Filed under: Audio

A few weeks ago IK Multimedia announced its iRig hardware and AmpliTube app for the iPhone / iPod touch. Today the software has officially gone live on the UK iTunes store ready for your perusal. The app comes in three variations: AmpliTube Free, AmpliTube LE (£1.79) and just AmpliTube (£11.99) being the fully featured version. Naturally, you need the iRig hardware (around £23), too, so you can plug in your guitar.

We were fortunate to get an early look at the iRig and a pre-release version of the app from IK Multimedia. Read on for our first impressions and thoughts on this potentially set-up altering piece of gear.

The iRig Hardware

The iRig in itself is a very simple item. Essentially, it allows you to plug a mono 1/4" jack (from your guitar / bass / keyboard / instrument) into your iPhone, and then take the output via stereo 1/8" mini-jack to your external source (headphones, powered speakers, mixer, or an amp). However, depending on your PA or mixer, and we expect most amps, you'll need a 1/8" mini-jack to a 1/4" jack converter lead so you can plug it in.

Small in size and sturdy in feel, the iRig will fit right in with your other cables and patch leads. Similar to your "built like a tank" pedal case, the iRig will have no problem being chucked around with the rest of your gear. If anything, you'll be trying to find the misplaced thing much like your mysteriously vanishing capo 20 minutes after you should have left for the gig.

There's not much else to say here. It feels good and looks good, but will it sound good? Click the 'read more' link to find out..

To all you guitarists out there, we know you're incredibly particular about tone when it comes to your axe and the boutique pedals you play it through. But lets be honest, every now and again it can be a little tiresome lugging that oversized pedal board, and your vintage amp, through the underground for that one-off "favour for a friend" gig. Especially when the venue won't be able to handle your tone anyway (as apposed to that sell out rockin' show you did with the guys the night before).

Well, it seems like IK Multimedia has beat Line 6 to it. Now you can leave the industrial strength cases behind in exchange for your iPhone and the iRig (of course you still need your guitar).

IK Multimedia has brought their renowned guitar and effects virtualization software to the iPhone with the iRig. For £29.99 you can purchase the iRig peripheral hardware that enables you to plug your guitar / bass into your iPhone and then your iPhone into your amp, sound desk -- whatever tickles your fancy.

The baseline iRig app is downloaded off the app store (which comprises of two stomp boxes, one amp+cabinet and two microphones). If you wish you can upgrade the app with more stomp boxes, amps+cabinets and microphones via the a-la-carte in-app purchase and download process.

We're very much looking forward to trying this out for ourselves. If the iRig plays like Amplitube does on the Mac, there are some exciting possibilities ahead, one of which being less back ache!

Check out the video after the break, or IK Multimedia's iRig website for more info.

On the heels of the popular GrooveMaker app for the iPhone / iPod touch, IK Multimedia (musicians first) has released GrooveMaker for the iPad. Perfect for that upcoming house party (DJ set) you've been planning. If you're into house, hip-hop and drum 'n bass style music (mixing loops and samples into endless differing arrangements and combinations) then GrooveMaker is definitely worth having a look at. IK Multimedia's press release says:

GrooveMaker for the iPad offers the same smart features and streamlined workflow as the iPhone version, but also takes advantage of the new larger multi-touch surface to provide enhanced operation with an integrated, advanced controller.

Users will find a convenient mixer-like environment with large slider controls for volume, pan and master volume of the 8 controllable loop tracks, plus instant access to tempo, solo and mute functions all on the same screen.

Also, GrooveMaker for iPad adds even more control when working with loops, providing a new level of creative flexibility. Users can now switch "snapped" grooves with a single touch, plus control the number of loops that are automatically combined during a random mix. GrooveMaker iPad is the perfect addition to a DJ set, providing unlimited creative flexibility in live remixing and DJ applications.

Although we've not had a chance to try out the app here in the UK yet (soon, my precious...), we're very excited about seeing this kind of music creation app on the iPad, especially from IK Multimedia.

There are 4 GrooveMaker packs for the iPad available now on the iTunes Store.

Video after the break.

There are, roughly, several billion kinds of microphones and headsets, all of which can theoretically be used on your Macintosh to let you voice chat over iChat or Skype. The problem is that a fair percentage of them fail to work exactly right, just out of the box.

Fortunately, there are several tricks that can help you analyze why your audio chats aren't working quite right. Here's a quick run-down of the steps you should take.

