modulus

By David Cox

First published in Examiner.com

It is an uncanny thing to have grown up with a solid split between the worlds of keyboards as input devices for MIDI sounds, and guitars as exotic means to do the same thing. But times have changed, and guitars are now as capable a means of MIDI input as keyboards ever were. The YouRock2 guitar is a great thing to play having enjoyed the generation 1 YouRock guitar prior for several years. The greatly improved Radius Midi fretboard with its standard fret spacing and 22 frets is also a great addition to the setup also. It feels more like a regular guitar fretboard, and its response time in relation to the onboard processor is quicker.

The YouRock Generation 2 guitar has many upgrades from its predecessor, most notably a refined pickup system for more reliability and consistency. Gone is the subtle latency which broke the spell of triggering those big samples from before.YouRock2 has an Ableton Control launch pad at the top section of the neck and the fretboard can be split into zones and layers which means that those that make heavy use of the ’tap’ function (playing by tapping the fretboard rather than plucking the ‘strings’) can enjoy the idea of the fretboard as a kind of guitarists keyboard, with different areas serving as different instruments: bass for one side of the fretboard, organ for the other. One player can thus be a whole band. Especially when the built-in backing tracks are supplying the music backing.

The latest Firmware version is V1.580. If the players wishes to adjust the YRG to her playing style she can download the Control Panel application for MAC or PC and make adjustments to your guitar from there. Its all pretty amazing stuff. I can still remember the days when a guitar synth was something you paid money to go see someone like Andy Summers play as he was likely one of the few who could afford the mega-dollar dedicated guitar synth rigs (with thick industrial cables connecting massive multi-pin connectors to the guitar and interface boxes that looked like robot control panels from a car factory) in the early 1980s that could make the kind of sounds that are packaged right out of the box with YRG, and better.

I’ve been playing guitar on and off since 1975 and I’ve been looking for a guitar that lets me trigger my keyboard samples for a while now and the YRG2 could easily be it. I can sit and play the guitar, yet at the same time be invoking symphony orchestras, mellotrons, combo organs, or even other string instruments like banjos, mandolins etc. Its all about that response time and not having latency, and the YRG folks have been putting their energies into resolving the biggest issues that dog the MIDI guitarist – the simple sense that the sounds are not being triggered fast enough. Liquidating latency, as in the gaming world, is the holy grail of MIDI interface design, for obvious reasons.

It still takes time for the onboard sounds to load IF you rely only on the onboard sounds. Punch in a number, wait several seconds for the sound to load…The truth is, most of those who use the YRG2 in studio contexts will hook it up to virtual instrument boxes and thus use it as an alternative to a keyboard, so thought of as a “keyboard you play like a guitar” that won’t break the bank, it works best on this level for say, mid-size studio scenarios. So onboard sounds not being used by those who use the YRG2 as an input device only, will not matter. It is simply a MIDI controller.

Go get a YRG and play some samples, onboard or your own.

Here’s me messing around with it on sound cloud

The official YouRock website

Roku2 Streaming Media Player

First published in Examiner.com

By David Cox

There are so many ways to stream media onto a screen these days.The great advantage of streaming media players today is that they offer a means to bring the increased number of channels into the home to the modern HDTV set which for all intents and purposes today is essentially a glorified computer monitor. But many people still use regular standard def TV sets and even non-television display systems like data projectors and head mounted displays.

Media players and set top boxes are basically devices that act as gateways to these subscription-based streaming services, and that enable the provision of an increasingly dizzying array of to-the-set media that via the players is fast outstripping linear media alone. The Roku3 for example now offers a range of games to play with its motion control Wii-mote-like remote control. I’ reviewed the Roku 3 back in November 2013 and it is a very solid system.

The Roku 2 is a dedicated streaming device that as would be expected, does not perform quite as well as the Roku 3. It could not be expected to, its processor being slower. It is just as satisfying to use as a streaming media player. It is not as quick to respond to remote button actions, events take slightly longer and this is noticeable after using a Roku 3 for while. But the inclusion of the headphone socket in the remote of both the 2 and the 3 is an innovation that sets this device apart from the others in general, including the AppleTV, bar none. Its a small design touch, but one that takes into account the intimate nature of shared streaming viewing and the simple fact that usually not everyone wants to hear the sound of “Columbo” reruns at 3 a.m.!

Roku2 does not have the motion control feature on the remote which is only an issue if you are playing games, Wii-style. The Netflix user interface has changed recently and the older Roku2 does not support it, but this is not something that affects my use of this one service particularly. The Roku 2 lacks the 3’s USB socket, which is not such a big deal if all you are doing is streaming media online, and it also lacks the 5X processor of the Roku3 which is demonstrably faster in most instances, but once a stream is running, the differences are negligible.

Unlike the Roku3 which has only HDMI out, Roku2 sports both HDMI and composite outputs which means it can be connected via an HDTV or a standard definition TV. This is a bigger deal than it sounds when you consider what we used to call in the games business ‘the user installed base’, or ‘the number of people out there with the equipment to actually use the media that earn the money’. There is no YouTube channel with the Roku2, but depending on your views on this service, this may or may not be such a bad thing.

