Many thanks to Sarah Jones from Electronic Musician for sending this to me.
Music
∞ Amy Winehouse found dead
TMZ: A press release from the Metropolitan Police, which doesn’t specifically name Winehouse, says: “Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square NW1 shortly before 16.05hrs today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman … Continued
∞ Review: Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6
The first measure of any professional audio product or instrument is its sound quality. Once you have that, the rest is often a matter of personal preference. In this instance, the hardware that is the vehicle bringing your audio into … Continued
∞ New Beatles photos discovered
I saw a link to the Beatles photos tonight on John Nack’s Twitter stream and just had to post a link to them. Apparently they are from the lost collection of Mike Mitchell.
∞ Make your own picks with the DIY Guitar Pick Punch
Just insert the material you want a pick out of into the DIY Guitar Pick Punch, and … well … squeeze. Instant guitar pick! Make them out of expired credit cards, those grocery store club cards, plastic packaging material, and … Continued
∞ Cool video of iPhone 4 capturing guitar strings
Walt Basil emailed me this morning letting me know about this cool video posted by our friends at TUAW. The guy put his iPhone 4 inside the guitar and filmed the strings moving. Like my wife said, you can see … Continued
∞ Apogee releases Symphony I/O Release 4
One of my favorite music hardware companies, Apogee Electronics, released an updated version of its Symphony I/O beta software, adding new features and fixing a few bugs.
∞ Rush's Geddy Lee and his Pro Tools bass setup
Geddy Lee’s bass sound is a combination of five channels, which represent various aspects of an entire bass sound, and run from clean to distorted-beyond-all-reason. The two main components of his sound are an Avalon DI and a Palmer DI. … Continued
∞ Vox ships the Night Train 50 tube amplifier
The Night Train 50 features an EL34 based, Class AB amplifier design delivering 50 Watts of power through 2 channels. The preamp stage is equipped with four 12AX7 vacuum tubes. The Night Train 50 is a two-channel design. The BRIGHT … Continued
∞ LoNero releases its latest 'Guitarcore' album to iTunes
I met Bill Lonero a number of years ago and have been an avid fan of his music ever since. His latest album, J.F.L., is the best I’ve heard from the band to date.
∞ Review: Yamaha DTX-950 Digital Drums
It may be difficult to get over being skeptical about digital drum kits — and it was — until a friend, and well-known performer, recommended (and, in fact, insisted) investigating the Yamaha DTX-950. His point was simply that they are … Continued
∞ Trooper: Now that's the way a concert should be
I spent last weekend hanging out with the guys from Trooper, a legendary Canadian rock band. After watching two shows from backstage where I could see the crowd, it occurred to me that they have one of the best stage … Continued
∞ Great video on programming drums from Groove3
There are a lot of great drum samplers out there these days, but making the drum hits sound good with your song is not the easiest thing in the world to do. If you are having trouble with this, you … Continued
∞ Apple's iTunes Festival London 2011 app offers free live streaming concerts
Apple has released a new app to help users enjoy the iTunes Festival London 2011.
∞ iTunes in the Cloud now available in iTunes 10.3 beta
Most of Apple’s new iCloud services won’t be ready for consumption until the fall, when iOS 5 is released. But if you’re anxious to try out the iTunes in the Cloud service, you can get a head start by downloading … Continued
∞ Beatles Anthology collections to debut exclusively on iTunes June 14
We sure have come a long way in a short period of time. iTunes went from not having any of The Beatles to having music released exclusively on the music service.
EMI on Tuesday said the The Beatles’ three remastered Anthology music collections will debut on June 14. Anthology, Vols. 1-3 are available for preorder on iTunes starting today.
∞ Apple updates Logic Pro with support for GarageBand for iPad
Apple on Tuesday updated its pro audio application, Logic Pro, adding support for GarageBand for iPad projects.
GarageBand for iPad was released in March, giving musicians a way to create songs on the device. What’s more, you can export the projects to your Mac to use with GarageBand.
∞ Trooper's Ra McGuire and 'The Politics of Songwriting'
I remember hanging out with my friends, driving around the neighborhood with the music cranked up so loud it was impossible to hear anything but the thump of the kick drum and Ra McGuire’s voice. Those were good days.
Ra McGuire is the lead singer and songwriter for one of Canada’s best-selling rock bands of all time, Trooper.
With hits like “Raise a Little Hell,” “The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car,” “Three Dressed Up as a Nine,” “We’re Here For a Good Time (Not a Long Time),” and “Oh, Pretty Lady,” Trooper has had Platinum and Double-Platinum albums.
∞ Line 6 releases Pod Farm 2.5
Line 6 on Tuesday released a new version of its amp and effects modeling software, Pod Farm.
Pod Farm 2.5 features compatibility with any USB audio interface and 64-bit support. There is also a trial version that can be downloaded from the company’s Web site.
Included in POD Farm 2.5 are POD Farm Elements, plug-ins that streamline workflow and conserve CPU horsepower by grouping POD Farm models together by effect type. Users can load single amps, preamps or effects instead of loading multiple instances of POD Farm 2.5.
∞ Rock Band 3 to feature 8-pack of Ozzy songs
Rock Band 3 users will soon have the opportunity to celebrate something big with Ozzy Osbourne.