Start in System Preferences. The Sound preferences pane lets you select devices for your sound input and output. And, importantly, it lets you test your input device and adjust its volume. After attaching your mic to your Macintosh, use this pane to set-up and test.

Being a user of MacSpeech Dictate, a program that allows me to speak to my Mac and wind up with nicely formatted text, I was very happy to learn of today's release of Macspeech Scribe (US $149), which turns recorded audio into Rich Text Format files easily readable by TexttEdit or any word processor. Tom Vain from MacSpeech walked me through the program and it's really quite impressive.

Using recorded audio from just about any source, including an iPhone, Scribe transforms a wide variety of audio file types into text, but oddly enough it won't work with .mp3 files. This isn't a major problem since you can convert them to .aac files in iTunes, but not inviting .mp3 files to the party seems like a major oversight.

After playing a few minutes of audio into Scribe, you train a small portion of the transcription by correcting mistakes in a few paragraphs. This trains the program to recognize the voice. Scribe can handle six unique voice profiles. Once done, Scribe takes in the audio at about twice the speed of speech and delivers your text file in a raw format, but with no punctuation. If you included words like 'comma' and 'period,' they'll be turned into actual punctuation. Using the Nuance engine, it's remarkably good. I've found MacSpeech Dictate to be around 95%, and MacSpeech Scribe should be just as good since it's using the same engine.

I can see this being incredibly valuable for students who want to record lectures, and have a printed copy. But there are many other uses. I did my share of ethnographic research which entailed many hours of recorded interviews and transcribing the data. This was both tedious and mind-numbing. MacSpeech Scribe does the grunt work, since fixing punctuation is a snap when compared to transcribing dozens of hours of speech. I would have killed for something like this in grad school.

Over the coming months, the Count The Beats series is going to be taking a closer look at how the Mac (and the accompanying software) fits in with the various components of a typical rock band (drums, bass, electric guitar etc. You get the idea).

In this post we're going to take a closer look at keyboards (playing keys and synths) in a live performance context. From honky-tonk piano's on fire to out-of-control oscillating synths, there is so much gear and software out there it can be difficult to know where to start, especially when it comes to playing in a live performance context.

Session musician, and good friend of mine, Jon Dean does a fair bit of this, and does it well. In the last few years he's gone from classically trained pianist to Rock 'n Roll, synth and pad-crazy keys extraordinaire.

I managed to pull Jon away from his busy touring schedule to sit down with me and a cup of tea with some After Eight Mints (it's a new kind of Rock 'n Roll out there, apparently) to talk controllers, audio interfaces and moving from PC to Mac, with a couple bad musician jokes thrown in for good measure.

Even if you're not a keys player, it's interesting to see how the Mac continues to facilitate and encourage creative musicianship to an extent that just wasn't available a few short years ago.

Click the Read More link for the interview.

Jawbone has a new, feature rich Bluetooth headset called the ICON that is a nice match for the iPhone. New to this headset is a battery meter that displays on the iPhone, something the Apple Bluetooth headset also did. The Apple headset was quietly discontinued last spring after disappointing sales and reviews.

The ICON lets you set custom tones and multiple voices to alert you to incoming calls, and a feature called MyTALK that allows you to control mini-apps that change the voices or language (Spanish, French, or German) and allows you to customize a button to call 411 or connect to other voice services.

The newest Jawbone has also switched from the old proprietary power connector to a mini micro-USB cable, which is very welcome. The headset also claims to further reduce background and wind noise.

The headset now comes in 6 color designs, including variations of black, gold, pearl and black laced with red.

The newest addition to the Jawbone line is U.S. $100.00. Even though the new headset has iPhone-friendly features, it's available today at Verizon dealers, with other retailers to follow.

It's no secret that I am an unabashed fanboy of Mac accessory design firm Twelve South. Their BackPack for the iMac and Apple Cinema Display is sleek and utilitarian, and the BookArc is a stylish way to stash that MacBook Pro when you want to use it with the cover closed. So it was with a great deal of interest that I read about another of the company's accessories, the BassJump portable subwoofer for MacBook.

The idea behind the US$79.99 BassJump is simple -- the built-in speakers on the current MacBooks do a poor job of replicating the low-end of the sound spectrum, so why not add a USB-powered subwoofer to the mix to make the MacBook sound better?

The BassJump portable subwoofer kind of reminds me of a shrunken Mac mini. Five inches on a side and a tiny bit over two inches tall, the speaker has a rubberized base to avoid sympathetic vibrations that could ruin sound quality. There's no power supply -- as noted earlier, this is a USB-powered accessory.

