Created on Friday, 12/17/2010 11:51 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Translation App!
Created on Friday, 12/17/2010 2:01 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have come across this translation app, I think this could be an awesome piece of kit and would help in soooo many situations. I am hoping it is real!
http://questvisual.com/
http://questvisual.com/
Optical Facial Capture!
Created on Friday, 12/17/2010 1:32 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have just watched a video on a new technique used for facial motion capture for use in animation, and in this video for a video game called L.A. Noire. It has enabled the makers to capture much more descrete detail which has often been lacking in video games gone by, often the face gave away the age of the game, as other areas like environments and body motion have moved forward.
Here is a link: -
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/developer-diary-l-a-noire/708504
Here is a link: -
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/developer-diary-l-a-noire/708504
MASSIVE!
Created on Saturday, 12/11/2010 5:17 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have been playing around with the subtractive synth called Massive by Native Instruments, and I am in awe of its capabilities! It has 3 oscillators, many filters, special effects and other controllable parameters than can be alter via dials in stages to change the sound coming out. The amount of different sounds you can make with this synth are mind blowing. There are also over 400 presets that vary from single sounds that modulate over time, to beats that vary over time and in amplification and pitch depending on how the envelopes are set up, it is a mini sequencer in its own right. Massive costs around 180 euros, but that will get you not only a synth that works in au or vst format but also as a stand alone iunstrument. The only gripe, which for me is small, is the amount of CPU that is gobbled up by this little beastie. 
Image from: http://www.blackmarketplaza.com/images/uploads/massive.jpg [accessed 11/12/2010].
Image from: http://www.blackmarketplaza.com/images/uploads/massive.jpg [accessed 11/12/2010].
Stats Animation!
Created on Wednesday, 12/08/2010 6:49 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have just watched a very interesting video from the program The Joy of Stats from BBC Four. It used animation to represent data, that showed the trends on a scatter graph within the parameters of mortality and wealth from the year 1800 to today. It was shocking and surprising and not only a joy to watch but it really made me able to get to grips with the information. Also in the videos comment section on the website there are some other great suggestions of things to watch include TED talks, which are some of my favourite videos for learning. Below is a link for the website where the video is: -
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/visualizing-mortality-history/
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/visualizing-mortality-history/
IBM Chip!
Created on Thursday, 12/02/2010 6:32 PM by Asha Blatherwick
A new chip has arrived that could take us to the next level in computing enabling more power using smaller hardware! This is a positive step on the road of IBM, to create a super-computer that can do a million trillion calculations in a single second. These new chips may also go some way in solving the heat problems associated with electronic chips and the cooling systems needed to keep them functioning.
Blurb from Physorg's website: -
"IBM has unveiled a new chip technology, called CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics chip technology, which enables a 10X improvement in integration density and produces smaller, faster and more power-efficient chips than is possible with conventional technologies. Image courtesy of IBM Research"
(PhysOrg.com) -- IBM scientists today unveiled a new chip technology that integrates electrical and optical devices on the same piece of silicon, enabling computer chips to communicate using pulses of light (instead of electrical signals), resulting in smaller, faster and more power-efficient chips than is possible with conventional technologies.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-ibm-breakthrough-chip-technology-path.html [accessed 2/12/2010].
Blurb from Physorg's website: -
"IBM has unveiled a new chip technology, called CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics chip technology, which enables a 10X improvement in integration density and produces smaller, faster and more power-efficient chips than is possible with conventional technologies. Image courtesy of IBM Research"
(PhysOrg.com) -- IBM scientists today unveiled a new chip technology that integrates electrical and optical devices on the same piece of silicon, enabling computer chips to communicate using pulses of light (instead of electrical signals), resulting in smaller, faster and more power-efficient chips than is possible with conventional technologies.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-ibm-breakthrough-chip-technology-path.html [accessed 2/12/2010].
Google Translate!
Created on Thursday, 12/02/2010 6:21 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have just been checking out a new use for Google translate! Beatboxing! It has been discovered that if you are a bit nofty with your constanants then youi can litertally turn Google Translate into a beatboxing machine. I had literally minutes of fun playing with this and I expect that some point in the next week, some one will have come up with an ingenius song or use for this nifty little tool.
