I'm continuing to build my flock of excellent audio tools I know intimately, and Audio Ease Speakerphone is my latest PRICE and JOY. Typically priced at US$450 (I got a better deal via eBay, remember what I said about making offers?), Speakerphone does multiple effects within one cohesive package — not just thrown in without care, but because such an elaborate sequence is necessary to achieve the vast variety of ambient spaces and both analogue and digital flavors of grit which it offers. The official blurb goes:
A bad GSM connection on a busy sidewalk, a bullhorn with feedback and a helicopter overhead, or a 1952 rockabilly guitar amp in a recording studio live room: The Speakerphone audio plug-in gives you authentic speakers of any size together with their natural environments.
Yeh, pretty versatile. That's somewhat justification for the "pro price", but I did think carefully before plunking my bucks down, and strove to understand all I could! Now, here's my "out-of-the-virtual-box" firsthand impressions as spread across 6 videos; YES, this thang does a super-warm "Giallo" sound too! And check out my heavy piano distorto amping. Schweet.
(Click and drag the position circle to track ahead after it's buffered, I wish it worked with a single click like YouTube's native control.)
In my mind, I voyage to places, travel to both realistic and unrealistic worlds (and many in-between). Since actual human teleportation hasn't happened yet and it's costly to add rooms with various acoustic characteristics to my hizzouse, here's the proverbial "next best thing": just pump the sounds through a Speakerphone preset, tweak-as-needed, and close your eyes. Feels like you're there!
Clearly, Speakerphone has many timesaving uses to place noises within contexts.
And even tho CPU usage ramps up noticeably as you stack on the effects, it still appears reasonable. It's really convenient to have all these effects in a single, well-designed plug — I was using the free iZotope Vinyl for ol' turntable simulation, but Speakerphone goes beyond having a "Gramophone" module and it allows you to sound like a gearluster's list of turntables throughout the ages:
Plus, its pitch-detuned wow sounds more characteristic. Which means one of my lateral goals is to come up with a nostalgic VHS preset.
But I've naive on Day One and need to gain experience. I can already say Speakerphone's usability makes it very rewarding to use. I first heard about it from Ugress, who's a fantastic purveyor of tracks which possess character from ages begone. And ProToolerBlog has a more blow-by-blow review. Apparently, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails uses Speakerphone too, which is why creator Arjen included Trent's voice on the site tour. Arjen has some pretty nifty video tutorials showing his face on webcam too, so check them out if you want to learn more.
Imagine the possibilities!
And then do them. There are plenty of opportunities here for spicing up stock ambiences and foleys — while I haven't heard of Speakerphone being used a lot in machinima, that looks like a likely consequence for those who can afford it with their dedication to the craft. If you've got multitracks of sounds that need cohesive gelling to sound like they all happened in close proximity, this is a much more convincing approach than a generic reverb wash.
As a tool, Speakerphone flows with creativity: you don't have to think "band-pass EQ" to get a phone-like sound, as a cabinet full of models are already labeled for consumption. Those who know better can buck the names and explore stranger domains, but the point is: plenty of solid starting points have already made me happy in targeting the kinds of sounds I'm going for.
What could be awesomer?
I'm having occasional crash problems using Speakerphone with Ableton Live 8 and there appear to be preset saving issues too — I've sent bug reports to Arjen, and he was already quick today to help me get the app authorized.
Dontcha just hate it when the right ear has no idea what the left hallux is doing? I've heard plenty of gripes about stupid and incorrect YouTube takedowns. Well, I'd love to see an explanation for this one: post-drum 'n' bass band (they're just that awesome) Pendulum uploaded a video of themselves playing live on their own, official channel. I might even add that it included a mighty fine cover of Calvin Harris' "I'm Not Alone". I shared the link on Twitter, but when I checked later today, it said:
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by British Broadcasting Corporation.
WUT? You'd think there'd be some communication here, like whoever at the BBC was responsible for footage getting in touch with Pendulum's reps. But since that wasn't the case, people like me get to blog about it. What compounds the absurdity further is audio-only versions of the same Glastonbury '09 performance are still up, like:
Hope the whole recording will be back on YouTube, since apparently, it's only available to UK viewers on the BBC site (I've never liked region-specific lockdowns, confusing as heck) — such an exciting live show.
CoMu228rbsb . Which makes the end price $150. I found this via the limited version bundled with Computer Music magazine, which claims it expires on 2008-12-31. But I put it in and it still appears to work — let me know if it doesn't!
that they run for every few months, on their honkin' huge sample packs (which they have no end of pro user testimonials for). After saying it was going to end on June 30th, they extended it to July 31. I've had my eye on Symphonic Orchestra Gold Complete + Stormdrum 2, it might be a nice way to get a orchestra in a box + epic movie percussion at a reasonable price.