The composite line out signal means, for example, that I can use the device with such pre HDMI legacy display systems such as an old head mounted display I have. I can watch Netflix via my Virtua IO glasses (bought for $800 in 1998 at the height of the LAST VR boom!). Forget Oculus Rift, or Project Morpheus! THIS is the real deal!

So there are advantages of using the older Roku2 over the Roku3 if the speed of the response time of the interface is not such a concern, and you have a standard definition TV and not an HDMI.

I really like the idea of being able to use the device with an older TV set, or to plug the device into something that is not purely digital even (like VHS video recorder, assuming the content is copyright free of course, as much indeed is!).

In this regard, it shares with the original Nintendo Wii a sense of the reality that many people still own TV sets that have the red, white and yellow RCA sockets in them, and that this is a legitimate section of the community who still deserve to be able to watch streaming content without having to use what are, let’s face it, oversized computer monitors.

The Roku 2 Official Website

First published in Examiner.com

by David Cox

Since the earliest days of cinema, movies have fallen into roughly two categories: ‘drama’ in which a story is told and the screen stands in for the ‘stage’ of the play or bindings of a book. And the ‘ride’; a visceral sensation-based thrill, closer to the roller coaster in which the idea of seeing the film is to experience a dangerous event vicarously. George Miles provided the narrative ride-fantasies of films like “A Trip to the Moon” while the Lumiere Brothers provided documentary thrill rides like “A Train Pulling Into a Station”.

In the early 1960s, Morton Helig developed “Sensorama”. The Sensorama was a machine that is one of the earliest known examples of immersive, multi-sensory (now known as multimodal) technology. Morton Heilig saw theater as an activity that could encompass all the senses drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. He called it “Experience Theater”. The Sensorama in being able to display stereoscopic 3-D images in a wide-angle view, provide body tilting, supply stereo sound, and also had tracks for wind and aromas to be triggered during the film anticipated many of the ride films of today.

In 1989 I remember going to Disneyland to see the then brand new “Star Tours” exhibit. Using hydraulic seats that synchronized the movement of the auditorium bleachers with the motion of the onscreen “Star Wars” based ‘ride’ film, this type of ride/movie was new for its day as outside of commercial flight simulators, on which the technology was based, this type of themed ride/movie had not been seen & felt by many people at all.

TrioTech of Montreal, Canada and Alter of San Francisco today offer the 7D Experience at PIER 39 in San Francisco which is a 7D an interactive simulation ride featuring synchronized motion, projected 3D graphics and real time environmental special effects. As you ride and watch the 3D movie, feel wind in your hair, you battle enemies with your laser blaster and compete against fellow riders for the highest score. Its a combination of ride, movie and videogame.

The Zombie game/movie offers a ‘Walking Dead’ type scenario. The 3D movie opens with a helicopter shot flying over a ravine at night, lightening and thunder crashing. Cut to the inside of a cop car as you adjust the radio, when (of course) a Zombie jumps onto the hood of the car. The car steers off the road, down a hill into a cemetery where more zombies appear. After blasting these, you end up on a road having to shoot them off other cars, from bridges, and in rivers. Its great fun.

In addition to the 3D visual effects, riders will be immersed in an environment with wind machines, strobe lights, rapid motions seats, and personal laser blasters, where everyone interacts with the ride and competes for the highest score. I found myself getting extremely caught up in the action at times, especially during the moments where the vehicle I was in suddenly “drove off a broken bridge” 300 feet into a ravine. Some part of my brain set aside to respond to such events kicked in to warn me things were indeed quite bad. If anything the action is over all to quickly, with the audience wanting more. 20% more of the ride might help placate the sense that the whole thing is over before it starts, but I suppose the economics of the ride are balanced against the need for steady throughput of clientele. Its the old fairground adage: Roll up, roll up, and keep ’em moving!

Cinema returns to its origins with such experiences; right back to the beginnings of the days of the Lumiere brothers, even the Ringling Brotheres, Milies and (later) Helig.

Sensorama indeed!

http://7dexperience.com/

The HERO3+ Black Edition Camera – A Kino-Eye for Today

First Published in Examiner.com

By David Cox

The Hero3+ is a unique kind of product. Marketed as an action camera, it is in fact a whole new type of personal device as it enables a different set of possibilities in terms of the relationship of person to their environment, Wi-Fi and all.

These cameras are marvelous additions to everyday life and provide hours of footage that can be turned into professional film productions. You can also shoot stills – 12MP stills at up to 30 frames per second—for fast-action sequences. There is also a time lapse mode that enables automatic photo capture at 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30 or 60 second intervals. The “Continuous Photo” mode lets you capture full-resolution stills at a regular 3, 5 or 10 frames per second by holding the shutter button down continuously.

The first thing that strikes you about it when you open it up is the elegant and solid packaging. The camera comes mounted on a hinge-based platform that is also its display and packaging case. This transparent box can itself be used as a weatherproof housing for outdoor shoots. Thus an air of pragmatism, practicality and ‘action’ accompanies the device from the minute you unbox it. Inside there is a small remote control, ruggedized with rubber and a nifty lanyard for use when doing sports that lets you turn the camera on and off should it be mounted where you cannot easily get at it. This is charged as is the camera with supplied USB cables.