The url is.
http://translate.google.com/#de|de|%20kkkkkk%20bsch%20%20kkkkkk%20bsch%20%20kkkkkk%20bsch
And a list of drums are: -
The url is.
http://translate.google.com/#de|de|%20kkkkkk%20bsch%20%20kkkkkk%20bsch%20%20kkkkkk%20bsch
And a list of drums are: -
zk = suspended cymbal
bschk = snare
pv = brush
bk = bass
tk = flam1
vk = roll tap
kt = flam2
kttp = flam tap
krp = hi hat tap
pv = short roll
th = better hi hat
thp, ds = instant rimshot.
Its awesome!
Website Ideas!
Created on Monday, 11/29/2010 10:11 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have started to design my website, or more so the logo, however on the front page I only want this logo displayed and then as you scroll the mouse over I want the box for each letter of the name to slide up or down to reveal underneath, the content. I want this to be very smooth and quick so people are not lingering waiting for something to happen. Like Joe Sayers favoured website today, where stuff just slid. The colour scheme i'm going for is bold and contrasting. Black on white etc with a very limited colour palette. Smooth, bold, clean, easily navigatable. I was also thinking of when you click on some information in the box, if it has a red backing then after you click, the red would explode the content onto the screen, kind of in a paint splatter slash seeping drip kind of way. I also like the 8-bit look of the logo and am inspired by the limited colour palette and pixelled texture of 8-bit graphics, I should like to include this in my design. I feel it could lend itself well to my technological background. Pong, is the other word I was thinking. Maybe some audio on the site that perhaps is also 8-bit but when you click on it it changes to the actual mix or whatever, but thats thinking way ahead. So yeah 8-bit texture with smooth interface, minimal text but what text there is displayed clearly.
My ideas so far
AshaLogoIdeas.docx
My ideas so far
AshaLogoIdeas.docx
Stuff from blog started just before this one!
Created on Friday, 11/26/2010 6:14 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have started my new course and felt time to upload my feeling on anything I think may be relevent to my learning! Today I took the time to discover the VSL or Vienna Symphonic Library and let me tell you I was pretty much blown away, to hear a piece composed using this technologic gem was pretty magic especially when then clicking on the same tune put together using fruity loops! The difference was akin to moving from NES to Playstation 3 to my ears. Also I looked into Melodyne after feeling like a failure for not having heard of it before and that looked like a pretty smart piece of kit too, being able to move music in that way without completely changing the piece to sound distorted and discordant looked awesome-o.
from 5/10/10
Cubase64 by Mahoney
YouTube - X2010 - C64 Demo - Cubase64 by Mahoney (Live footage)
Also found this on how it works
http://www.livet.se/mahoney/c64-files/Cubase64_White_Paper_by_Pex_Mahoney_Tufvesson.pdf
also from 5/10/2010
from 5/10/10
Cubase64 by Mahoney
YouTube - X2010 - C64 Demo - Cubase64 by Mahoney (Live footage)
Also found this on how it works
http://www.livet.se/mahoney/c64-files/Cubase64_White_Paper_by_Pex_Mahoney_Tufvesson.pdf
also from 5/10/2010
Auto tune!
Created on Friday, 11/26/2010 2:43 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Updated on Friday, 11/26/2010 3:04 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I had to do it and stick my oar in on the auto tune “debate”. I like auto tune sometimes, and sometimes I think it’s awful, sometimes it’s even funny (auto tune the news, double rainbow). Auto tune like anything else is a tool which when placed in the right hands can be used for good and in the wrong hands for evil. Like all new tools and developments, in the beginning they are over used and over exposed but from the ashes come truly creative, and purposeful uses for such a tool. I don’t like that fact that 90% of what is on certain station (BBC Radio 1) is not only auto tuned but also samey sounding. I like the fact that this tool can be used to create something that isn’t possible with the human voice, that robotic texture that can fit so well into certain styles of music or songs. Good examples of auto tune include for me Daft Punks song “One More Time”, and Kanye West’s “Heartless”. One bad example for me is David Guetta feat Rihanna “Who’s That Chick”, I just don’t feel it does anything to push the sound or to use it in an interesting way that contributes anything to the song, its just auto tuned for the sake of it. A lot of artist seem to use it as a crutch, and technicians seem to use it to make their sessions quicker, and easier, but I think this might be where all the crap stems from, if its used as a fix its not good, if its used as a feature then it add to the song if done correctly.
