This is the standalone music video clip from the GarageBand Tennis with asakawaz. Last night, it was snowy in Tokyo. I recorded this video using with a portable iPhone projector. GarageBand Tennis #001 www.youtube.com GarageBand Tennis #002 www.youtube.com A railway platform sequence is from this series. High Speed Passing www.youtube.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Well, that happened. It’s a surreal episode that seems not to have any clear winners, as the US government on one side and hackers on the other face off over what is and isn’t freedom online. The mystery is, what will be the long-term outcome for people making content – or, for that matter, do these kinds of dramatics even really have any logic in your work at all?
While the music tech industry was holed away in the palm tree-lined walls of the Anaheim Convention Center, it seems full-blown war broke out over content on the Internet, in a surreal collision of players. Remember that bleak future painted by opponents of new US anti-piracy legislation, one in which your ability to upload your own content might get caught in the crossfire? It turns out it doesn’t necessarily require new laws, and it could look something like this:
MegaUpload file sharing site shut down for piracy by Feds [LA Times]
And then, in spectacular fashion, the hackers strike back…
Anonymous downs government, music industry sites in largest attack ever [RT]
It’s hard to imagine a more heated showdown. The US Department of Justice is behind the raid on MegaUpload, and just happened to time their crackdown the day after sites like Wikipedia blocked out content in protest of more restrictive rules in Congressional legislation, rules that claim to target just this kind of site. (MegaUpload was often named specifically, and – in fairness – had run rampant with pirated files.) But that’s almost not the oddest thing about this story: it places a site endorsed by a number of high-profile musicians opposite labels like Universal Music Group. And don’t forget reports that the CEO is using an alias and is married to Alicia Keys.
Now, clearly, MegaUpload was a venue for a significant amount of copyright infringement, and it’s inarguable that its owners benefited from that infringement. But artists themselves are already crying foul, partly because a service they used is unavailable. For instance, online radio station SOMA FM protests via Twitter:
“FBI shuts down megaupload .com, claiming no legit users. However lots of indie artists used it to send us (SomaFM) their new music.”
Show of hands. Are you now thinking:
1. I’m relieved! Now that the Federal government is cracking down on these sites, I can at last have the financial security as a musician of which I’ve always dreamed! Clearly, this will help drive more money into sales of music and other creative content, and we’ll all benefit!
2. Great. This will really mean is the next time I try to upload something, there will be all kind of annoying restrictions imposed voluntarily by services to avoid getting shuttered, all because people had to upload Adele albums. I’m just trying to send a darned demo.
3. Who was using MegaUpload, anyway?
Tally to follow.
In the meantime, these fireworks with Anonymous are sure entertaining to watch.
One alternative possibility occurs to me. Because it’s clearly possible to shut down MegaUpload without the benefit of damaging legislation, the MegaUpload closure actually makes an excellent case against the need for restrictive new laws. In other words, you can shut down an obvious infringer like MegaUpload, while leaving loads of other sites that support user content, and you didn’t have to change US law. So, even though Anonymous scored a dramatic protest, the raid itself might actually make a good case against new, tougher laws.
Downpressor, via Twitter, remarks “I’m not sorry to see sites like that go down.” And that’s the crux of this – a large number of parties actually do agree that some sites ought to go away through some sort of enforcement action. After the explosive saga here settles down, the upshot may be that this is left to enforcement mechanisms within the bounds of existing law, and not the kind of radical new laws recently proposed.
MegaUpload itself, though, may prove to be a bit divisive, because it will be seen through the eyes of some users who used it legitimately, even if those activities were a minority.
PLEASE READ! This track is out soon on a Dubstep compilation album under Future Follower Records. Release date TBC 
Subscribe to be the first to hear new tracks and find out about releases! Support me on facebook! www.facebook.com Twitter – @RogueMoosic Soundcloud – /RogueUK Support Future Follower Records for news on releases, and more cool new artists! www.facebook.com Artwork ‘My Broken Wing’ by PossibleDream – theblogpaper.co.uk
Awesome hand beat done with hands and body by the percussion group Mayumana. Enjoy this awesome hand beat! By Mayumana
Tyler the Creator killed it
Sum rare shit: www.youtube.com
Read the full story @ KVR Audio
This is the first of a series on technology crossover and what it means for some of the people who make musical instruments. It is relevant to the KVR community because there is a plug-in component to [Read More]
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IK Multimedia this week is shipping both their SampleTank virtual instrument and iRig hardware MIDI interface for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It’s not the first software instrument for iThings, but it is arguably the first appearance of a major, conventional computer soft synth in mobile form. MIDI interfaces, likewise, would require a comparison of some competing gear, but it’s the combination of the two in IK’s demo video that I think might give someone pause.