Footage is recorded directly onto microUSB flash cards which are inserted under a removable panel in the side, where a standard USB socket lives. This panel, being removable would be easy to lose, which is probably why a replacement is provided. Why not make it a sliding panel instead? Just a thought. The footage itself, due to the screen resolution involved is often of high frame weight, so the transfer times can be lengthier than I had expected. A 2 hour concert performance at 1280p took almost as long to transfer from flash memory to computer hard drive as it did to film, and some kind of hardware acceleration device to assist this would be useful.

The lens can be capped, and probably should be most of the time. A fixed ultra-wide angle, virtually fish-eye affair, the field of view favors the intended market’s ‘selfie’ video-while-doing-extreme-sports shot. The wider the angle the better for any moving shot, but should you need to un-widen a sequence, a downloadable software package for mac or PC allows you to do just that, though some loss of the frame information inevitably results from the width and height frame transformation – the image has to be stretched from something that looks like it covers a ball to something that covers the side of a shoebox, so some bits are lost, but the GoPro software is very easy to use and works well.

What makes the Go Pro camera so elegant from my point of view as a film maker is its very high-quality construction, its ease of use, and its beautiful but simple user interface based around a basic LCD display. A camera this small cannot have realistically have a display bigger than that supplied which is reminiscent of a small LCD watch. The menu-based interface is navigated by both the ‘choose’ and ‘record’ buttons on the front and top of the camera respectively. Evocative of the navigation of the menus of pre-smart phones, this process becomes surprisingly easy to master after a while, where actions such as setting still or video, video resolution, sound effects on or off etc become second nature. I like this aspect of the Go Pro the best, as it has enabled the camera to be no bigger than a matchbox, yet obtain shots that could quite literally be shown in an IMAX theater.

In the 1928 the Russian film maker Dziga Vertov made a film called ‘The Man with a Movie Camera’ about the new possibilities opened up by cinema. Cinema, he argued was not only for the world of entertainment and science but for life and society itself. He even wrote a manifesto called ‘Kino Eye’ in which the very act of recording life was the same as creating it. His movie shows he and his brother carrying a large camera everywhere they can carry it. To the top of massive chimneys, under trains, on motorcycles, on airplanes. If Vertov were around today, he’d ditch his hand-cranked 35mm cameras for a suitcase full of Go Pro Hero3+ cameras for sure.

Using the Go Pro Hero for several months has shown me the possibilities as a film maker of using sports action cameras as adjuncts to everyday life. I’ve used a lot of cameras since the late 1970s, and have developed a sense of which cameras work best for films about everyday life. Thirty years ago I carried a battery operated Canon super8 camera small enough to carry everywhere in my pocket. I could shoot short bursts, and this was my style of film at the time. More recently I’ve been using clip on cameras, 808 type keyfob cameras, iPhones, generic mp4 cameras from China that also let you play games. The rise of the H264 compression system and .mp4 has meant a massive increase in chipsets that record amazingly high quality video. What you pay for is the lenses and the CMOS, and the GoPro configuration is among the best, not the least due to the state-of-the-art battery technology and housing and mount system.

High-resolution, high-frame rate 1440p48, 1080p60, 960p100 and 720p120 video modes result in professional quality footage and allow for liquid-smooth slow motion playback. 4Kp15 and 2.7Kp30 enable ultra high-resolution, cinema quality capture.

Some technical specifications on video capture:

Video Format:

H.264 codec, .mp4 file format

Advanced Video Capture Settings

SuperView™

Video mode that captures the world’s most immersive wide angle perspective. Allows you to capture more of yourself and your surroundings in the shot, and provides full widescreen playback.

SuperView Settings

SuperView Mode Video Resolution

1080 SuperView 1920 x 1080

720 SuperView 1280 x 720

The Go Pro device is also sold (thankfully) with a waterproof housing. You can drop the camera in the water and it will record you & others swimming, surfing etc. The same housing is a rugged case that protects the camera from impact as well. The Go Pro is not just a camera but a whole family of brackets, mounts, and interlocking hinge based mounts and clips that enable the user to attach the camera onto any smooth surface for filming on the go.

The main market for the Go Pro is of course the extreme sport set but using it as a kind of regular video camera I have found that it makes a solid device for everyday use. If you treat it like a point and shoot, it will work in the same way, you can un-stretch those shots later; if indeed you want them un-stretched – the fish-eye shots take on a certain appeal of their own after a while.The lenses unscrew and are interchangable but this is by no mans a trivial or straightforward process, and lenses are often not sold along with the brackets and mounts in most of the stores I’ve visited and need to be ordered online.

The extreme wide angle lens that the camera comes with out of the box which is fine for surfboard shots or skateboard action or skydiving when you want to be sure that you are included in the free-fall sequence along with the surrounding environment. A Wi-Fi connection enables video preview as well as photo and video sharing with the downloadable GoPro App and also enables communication with the supplied remote control.

Jake Read flies quadrocopters and mounts Go Pro cameras on them and the greatest advantage for him of the Go Pro is the size and scale. The devices are small and lightweight enough to be mounted onto most flying platforms, the heaviest element being the (thankfully) removable rechargeable battery.