Hatsune Miku!
Created on Friday, 11/26/2010 1:12 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Her name means future sound and her mission is to take over the synthesized singing world and by all intents and purposes she has! This anime hologram named Hatsune Miku developed by Crypton Future Media uses Yamahas Vocaloid synthesizing technology to enable users to create songs by using the synthesizer program to sing lyrics that they themselves write. Voice actress Saki Fujita provided all the vocal samples, which can then be placed in the program and controlled phonetically and by pitch and tone to create melodic music. This wave of creation has swept through Japan and Hatsuni has even been number one! Now immortalised in avatar form, using the programs function to create a character that sings the music you have written, holographic Hatsuni is touring Japan to sold out-neon stick waving crowds, the very audience that created her.
Cloud computing!
Created on Sunday, 11/21/2010 10:14 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Today I interviewed Mr Edward Ward, technician at the Arts University College Bournemouth about Cloud computing.
What is cloud computing?
It’s a where a server is used to store personal or professional data, much like how a USB is now used or flash drive but is stored remotely and readily accessible wherever there is an internet connection.
Why is it good?
Several benefits, you don’t need a physical object like flash drive, which can be easily forgotten and readily, and there are unlimited saves whereas flash drives can wear out. It is not limited by technological miniaturisation of memory components. If I want 100GB I could just pay for 100GB instead of having to wait ‘x’ number of years until it will fit in my pocket. Opening files on several PCs at once, which could be good for educational purposes. I think opening on multiple PCs is a big draw, not having to find physical drives to open on 5 PCs. You can link a public folder and have links within social networking directed to it, and password protect or not, people can contribute and upload and data is readily available. It is good for compatibility issues as it not any one particular format such as FAT32/NTFS, which can be an issue when working cross platform.
Not so good?
There is limited capacity on per file upload. The server could go down. You might not have Internet access. The convenience is limited to connection speed, and uploads are typically slower on home bandwidth. Can be a bit laborious, logging in, finding file, downloading it etc.
Is it the future?
I do rate it, I don’t have to plug in my USB drive which I lose a lot and is prone to viruses, I’ve got a network drive which I can drag and drop onto, which has an easily navigatable interface or drop box. I can distribute and point people there, so its good for clients, if you have a massive file, say 25mb, you can send it easily whereas with emails attachments, size is limited, it has a lot going for it, but I don’t know if there is any underlying agenda involving the information. Data is readily accessible for remote scanning by corporations or governments for key words raising privacy issues.
What is cloud computing?
It’s a where a server is used to store personal or professional data, much like how a USB is now used or flash drive but is stored remotely and readily accessible wherever there is an internet connection.
Why is it good?
Several benefits, you don’t need a physical object like flash drive, which can be easily forgotten and readily, and there are unlimited saves whereas flash drives can wear out. It is not limited by technological miniaturisation of memory components. If I want 100GB I could just pay for 100GB instead of having to wait ‘x’ number of years until it will fit in my pocket. Opening files on several PCs at once, which could be good for educational purposes. I think opening on multiple PCs is a big draw, not having to find physical drives to open on 5 PCs. You can link a public folder and have links within social networking directed to it, and password protect or not, people can contribute and upload and data is readily available. It is good for compatibility issues as it not any one particular format such as FAT32/NTFS, which can be an issue when working cross platform.
Not so good?
There is limited capacity on per file upload. The server could go down. You might not have Internet access. The convenience is limited to connection speed, and uploads are typically slower on home bandwidth. Can be a bit laborious, logging in, finding file, downloading it etc.
Is it the future?
I do rate it, I don’t have to plug in my USB drive which I lose a lot and is prone to viruses, I’ve got a network drive which I can drag and drop onto, which has an easily navigatable interface or drop box. I can distribute and point people there, so its good for clients, if you have a massive file, say 25mb, you can send it easily whereas with emails attachments, size is limited, it has a lot going for it, but I don’t know if there is any underlying agenda involving the information. Data is readily accessible for remote scanning by corporations or governments for key words raising privacy issues.
SoundCloud!
