The Icicle

Structure

You’re going to see one of two pictures of this thing if you search for it on the internet.  There’s this version (and its variants):

And then there’s this version and (its variants):

I wish that the Icicle felt as solid and sturdy as that first photo.  I mean, damn, look at that thing.  The chassis is brushed metal with rubber along certain edges for protection.  There’s even a bit of ribbed rubber where the USB cord meets the main housing to keep the wire from kinking.  Unfortunately, the second, plastic Icicle is the true Icicle.  Plastic except for the XLR contacts.   If you were to

The AudioBuddy: Actually Pretty Nice

Structure

Metal body with sturdy plastic knobs.  If you were to drop it from over your head, it would probably survive the fall and work fine.

Function

Idiot proof.  If the connection fits, that’s probably where it goes.  Turn the knob to the right for more signal.  If you need phantom power, press the button marked phantom power.  The market is saturated with devices that depend on software or a menu of some kind to gain access to hundreds of parameters, most of which you’ll never use.   But the AudioBuddy

Why Pre-Mixing Your Electronic Instruments is a Good Idea.

You are a modern band.  In addition to your drums, guitar, bass, you’ve brought along your keyboard, your other keyboard, your drum machine, your laptop, your Thingamagoop, and your circuit bent Speak & Spell.

And all this stuff, as wonderful as it is, is causing a crisis of conscience:  Someone, somewhere told you that you should never mix anything from the stage.  ’You can’t hear things properly from that perspective’ they said.  ’Let the pro do their job,’ they said.

But as you look at your plethora of outputs you can’t help but feel as though you’re asking a lot, maybe too much, of the man or woman behind the mixing desk.  So, should you stay true to the ideal of using and objective audio engineer and let them mix everything from their perspective off the stage OR do you solve what you’re fairly sure will be a logistical problem of too many inputs by bringing your own mixer, thereby committing the sin of mixing from the stage.

Make it Go: Keying Video with Adobe Creative Suite (Green Screen)

You need to key something. You were pretty sure buying the Adobe Creative Suite meant that you had the capability, but nothing seems to work.  Everything you’ve tried gets you get one of two results:

1. bits of your subject around the edges get keyed out (you don’t want that)
2. bits of your green background around the edges of your subject are left in (you don’t want that either)

You sought help in various video edtiting and post production forums.  The advice you got probably centered on your lighting.  ”You have to have perfect lighting, and a perfectly smooth green background with no variation in shading or color whatsoever,” they told you.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to reshoot (with a different camera or different lights or a different green screen).  You just need to use the right tools.

Rehearsing for Cowards? Don’t Kid Yourself.

If you’ve not read anything by Seth Godin, consider doing so.  While I disagree with him in this particular instance, I find myself agreeing with and learning from him far more often (every other time he’s opened his mouth or put pen to paper).

Now that the praise is out of the way . . .

A recent post of his – Rehearsing is for Cowards – got me thinking that, no, rehearsing is most decidedly not for cowards.

I think I understand what Seth is saying when he says you shouldn’t ‘rehearse,’ you should ‘explore’.  Well, sure.  Whenever you’re practicing your mind should be open to change and new ideas. During a live performance the spontaneous energy of your audience and the performers can push your show in a different but more engaging direction than you had originally intended.  Insisting that your performance and the performances of those around you be exactly the same every time is doing yourself a disservice.  But there’s somthing about his language (“repetition,” “regurgitation”) that I feel casts good old woodshedding in a negative way (which it doesn’t deserve).

Consider the following:

Make it Go: The Launchpad as Monome (Part 2 – MIDIYoke and Polygome)

Welcome back! Last time, we went over the initial setup of the Launchpad as Monome and reviewed rudimentary use of the beat shuffling program MLR. If you’ve gone through that how-to, you’re prepared for what will follow in this article. If you haven’t, I highly reccomend you complete at least the first part (Initial Setup) of that tutorial. If you’ve got no need for beat shuffling, you can skip the MLR portion.

Also, in case you did not get ahold of it last time, here’s every program you’ll need in one convenient package:
Launch-Mono Starter Kit.zip

Intro to Polygome

First, plug in your Launchpad and launch nonome. Depending on what you were doing last time you used a Max5 patch, nonome might try to access ASIO4ALL, even though it does not need any audio outputs.  Why? Max5 Runtime will try to use the same audio device

A Taste of What’s Possible (Also, a Shameless Plug)

Seeing as I’ve been posting Launchpad how-to’s, I thought I should also share what it’s capable of.  A lot of the video demonstration of the Launchpad are duds, and I don’t want anyone left with the impression that it’s less of an instrument.

This thing really is worth the $200.

Make it Go: The Launchpad as Monome (Part 1 – Startup and MLR)

So, you’ve finally got yourself a launchpad.  You’ve installed the drivers and the ‘Launchpad Edition’ of Ableton Live. . . .

. . . and you are totally underwhelmed.

The clip launching is nice but that’s not what you got it for, is it?  You want to slice clips, make drones, and step sequence monome style.

Well, you can.  And, contrary to the instructions that come with the Launchpad would have you believe, you don’t have to spend a dime on Max4Live, or a full version of Ableton Live, or a full version of Automap.  Everything you need to geek out with your grid is available for free.  And I’ve collected it all in one convenient place.

Do I Need a Direct Box, A.K.A a “DI” ?

Congratulations, you’re in a modern band.  In addition to the basic vox, guitar, drums, bass, you’ve got yourself a keyboard player.  Or maybe you’re using a laptop.  Or maybe you’ve got a sampler or an iPod, or anything else that lacks the standard 3-pin XLR output.  You’ve probably heard about a DI or a Direct Box, and how it might make these devices sound better or perform better during a live performance.

So, do you need one?

Too Many Plugins

It’s time for me to come clean.

I have too many plugins.

A couple years ago, when freeware plugin creation became very popular, I developed a very bad habit.  When I saw a plugin that I liked, or thought might work in a new and interesting way, I would immediately download it.  Then I would usually find every other plugin by that creator and download it, also.  Then I would separate the effects from the instruments and organize them by creator.  And then I told myself that I would use it later.