The screen resolution and frame rate options are very considerable for a device so small, and if anything possibly rather daunting to the newcomer, and in particular the availability of cinema-quality 4K resolution is welcome, enabling footage to hold up well on the big screen should it need to.

GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition is not only a camera. It is a whole personal video production family – mounts, extensions, lenses, housings.. It is a system of sports visualization tools and it currently dominates this one section of the market. It can be used in more ways than it is being sold for and it pays to think of it as more than simply a helmet camera for the adventurous, but a kind of mini-camera for everyday use. A kino-eye for today.

RRP $399.99

Click here to go to the GoPro.com website

By David Cox

It feels strange to have lived and worked through a time in video gaming history which is old enough now to seem vintage and collectable. This does not have to be that long a time in this industry. But to me the N64 is a platform from not so long ago.

To see N64 consoles behind glass in stores that sell exotic phone cases and strange gaming accessories for hipsters is both amusing and sentimental at the same time.

It makes sense that cartridges should be valuable. I remember at Beam Software in Melbourne working on games and burning them to EPROM chips. Games would have gone through lengthy testing processes; testing, revision, iterative tuning, modification etc for weeks and weeks until finally ready to to be committed to chips that would be then played on tester’s versions of consoles.

The collector is not the same thing as the media archeologist. The collector is concerned with completing a collection, with having something perhaps valuable to accrue in commercial resale, or to simply impress friends with. Core gamers like to show off, and having a copy of Bomberman 2 and a working N64 console to play it on would definitely fit the bill.

To have this alongside an original Atari 2600 console and a good selection of games, and a super rare vector graphics driven Vectrex even better. I bought a Pong console from a yard sale for $5 and use it in my classes.

I also have an admiration for those all-in-one direct-into-the-TV consoles that somehow using batteries and a single chipset fit all the arcade hits of say 1983 onto a single joystick shaped device enable a player to experience something fairly close to a game that would have cost 25c to play 30 years ago.

So next time you are at a yard sale or a thrift store and you see an old video game console, go ahead consider buying it and the games it comes with. Even it if has no resale value, you can consider yourself something of a media historian, preserving something of the legacy of medium that one day will disappear for good.

I remember when I was 19 and our first VCR was brought into the house back in 1982, a large Toshiba with a remote that had a cable connecting it to the unit. The controls were simple: play, stop, rewind, fast forward, and record.

It was heavy, it was expensive, and it took VHS tapes. The very idea of the VCR was tied directly to the notion that television was the main form of entertainment. Television came to the house via the airwaves, and the VCR let you record those events and watch them later. Rented tapes let you augment the broadcast experience. Making your own entertainment with porta-paks (VCRs with cameras attached, basically) was another form of entertainment, as was connecting a computer like an Acorn Electron or a Commodore Amiga to the back of the VCR with a cable was another. Today, the Internet is the source of entertainment for more and more people. Could it be that the ‘net is the source of entertainment for MOST people now?

The internet took time to develop as such a a dominant and ubiquitous form of entertainment. It began as a non-commercial form of exchange between government officials and scholars who wanted to annotate documents. A noble aim. As compression technologies and bandwidth have increased since the early 1990s, and accelerated in the past five years, now over half of the internet traffic, some have argued, is taken up by Netflix and Youtube. Video streaming is demanding on bandwidth, and there is massive demand.

Part of this demand is the rise of the dedicated set-top-box media stream player. Such a player is the Roku3.

The Roku3 media streaming player works right out of the box. I was surprised at first by how small it was, expecting anything that connects to a TV to be much bigger.

Roku players connect directly to your TV and to your high-speed Internet service via your home network.

1. A TV

2. HDMI cable for high definition.

3. Broadband Internet connection with a Wi-Fi router.

There are no recurring fees for using our players, and every player is packed with hundreds of free channels to enjoy right out of the box. While we don’t charge a monthly subscription, some the Roku partners do. You choose what you pay for and what you don’t. You access your existing subscriptions like Netflix, Hulu Plus or MLB.TV, all the usual providers.

Pandora, SOMA FM and Spotify are there, as is a useful USB player app that lets you play directly from any compatible USB drive, effectively turning the ROKU3 into personal media player.

I recommend the ROKU 3.

Here is the link to the Roku3 website

• Report this content

First published in Examiner.com

By David Cox

The whole point of small speakers was to have powered amplification where you needed it

outside or in situations where you could not plug in easily. The 6X AAA battery-powered Roland Microcube and its ilk filled a niche for a while about 10 years ago, for guitarists and keyboardists, and did the job pretty well, but these were really solid mini-stage amps, scaled down for small cafes and busking, not really suitable for say DJ-ing in galleries or at a party. If you were trying to play your iPad through them, it was like using a loud-haler – not much subtlety to the highs & lows, but okay if you were ripping it like Curt Cobain. The alternative really was to bring a small hi-fi but that again is a different kind of experience, and not really a self-contained speaker as such and you’re still plugged in to that wall socket.

But now both speaker technology AND battery technology have advanced such that very powerful and very high quality speakers can be manufactured that pack a fairly hefty wallop when it comes to delivery of sound and bass response, while at the same time leaving a relatively small footprint. Studio monitor speakers, once the sole preserve of high end recording booths have escaped into the laptop bags and DJ kits of the smart device generation and have joined the plethora of hardware of peripherals that accompany the sample driven music performance world of today.