Created on Sunday, 11/21/2010 9:41 PM by Asha Blatherwick
SoundCloud founded in 2007, in Berlin, Germany, is a platform for spreading music and sharing interesting music with others enabling collaboration. It is easy to use and best of all free (unless you want to upgrade for a monthly fee). Also it provides help to distribute music and also statistics on who is listening to your music, what people are doing with the tracks, where they are listening from, and when your tracks are reaching their peak. Soundcloud measures uploads in minutes, like the days of yore involving tape, this means you get 120 minutes of music which is handy if your tracks are epic in size and you can buy more tapes or erase and rewind them. You as a user are able to link with friends and join groups of like-minded individuals to share your music passions. Wi8dgets can be used to for example tweet every time you upload a new track. Users can upload any file type and also can comment on tracks at certain points in the music. A great tool for the ever-independent artists of the world.
Triple Decker Record!
Created on Sunday, 11/14/2010 6:28 PM by Asha Blatherwick
One of you ideas for a blog was the idea of CD or music download technology impressing me, but actually it struck my brain with an idea I was impressed with a good few weeks ago. It was a little piece of cool called a Triple Decker Record invented by none other than Mr Cool (apart from the Coca-Cola ad), Jack White. It made me think of the days were people would be talking about the latest releases and waiting for it to hit the stores, something which I think has been lost to the download generation, the times when you went to a music shop and held discussions or asked what was new and good, you would pick up the shiny cases and sleeves and stare lovingly at the pretty graphics. This made me think I am going to buy a record player and get me some vinyl and that is the first record I’m going to buy. The record is 12-inch and on it is emblazoned ‘Blue Blood Blues’, which was the Dead Weathers latest single, what was awesome was that you had to crack open the 12-inch to gain access to a further 7-inch with a previously unreleased single on it. The 7-inch is inside the 12-inch!!! Inside. It a piece of gadgetry really and that makes me want it, however with only 300 copies available for sale, I was not one of the lucky ones. This record will be a collector’s item and I feel has bought a bit of wantability back to a dying trade of physical music.
Boss OD-2!
Created on Saturday, 11/13/2010 7:12 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have been longing for a while to dust down my old electric guitar skills and play some down and dirty blues, however with only an amp to fiddle with I decide I needed a pedal! Enter the Boss OS-2 Over Drive/Distortion pedal!! YAY! For quite a while now I have yearned to play some more electric guitar, however I was pretty much limited to a clean acoustic sound, give or take the amps gain etc. The sound I really wanted to go for was an early blues, Muddy Waters style affair that crunched your ear off. At this point I delved into a little research on the t’internets and came to the conclusion that A) I would be buying a second hand pedal and B) It would be whatever the music shop had in because I just wanted something new and hole needed to be filled. However from these ashes of bad equipment buying I managed to grab myself an awesome little pedal at a bargain price of £30 compared to retail of around £65, oh yeah! This pedal combines both distortion and overdrive in one snappy little piece of kit. It is sturdy with a metal out and sticks to the floor like glue. You have the option of using a 9V battery or power supply sold separately. There are four knobs of awesome to play with (one is level so not as awesome), the overdrive to distortion is the most bestest because it means you can smoothly transfer between the two or go for an in-between kind of sound. You can go from Muddy Waters to Metallica (not quite) is a few twiddles. There are dials for level, tone, drive and colour. Tone takes you from mud to almost crunch, drive takes you from clean to crispy, colour takes you from warm and low to beefy. This pedal is super-functional and fun with a raw edge. It is now discontinued which is sad as it does sound good, however you can’t push the volume up to 11 this one.
Max/MSP!
Created on Friday, 11/05/2010 10:02 PM by Asha Blatherwick
TLAs!
Created on Friday, 11/05/2010 5:17 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Podcomplex.com!
Created on Wednesday, 10/27/2010 7:55 PM by Asha Blatherwick
ADVERTISEMENTS!
Created on Wednesday, 10/27/2010 12:05 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Sell Out!
Created on Friday, 10/22/2010 9:56 AM by Asha Blatherwick
OMax!
Created on Tuesday, 10/19/2010 5:58 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Melodyne!
Created on Friday, 10/15/2010 10:03 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Piracy and software!
Created on Friday, 10/15/2010 1:00 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Max/MSP!
Created on Friday, 11/05/2010 10:02 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have downloaded a trial version of Max/MSP to give it a try. I have started at the very beginning of the offered tutorials for Max which are very easy to follow, and are in plain text with highlighted, and linked messages, to access everything you need to learn the basics of Max. I am probably going to do two tutorials per week but don’t hold me to it.
