Enigmafon Records

The most insane synth rack ever

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:02:38 +0000

While of us working in small and modest music studios in our bedrooms and at home, are content to have our rack gear sitting on top of desks, in SKB cases and other boxes, some people with bigger studios have customized cabinets built to house their synth & music gear.
Some people like to take things a bit further.. Like composer, sound designer and fellow Symbolic Sound Kyma user Edmund Eagan, who just happens to have the most insane synth rack ever!: housing a total of 12 Serge Modular modules in custom boxes, in a custom made aluminum stand (designed by Mike Adjellian) that looks more like a futuristic sculpture than a synth rack. This is definitely the coolest synth rack in the planet.
You can see and read more about this rack in Edmund’s website

iPad: The MIDI & OSC controller killer?

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:10:55 +0000

I have read a few articles about how the iPad is going to be the next MIDI controller killer..
It goes like this.. one iPad is going to eventually replace many if not all of the following dedicated MIDI / OSC Controllers:

Novation Launch Pad, Korg Kaossilator Pro, Yamaha Tenori on, Akai MPC-1000, Monome 256, Jazzmutant Lemur, Buchla 222e, etc, etc

Apple fanboys point out that the iPad is cheaper and can do a lot more than a lot of the controllers listed above. The truth is not that simple. Eventually, multi-touch, programmable controllers (like the very expensive Jazzmutant Lemur, which was created way before the iPad ever existed) will replace most hardware controllers, because the GUI can be customized to the user’s needs; something no hardware controller can do. In a way, the success of the monome and its variants (Novation launchpad, etc) is due because they are semi-programmable controllers, with arrays of generic buttons that can be programmed to do all sorts of tasks.

If anyone wants the iPad to be a dominant player in the MIDI / OSC controller market, the following needs to happen:

1-Develop a framework to create programmable OSC / MIDI controller interfaces, something like the software Jazz Mutant developed for its Lemur multitouch controller. Actually, the folks at Jazz Mutant should be seriously considering porting their apps to the iPad, because, let’s face it, if a competing application were to be developed in the iPad, they will never be able to compete, price-wise with the Apple tablet.

Some companies have already started working on this..

The first is Midipad, according to its website the “midipad is an exciting new app for the iPad/iPhone for music creation and live-performance.“… “This multitouch-capable midi-controller-application communicates with your Apple Mac your Windows-based PC and even standalone hardware-synths via Wifi.”

also, there is already a control interface software that runs on the iPhone / iPod Touch called TouchOSC that utilizes Open Sound Control.

You can watch TouchOSC in action, courtesy of well-known reaktor user Theologiae controlling a hybrid Reaktor Carbon / Gaugear ensemble with his iPhone:

If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need to install Flash Player if it's missing. Get Flash Player from Adobe.

Other competing software includes Jasuto, Noise.io, Intua

2-Create a hardware interface to physically connect the iPad to a music host computer. Wi-fi is not fast or reliable enough to carry enough MIDI / OSC / audio data to compete with a few dedicated hardware controller. This is, right now, the main limitation of the iPad.

3- Once the framework and the hardware is in place, the software functionality hardware such as the monome will have to be ported using some kind of emulation, which is not very hard to do.

Eventually, larger-sized multi-touch monitors and laptops will become common place and the multitouch capabilities of future OS releases (already present in Windows 7) and programmable controllers will be everywhere, not just in places like the iPad or the Jazzmutant Lemur.

The future for multi-touch controllers looks very bright indeed.

Kaoss Pad meets the Monome: Kaossonome

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:51:51 +0000

What would happen if someone decided to engineer a lovechild between a Korg Kaoss Pad and the Monome?
You will get a Kaossonome, an open source hardware touch controller based on a modified ArduinomeSerial.

According to the creator’s webpage, the new controller is “is fully Monome 256 compliant” and will feature “Kaoss Pad-like sampling programs and will include an algorithmic step sequencer, a beat synced sample chopping performance controller, and many more.”

Kits, completed units and “how-to, complete with schematics, parts list, step-by-step” guides will be released and sold by the creator soon after he is done testing the unit.

Althought, I don’t think we need another monome clone (we got plenty of those already), i think this unit sounds very interesting..specially if it includes Kaos-pad sampling programs. Prices for the full units haven’t been posted yet.

More here

The future of radio part 5

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:36:13 +0000

What is the best way to get your music heard, if you are an independent musician?
Should you pay a music service to get your music reviewed?
Should you just upload your music to Itunes or CDBaby and hope someone just buys it?
Should you just tweet endlessly about how great your music is?

No. (more about CDBaby sales here) One of the best ways to get your music promoted, lies in a recent Fortune magazine article about Tim Westergren and Pandora.
Pandora has just turned in its most profitable quarter ever, and it is here to stay.
As i have posted here multiple times, Pandora is the future of music distribution and the future of radio..
Pandora is possibly one of the best music distribution services for independent musicians because:

1-Pandora doesn’t play music based on popularity.
Every song in Pandora has an equal chance of getting airplay and finding an audience, whether it’s recorded by an unknown, unsigned band or by a major-label artist. The music is what truly matters.
If your music is good, chances are, it will find an audience in Pandora.

2-Pandora pays performers and publishers every time a song is played.
Last year, it paid $30 million in royalties. Don’t expect to get rich by getting your music in Pandora, but at least you or your band will be getting some airplay and you are getting some kind of monetary reward back, when your music is played.

You are can read more about Pandora’s philosophy in the Fortune article

If you are an independent musician, i recommend you spend some time and upload your music to services like Pandora and last.fm.

BTW, Enigmafon Records LLC is in no way affiliated with Pandora or any other music service.