Ben Rogerson and the blokes at Future Publishing / musicradar.com in the UK got a nice piece of swag: a Pilsner, to be specific. Thank UK distributor Focusrite for this one (which I assume means the brew has not yet graced Ableton’s office here in NYC.)

They did miss the obvious opportunity to offer an Ableton Live Lite. Or perhaps a liqueur called Ableton Evil (that t-shirt remaining the best Ableton swag ever). “Lively up yourself” I guess appeals to UK audiences. I would have called it Live Lager.

That got me thinking – what other music technology beverages can we make up here? Reaktor already sounds a bit like some kind of energy drink. FL Studio aka Fruity Loops could clearly be a sweet, bubbly soda. Someone could stake out organic tea – maybe MetaSynth. Thoughts?

Ableton Live beer: the ultimate live performance tool [musicradar.com]

The LEDs on my Saffire flash when the unit is connected to my MacBook Pro. Why?

So, I wonder why Apple chose a lower power spec for FireWire — or, if indeed they chose it all, given that the Intel Macs have specs very much inherited from the PC world. (For the record, though, my MacBook is fine.) The MacBook Pro is a fantastic machine, but at least now you’ve got this heads-up.

When you hear the repeated stories about how traditional recording studios are dead, I suspect your first thought is not, “Finally! The dream of in-flight recording has its day!” or “Ah-hah! Now all the bands will move into inflatable plastic bubbles as a marketing stunt!” Yet, such things have come to pass. One involves a band you may care about and actually yields some practical tips. The other involves a band I’m almost sure you don’t care about and is a silly stunt.

Respectively:

Jamiroquai played a gig at 35,000 feet on its way to Greece for a select group of fans. I know this, because Focusrite sent out a press release. We get these kind of press releases all the time: someone used something or other (usually something expensive) somewhere in a way that’s not all that interesting. This case was different. Sure, recording a live gig in flight is a gimmick. But as a recording challenge, that means they:

1. Ran entirely on battery power.
2. Set up the whole recording rig in a standard airline row. (Coach, no less!)
3. Weathered some turbulence.
4. Had to fight a sudden outbreak of poisonous snakes. (Okay, made that one up.)

… and somehow managed to muster a full multichannel mix, with a MacBook Pro providing power over FireWire to a Focusrite Saffire PRO 26i/o, using internal Mac power alone. I’m not sure this comes as good news to touring artists, whose packed schedules may already make them feel as though they’re playing on airplanes. But for passengers, it sure beats having to watch Rumor Has It starring Jennifer Aniston.

Squarely in the meaningless gimmick category, some band called Cartel has decided to lock itself into a plastic bubble for a month to record their album. On first glance, it sounds like David Blane meets Spinal Tap. The band describes it as a “groundbreaking interactive multimedia event that will offer fans an unprecedented real-time look into the ups and downs of the creative process as Cartel shapes the highly anticipated follow-up to their breakthrough debut, CHROMA.” Groundbreaking? I think John Lennon and Yoko Ono still win that. Interactive? Maybe if you throw things at the bubble. Multimedia? Only if bubbles count as a medium.

But, wait — this isn’t just an overinflated (ahem) attempt to promote some random band. It’s also a chance to sell Dr. Pepper, clearly communicating that Dr. Pepper is a beverage … that … contains bubbles. Happily, those bubbles are not filled with musical acts, though I find the beverage delicious, and use it to fuel my recording sessions. I can say that with a clear conscience and complete confidence that Dr. Pepper will never pay me to say as much, nor lock me in a giant rubber fishbowl on Pier 54.

Band in a Bubble Promotional Site (Via Futuremusic.com)

It’s comforting to know that, what little I have in common with Cartel, they also like Chick Fil-A. Music: boring. Product placement: now I know what I want for breakfast tomorrow.

Not sure everyone knows that although digital emulators are quite competent at some chores, others, such as comprehensive dynamics, are a different story; it’s my studied opinion that these devices are less than convincing when emulating analog compressors.