Arturia CS80V,
their virtual reproduction of the famed Yamaha CS-80 whose analogue lushness melted all over Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack (among others), has dropped to $80 at audioMIDI.com. "Offer only valid until 7/15/09 or while supplies last." I thought this was $100 in days previous (which is special pricing itself for Arturia's 10th anniversary), it's still being listed for $100 at other places, and it seems like the only synth from their collection at that price.
as shared previously. This is getting BIG BUZZ! Heck, as Peter Kirn points out (I adore his prolific multimedia extravaganzas), that's been the normal price for Reaktor 5 alone, AND you get 10 more virtual instruments for the same price.
One more tip: look for pro audio stores on eBay which accept your best offer.
They should obviously have sterling reputations, too. Two examples to allow best offer on many items are ks123 and dutchmuzik. While cashback currently stands at 8%, offer a lower-than-your-intended-target offer, go through a few rounds of bargaining, and you may come out much better.
KOMPLETE 5 is the high-end collection of 11 ground-breaking synthesizers, samplers, emulations, and a virtual guitar studio. Perfect for both studio and stage - this is the industry-standard bundle for serious musicians, producers and sound designers. KOMPLETE 5's instruments can be heard on platinum-selling records and in underground clubs alike, all over the world.
Among many in the collection, I'm a big fan of the Akoustik piano samples, as demonstrated in this video I did awhile ago:
You can spend ages on one of the instruments, like the Pro-53 soft synth which is one of the oldest in the batch:
At first I only saw the price drop at Guitar Center, but other stores like audioMIDI and zZounds have followed suit, so it looks like this deal is spreading. I haven't ordered from most of these places but consider this: Komplete 5's non-marked-up price is something like $1,000, and I got the Kore 2 + Komplete 5 bundle last year for about $650 from Nova Musik with eBay-Live (now Bing) cashback. Worth looking on eBay if anyone's offering this for $399 with free shipping.
(Yeah, Komplete 5's box is heavy because it consists of 12 DVDs and comes with lots of heavy reading. Dandy to curl up with while you dream of oscillators.)
So if you don't care about Kore, which makes it really easy to browse through those 1,000s of sounds but has some instability (odd crashing with my Ableton Live when the Kore controller is turned on it seems… needs more diagnosin') problems, and have been looking to save big on over a decade's worth of leading software instruments, this may be your ticket. Especially if you were looking to get a couple of NI software instruments in the first place, heck, this is likely the same price. And makes me wish there was a pro audio equivalent to Slickdeals.net!
I wonder if this price plunge comes in time for Komplete 6 — I took a survey on May 12 on that very topic.
Preemptive: I'm not officially sponsored by Native Instruments, all the above is because I love sharing great deals and love making music. However, support is a notion I wouldn't be opposed to.
If you've ever read an online magazine, after PDF, it's likely you leafed through one powered by Texterity. Coverleaf has a bunch of examples and one I checked out recently is the Costco Connection. I've found Texterity mags pretty straightforward and don't have any insidious quibbles with the format, but how to link to a page is unobvious. Turns out the answer is quite simple; just head for the Share button, as shown here:
Interestingly, the same principle works on other formats too, like transhumanist h+ magazine's Flash format, where the option is represented by a Digg icon and called "Social bookmark this page". From there, if you click the Google icon, it'll show you the page URL.
The lesson: those you can please, those you are pleasing, please them the most. Less friction, time saved, and in turn, they'll be inspired to please others — continuing that voyage.
When you're on life's journeys, dead ends suck. Don't get stuck with people who are dead ends. Don't put the seeds where the soil is infertile.
Growing can be uncomfortable and unsettling, but being stagnant is a false comfort. Saying too much when you should do a little is self-deception. It all ultimately catches up to you while you lie, and crushes your spirit. Screws you over.
But killing ambition never, ever happens all at once. That's why it's so hard to visualize the moving targets every day, then hit one damn thing after another.
Some say it takes courage to stand up for what you believe in. I think it also takes intense focus, because with so much noise and mind-junk, it's hard to clearly decide.
So, launch a preemptive strike against all that is mediocre and sloppy in your world. Familiarize yourself with humanity's foolish behavior, and perhaps you, like I, will come to an epiphany that its versatility and range is triumphantly dwarfed by a celebration of our creativity. Our passion. Down with the negative naysayers who barf on our dreams (and aren't working on making their own come true)! Turn away the unenlightened who blather scurrilous rumors without using Google! And deny anyone who's here to block our happiness.
They, as humans, can arise and be uplifted if they volunteer. Then comes understanding. No one can be forced to be happy. Nor will you ever be happy if you allow the low-minds to trash you.
Each of us makes our choices, some choices are made for us. And each day, even with so much we can't affect, there's so much we can. Like people you can please; focus on where you can make a positive difference. Start here by recognizing the truth in the following statement:
I find them inconvenient and wish they were spooled into my email, but
even if they were, I get more email than I can handle.
I used to have a bookmark folder spring-loaded for various sites, but time continues to oppress me. So regrettably, barring the running pseudo-joke of needing clones, this is why I'm not more attentive to Twitter direct messages, Flickr mail, FaceBook messages, and so and soforth. I state this wherever I'm allowed space, and apologize if you expected a reply but didn't get one — let me know if I've missed a place I can clarify this.
