Modulate This! - Electronic & Experimental Music Tech, Technique, & People

Novation Nocturn Compact Intelligent Plug-in Controller - specs, price, availability, video

From what I've seen coming out of the NAMM show, this looks to be the hot controller.

• Automap Universal 2.0
• 8 touch-sensitive rotary encoders. Each encoder has a bright eleven-LED ring.
• 8 user-assignable illuminated buttons
• Smooth 45mm cross-fader
• A touch-sensitive rotary encoder ("Speed Dial") that takes control of whatever your mouse is focused on!
• The buzz is this baby will only set you aback $100!
• Due out in April

Probably the most interesting aspect of this controller is bundled software that features a "heads-up transparent control GUI" that places a "transparent control map across your computer screen, to be recalled or hidden at will."

According to the video below, the "GUI" will be supported in future updates for the ReMote SL and ReMote SL Compact.

Video of Novation Nocturn in Action

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com

NAMM Show 2008 YouTube Channel + KORG Kaosillator

The 2008 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim just wrapped up. I was happy to find that NAMM created a YouTube channel for those of us who didn't get the opportunity to attend.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheNAMMShowChannel.

Here is a video highlighting some KORG products. They've released a cool little product called the Kaosillator.

Use this link if you can't see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30EX3s3uZSI

Here is the blurb from the official product page:

"The KAOSSILATOR is a new pocket sized instrument that packs Korg's world renowned synth sound along with innovative performance features into an ultra-compact unit. Anyone can instantly play musical phrases by simply tapping or sliding their finger across the KAOSSILATOR’s touch pad – no previous skills required! The KAOSSILATOR is a portable, travel friendly device that runs on batteries, so you can have fun creating music anywhere your life takes you, with seemingly endless possibilities. Whether you’re an established “tweaker”, an aspiring electronic artist or somewhere in between, KAOSSILATOR is one musical sketch pad that you should not be without!"

Mark Mosher
Blog: http://www.modulatethis.com
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/modulatethis

MacBook Air - Could This Be Your Next Music Laptop?

I just finished watching the Macworld 2008 keynote. The new MacBook Air looks pretty fantastic as a DAW for musicians on the go (with a big budget). Checkout the above video tour of the new MacBook Air (Can't see the video? Use this link).

It comes witheither an Intel Core 2 DUO 1.6GHZ or 1.8GHZ processor.

As you can see from this snapshot of the keynote, the MacBook Air has a 1.8" 80 GB HDD standard. But here is an interesting option - a 64 GB SSD (Solid State Disc).  How fantastic would that be for a laptop on stage! According to Macworld, "The hard drive is a Parallel ATA (PATA) model that operates at 4200 RPM." Of course it has USB so you can use faster drives if you work with large samples.

How did they get a Mac in that little package? Here is the mother board.

The laptop has a huge touchpad and supports gestures like "pinch" ala iPhone/iTouch.

All this does come with hefty price tag though. The base price will be $1,799. In the keynote, Jobs indicated that the the Solid State Disc version would be "pricey", but "fast" . How pricey. Well hang on to your hat. According to Cnet, "Moving up to the SSD drive and faster CPU drives the price up from $1,799 to a whopping $3,098".

Apple is taking pre-orders and will ship in the end of January.

If any of you reading this ends up picking one of these up for music production, please leave a comment on this post and let the rest of us know about your experience.

Visit http://www.apple.com/macbookair/ for more info.

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com

EditorsKeys - computer Keyboard Sticker Sets for Audio, Graphic, and Video Editing

 

Here is a simple idea that might save you some time - application specific keyboard sticker sets. I've listed the supported applications below. Alas, no stickers for FL Studio or Ableton Live. Perhaps we should email the good folks at EditorsKeys and make requests.

See www.editorskeys.com for more info.

Audio Editing

• Reason (pictured)
• Cubase
• Sonar
• Pro Tools
• Logic Pro

Graphic Editing

• Photoshop

Video Editing

• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Premier
• Avid
• Final Cut
• Sony Vegas

reFX Vanguard Update 1.7.2

Vanguard has been updated to 1.7.2. You can download the update from http://www.refx.com/?lang=en&page=downloads/products.

According to this page to a post in their forum here is what's new:

Changes:

• RTAS support has been removed completely. It was never officially supported by reFX and created a LOT of problems. It took us several months to implement and in the end the results where not satisfactionary. Also the demand is a lot lower than anticipated.

Fixes:

• Replaced the voice-stealing mechanism to avoid clicks.
• Save preset/bank dialogs have a default filename now. “.fxp”/”.fxb” gets appended automatically (if not already present).

Happy New Year - Meet My New Controller the Novation reMote 25 SL

Ok, I'm a little late with my New Years wishes - but better late than never.

Posts have been scarce as I've been off the grid for a bit with the holidays and all, but I will start posting articles again soon. I've also got some improvements in mind for the blog in 2008 that I will be rolling out over the next few months. Here is to a creative and prosperous New Year!!!

I also wanted to mention that Santa left a Novation ReMOTE 25 SL MIDI Controller under the tree :^). The controller is simply fantastic when used with Ableton Live.

Stay tuned for some posts about setup and usage.