In the first block of tutorial you are taught about how to lock and unlock the patcher, which when unlocked can be edited, and when locked is functional. Also an intro to print message, and comment boxes, and how they interact. I managed to print “Goodbye!” into the Max window! I also learnt how to use the help to find out functions in more details. The palette while at first looked intimidating now seems to hold lots of possibilities. Next tutorial moved onto using buttons to print messages to the screen and connecting them so messages connected together and printed out in sequence using the bang message. The bang message can be used to make all functions that are linked perform their task, very useful. Buttons can be edited in a separate window displaying the attributes of it. Messages are sent in right to left order, which may take some getting used to. There is a shortcut of b on the keyboard to pop up a new button. Inlets and outlets on each button can be connected to each other using one or multiple connections. The connections trigger output that matches what is seen on the screen so its easy to trace where you message is running from and to. If unsure then you can find the source of the message in the Max window by using an argument in the print object to trace it. Next week numbers and lists!!
In the first block of tutorial you are taught about how to lock and unlock the patcher, which when unlocked can be edited, and when locked is functional. Also an intro to print message, and comment boxes, and how they interact. I managed to print “Goodbye!” into the Max window! I also learnt how to use the help to find out functions in more details. The palette while at first looked intimidating now seems to hold lots of possibilities. Next tutorial moved onto using buttons to print messages to the screen and connecting them so messages connected together and printed out in sequence using the bang message. The bang message can be used to make all functions that are linked perform their task, very useful. Buttons can be edited in a separate window displaying the attributes of it. Messages are sent in right to left order, which may take some getting used to. There is a shortcut of b on the keyboard to pop up a new button. Inlets and outlets on each button can be connected to each other using one or multiple connections. The connections trigger output that matches what is seen on the screen so its easy to trace where you message is running from and to. If unsure then you can find the source of the message in the Max window by using an argument in the print object to trace it. Next week numbers and lists!!
TLAs!
Created on Friday, 11/05/2010 5:17 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Why so many three-letter acronyms (TLAs), I mean WTF? I cannot seem to escape and they make me feel stupid because by the time I have figured out what one means, there is another waiting to burst into my face. If you have a rubbish CPU and a lack of RAM, then your DAW will be super slow with its DSP and you can’t load VSTs, and you should make sure you GUI is easy to navigate or you may be like OMG where has my LFO track gone? You need a DSP to be able to perform FFT, and AMD are one of the better ones to go for. You want to save it as a WAV file or an AAF if you fancy, or why not an OMF, but not a ROM because then you won’t be able to edit it. Maybe I could connect my equipment together with RCA or maybe I’ll just go for TRS and connect it to my MP3 where I can see what songs are playing on my LCD, which I transferred via USB. I could push the boat out and opt for XLR, maybe that would be more professional or go for DIN and opt for the retro kick? Either way they have to be AES/EBU standard. When considering the channel path, on the input channel strip you have HPF, LPF, PFL, AUX and PAN among other things and you can send and return to the AUX BUS. Maybe I just need to chill out and listen to ELO whilst browsing the BBCs FAQ section.
Podcomplex.com!
Created on Wednesday, 10/27/2010 7:55 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have been led to a new website that within contains all manner of fascination (thanks Matt Harding). Podcomplex.com on the face of it is an average not too spangly website with five main categories. Home which is the front page unassuming and modest, the website proclaims its purpose to be providing free information to musicians, mainly within the computer/electronic based worlds and I believe it. The front page is simplistic and very easily navigate-able. Depressing the next tab takes you to the music page where it is possible to create a free account to spread your music onto 32 different websites through OMS, with over 6000 artists. Next up the guides tab in which you will find music theory tutorial, tutorial and information on the physics of sound, and computer optimisation, as well as buying guides for desktop, and laptop, and a breakdown of computer components. All previous information is just an add-on really to the blog, which is the main focus of the site, which archives back to September 2006. Categories within the blog include DAW, live performance, music technology, sales and promotion and digital music. To the blog tab we go-eth. The blog is updated weekly-ish to allow for holidays and has a wide variety of interesting information, from mastering music, to copyright, to Star Wars sound design providing an interesting and informative read. The man behind the website is Daniel Foley who is a musician, producer, writer, designer and web-master. Foleys blog posts range from reviews to commentary, which are very easy on the eye and inner ear. All in all, a good site to pop onto, for a bit of entertainment, knowledge, and musical passion.