IK Multimedia, today launched iLoud®, the first portable stereo speaker designed for studio monitor quality on the go, is now available from music instrument and consumer electronics retailers worldwide. The iLoud battery-operated speakers combine superior power, pristine frequency response and amazing low end in an ultra-portable design that makes it the perfect alternative to studio speakers for music creation, composition and playback on the go.

Loud Clear and Bassy, like a Lo-Rider at Night in San Francisco’s Mission District going by Low and Slow my Brother.

The iLoud speaker is indeed very loud. In fact, it’s 2 to 3 times louder than comparable size speakers – a blasting 40W RMS of power. But iLoud is extremely clear at all volume levels thanks to an onboard DSP processor and a bi-amped 4-driver array of high efficient neodymium loudspeakers, that provide accurate, even response across the entire frequency spectrum for unbelievable realism of sound. For deep bass response iLoud’s bass-reflex allows frequencies to go down to 50hz, an amazing low end for this small enclosure.

I’ve been using the iLoud for a few days now with Netflix and DVDs and have been amazed at how much I can actually hear on these movie soundtracks that would otherwise remain hidden. I’m talking about very densely mixed films like Ip Man (both 1 and 2) and that true litmus test for all movie sound design perfectionists, Dennis Hopper’s 1988 Gang-vs-Gang-vs-Cops film Colors (play it LOUD!!). For more on why this film is so important for understanding the importance of film sound, see this excellent article by Philip Brophy.

iLoud is the ideal speaker for musicians and audiophiles who demand an accurate reproduction of a wide range of musical styles from rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music, to more nuanced and sonically demanding genres like jazz, classical and acoustic.

Portability and the types of gigs this implies.

The iLoud speaker is powered by a high-performance Li-ion rechargeable battery with smart power-management features that reduce its power consumption so that it can be used for up to 10 hours without recharging. This makes iLoud an ideal portable speaker solution for mobile musicians. I find it will fit in a backpack very easily for gigs I can prepare for of the sort previously that would have required different ways of thinking about in terms of transport. I’m thinking; playing soft electric guitar via the iPhone at the cafe table or in the backseat of a car. Or playing keyboard WITH movie soundtrack in small gallery with a dataprojector to a group of 20 visitors, but on the sidewalk or in the alleyway with the barbecue and the beer buckets.

The Real Innovation – Wired and Wireless Connectivity

iLoud supports Bluetooth operation for wireless audio streaming anywhere and everywhere from a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android smartphone or tablet for casual listening. For sound sources like MP3 players that do not have Bluetooth capabilities, the iLoud also has a stereo 1/8″ mini-jack input for connecting line-level devices such as home stereos, DJ gear, mixers, MP3 players, and more.

Plug and Play Convenience

iLoud also offers the ability to connect a guitar, bass or dynamic microphone directly to the speaker and process the sound with a multitude of real-time effects apps on iOS devices. It features the same circuitry as IK’s iRig – the most popular mobile interface of all time – and allows users to plug in guitars or other instruments and access AmpliTube or other audio apps on their mobile device for practicing, performing and recording. The input also accommodates dynamic microphones, making it possible to run an app like IK’s VocaLive for real-time vocal effects and recording.

I recommend the iLoud for the experience of having a well-made and truly portable RECHARGEABLE (very important) speaker that is truly studio quality with you whenever you need it. And watch “Colors” with it when you get a chance. LOUD!!

Pricing and Availability

iLoud is priced at $299.99/€239.99 (excl. tax) and is available now from the IK network of music and electronic retailers around the world.

For more information, go to:

www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloud

For a comprehensive collection of videos that showcases iLoud’s feature set, go to:

www.ikmultimedia.com/iloud/video

iRig Blueboard

When performing as Telescape, I often get up to play my guitar or bass or even my keyboard array through a series of effects pedals. These include revolving speaker emulators, tape loops, delay, reverb and chorus and the like. I have a range of traditional pedals, and even some multi-pedal boards. But what I cannot do it go in and easily modify the parameters of these effects, or add to them quickly should I need to. If I am in the middle of a gig and I decide I suddenly need say a compressor, I can’t just go out to the guitar emporium and buy one. Its not ptractical, but with contemporary smart-device driven effects solution, I can just download my effects. But then, with so many effects stored on my iPad or iPhone or whatever I’m using, how best to toggle between them as I play? How can I treat these effects as if they were ganged together like my traditional ones are by little patch cords such that I can select them one by one as I need them?

iRig® BlueBoard, a wireless MIDI pedalboard for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac, which gives guitarists, bassists, vocalists and keyboard players hands-free wireless control of mobile and Mac music apps, is now available.

Hands free – cable free

iRig BlueBoard is the first wireless MIDI pedalboard for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac that uses Bluetooth technology to transmit MIDI messages to control app and software functions and features. I can now use iRig BlueBoard to control the parameters on my favorite music making apps as well – such as stompbox effects on/off, preset patch-switching on the fly, volume or wah control, or any other MIDI controllable function. I found that the set-up is pretty much as simple as turning on the power and launching the iRig BlueBoard companion app and assigning the backlit pads to the desired control function. It works out of the box.

