Electronic-Geek.com » Music

Controlling Ableton with a Danger Shield

John Baichtal — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:50:10 +0000

Eric Ameres of Troy, NY, has a quick tutorial on how you can control music sequencer Ableton Live with a Danger Shield and Arduino.

Piracy is a problem of ‘global pricing,’ not enforcement, claims new report

Vlad Savov — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:17:00 +0000

The smart cookies at the Social Science Research Council have spent three years researching media and software piracy in so-called emerging economies -- countries like Brazil, Russia, India and Mexico -- which has this past week resulted in a comprehensive report aimed at establishing the trends and causes of the unauthorized consumption of intellectual property. The major theme of the report is that ever more stringent enforcement of IP rights has proven ineffective in countering the growing tide of content piracy, and it is instead a problem of "global pricing" that needs to be tackled first. Content distributors' primary concern is argued to be the protection of existing pricing structures in the honeypot nations of Western Europe and North America, which has resulted in prices in locales like Eastern Europe and South America being artificially inflated relative to the purchasing power of their population. Consequently, squeezed out of buying media the legal way, consumers have found themselves drawn to the, erm, grayer end of the market to sate their entertainment needs. There's plenty more to this report, including a proposed solution to fixing these broken economics, but you'll have to check out the links below for the full scoop.

Piracy is a problem of 'global pricing,' not enforcement, claims new report originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ars Technica | Social Science Research Council | Email this | Comments

Dramatic Gestures With Kinect

Sean Michael Ragan — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:03:03 +0000

I’m indebted to a commenter on yesterday’s Kinect + Tesla Coils post for pointing me to the website of artist, engineer, and interaction designer Gerry Chu. Among the many treasures in Gerry’s online portfolio is this short video showing his use of a hacked Kinect to instantaneously correlate a dramatic gesture with a dramatic sound. He calls it Motion Emotions. [Thanks, Josh Kopel!]

iPhone T Amp Speaker Dock

Adam Flaherty — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:00:48 +0000

Michigan maker Pruitt‘s iPhone/iPod speaker dock is built using 2-inch full range drivers built into specially constructed pipes that also act as the units legs. Each channel gets 15 watts from an internal class T digital amp (T Amp). It’s not going to blow your socks off, but it’ll sound great at a modest volume.

‘Soul by Ludacris’ headphone series priced from $69 to $299, shipping in May

Darren Murph — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:02:00 +0000

You know what they say -- if you can't Beat 'em, undercut 'em. Signeo's Soul by Ludacris headphone series -- which made its debut a couple of months ago at CES -- has just been priced, and sure enough, each pair is cheaper than what Dr. Dre and co. are charging for the HP Beats assortment. The top-end SL300 is set to sell for $299, while the similarly styled SL150 goes for $199. The more conventional SL100 will list for $149, and if it's earbuds you're craving, the SL99 will sport an MSRP of $99 while the low-end SL49 offers itself for just $69. Specifics on each one are hosted up after the break, and Americans can expect to see the whole crew this May. As for everyone else? There's no time table yet, but we've been assured by the company that international distribution is being worked on as we speak. Word.

Continue reading 'Soul by Ludacris' headphone series priced from $69 to $299, shipping in May

'Soul by Ludacris' headphone series priced from $69 to $299, shipping in May originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jon Bon Jovi accuses Steve Jobs of putting a shot through the heart of music

Vlad Savov — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:55:00 +0000

Steve Jobs, according to musical legend Jon Bon Jovi, is "personally responsible for killing the music business." This strident (and economically false) accusation comes from an interview he conducted with Britain's Sunday Times, where he candidly sets out his dismay at this century's move away from music distribution on physical media and toward ubiquitous download portals. Bon Jovi's nostalgia shines through in his detailed account of the "magical" experience of picking up records and enjoying their sweet touch and soothing analog tones -- though we're not sure how he missed out on the fact that CDs, not downloads, were the first to stab a dagger of digital convenience through the hole in his record collection. Still, Bon Jovi thinks Apple's iTunes success is to blame for the loss of our collective innocence and bright-eyed enthusiasm for music. What do you think?

Continue reading Jon Bon Jovi accuses Steve Jobs of putting a shot through the heart of music

Jon Bon Jovi accuses Steve Jobs of putting a shot through the heart of music originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ipodnn | The Sunday Times (paywall) | Email this | Comments

It’s Pi Day. Do you know what 3.1415926535897932384626433832795 sounds like?

Donald Melanson — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:14:00 +0000

It may not be marked on most calendars, but if you're a math nerd (or a nerd in general -- of which we count ourselves, obviously), you know what March 14th is. It's 3/14, otherwise known as the first three digits of Pi. That's since become a minor geek holiday of sorts, and has prompted some fairly unique celebrations over the years. One of the latest comes from musician Michael John Blake, who interpreted Pi to the first 31 decimal places as musical notes and turned it into a song -- played at 157 beats per minute, no less (or half of 314). As it turns out, however, Blake wasn't the first to come up with the idea -- composer Lars Erickson wrote his own "Pi Symphony" a few years back, and has now sparked a bit of a copyright spat on YouTube over who actually owns the rights to Pi in musical form. Head on past the break to check out both versions for yourself.

Continue reading It's Pi Day. Do you know what 3.1415926535897932384626433832795 sounds like?

It's Pi Day. Do you know what 3.1415926535897932384626433832795 sounds like? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Pi Day, iTunes Preview, Pi Symphony | Email this | Comments

Arcophone Mark II Debuts

John Baichtal — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:59:57 +0000

Members of the Perth Artifactory hackerspace in Western Australia built a Arcophone, an instrument that uses Jacob’s Ladders to make music. However, they had a need to build a quick Version Two one and it looks great!

Owing to the Arcophone Mk I being stuck somewhere on the Nullabor owing to damage to train tracks from the recent rains. As we had a gig at Scitech we needed a new Arcophone, using the prototype batch of v1.2 coil drivers, Brett, Simon & Daniel spent the better part of the last week building the Arcophone Mk II. The case was designed and cut by Simon Kirkby and the electronics designed and assembled by Brett Downing and Daniel Harmsworth.

Note that the coolest component of the Arcophone are the Coil Driver kits that the Artifactory will be offering soon; I’ll post a link when they’re available. You can see them on the central pedestal. The two side pedestals have ordinary automotive ignition coils that do the actual sparking.

Arcophone Mark II Debuts

John Baichtal — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:59:57 +0000

Owing to the Arcophone Mk I being stuck somewhere on the Nullabor owing to damage to train tracks from the recent rains. As we had a gig at Scitech we needed a new Arcophone, using the prototype batch of v1.2 coil drivers, Brett, Simon & Daniel spent the better part of the last week building the Arcophone Mk II. The case was designed and cut by Simon Kirkby and the electronics designed and assembled by Brett Downing and Daniel Harmsworth.

Collin’s Lab: Homebrew Piezo

Collin Cunningham — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:30:14 +0000

Piezoelectric materials are about as close to magic as you can get. They turn physical pressure into electricity and can even turn electricity into physical pressure – an amazing sort of bidirectional converter for mechanical and electrical energies. Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that you can easily ‘grow’ your own piezoelectric crystals overnight using just a couple of common ingredients – awesome.

Ever since I made my first contact microphone, I’ve been amazed by piezos and their unique abilities. I was more than psyched to learn I could make my own piezoelectric crystals after finding recipes online. Now I just need to figure out how I’ll put these little guys to good use … feel free to leave any ideas/suggestions in the comments below!