On May 31, Rock Band 3 users will be able to download an 8-pack of songs celebrating the release of Diary of a Madman/Blizzard of Ozz 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. The songs will be available in the Rock Band 3 music store for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles.
∞ Toontrack releases Songwriters Drumpack 3
Toontrack on Tuesday released Songwriters Drumpack 3, a new collection of MIDI drum grooves for musicians.
These MIDI grooves aren’t like the old hand programmed grooves of years ago. These are played by a real drummer in the studio and captured for use with ToonTrack’s Superior Drummer and other drum samplers.
∞ Video: Recalling Eleven Rack presets in Pro Tools
I’ve used quite a few software applications to record my guitar into my Mac Pro. Avid’s Eleven Rack has some great features that help save you from diaster.
Unfortunately, sometimes I spend a lot of time building a guitar preset only to lose it all by closing the app or changing presets by mistake.
∞ Universal Audio releases the Lexicon 224 Classic Digital Reverb
Universal Audio on Thursday updated its UAD software platform, fixing a few bugs and adding a new plug-in.
∞ Nomad Factory releases Echoes audio plug-in
Audio software-maker Nomad Factory on Tuesday released a new plug-in for musicians and engineers called Echoes.
Echoes, as the name implies, is an echo box plug-in. Nomad says it’s designed to reproduce the warmth and richness of classic vintage delay effects.
∞ Report: Apple will beat Google to cloud music
Apple has reportedly finished work on its iTunes cloud music service and will launch it ahead of Google, it’s main competition in this market.
According to a report on Reuters, Apple’s service will allow users to store music on remote servers and access music via the Internet. Reuters says it has multiple sources that did not want to be named.
Google, who is also working on a cloud music service is running into some problems, according to the report.
∞ Line 6 founder: We want to 'enable musician's creativity'
When it comes to amp and effects modeling, most people think of Line 6 first. And with good reason — the company has been on the forefront of modeling technology for many years.
I recently sat down with Line 6 CEO Marcus Ryle to talk about the company’s achievements and how Line 6 continues to evolve its technology under ever-increasing competition.
“We’re all about finding ways to harness technologies to enable musician’s creativity,” Ryle told The Loop. “Modeling is one of those ways.”
I visited the Line 6 headquarters a couple of years ago and saw the amp room. This is where the engineers model real tube amp circuitry and transform it into amps we can buy as part of Line 6’s Pod Farm 2 software. To say the collection of vintage amps is impressive would be an understatement.
∞ Guitarists get the most for their money with Line 6
I’ve been playing guitar for about 20 years and have a nice collection of analog gear, but I also use a lot of amp and modeling software too. One of the questions I often get is “what hardware and software should I get?”
The answer to that question differs depending on the needs of the person asking, but more often than not, it’s simple: Line 6. I have a lot of Line 6 gear — a Pod X3 Live, Pod XT Live, HD 147, Vetta 3, UX8, a couple of TonePorts, and the latest Pod Farm 2 software (I have more, but you get the idea).
One of the things I like most about the Line 6 hardware, software combination is that it’s easy to use. Literally, you plug it in, install the software and you’re done. It’s hard to beat that when all you want to do is sit down and play.
∞ Review: AmpliTube 3.5 Custom Shop
It’s always exciting when new guitar software comes out, but that’s usually about once a year. However, IK Multimedia released the AmpliTube Custom Shop as part of AmpliTube 3.5, allowing you to purchase new amps and effects anytime you want.
When you enter the Custom Shop, you are immediately reminded of Apple’s Mac App Store. That’s a good thing for IK. As far as I know, IK is the first company to take the Mac Store concept and apply it to its own products.
You have a few options when you open the app. You can add credits to your account (credits are used to purchase products), look at the gear you already purchase, and manage your account.Everything you need to do can be done from within the application — very smart move.
When you are ready to browse the available gear, the side menu gives you several options to find exactly what you’re looking. You can browse by Brand, Stomp, Amp, Cab, Mic and Rack. Each category is broken down further to narrow your search.
∞ AmpliTube 3 Custom Shop for Mac available
IK Multimedia on Thursday released AmpliTube 3 Custom Shop, the newest version of the company’s amp modeling and effects software for the Mac.
According to IK, the “Custom Shop is an entirely new tone shopping experience that is like visiting a real guitar store, but one that is open 24/7 right in the comfort of your own studio.”
IK is offering a basic version of the software available free to download and it includes the plug-in and standalone version. The software gives you 24 gear models consisting of 9 stomp boxes, 4 amplifiers, 5 cabinets, 3 microphones, 2 rack effects and a digital tuner.
∞ Adobe releases Audition CS 5.5 for audio and video pros
As part of its Creative Suite 5.5 announcements today, Adobe released Audition, its professional audio application.
Part of the Production Premium suite, Audition is a native Mac app that allows users to manipulate, mix and restore audio files. Adobe says Audition is a good tool for video editors, audio engineers, and interactive designers.
With a completely rebuilt audio engine, Audition multiple multitrack sessions and single file edits simultaneously. You can even open and import files in the background — even files that need sample rate conversion — while you continue to work on open projects, according to Adobe.