Unlike the old traditional pedal rigs that used 9V batteries, and kept their power to themselves or used giant AC adapters, the iRig BlueBoard uses Bluetooth 4.0 (LE – Low Energy) technology to transmit the actions of its four onboard, backlit footswitches and its two optional external devices to the mobile device or Mac. Then, using the iRig BlueBoard app (download from the App StoreSM) and software (download from the IK web site User Area), the Bluetooth signals are converted into MIDI messages and routed internally to the music app that’s running on the device.

The ultimate app control

Any music app or Mac music-software application that is MIDI compatible (the standard communication protocol for musical instruments) – such as IK’s AmpliTube, VocaLive, SampleTank, iLectric Piano, iGrand Piano – or any other Core-MIDI-compatible app like Apple’s GarageBand, can be controlled wirelessly. iRig BlueBoard is also expandable – musicians can add up to two standard additional expression pedals or footswitches via the unit’s two TRS 1/4″ expansion jacks, allowing for control of continuous rotary functions like wah effects, volume, EQ, gain control, etc.

For a guitarist or vocalist using a mobile multi-FX app like AmpliTube or VocaLive as a sound processor, iRig BlueBoard provides the foot-controlled functionality and convenience of a pedalboard, but with a form factor so compact and portable that it can easily slide into a backpack, a laptop bag or an instrument case.

Because it’s wireless, iRig BlueBoard puts musicians on stage without being tethered to their mobile device. The unit’s range is 10 meters (over 32 feet), giving players a great deal of mobility to roam the stage that would be impossible with a wired unit. Because the footswitches are backlit, they’re easy to see in all lighting conditions, even on a dark stage.

The fact that iRig BlueBoard uses wireless Bluetooth leaves all the wired ports of the device free, so they can be used simultaneously by interfaces or controllers that feature the 30-pin or Lightning connector, like IK’s iRig PRO, iRig HD, iRig MIDI or iRig KEYS, and adapters or microphones that use the device mini-jack such as iRig, iRig PRE or iRig Mic.

Ultra compact, ultra portable

iRig BlueBoard is extremely compact, light and portable, measuring only 27 cm wide x 9 cm deep (10.6″ x 3.5″) and only 2 cm (0.8″) tall. It’s extremely lightweight, but with a sturdy, stageworthy chassis and four footswitches made of soft-touch rubber and designed for durability.

iRig BlueBoard is battery powered using 4 standard AAA batteries (included), and because it uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), it draws very little power giving it extremely long battery life for extended operation.

iRig BlueBoard is compatible with iPhone 5 and 4S, iPad 3rd and 4th generation, iPad Mini, and iPod touch 5th generation. For Mac, it’s compatible with any model that supports Bluetooth 4.0 / Bluetooth Low Energy, like any MacBook Air, Mac Mini, or MacBook Pro that was released after June 2012.

As with other IK’s accessories, iRig BlueBoard is manufactured in Italy in IK’s own factory for the highest quality and reliability.

Pricing and availability

iRig BlueBoard is priced at $99.99 / €79.99 MSRP (excluding taxes), and is available now from IK’s network of music and electronic retailers around the world, and from the IK online store.

For more information, please visit: www.irigblueboard.com

Use your key for the next article

By David Cox

“What role does urban planning play in the development of online, multi-user environments and communities?”

The city of contemporary experience is a dense web of interconnecting fibres, cables, lines, and connections. Overlaying the physical infrastructure of institutions with their corridors, doors, alarms, offices, and telecommunications are the invisible wireless signals, satellite feeds and other unseen yet omniprescent systems of messaging in all its form.

The sea of information which surrounds us in the contemporary city is more than a mere adjunct to the physicality of buildings, streets, public squares, malls and habitats. Life is to a large extent increasingly mediated by the conditions of a global digital system of commerce and governance. Those unconnected must pay the price of an often externally imposed set of social relations, which are for the most part a sophisticated extension of the traditional social system, reliant upon a stark division of labour. Capital, and its urban manifestations have remained largely unchanged since the days of the weaving loom, steam engine and the child labour factory. Those in power will always seek to coerce others to see the world as it, through them, appears to be: an uneven and skewed office, workplace and shopfront, where freedom from drudgery and boredom always seem to be just out of reach, forever a mirage of what could be possible.

But amidst this ocean of inequality borne aloft by the surface tension of global digital technology are emerging, paralell to those deemed official by those in power, alternatives to the system as it stands. Experimenters, playful artists, and those who refuse to cede to the expected aquiescence to capital are carving new and fascinating types of media usage. These are the public media activists, the programmers, graphics people, musicians and creative libertarians who have adapted the refuse of what Guy Debord called the media Spectacle, and turned the one way glass of computers and communications into a window of social possiblity.

Behind the creative use of media is a willingness to experiment, to identify the needs of society above and beyond those of the balance sheet. So plentiful are cast-offs devices that people around the world are learning to assemble not only working machines from the bits and pieces of the flotsam of the world of business, but are connecting these machines and making them available to those who genuinely need them for literacy, and communications, learning and social development. The Raspberry Pi computer, available for $25 can do as much as a Pentium could ten years ago, and more.