“I’m not worthy” doesn’t even begin to cover it; Mr. Massenburg wrote the original paper on Parametric Equalization and has some engineered and/or produced more albums than you could count. Of course, it is somewhat comforting (though not surprising) that you can’t really spend a few hundred dollars and replace racks of classic equipment. (And interesting that compressors, rather than EQ, are where it shows most.)

If you want more of George Massenburg’s insight, you don’t have to hang around the comments here. In addition to his own line of products, he runs a pro recording forum on MusicPlayer.com, and has dropped onto CDM before, too. He reminded us that it’s not necessarily about expensive gear, noting that Eleanor Rigby was recorded on lowly Shure SM56′s. And he spoke to assembled Berklee students along with Geoff Emerick and Elliot Scheiner. (Google ‘em!)

I hope I don’t discourage any more luminaries from commenting here, but I think it is worth gaining some expertise from people who know as much as people like George do. The tech is nothing without someone with some skill behind it.

And so, we have the incredible Focusrite Liquid Mix: 32 channels of EQ, 32 compressors, all modeling classic and vintage sounds in one cute, compact FireWire case. This tiny bus-powered device does all the number-crunching so your computer CPU doesn’t have to, thanks to onboard DSP chips. Price TBD, but it sounds as though it’ll be well under US$1000.

The real magic of this device, of course, is you can have at your disposal dozens of vintage EQs and compressors (Focusrite promises an expanding library online). The secret is real-time audio convolution, the same technique that has been applied to high-quality reverbs. That would be far too CPU-intensive on even a high-end current machine, but with DSP chips it becomes practical.

There’s a software interface, of course, but continuing the trend towards tactile controls, Liquid Channel’s hardware includes a full-featured LED display, live meters, and hands-on knobs. And if for some reason this isn’t powerful enough for you, an expansion card will be available.

Mac will ship first in Q2, with PC following later this year. Best of all, you’re not tied down to any one DAW: sounds as though you’ll be able to use this as a plug-in in any DAW you like. Take that, Pro Tools. (Or, really, use this in Pro Tools. But finally, the Pro Tools folks aren’t the only ones with lavish DSP.)

Focusrite Liquid Range [Nothing on their site on Mix as this story goes to press, though you can read about Liquid Channel]

[Updated: Something odd happening with links. My links were posted incorrectly (my fault) but the address from Focusrite isn't working, either. I'll post once I get a corrected link from Focusrite. Thanks for your patience. -PK]

Important news — please forward as widely as you can, particularly to anyone in a position to watch for these serial numbers! -PK

Horrible news from the UK: an enormous inventory of music hardware has been stolen. And yes, this affects you, as this is inventory you won’t be able to get your hands on as someone else already has. Giles Orford, Marketing Manager of Focusrite, sends details to CDM among other outlets (see also their theft details page:

Monday, August 15th 2005, was a gloomy day for Focusrite and its sister company, Novation. As the morning unfolded, it quickly transpired that the companies had been the victim of a major burglary. Not only were many of the office computers stolen, but in addition, over £250,000 (retail) of stock was also taken.

Missing stock included a host of classic RED’s, ISA and Platinum rack-mount units, Novation X-Station keyboards, and the recently launched Saffire desktop interface.

Fortunately, Focusrite has software back-up solutions in place, so the company was able to fully function within 48 hours and, thanks to Computer Warehouse, promptly reinstalled computers.

Needless to say, Focsurite has since significantly reinforced its security measures.

Available on Focusrite’s website (www.focusrite.com/stolen) is a list of the serial numbers for the stolen units. In a bid to catch the perpetrators, Focusrite is offering a substantial reward for any information that leads to a conviction as well as a complete Focusrite and Novation recording studio, including Focusrite’s Saffire and Platinum Compounder alongside Novation’s ground-breaking X-Station 25.

Should you have any information which you believe might be useful, please contact Focusrite directly, on 01494 836307.

I hope that through the power of the Web we’re able to help track down the culprits. I’ll keep you posted of anything I hear from Focusrite / Novation.