TXT:: Here's a peek at Digidesigns new USB Audio Interface, Mbox. For you die hard Pro Tools fans, this is the Powerbook Solution for you. As it turns out, Digidesign has not made an official announcement, but Guitar Center was taking Pre-Orders at MacWorld. At $449, to have protools on my TiBook, it was a bargain :-) Like I mentioned before, there is NO ASIO SUPPORT (according to the digi rep - I'll find out more next week), so I'm not sure how it will peform with Propellerheads products. Also, it uses the USB port. This implies that they want to release a WinTel version.

ReFills:: Finally, Sonic Mayhem has the NOIZELOOPS site Live! This is where you can download the REXNOIZE demo Refill :-) If you like the sounds then feel free to order a copy of the the CD which includes a complete ReFill of the samples as well as AIFF and Recycle2 individual files. So You can pick and choose the files you want if you don't want to use the whole ReFill (what a simple yet brilliant idea). There are some subtractor patches and Effect Configurations that I've created especially to complement the samples in this package.

Anyhoo... Please, Download the demo ReFill and check it out :-)

TXT:: I've been at MacWorld this week. From the Keynote to the Exhibits to the Conferences and while It's always exciting to see a new product release, I was a little disappointed that a new tower system has not been released with a bigger processor. This was the first time I've ever seen the keynote and I must admit that Steve Jobs has some great presentation skills. It's easy to tell that he loves this company and loves being able to showcase stuff that no one else on the planet has even conceived of.

During Steve's presentation of the new iPhoto Software, he made a sarcastic comment that really summed things up about MacWorld 2002, "When I get a copy of Photoshop for MacOS X." While Apple is pushing everyone to convert over to the new Operating System, there is a huge section of the user base that is stuck with MacOS 9 because of compatability issues. This includes just about everyone who uses Reason or any other major Audio Application. Hopefully new news will appear next week at NAMM! However, most of the people I spoke could say nothing about the future of Audio and X or the Future of OMS. I missed the conference which discussed this topic for music applications (Sorry, I had to run home to take care of the goats that day).

The iMac (or iMac2, as I like to call it) is rather nice, and it's hard to beat for the introductory price point. A couple of things to note is that it only has a 256K L2 cache. Anyone who has been checking out the messageboard here may have read the discussion which details the important performance decrease (regardless of processor speed) between macs with a 1Mb L2 cache vs Macs with a 512k L2 cache.

Some notable technology includes Ableton Live. After seeing Tony McCall from Midiman demonstrate Live in conjunction with Reason with the Oxygen8 controller, I was fairly impressed. Naturally, Reason was also on display with the arsenal of M-Audio interfaces and monitoring systems. I will probably end up picking up a copy of Live just because it is a ReWire compatable application that seems to perform solidly with Reason, and it's MacOS X ready. Besides I want to take a swing at skinning it. When I get a copy of Photoshop for X :-)

The other catchy little item that will be popular with ProTools users with Powerbooks is the new Digidesign MBox. It's a little USB powered 24bit Audio interface with Mic-Pres designed by Focusrite (I haven't auditioned them, so I have no clue how they perform as mic pre amps. I doubt they will be anything close to their hi-end devices. It has SPDIF I/O's and Neutrik Combo Jacks and the device relies entirely on USB power (including the phantom Power). It comes bundled with Pro Tools LE 5.2 so if you're a PT user and a TiOwner, a new solution has arrived. BUT...it's USB not Firewire AND it does not have MIDI. AND There are NO ASIO Drivers. So I do not recommend it if you plan to use it with Reason or Max/MSP.

I attended a few of the seminars, and so far the best was this obscure little one called "New Paradigms for Content" which featured a panel of very reputable speakers. Eric Hanson, presented a fascinating history of films that mark "Technological Turning Points" and these included, Metropolis (1928), Blade Runner (1982), SW-Epi1 (1999), to name a few. Hanson also presented a short resume of how he created the DC of the future in Millenium Man, and the New York of the future in "the Fifth Element."--some amazing work.

Bill Hanson, consultant for Apple computer's US & International Education development, discussed the signficance of MPEG-4 and the impact it will have on the future of webcontent. Mr. Hanson also mentioned a project they are working on for the 100th Anniversary of the discovery of Silverback Gorrillas. They want to set up some of the natives of the region in Africa with DV-cams and TiBooks and teach them to edit with FCP and Burn their own DVDs and stream images of their native land. (sounds wierd to me, but hey...apple is wierd)

There was a Surprise guest who was not listed on the program, Peter Russell. While the other speakers discussed their roles with Distributing Macs to School Children and their feats of animation marvels, Pete took it in an entirely different direction on an obscure philosophic tangent. (i'm a sucker for this stuff). Basically he pointed out that while technology makes people better at what they do, it does not necessarily make better people.

I dropped into a seminar on Making Music with your Mac for beginners being delivered by Scott Scheinbaum. It's a really really basic introduction to Midi and stuff, but I feel better now because After witnessing this seminar, I realize how difficult it is to put together a presentation about midi and making music. I did get a lot out of the presentation in terms of how to polish up this reason tutorial that i'm still working on. Afterwards, I inquired if I could use some of his material in my project and he said, "Sure, just give me credit." -- i thought to myself, "hey! that's my line!" Oh - Scott also briefly demonstrated Reason to an audience who didn't know about it. How do I know they were Unaware? Because of the gasps, laughs and "oh my gods" heard when Scott flipped the rack around to show how to cable devices :-)

Well, there's more, but i'm too tired to complete this now. Check back for the MW Supplemental :-)

TXT:: I hope everyone has a prosperous and creative New Year!

TXT:: Aak. I'm going through web page design hell now. I apologize about the links and formats all getting screwed up. I've been incorporating new features which I don't know too much about rather than the old straight up HTML stuff. Now the pages are becoming slower and links are dropping. If anyone has problems accessing the pages or links, please drop me an e-mail.

TXT:: I hope everyone is having happy holiday season! I wish I could say that it's been really happy for me, but I had to put my pet turkey, "Flash" to sleep. He was attacked by a pit bull and was severely injured. Other things have been going rather well, but one sad event seems to put a damper on things. I have received an amazing gift from my cousin, Tamiko. It's a charcoal rendering of a 1949 photograph of Charlie Parker, Lennie Tristano, Eddie Safranski, and Billy Bauer. I'm still amazed at the way she captured the delicate textures of light and shadow. It's really quite impressive and I really appreciate the time she spent creating the piece. I've placed the masterpiece right near my workstation as a reminder of what real talent is! Keyboard Magazine:: I've put together a collection of Reason Tips that will appear In the February Issue of Keyboard Magazine. It should be available next month. There are some unique effects that I haven't posted before, so it's worth a look :-)