE lately; he’s got not one, but two of them here. And there are things we like about it, even if we prefer the sound, controls, and filter on the newer model. I love the way it sounds here, though, which could certainly be applied to the Child of MeeBlip, MeeBlip anode.
More from Jeremy’s music feed:
And I love this “Vanitas” release:
On the visual side, here’s his showreel – see, this kind of Renaissance-do-everything approach is what I love about the California scene at its best (Jeremy is Oakland-based):
[S+V] – sound+vision 2014 Showreel from Jeremy Leaird-Koch on Vimeo.
More:
https://soundvision.bandcamp.com
The post Watch a Dreamy, Groovy Reverie Played Live on Desktop Synths appeared first on Create Digital Music.
Mar 6, 2015 0
Here’s How To Connect the iPad’s Easiest Pattern Maker to Your Mac [Video Tutorial]
Remember the days of clicking laboriously to add notes to a piano roll editor? Well, that’s a bit silly nowadays if there’s a touchscreen sitting next to your desk. You probably want to make use of it – and maybe without stumbling around helper apps and wifi configuration.
We’ve already seen how Auxy, the iPad pattern editor, reduced a widely-known music process to its simplest elements. The recent addition of MIDI opens it up to external hardware.
But it also makes a nice example of what the new utility midimux can do: connecting this app to the wealth of sounds and production tools on your computer can make for a useful pair.
The first ingredient is midimux, which alongside the forthcoming audio companion audiomux, can link up apps and hardware on your iPad or iPhone to apps and hardware on your Mac, all the sync cable you already own:
Now, Across iOS and Mac, Everything is Musically Connected [Video]
Fab from ANR (audio news room) has already illustrated a specific example. He takes Auxy, the pattern editor, and then augments its sonic capabilities by adding in Apple’s own Logic Pro. And he’s made some nice video tutorials that make it all clearer. First, on the iPad:
Next, on the Mac side of things:
More sound samples:
One big caveat. I don’t mind paying for MIDI in Auxy – I bought that the day it came out. But there’s no sync support yet; I hope the In App Purchases support development of that. (You do want to implement it right, and it isn’t easy on iOS – trust me, have this conversation with developers all the time.)
Then again, this is just one example. Apple already makes controller tools for Logic in its own iOS Logic Remote app, but when you think of cool instruments like Sculpture, I can imagine a lot of other interesting sources to use. And we’re looking forward to the ModStep sequencer – which does, by the way, support sync. (You’ll see what I did there: subtle hints to the developers of ModStep. We’re really looking forward. Just … hugely excited. On our seat with anticipation. La, la, just can’t wait. Finish and submit that thing, darnit.)
Thanks to ANR for this one – good enough that it was, ahem, worth ripping off directly!
How-To: Auxy Meets Logic Via midimux – Video Tutorial
And more great reading there; just added this one to my feed in Reeder!
The post Here’s How To Connect the iPad’s Easiest Pattern Maker to Your Mac [Video Tutorial] appeared first on Create Digital Music.
Mar 6, 2015 0
Interview: Egypt’s Maker Movement Gears Up for Cairo Faire
Note: The following is an interview between Bilal Ghalib and Omar El-Safty conducted at the Fab Lab Egypt in Cairo about the very first Maker Faire in Egypt. The event is happening this weekend, March 7, 2015. Go to the Cairo Mini Maker Faire website for more information. […]
Mar 6, 2015 0
Etched Brass Hellraiser Puzzle Box Prop Is Easy and Beautiful
There are arguably no more iconic characters in the Horror genre than the Cenobites from the Hellraiser movie series. The evil entities are summoned to this world through a ‘schism’ opened up after solving a puzzle box. The unlucky puzzle solvers then undergo body mutilations that are designed to […]
Mar 5, 2015 0
Reviews: MicroView, Navio Autopilot Shield and More Boards
MicroView $40 : sparkfun.com It can be tough to know what your Arduino is thinking sometimes. That’s why the folks at Geek Ammo created MicroView, a chip-sized Arduino-compatible module with a built-in 64×48 pixel OLED display on top. It has 12 digital I/O pins, three of which are capable of […]
Mar 5, 2015 0
Extreme Cardboarding: The Superman Snow Shovel
Oh, the joys of winter! Regardless if you live in North America, Europe, East Asia or even The Middle East, this winter has been extreme and annoying! Use whatever hyperbole you want to describe the unforgiving weather: “snowpocalypse,” “snowmageddon,” “snowtastrophe,” “blizzaster” or my favorite “Keyser Snowz.” I think we can […]
Mar 5, 2015 0
Meet The Winners of the Last Pitch Your Prototype Challenge
With the current Pitch Your Prototype challenge submission period now open, let’s take a look at a winning team from a previous round. Design that Matters is a nonprofit founded by a team of MIT students to create tools to help meet basic needs in the developing world. In 2013, they’d developed a barebones phototherapy system […]
Mar 5, 2015 0
Nonstop TechShop: Soon Members Will Have 24/7 Access
TechShop has recently announced two advancements in their growth as a global maker space. They’re opening their doors 24-hours a day, 7-days a week as well as going international with a flagship shop in France! TechShop started in 2006 as a place for makers, tinkerers, artists and beyond to […]
Mar 5, 2015 0
Doctor Who Themed Projector Puts Daleks On Your Walls
Doctor Who undoubtedly has one of the biggest fan bases of the sci-fi genre and like all fans, you can never have enough swag from the series. Shirts, action figures and shot glasses are widely available but it’s the swag fans make that’s truly one of a kind, in […]