You're not going to be able to use the BassJump as a replacement for a high-end audio system. The existing speakers in the MacBook line do an "OK" job of replicating the higher frequencies and the BassJump can fill in on the lower frequencies, but the combo still doesn't beat a dedicated audio system. But if you have a need to pump good-quality sound out of a MacBook for a presentation, or just don't want to be tied to a set of earbuds or headphones when listening to your iTunes library, the BassJump is a great solution.

Two pieces of Apple's Logic Studio suite for Mac, Logic Pro and MainStage, have been updated today and the new versions are available immediately through Software Update or the links below.

The Logic Pro 9.1 update includes support for 64-bit native mode, compatibility with 64-bit Audio Unit plug-ins, and support for file names over 32 characters long. According to the update notes, samples are now mapped correctly when using the "Contiguous Zones" opetion in the EXS editor. The full release notes are available for viewing here.

MainStage 2.1 also includes 64-bit native mode and compatibility with the 64-bit Audio Unit plug-ins. Other fixes and improvements include better compatibility with MainStage 1.x documents, improved recording when using the Loopback plug-in, and multiple playback plug-ins in the same group now sync reliably. Full release notes are available here.

Enabling 64-bit native mode for both applications requires Mac OS X 10.6.2 or later.

[A tip of the studio professional hat to TUAW reader samw for letting us know about the update]

Relative pitch, let alone perfect pitch (some people are born with it, everyone else has to learn!) is an invaluable skill required when it comes to playing an instrument and understanding the music you are hearing. Thankfully, Easy Ear Training has developed a nifty little app to help you along with all your pitch training needs.

The idea is to learn how to hear the difference between two musical notes in a given key / octave, and be able to identify what that difference is, based on the root note. This is otherwise known as an interval: the space between two notes. For example, a minor 3rd, or a perfect 5th (think the Star Wars theme tune!).

For a great description of what an interval is, click here. I also came across this iTunes U video lesson by Shawn "Thunder" Wallace [iTunes Link] describing the difference between perfect pitch, relative pitch and something that Shawn calls true pitch. Very interesting!

This may sound rather complicated, but really you don't need to know any of the theory when it comes to using the Relative Pitch app. At its simplest, it will help you to hear with more detail what it is that you're listening too

Relative Pitch [iTunes Link] consists of two main modes: training and testing. When you open the app, you kick off with the first lesson (of which there are 14) in the training mode. Once the first lesson is complete, a corresponding test is unlocked to examine what you have learned. On passing that test the next lesson is unlocked, and so forth.

Relative Pitch will teach you to distinguish ascending, descending and harmonic intervals across four octaves. With in-app volume control, in-depth customization of the training mode, and even being able to choose the root note of the octave you want to train from, you'll make strides.

Whether you are a seasoned musician or a complete beginner, Relative Pitch will have you listening with a sharpened ear and a greater appreciation of the music you love.

The Relative Pitch app costs £4.99, but there is a lite free version of the app here [iTunes Link] so you can try it out.

Also, keep an eye out for the revamped Easy Ear Training website launching in the coming weeks.

The audio wizards at Blue Microphones have wowed Mac and iPod fans with their Snowball, Snowflake, and Mikey microphones. Now, just before the start of CES 2010, Blue has announced the US$99.99 second generation Mikey Portable Recorder for iPod and iPhone.

While the new Mikey hasn't yet achieved iPhone certification, it promises to be a powerful professional recording solution for iPhone owners when it arrives in the spring. Mikey still features two Blue mic capsules for pro-quality stereo recording, but now has improved acoustic circuitry for better recordings of loud events such as concerts.

The new Mikey also has a 3.5mm line input for those times that you want to plug in a sound source like a guitar or mixer. There's also a USB pass-through connection for charging and syncing. A newly designed case makes Mikey usable with most iPhone cases, and the mic can be adjusted to seven fixed positions within a 230-degree range for optimum positioning. But wait, there's more! Blue is also throwing in a soft carrying pouch for Mikey, along with a headphone extension cable for playback monitoring with the iPod touch and nano.

Blue has also put a high-fidelity field recording app for iPhone and iPod touch into the App Store. Blue FiRe [Free, iTunes Link] has been out for a few months and is optimized for the second generation Mikey. The combination of the high-quality mic and free software produces a complete mobile recording experience.

Expect to see the new Mikey at Apple Stores, Guitar Center, and Amazon.com this spring.

[via Engadget]

It looks like Nuance will have two iPhone hits in one month. Dragon Search [iTunes link] has just gone live on the App Store for the iPhone.

