Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
still waiting...
Well, it doesn't look like I will be holding it in my hands this weekend.
It would have been the perfect weekend for a new computer - it's raining, 55°F...
Thursday, September 27, 2007
amazonmp3
Amazon.com now offers DRM-free music downloads in mp3 format (256 kbps).
The files can be played back on any mp3 player, and can be previewed directly on Amazon's website. Their catalog currently contains more than 2 million songs.
The "Amazon MP3 Downloader" is a freely available application required to download albums (but not songs):
"The Amazon MP3 Downloader queues up all songs from an album for download, saves them all to a specific folder on your computer, and can import them automatically to your iTunes or Windows Media Player library. The Amazon MP3 Downloader offers customers the simplest way to download and import multiple songs in one easy step."
Amazon MP3 Downloads are currently only available in the U.S.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
AnywhereCD
Michael Robertson wrote about his business failure - AnywhereCD.
Even though his article is an interesting read (and I kind of like the idea of paying for an album once, having immediate access to the purchased music in the form of mp3s, while I'm waiting for the CD to arrive in the mail) - why do people (and record labels) still think that $15 and more is a reasonable price to ask for a CD?
The last CD I bought was Year Zero, and I think it cost me roughly EUR 17 (about USD 23). To me, this is definitely the best album in all of 2007 - probably the only innovative album (that I know of) in ages. What I'm saying is, I think it is worth $15 or more.
But I'd rather reward the artist for producing something I appreciate, and not a record label. It costs next to nothing to have CDs manufactured these days. Yet, they are much more expensive than many years ago, when it cost much more to manufacture them.
There are several ways this could work in the (near?) future: Artists could sell their music themselves. Labels could offer the customers to choose how much money within a certain range should go to the artist. I'm sure many other people have much better ideas than these.
$15 for a CD which costs 2-3 bucks (or less) to manufacture, with maybe $1 going to the artist, and the rest to the label?
I don't think so.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Prepared for Shipment
Ten days I had to wait for the status to update from "not shipped yet" to "prepared for shipment". I really hope they send it off tomorrow, so I will receive it this week.
The last couple of orders from Apple arrived the next day. Go figure...
Nine Inch Nails Open Source Remixes
After months of deliberation of nearly 200 fan submitted remixes, "The Limitless Potential" open source remix collection is finally available.
This 21 track collection of the very best Nine Inch Nails remixes can be downloaded absolutely free from Painful Convictions.
Thanks to Trent Reznor for providing the Multitrack files to the public to do with as they will, and the many talented artists who remixed the tracks.
Nine Inch Nails Open Source Remixes at Painful Convictions
Download the album via Torrent
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
NIN Tour Blog
This year's Nine Inch Nails tour around the world outside the United States is over. Throughout the tour, the band posted photos taken with their iPhones to a blog at nin.com. Archives of the NIN tour blog can be found at nin.e-lopo.com and ninblogs.wordpress.com.
New tour dates for the upcoming North American tour are expected to be announced soon. Hopefully they will keep using the photo blog!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
A Message From Trent
I actually bought Year Zero twice (on iTunes and CD), but he does have a point...
Monday, September 17, 2007
Ableton Live MIDI Mapping
I have been playing around with Ableton Live Lite 6 M-Audio Enhanced Edition (6.0.10), using a Roland Edirol PC-300 keyboard. This keyboard has a data entry slider, which can send on any MIDI control channel. By default it sends CC07 (master volume) - which works perfectly with Logic, but not in Live.
In Live, I click on MIDI at the top right corner, then I select one of the knobs or faders highlighted in blue. I move the data entry slider, but no new entry in the MIDI mappings browser appears. I do see the little MIDI indicator at the very top right flashing when I move the slider, but the MIDI control indicator (between the key-map and MIDI-map buttons) stays dark. I tried using different CCs, but nothing changed.
So, how come I cannot use this slider at all in Live? What am I missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Remember Floppy Disks?
Back in the 1990s I thought they were the most unreliable medium
besides VHS tapes. I just found 12 floppies from ca. 92-95, and 9 of
these 12 actually still work! They are more reliable now than they
were when they were new..! I was able to rescue lots of little MIDI
files that I recorded in my teenage years.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Logic Pro 8 Released
Amazing, for $499 you get Logic Pro 8, MainStage, Soundtrack Pro 2,
Studio Instruments, Studio Effects, Studio Sound Library, and more.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
R.I.P. Joe Zawinul
Good-bye Joe Zawinul, by far the biggest musical influence and
inspiration in my life.