Thus new cities are being constructed alongside those of the traditional social systems of the past. For what is a building and a street but a technological method for the cultivation of civic life, with all that goes with it. Computers only require the physical space, electricity and communications links which enable them to be turned on, and used. A cast off machine can hide under a counter in a space no bigger than a drawer, and yet serve web pages, software and material with the entire world. A refurbished laptop can run alone, in a back room or a hidden place and act as the rallying point for a global movement!

The collision of physicality and virtuality in the urban mileu thus gives rise to new types of architecture – that of the hybrid city. The hybrid city is the blend of city space with the imagined spaces of the mind and minds of those connected via networks and software. As the late William J Mitchell in “City of Bits” once observed, the arrival of Automatic Telling Machines eventually gave rise to the gradual collapse of the very idea of the bank – a large building in a city which holds money and keeps it for people.

Money itself assisted in the collapse of the local bank by becoming increasingly unattached to its real world referents – cash, cheques etc. It was the networks rather than the automatic machines at the end of them which people use, hence a ‘bank’ can be anywhere connected to the banking network. Decentralised, dephysicalised, and cut adrift from the domain of urban fixity, banks now largely operate as token ‘end points’ on the global system of the circulation of capital which as McKenzie Wark dryle noted “like rust, never sleeps”.

In rural Australia in the mid 1990s, the collapse of the bank branch had serious effects on the makup and nature of life in small towns and provincial cities. People who had never needed to understand, use or deal with electronic systems of banking had relied upon knowing the teller behind the counter, and were quite happy with the pre-digital system of paper, pens, cash and other physical processes. For one thing, visiting the bank might have been the central purpose for a lengthy trip to an urban space, which would have also been the opportunity to perform other errands and tasks. When the banks went digital in outback Australia, locals know that the writing is on the wall for the town as a whole. Where the networks supplant the buildings, ghosts towns of isolation take their place.

But if networks and computers are ‘obsoleting’ cities as we once knew them, might there be opportunities for networks and computers to create meaningful cities in their place? Where computers and networks proliferate, very often so do economic and social and cultural systems. Could it be that it actually does not matter if the networks support commerce or not? Simply enabling people to connect, and to view connection itself as the basis for participation in hybrid urban life fulfills the promise of digital communications as a kind of global adhesive.

As computers proliferate, there is also emerging a kind of global culture of connectivity such that non government organisations, human rights groups, and other non-profit, people based institutions can fill the void which money, vacuum like robs from the social and civic life of cities. Cities are altering to reflect these emerging alterations to the fabric of urban experience.

It is entirely possible, because of the widespread influence of computer networks for those not connected to worldwide money making for people to take the cast-offs from businesses and put them to more social uses. Many companies are happy for people to take obsolete machines off their hands. Some charity groups have emerged around the world who refurbish old machines and pass them on at little or no cost to those who need them. Firms are often quite willing to contribute to social programs in exchange for publicity, always the currency in a media dominated world.

Anything from old cameras, laptops and networking hardware can find their way into the hands of those who ask for them, the primary motivator being the desire to see the unconnected join the global agora that is the internet. It is the process of asking which is the key. An understanding of the organic nature of city life can give the media activist a sense of contributing to new types of uses for urban culture – simply adapting what is around to the needs of the population can alter the nature and appearance of the city for the activist as much as the multinational.

Media culture is largely a one-way mainstream juggernaut, whose tentacles spread to all corners of the globe. Cable television, satellite news, and giant telecommunications firms have succeeded in making the world itself a kind of configured ‘desktop’ where filtered information and ideas relevant to the most powerful countries are the only ones allowed through. But with every branch office, and with every commercial spinnoff which accompany the global spread of media hegemony come the trickle down bits of hardware, software and the skills which are required to use them.

The author pictured with product.

First published in Examiner.com

IK Multimedia announces iRig PRO,

the “all in one” universal audio/MIDI interface for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac

By David Cox

IK Multimedia, iRig Pro

iRig PRO allows professional recording musicians to connect

microphones, guitars, line instruments or MIDI devices on the go

I recorded a song with iRig PRO with my iPad using Garageband. I chose a genre that in its day connoted a kind of ‘confidence of the street’. I called the song ‘Bending & Shutting Em’. For the job I used IK Multimedia’s new iRig PRO interface, which works exactly like a standard interface device for keyboard, microphone, guitar input etc, such as those put out by M-Audio and other famous brand names. The difference is that it is small. Very small. Small enough to put in your pocket. It is powered by its own 9V battery, and has inputs for phono and XLR mic, as well as adapter cables for MIDI via the connectors for iPhone/iPad, and the newer Lightening cables.

I used the MIDI attachment first; from my trusty Midiman keyboard (pictured) to the iRig pro via the multi-pin MIDI cable to the iPad. I used a Hammond-y organ sound with Leslie revolving speaker for the first track. Next came the real moment of truth. An actual organic, unbalanced unamplified 1991 MIM Fender stratocaster going directly in. I used one of the amps built into Garage band – the clean amp sound with a hint of tremolo and I admit I was very surprised how the LED indicator on the iRig pro kept its own around the orange level and never peaked. It seemed to ‘know’ to stay at the right level, with the gain knob on the device set to about 1 o’clock.

