The New Shit...

First things first: my condolences to the victims of the Storm. That one was a whopper, and no mistake. If there’s any city in the world that can take a hit like that in stride, it’s New York City; I personally am sanguine for the future of that great metropolis. If any AI readers got their shit all fucked up, and you need help of any sort, don’t hesitate to post here.

Second (and a distant second at that), the election is finally coming to a close here in the US. I saw a statistic that more money has been spent in advertising in this election than in all previous elections combined. I don’t generally have a problem with that, for two reasons: first, I don’t watch TV hardly at all, so I don’t have to put up with the commercials. And second, that money is usually going from ultra-rich people who have more money than sense anyhow, to media professionals of some sort or another. So good one! Well done, media professionals! But that said, I’ll be well and truly glad when this nonsense is over, and our government can get back to its normal acrimonious standstill. (I’m not one of those people that’s gonna say “I don’t care who you vote for! Just vote!” If you’re some sort of asshole or Republican, I’d really rather you didn’t vote at all.)

Anyhow, on to the main event. In the last two weeks, we’ve seen some pretty interesting news in music tech. First, as you’re no doubt aware, Ableton revamped their site, and announced Live 9 and a bespoke hardware controller called Push. The hardware is made by Akai, and is, I assume, a logical extension of the working relationship they started with the APC-40 et al. This is far more sophisticated, of course, and is a pure MIDI controller with two-way communication as well, so it will be extremely useful for people that work in Max/MSP and Reaktor, as well as Live. Assuming the build quality is, let’s be honest, better than the APC-40, and the pads are nice and responsive, I’m tentatively putting this in the Win column. I’ll get one as soon as they’re obtainable, so if you want to wait for my inevitable review and the Q&A that follows, you can be assured it will appear here.

Next up, Elektron, makers of the SIDstation, MachineDrum, MonoMachine, and Octatrack, are teasing what has become increasingly obvious is a 4-voice analog synth, following the MonoMachine form factor, with CV sequencing abilities. At first, I was all “meh,” because the world has enough four-voice analog synths. But I got to thinking that what really makes the MonoMachine is not its sound, which is middling at the best of times as far as digital synths go, but its UI and sequencer, and if you tack those on to a simple analog, plus the ability to control a EuroRack modular, you have the makings of a Muff Wiggler Wet Dream Jizz Explosion of epic proportions. Personally, I’m witholding judgement until NAMM, when I assume I’ll be able to get hands-on with one.

And finally, down in the cheap seats, Mutable Instruments, makers of the Shruthi-1 kit, have announced a new hybrid digital/analog synth (mostly analog, I guess) called the Anrushi that merits a look. Plenty of info and samples at the Mutable site.

’Round here, we’re putting the final touches on the next Audio Damage product. I’ll tell you the name at this juncture: it is called Bitcom. Expect some teasers and such-like shortly. I’ll also have the next chapter in my Great Touch-Screen Adventure of 2012 up before the end of the week.