Music making tech has since the 1980s often involved some kind of computer. You might buy that computer in a piece of hardware that looks like a keyboard, or you might run software on a general-purpose computer. What has happened with Apple’s mobile devices is a third category. Observations:
1. Here’s a computer that’s a lot easier to fit on your music stand than a laptop is.
2. Here’s a demo that’s stunningly unchanged from what you might have done 20 years ago. (You’re even using the same hard-wired interface you were using 20+ years ago.)
3. This same instrument is more flexible and more powerful – though more challenging and time-consuming in setup – on a conventional computer. Of course, you may own both.
IK’s offerings:
SampleTank for iPhone / iPod touch
iRig MIDI interface, with Core MIDI compatibility for maximal application compatibility (including, incidentally, a recent update to Bjørk’s apps – more on that soon)
Side notes:
As for point 3, yes, a number of iOS developers are working now on routing MIDI between applications. It’s an interesting idea, but you have greater horsepower to run multiple applications simultaneously on, say, a MacBook Air than on an iPad 2, and I’m concerned that the mechanism for inter-app communication on iOS is not officially sanctioned by Apple. (I think those developers may be hoping that a critical mass of applications will protect them in the future, and there, they may be right.)
Another reality: all the fundamental technologies on which Apple are building, particularly the embedded platforms, are readily available. Challenging Apple in the consumer space is a massive challenge, as illustrated by the spectacular failure of some very awful – and some fairly nice – tablet entries in the last year or so. But building upon the same low-heat, low-power, low-cost, small-size boards could be something we see others do. (That’s a topic for another post, but worth considering while marveling at how much more convenient the form factor here is relative to a big, hinged laptop.)
It’s an interesting time – perhaps. The software isn’t really anything new. But convenience an make a small thing a big deal.
www.pointblankonline.net – This is the first in our new series of live beatmaking videos with Danny J Lewis (Defected, Enzyme Black). Each week we’ll ask you what sound or genre you would like to see, then Danny have a go at making on the fly using Ableton Live and Novation’s Launchpad and we’ll post up the results here on youtube. This week we had some great suggestions on our facebook page, thanks everyone… eventually we chose to have a go at the Juke influenced Future Garage sound suggested by Miguel Marquez. Be sure to comment either on youtube or our facebook page with your thoughts and questions about the video. Also if you have ideas for the next genre let us know!
Video Rating: 4 / 5
PocoPoco is a delightful, fanciful device that takes music control into the realm of kinetic sculpture. Normally, the relationship of music controller is primarily about the operator making physical actions. With PocoPoco, the hardware itself moves. The essential musical structure is familiar: it’s the grid of light-up buttons, with strong similarity to the ongoing interaction design of Toshio Iwai in the 90s and (Tenori-On) past decade. Even aesthetically, there are similarities – perhaps not coincidentally as this team is also Japan-based.
But adding in the element of solenoid-powered cylinders popping out of the grid adds a major element of surprise. There is also an unmistakable similarity to a certain arcade game, Whac-A-Mole.
Whac-A-Mole might be ideal inspiration. The game itself is based on rhythm and time, and the ability (or inability) of the brain to deal with multiple simultaneous stimuli, much in the same way our brain has to track across lines of counterpoint in music. And Whac-A-Mole’s history might be instructive, too: it’s the creation of Creative Engineering, the pioneering kinetic and animatronic company behind Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese. (Achievement unlocked: CDM legitimately references Chuck E. Cheese twice in one week.) Founder and design Aaron Fechter’s animatronic shows might not seem a likely source for futuristic interaction design and music, but with the computer added to the equation, simple mechanical effects take on an entirely new significance.
But back to the PocoPoco. As a musical instrument, I’m dubious. It’s fundamentally another a four-by-four step sequencer, so it’s not as though it actually solves a problem. (Well, if you’ve ever wished your step sequencer were also a game of Whac-a-Mole, it’s the invention you’ve been waiting for.) But even if it’s not actually useful, it’s no less intriguing. It could be seen as a tantalizing reminder that adding motion to interfaces could produce musical devices that double as moving sculptures, and performance tools that move rather than sit around waiting for you.
The timing seems right, too, as touch interfaces like the iPad make physical interaction fairly abstract (running your finger on undifferentiated glass), or gestural interfaces take away any touch at all (Kinect).
There’s a great interview at DJ Tech Tools. That’s fitting, as DJTT has popularized their own MIDI Fighter hardware, which accentuates the tactile feel of playing grids by swapping arcade buttons as the input, and likewise has a strong connection as this does to games and arcades. A must-read:
PocoPoco – The Motorized Controller [Interview, DJ TechTools]
Takaharu Kanai, one of the designers from the IDEAA Lab team at Tokyo Metropolitan University, has some good things to say.
Seen other kinetic hardware, or worked on a design of your own? We’d love to see it.