Next came the bass line. Again, usually going directly in with a bass guitar to any electronic device can be asking for disaster, but the iRig PRO did its job once again and held the levels true, with the same settings I’d used for the strat. Very nice.

The final track can be heard here:

Takeaways:

The pocket-sized, battery-powered and fully portable, iRig PRO is designed to give mobile musicians and songwriters an interface that can handle the widest variety of audio input signals, so they can create music and audio on the go anywhere, any time.

iRig PRO accepts virtually every type of audio and MIDI input, making it the most versatile compact interface on the market. Users can plug in a dynamic or condenser microphone; a guitar, bass or other Hi-Z instrument; or any line-level source.

Additionally, iRig PRO is equipped with a MIDI input for keyboards, pads and controllers, making it a truly universal compact interface for recording and composing on the go or in the studio. Its audio and MIDI inputs can be used simultaneously, for example, to control guitar or vocal software with MIDI foot controllers or pedals, for switching presets or controlling effects levels.

Plus, iRig PRO comes with a suite of IK’s best music-creation apps like AmpliTube, VocaLive, SampleTank, iGrand and iRig Recorder, and is compatible with most audio and MIDI processing apps for the mobile musician. Mac users will also enjoy the inclusion of premium software with iRig PRO, like AmpliTube, T-RackS and SampleTank, and will appreciate the unit’s compatibility with any type of music-creation software.

Universal Inputs

iRig PRO features a high-quality 1/4″-XLR combo input connector for connection with standard XLR cables, 1/4″ mono line or instrument signal cables, and a switchable 48V phantom power supply for use with studio condenser microphones. It has an ultra-low-noise, high-definition microphone-and-instrument preamp; a high-quality 24-bit A/D converter; a preamp gain control; plus LED indicators for device status, MIDI, phantom power and signal level.

iRig PRO is powered by the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, or USB, when used with instruments or a dynamic microphone. A 9V battery (included) provides phantom power to compatible microphones. iRig PRO also features a standard MIDI input for connection of MIDI devices like drum machines, controllers and MIDI keyboards.

Universal Compatibility

iRig PRO comes with three detachable cables, compatible with Lightning, 30-pin and USB connectors, respectively, allowing for digital connection to every model of iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac, out of the box, with no need for adapters. A MIDI cable with a standard MIDI jack is also provided to connect the widest variety of MIDI-compatible keyboards and controllers.

iRig PRO is class compliant and compatible with Core Audio and Core MIDI, so it can be used with any audio and MIDI processing apps for iOS and Mac OS, for true plug-and-play performance without additional hardware/software.

Universal Apps and Software Included

For iPhone and iPad users, iRig PRO comes with a suite of IK Multimedia’s most popular apps for mobile music creation on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, including AmpliTube FREE (the #1 app for guitar players) for guitarists and bass players, VocaLive FREE for singers, SampleTank FREE and iGrand Piano FREE for keyboard players and iRig Recorder FREE for recording engineers.

Plus, all these apps work together with Audiobus integration, offering a truly complete set-up for making any type of music. Additionally, exclusive AmpliTube gear and SampleTank sounds are available as free add-ons for iRig PRO users.

For Mac users, iRig PRO includes AmpliTube Custom Shop, the industry standard guitar-and-bass processing software; a free version of AmpliTube Metal; T-RackS Custom Shop, the mixing-and-mastering effect suite with a free version of T-RackS Classic; and SampleTank XT, a sound workstation that includes over 1GB of sounds. All these software titles are available both as plug-ins for the most popular digital audio workstations (including GarageBand), or as standalone applications for immediate plug and play.

Features

• Balanced input for a mic-, line-level, or Hi-Z source, via XLR/1/4″ combo jack connector
• Preamp gain control
• High-quality mic and instrument preamp, low noise, high definition
• High-quality A/D conversion
• MIDI IN, compatible with iRig MIDI cables
• +48V phantom power provided by included 9V battery
• Sturdy, durable construction
• Powered by mobile device or USB when plugged into Mac
• 30-pin, Lightning, USB, and MIDI cables included
• Comes with complete suite of music-making software and apps:
• For Mac: AmpliTube Metal, T-RackS CS Classic mastering suite, SampleTank XT sound workstation
• For iOS: AmpliTube FREE for iOS (including Metal W amp, Metal 150 amp, Wharmonator stomp, X-Flanger stomp after registration); SampleTank FREE, a sonic workstation with 48 additional exclusive sounds (after registration); iGrand Piano FREE (includes Grand Piano 1 with Upright Piano 1 and Rock Grand 1 available after registering the app and hardware, respectively). And with the FREE iGrand Piano app, registering your iRig PRO instantly removes the 4-octave range limitation giving you access to all 88-notes of the instrument as in the full version.

Pricing and Availability

iRig PRO will ship in September from music and consumer electronics retailers worldwide for $149.99/€119.99 (exc. taxes). iRig PRO can now be ordered from the IK Online Store and select retailers.

For more information on iRig PRO, please visit:

www.ikmultimedia.com/irigpro