ADVERTISEMENTS!
Created on Wednesday, 10/27/2010 12:05 PM by Asha Blatherwick
Continuing on a theme this week, with my thoughts on imbedded advertising with a dash of advertising in general and there similarities with small children. Advertising does my head in in general, even if it’s trying to be clever/funny/sentimental, at the end of the day it’s made by someone to sell/make you buy into something so therefore is automatically sliding toward poo on the poo to awesome scale. However the one thing that makes me scream like a banshee at the computer are the amount of adverts that either maniacally pump sound out of my speakers, annoyingly fling themselves across my screen or demand to be watched before I watch the video I actually clicked on. I get that we need to see stuff to buy stuff and how else would products get exposure anymore since T.V is dying but it is no less annoying. It is too much when you’re say, trying to navigate a menu and an ad is constantly under you mouse cursor, like it is doing the dancing in the street game that occurs when two people can’t seem to pass each other but on purpose, I find myself whirring the mouse round the table like I’m trying to outsmart a 4 year old who desperately wants to play dobby with the cursor. There are also the sneaky ads, the ones where you have multiple tabs open and the game is to find the tab and location of the advert while it is playing, at full blast, especially fun if you are in some place designed to be silent, yet with amazing acoustics. The other day I wanted to watch some very interesting videos on “how to make a synthesizer”, however as a test to my dedication I had to watch a 30 second ad for every 2 minute video, and there were 15 parts, now I’m not being funny but this is ridiculous, if the ad was a different one each time it could have been slightly less rip-your-hair-out-able, but it wasn’t, every time the I clicked on the next video in trepidation begging not to have to see the same guys little head pop up and pang there it was, telling me to go to some website to guess what ingredient was in the secret sauce, “I don’t care about the special sauce,” I shouted, and proceeded to talk as loud as I could over him so I couldn’t hear a word of it in protest, in a room, on my own, like a crazy person.
TL:DR Adverts are like small children.
TL:DR Adverts are like small children.
Sell Out!
Created on Friday, 10/22/2010 9:56 AM by Asha Blatherwick
I seem to have a little black book in my head, that over the years has become full of names, I cant seem to help it and I’m not sure where it came from but it seems to stem from some internal little demon that cannot cope with the idea of my favourite musicians flicking the vs to their music and saying hello to a wad of cash. My black book is full of, in my mind, sell-outs. Friends have tried to persuade me that I am wrong and that my argument for the contents of the book is stupid but I really can’t help the annoyance and disappointment that occurs when I hear an artists music that I like being used in an advert. There are varying degrees of disgruntlement depending on how big the artist is and what type of advert their music has adorned, some times its, just, acceptable and I navigate the artist away from the book, an example of this is The Knife, whose song covered by Jose Gonzalez made a Sony advert and paid for the creation of their second album, it was a cover I figure so technically not them in the song, so technically it was ok. Other times the artist has blatantly got my goat, an example of this would be the White Stripes front man Jack White, who actually made a piece of music for a Coca-Cola advert, now come on, really Jack! I find myself watching T.V and going “Noooooo, not them, please, I don’t want to have to think of the fact that they did this advert every time I hear one of their otherwisely amazing songs!” But it happens an awful lot and for the life of me I can’t help it. One of the most painful of these black book experiences was with Meatloaf, who I have been a massive fan of since the age of 0, using one of his biggest hits on a Dr Pepper advert, then I see him using my favourite song, Paradise by the dashboard light, in a AT&T advert! To add insult to injury he actually appeared in the advert to make a mockery of his OWN song. Damn it Meatloaf why? Are you not rich enough, do you need a free AT&T subscription, why are you trying to charge me £55 to come and see you play when you are clearly making lots of money else ware! Why don’t you just spit on me or punch me in the face? So yeah black book of sell-outs rant over.
OMax!
