The App Store is somewhat deluged with music-related applications. While I find many of the instruments to be novelties, the iPhone-based remote controls available for various Digital Audio Workstations have really caught my attention.

I've been playing around with the various musical remote controllers available for a while now. When the various iTouchMidi controllers were released, I got pretty excited. Problematically, I'm a fan of Logic Pro, and these intriguing but mostly Logic-incompatible controllers weren't up to snuff for my personal needs. It was a few weeks before I discovered the available OpenSound Control (OSC) apps in the App Store.

I've played with the lineup of controllers such as OSCemote and Mrmr (iTunes link), and both of those are a lot of fun with a good amount of potential. One stood out for me, though, and TouchOSC has officially become part of my home studio setup.

TouchOSC provides an array of control screens consisting of faders, rotary controls, buttons, toggles, XY pads, multi-faders/toggles and LEDs in various configurations. It communicates wirelessly with software and hardware which can receive and send the OSC protocol. I thought I'd offer a quick rundown of the steps I used to get from TouchOSC to Logic. I'm sure the same methods can be applied to other software, with a little variation.

An overview of the controller configurations in TouchOSC can be found in the gallery below. Read on for the lowdown.

In addition to the other updates released today, Apple has also released an update to Logic Express 8. Software update gives us the following information about the update:

Logic Express 8.0.2 addresses specific customer and compatibility issues of Logic Express 8.0.
This update is recommended for all Logic Express 8.0 users.

You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software update) or by downloading the installer package from the Apple Support downloads website.

Attention Logic Studio users. Apple has released version 8.0.2 of Logic Pro. According to Apple, this update "...addresses specific customer and compatibility issues of Logic Pro 8.0. It includes Wavebuner 1.5.2 and Impulse Response Utility 1.0.2, which address issues for Waveburner 1.5 and Impulse Response Utility 1.0 respectively."

Version 8 of Logic Studio and Express became available in September of last year. If you think that rate of updates is slow, take heart. Apple recently re-affirmed their commitment to the pro applications, most notably Final Cut Server.

As usual, we ask you to report any issues you experience after installing this update.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Hey, Logic Studio users: there is an update for the newest member of that suite, MainStage. MainStage 1.0.1 which includes, to quote Apple:

• Improved stability
• Fixes for minor usability issues
• Added options for saving parameter values when switching patches

Apple recommends that update for all MainStage users.

Apple has released a Pro Application Support 4.0 update that "improves general user interface reliability for Apple's professional applications." Basically, if you use any of the Final Cut Suite apps, Aperture, Final Cut Express HD or Logic products, you'll probably see this in Software Update. Strangely, as with previous Pro Application Support updates, there isn't a whole lot of extra information as to what this update fixes, or what bugs and quirks it squashes; it's just 6 MB of UI update goodness, I guess.

[via MacDailyNews]

This is a pretty nifty video competition from Apple and the band "Modest Mouse". The later wants a video for their new song "Missed the Boat," so they have placed online 12 videos of the band performing the song in front of a green screen with different angles and camera shots. They are inviting people to download these videos and edit them together into a music video (you can use your own footage as well). Once you're done with your masterpiece (all rights to which you forfeit), upload it back to Apple for judging. The contest ends May 22, 2007.

Obviously this is a publicity stunt designed to promote Final Cut Studio and Logic, but it's a pretty darn cool publicity stunt. The contest page with the videos is live, so all of you wanna-be video directors get started!

Thanks, Chris!

Rickard Almqvist at MacInTouch is reporting that Apple has apparently (and finally) produced a tweaked version of the MacBook Pro logic board in response to everyone's whining - MacBook Pro whining, that is. Rickard received a letter from Apple detailing the new board and stating that it was brand new, "only a few days old". Also of note is the need for new installation DVDs that contain 10.4.6, not the 10.4.5 discs the machine originally came with. And just for all you skeptics out there, Rickard has also posted a picture of Apple's letter on his blog, so you can let your "that was Microsoft Worded" and "Photoshopped!" naysaying fly.

Here's hoping MacBook Pros everywhere can finally stop whining. The one question I have is: are you going to be sending your MBP in for the new board? Or is iTunes usually blaring loud enough for you to still wonder what all this 'whine' talk is about?

[via MacDailyNews]

Thanks Miguel