Using the same technology that's in Dragon Dictation for the iPhone, Dragon Search allows you to speak your search terms into the iPhone and get hits from the web including iTunes, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube, and Google. You can also add Yahoo and Bing to the searchable universe.

I've tried it and it works well. You want to be in a fairly quiet place for the best results, but it worked fine in a noisy car and in a moderately loud restaurant.

As with Dragon Dictation, your query goes to a Nuance server and comes back to the app in a couple of seconds. If you want to search beyond Google, this is a great way to do it. Speed is very good on a 3G connection, and of course it works over Wi-Fi and the EDGE network.

The iTunes integration is quite nice. Say 'Harold Budd', for example, and click the iTunes icon and you'll see what the iTunes store has to sell. Or you can search Wikipedia or Google and learn all about him.

The app is free for now, but not free forever, so if you want it, get it ASAP. It's yet another reason to love your iPhone.

The app requires an iPhone and OS version 3.1 or better.

In the last year I've spent a fair amount of time doing some recordings. In particular, I've been working on some of my own material. Having invested a large amount of time and money into pre production and the actual recording sessions, what started out as a small bedroom demo soon escalated into something much more than that (I'm sure you know what I mean). It soon became apparent that I was going to need someone with a bit more experience and 'know how' when it came to post production, and in particular, mixing.

After calling in some "favours," and reaching as far as I could into the "industry," as such, I was introduced to Mr. Stephen Harding. An exceptionally talented musician, producer, and up and coming mixing engineer. To my delight, I discovered that not only is he a pretty nice guy, he is also darn good at mixing, and he's a fan boy of all things Apple too!

Amongst all our post production endeavors, Steve and I managed to sit down with a cup of tea and some rich tea biscuits to talk Macs, set-up , plug-ins, outboard gear and the art of approaching a mix backed by the stability of Mac OS X.

Read on for some wise words on mixing, but be forewarned though, as is becoming customary in the Count The Beats series, there is some pretty heavy tech talk ahead. However, it does make for some juicy reading. Don't forget, if you don't understand, just nod your head and pretend you do like the rest of us! Enjoy.

Canadian company Cignias has announced an interesting product in the home audio/iPhone category. It's called the MusicNAO and it allows you to wirelessly control a docked iPod with an iPhone or iPod touch. It also lets you play music wirelessly to the dock from an iPhone or iPod touch. The music streams using the stereo Bluetooth capability of your iPhone or second generation iPod touch.

The base unit, which is a bit reminiscent of the Bose product, has 40 watts of output power, contains equalization circuitry, and uses 4" speakers. You can skip music, select music, and control the volume remotely. If you have an iPod plugged in, you can view and select playlists, artists and genres from your iPhone or iPod touch.

The apps for your iPhone or iPod touch are available free from the iTunes app store [iTunes link]. The control connections are through Wi-Fi, while the music streams through Bluetooth.

The unit also has an auxiliary input for plugging in another audio source. Hey, anyone still have cassettes?

The MusicNAO is shipping December 1, with an introductory price of U.S. $249.00 until November 30, then it's $299.00. The prices are the same in Canada. I haven't heard the device, so I can't give testimony to the audio quality.

I do think the MusicNAO is a unique twist on portable music integration with Apple products. The system also supports Blackberry cellphones that have a stereo streaming feature.

Sonos, best known for wireless music systems that link to your iTunes library and internet services like Pandora, Rhapsody and Napster, is offering a one piece, 5 speaker system that can be placed in any room. It's called the Zone Player S5 and it's US $399 direct from Sonos or dealers around the country.

Sonos shipped me a review system to try for 30 days, and I thought the sound was great. I already had a mutli-room Sonos system so adding the new portable player was just a matter of plugging it into AC power and pressing two buttons on the S5.

If you don't already have a Sonos system, you have to plug your unit into a router to connect to your music library and the internet. If that doesn't work in your home layout, you can buy what Sonos calls a Zone Bridge (US $99) that plugs into your router and lets the S5 make a wireless connection. Once that basic pairing is made, you can add as many other Sonos music systems as you like, all connecting over a wireless mesh network.

The system sounds quite good, given the limits of the small desktop-friendly size (8.5 x 14.4 x 4.8 inches). There are 5 speakers, two tweeters, two 3" mid-range drivers, and one 3.5" woofer all driven by individual amplifiers. The woofer is a ducted port design and the rear port serves double duty as a carrying handle.