Created on Tuesday, 10/19/2010 5:58 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have just seen a really interesting looking software environment called OMax, which is a combination of Open Music and Max. Essentially it is a piece of software that “listens to” a musician playing and then uses various algorithms within the software that are specially modified for music, to seemingly improvise interactively whilst stylistically matching the musician in real time. The software also has knowledge of musical theory to implement new ideas within the constraints of this theory. Another interesting aspect of this program is you can record a piece of playing from an instrument and set different recombination rates, to make the returned audio from OMax more or less like the original, for example if you set the recombination rate high the improvisation is very different to the original, and low recombination rate would make the audio almost the same. Any instrument can be used and things like piano or keyboards can be rigged up to record what is being played and then be improvised with with either via microphones or midi. The software creates new audio “tracks” which are called models. Models of music can be stored within the software and “woken up” later to create new dynamics within the improvisation. A model can be completely empty and will “listen” to the first few notes played by the musician to construct sound, adapting to the style and timbre of music and basically build a song around what the musician is playing. The software uses not just the same instrument as is inputted but many instrument, basically whatever can be synthesized usually can be drawn upon. It all looks very exciting!
Melodyne!
Created on Friday, 10/15/2010 10:03 PM by Asha Blatherwick
I have started a 30 day Melodyne trial to fiddle around and see what little surprises this nifty programme has to offer, upon opening the demo there is a handy guide with easy to click links which open up audio in the main arranger window.The software bought up an audio clip, which you could slow down and speed up and change the pitch of, it was great fun, however when slowing some of the audio down it became distorted. The interface was very easy to use. I was impressed with the ability to adjust the tempo of the tracks to match the overall arrangement. Changing the octave of certain instruments was also easy to do. Another feature available was to quantize the notes in a given track, which was also set up to be accessible and easily done. Next the programme did some magic auto-tuning, with a few clicks to correct pitch, whilst keeping transition and phrasing intact, notes can also be snapped to scale effectively. It includes pitch modulation so if you have say two vocal phrasing you can match them up. Upon clicking the first note of any given track, an editor is brought up to be able to fiddle with settings. Stretching notes also is featured although stretching them too much can make them go a little skewed. If you do stretch notes or make them shorter the software adjusts the rest of the track to stay in time. Changing vocal characteristics affected the quality of the voicing to make it very robotic sounding, and sometimes inaudible when pushing the limits, however if messing with the equalizers then this could be minimised. The sound library offer a great range of samples to keep you busy, and each sample can be adjusted to match the tempo and tonality of the piece very intuitively. When adjusting tonality notes stay snapped to the scale if the scale snap feature is selected. You can splice up a note and drag the position of each cut, up and down, to change the pitch. You can also copy and paste, using paste special, all the notes from say a vocal line and make the drum line say match the vocal melody. The editing is done in real time. Melodyne 3 also brings with a new Polyphonic algorithm that offer more realistic sounding instruments. I found this software easy to use and its features are exciting plus it has all the regular features of the average DAW too.
Piracy and software!
Created on Friday, 10/15/2010 1:00 PM by Asha Blatherwick
People want free stuff and some people can’t afford expensive stuff. If something faceless says to you, buy this wonderful thing off me for £500 its awesome, and then someone else comes along and says you can have this, an exact copy, for free from me but its illegal, a word already loaded with conotations of rebelliousness and cool, then what are most people going to opt for. We live in a capitalist, greed driven, information hungry society that will feast on what it can reach, especially when the consequences are not even on the radar. Do people feel guilty, usually not, maybe its because DRM seems to screw people over, maybe its because you buy a blu-ray and then your blu-ray player goes blagh and won’t play it?? Maybe its because some games are one PC one install, maybe its because when you pay for a DVD you get to watch an annoying anti-piracy blurb, or maybe its because companies are seen as the corporate man who should be bought down at every opportunity. I think people see it as a victimless crime, or at least there are no direct victims to be haunted by so are not affected morally. However I myself, although having used pirated software, do not do so anymore. I try to find free alternatives or buy. I will support an artist if I really like them as its not expensive compared to software costs, and I will go and see a film at the cinema if I like the look of it. My mind is a bit torn on some of the issues, in a way I would love everything to be free but I know we are part of a society ran with money so it cannot happen.
How to cut down on piracy, make it free which is obviously not profitable, or have better fully working demos, a lot of comments I read were saying “I pirate to test and then if I like I buy”. Segment stuff so you can buy things in bits to make it more affordable.
How to cut down on piracy, make it free which is obviously not profitable, or have better fully working demos, a lot of comments I read were saying “I pirate to test and then if I like I buy”. Segment stuff so you can buy things in bits to make it more affordable.
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