Greetings. I looked up and it’s been 2 weeks since my last post. Yikes.

I have been occupied with a combination of the mundane and the new. Here’s a quick list below (no particular order) of what has been occupying my time these last 14 days.

• Baby proofing and re-arranging our place
• Many, many trips to storage
• 4 colds among three people (daycare produces bio-bombs)
• Getting re-immersed in LOGIC by translating Mehdi from Digital Performer to LOGIC for further work*
• Preparing to review Sonic Charge’s SynPlant and ask Magnus Lidstrom some intelligent questions*
• Preparing for a half marathon that is only 7 weeks away
• Lots of changes at work that promise to make life more stressful
• Preparing info for taxes
• Starting a new tune (working title: ‘Undiscovered Moon’ and yes that will change)*

The stuff with an ‘*’ I’ll write more about soon.

By the by (and on a different topic): Stretta had a really nice blogpost the other day that I could relate to. It was called ‘The Stack of Dependencies”. Check it out here.

Straight from the new Google group set up by Peter McIlwain and crew at CEMA:

CEMA is pleased to announce that it has received additional funding to continue the development of Nodal. We are currently in the process of updating the current version, along with releasing a version that runs under Microsoft Windows. These new versions should be released around February 2009.

Further development of Nodal will continue in 2009, where we will move to charging a small fee to purchase an updated version of the software (Windows and Mac compatible). Fees collected will go back into further developments of the software. Updated versions will include technical support, a more detailed manual and tutorial guides. Please check back on this page throughout 2009 for updates.

This is exciting. I hope they figure out an easy way to sync this thing with my DAW… I highly recommend checking this out at the link below.

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• More info on Nodal is here.
• The Nodal Google Group is here.

This is just to call your attention to this gorgeous visual from Xavier Chassaing.


SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.

I came across this on Peter Kirn’s excellent blog CreateDigitalMotion. You need to go there to get the really fascinating story of how this was put together using (among other things) 35,000 seperate photographs…

This first picture was taken in January 1983. It’s my first “studio.” The previous Fall I had blown all of the cash I earned in the summer on a brand new Korg Mono/Poly, Roland TR-606 Drumatix, and a used Teac144 4-track cassette deck. It meant working a couple of different part-time jobs that year at school to get by.

Party like its 1983

I remember when I bought the 606. The sales guy tried also to sell me a TB-303. (I think this was at the dawn of MIDI so these two may have synced up via a proprietary Roland connector.)  I wasn’t interested. I figured: 1) I could maybe create those sounds on the monopoly via this thing called “synthesis” (whatever that was); 2) I was inspired to buy this stuff by my love for Brian Eno’s Music for Films, (and at the time) Klaus Schulze, Kitaro, and Jean Michele Jarre. What do I need something called a “bassline” for…?

*Sigh* That’s right up there with (years later) giving away my TR808 to a friend so he could trade it in for a Korg DW-8000 keyboard.

FabFilter has released FabFilter Twin 2, the next version of its Twin synthesizer plug-in. Featuring more oscillators, ring modulation, a new delay effects section and extensive modulation possibilities it’s a heck of update to the original.

FFTwin2 has a beautiful interactive interface design...

A really great feature is the approach to the interface:

• First, only the elements actually used in the patch are represented in the interface. So if you are just using a single oscillator+filter+envelope in your sound, that’s all you will see. Add more elements and they will appear.
• Second, hovering over any element with your mouse shows a couple of parameters that you can change quickly by dragging the mouse. For example, hover over the filter icon and you can quickly change cutoff and resonance. Click on the filter icon and a panel slides away revealing more parameters to work with. Slick.
• Lastly, the lower half of the screen scrolls to reveal deeper editing options for various components in your modulation settings as you select them from a small horizontal list of elements. And setting up modulation could hardly be easier.

I. Want. This.

The Supercomputer designed for sound…

The flagship model Pacarana is 150% the power of a fully-loaded Capybara-320 for less than half the price. The entry-level Paca costs less than a Basic Capybara-320, but the new entry-level model is 5 times more powerful…

Man, I’ve been jonesin’ for some Kyma for years…

On the flipside, the list of supported audio and midi devices is pretty small (though growing). From the Pacarana FAQ:

Audio/MIDI Input & Output

I don’t see any audio inputs/outputs. How does the audio signal come out of the Pacarana?

To get an audio signal out of the Paca(rana), connect it to a FireWire or USB audio converter.

Does the audio from the Pacarana pass through the host computer first? Or does the Pacarana connect directly to a dedicated converter?

The audio output from the Pacarana goes directly to its own dedicated converter. The audio does not pass through the Mac or PC to a shared converter.

Which FireWire or USB audio and MIDI I/Os work with the Pacarana?

The Pacarana works with a (growing) list of 1394TA AMDTP-standard FireWire and class-compliant USB audio converter devices. Here is the current list of supported converters.