Ableton Live 9 Upgrade and Push Controller: Upgrade Options
Ableton Live 9 is here. Until March 12th 2013 the upgrade prices are cheaper:
* 129 EUR for the upgrade to Ableton Live 9 Standard
* 169 EUR for the upgrade to Ableton Live Suite 9
* 618 EUR for the Upgrade to Ableton Live Suite 9 including the new Push Controller
Ableton Live 9 features 3000+ Sounds (54 GB), 9 Instruments, 40 Effects and 'Max for Live'. Sadly there is no additional discount for people that bought a Max4Live license, which was 99 EUR back then. Push is a new controller by Ableton, which looks quite similar to the Akai APC - and actually the hardware was built by Akai for Ableton:
Push is a new instrument that solves an old problem: how to make a song from scratch. With hands-on control of melody and harmony, beats, sounds, and song structure, Push puts the fundamental elements of music making at your fingertips - and it fits in a backpack alongside your laptop.
Push has the same approach like Native Instruments' Machine hardware controller - only it features 64 pads which is significantly more. Integration with Ableton Live is perfect, we would not expect anything else. Still this device is not the all-in-one solution for your mobile studio. You will need a device with knobs and a small keyboard to make your mobile studio perfect.
Recommendation: get the Korg MicroKey as mobile Keyboard and a Kenton Killamix Mini top have some more knobs on the go. If you are brave, get the Korg MS-20 mini, which is not available yet. It features a keyboard, knobs and interface with USB-port.
Adobe Releases Flash Player 11.2 and Air 3.2 – still kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
Adobe released Flash Player version 11.2 and Adobe Air 3.2 but still did not fix the kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero issues.
Nanofunk reported on this on Jul 28, 2011 and again on Dec 22, 2011. Furthermore the issue was reported in the Adobe Bug Tracker and reproduced by many other users.
It is 8 months after we reported to the Adobe Forums and there was not even a single response from Adobe yet. I will start to boycott Flash Player from now on (currently removing it from my system). Here is a link to the Uninstall Flash Player Howto. Bye Bye, Adobe.
Bliptronic 5000: the $39.90 Monome Rival
The Bliptronic 5000
createdigitalmusic posted some hacking tips, including information on how to build your own MIDI clocking and how to create a "switchonome". Another post by runagate describes how to Turn A $50 Bliptronic 5000 Into A Monome Controller [update: Bliptronome conversion kit for $68 USD].
Information via ThinkGeek:
Product Features
* Unusual retro synthesizer is played with a grid of glowing buttons
* Create looping patterns and change them dynamically while playing
* Chain multiple units together and create more complex melodies
* One octave range. 8 notes can be played simultaneously
* 8 different old-skool synth sounding instruments to choose from
* Sounds created using FM waveform synthesis
* Set the BPM (beats per minute) from 60 to 180 in 20 BPM increments
* Built in speaker with headphone jack and line-out jack
* Front panel is constructed from brushed aluminum
* Includes, manual and 2 link cables for connecting additional Bliptronic units
* Requires 4 x AA batteries (not included)
Cycling74 Max/Msp 6 – code generation, GPU programming, new features
The company Cycling74 announced Max/Msp 6 which will arrive fall 2011. Prices have been lowered, starting from $59 for a student 12-month license. Upgrade prices for existing Max5 users will be $199, if there will be a "max for live" upgrade fee is not known at the moment.
Main news are:
- Performance: code generation, HTML5 and a new 2d Graphics API in Javascript has been announced.
- Quality: "output gaps" should not be audible anymore when working on running patches, as well as "an advanced toolset for high quality rendering 3-D objects" has been announced. Jitter comes with a new physics engine and better support for 3D model and animation files. Better support for cameras and lighting, as well as a new "materials" systems have also been introduced.
- Workflow: a new attribute monitoring and editing workflow, as well as a "new project feature, where you can see all the patchers, code, and media files you’re using" has been announced.
You can read the full announcement at the Cyling74 website, as well as read the @cycling74 twitter feed for more recent updates.
Ableton Live 8.2.2 MaxForLive improvements + optimizations and bugfixes
Ableton Live was recently updated to version 8.2.2. The update is a huge step forward for the "Max for Live" API, which gets added support for Rack-Devices (Devices inside Racks can now be accessed via the Max for Live API) and Return Tracks (Return tracks can now be observed via the Max for Live API). This is a recommended update for every Ableton user, especially when using max4live. The latest max/msp (Max 5.1.8) requires Ableton Live 8.2.2 to work.
The release notes according to Ableton:
8Bitone and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 for iPhone
via wiretotheear: going 8bit with yudo iphone apps
8Bitone is a combination of a nonlinear audio editor and a chiptunes synthesizer. Vocoder SV-5
8Bitone (iTunes link) and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 (iTunes link) look like very nice and compact audio tools for the go. There so many other junk iPhone apps out there that actually something retro-fresh like those two apps really make my day. Together with the Nintendo DS I can build a minimal space sound studio soon ;)
see also:
* 8bitone on myspace
* creativeapplications.net - a closer look
* matrixsynth: behind the mask
* 8bitone review on macworld.co.uk
Owl Project: electronic musical instruments made of wood
Owl Project is a collaborative group of Manchester based artists who share interests in human interaction with technology and process led art. Over the last few years they have become known for a distinctive range of wooden musical and sculptural instruments that critique human interaction with computer interfaces and our increasing appetite for new and often disposable technologies.
The Future Sounds Like This: 10 Magnificently Modern Musical Instruments
via weburbanist: "The study of musical instruments (’organology’ – no, really) is the study of the human condition. Every culture is defined by its own distinctive set of trills, whistles, parps, honks and beats, and every corner of the world has evolved its own location-specific indigenous instrument to renew a sense of cultural identity through noisy self-expression. And instruments evolve – never more so than now, in the midst of a technological revolution that has opened up entirely new ways to make music. So settle back and compose yourself as we look at ten new instruments that look set to accompany us into the world of tomorrow."
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