My review of Apple’s Logic Studio (including Logic Pro 8) is now live at Macworld.com (it’ll also be in the January 2008 print issue).

Summary:

Pros: Single-window view speeds editing and setup; MainStage program ideal for playing instruments and effects live; powerful, easy-to-access editing and take management tools; bundles Soundtrack Pro but halves the price; no more dongle; can sync with others via .Mac or Bonjour.

Cons: Some MIDI features are still obscure; MainStage doesn’t integrate with Logic or ReWire.

Or, to put it more simply: take away a dongle, slash the price, and make Logic easier to use, and you’ve got a winner.

Logic Studio: All-in-one music creation package is easier to use, more playable

I do hope competitors are taking a notice of what the Logic team at Apple has done with the interface.

Soundtrack Pro 2 from Apple offers some major new improvements over the first release of the “Pro” audio editor from Apple. Multichannel editing now works properly, with the ability to nudge by frames and move clip envelopes together with clips, and there are some brilliant new features for conforming audio projects to video and a “Lift and Stamp” tool for applying audio attributes from one clip (including matching EQ and copying effects) to another.

Macworld.com has just published my complete review of the software:

Pros: Vastly improved multichannel editing and file import and export; Conform feature makes Final Cut integration more elegant; efficient surround panning; improved recording; convenient Lift and Stamp audio.

Cons: Automation requires AppleScript; rigid and sometimes sluggish interface; available only as part of the Final Cut Studio suite.

Soundtrack Pro 2: Improved editing and new features help you sync audio with video

Soundtrack vs. Final Cut Studio vs. Logic

The bad news, of course, is that the only way to get Soundtrack Pro 2 is to either buy Final Cut Studio or upgrade to the whole Final Cut Studio.

Macworld, naturally, spends a lot of time focused intently on Apple hardware while I get distracted by beatboxing parrots and modular synthesizers built out of yarn and rubber bands. They have an excellent write-up of the significance of the MacBook Pro Santa Rosa upgrades, with comments on their benchmarks of the equivalent refreshed MacBooks:

MacBook Pro knows the way to Santa Rosa

One thing I was a little unclear on in my previous story is what matters in Santa Rosa, Intel’s latest architecture platform. (They didn’t call it Core 3 Duo, but then, consistent branding and Intel don’t generally go together.) As with Core 2 Duo over Core Duo, we’re getting incremental performance enhancements relative to the previous generation. Each step is relatively small, but they start to add up — hence, Apple quotes 50% gains over the original Core Duo. (And that’s why they dumped PowerPC, which in the mobile space was starting to practically paddle backwards.)

The key differences as far as raw performance: faster front-side bus (800MHz instead of 667), which for audio is a big deal, faster clock speeds on the models themselves at the same price, and fast RAM, plus a faster GPU for GPU-related tasks. (And, um, any day now we’ll start to see audio on the GPU — it’s tough to program, and GPUs are only now becoming the norm, and CPU cycles are getting cheaper, but it will happen.)

Also, none of this was meant to say “eBay your MacBook Pro.” PowerBook G4, maybe, but the first-gen MacBook Pro is still a terrific audio machine, with a GPU that’s no slouch. My main laptop right now is a first-gen MacBook (no Pro), and it blazes through everything I throw at it.

E-MU was once a beloved moniker in the music gear business. Now owned by Creative Labs, they’ve made a new name for themselves with software versions of their sound modules and value-priced keyboards and interfaces — but Mac users haven’t been invited to the party. So I was surprised when I heard Mac users coming back excited about E-MU gear on the Macworld floor.

It seems E-MU is releasing Universal Mac driver support for their full keyboard line and external USB audio interfaces, both of which were previously Windows-only and lacked cross-platform class-compliant compatibility. (PCMCIA and PCI interfaces are evidently no-go, but all the rest of their hardware is). They’re certainly worth a look on the Mac now. The keyboards aren’t terribly pretty, but they have a great action for the price and include aftertouch. Mike Gallant loved them at Keyboard. (See PDF of his review) And the audio interfaces have been a good buy, too.

Now the big question is what happens to E-MU’s software; the software bundle is a big part of what makes these a value. An E-MU rep on the floor said, while there’s no official date yet, the popular Proteus sound modules are on their way. I haven’t used these since they were hardware modules, so I like the idea.

The driver download page is a little spotty for now, but will hopefully improve:

E-MU Public Preview, Drivers

E-MU Home Page

On the Windows side, incidentally, Creative has a great relationship with Microsoft, so it’s little surprise they’re out in front with support of 64-bit — both XP and Vista. Any E-MU owners / fans out there? Give us a holler.

Apple’s iPhone prototype is a beautiful culmination of user interface design and industrial/product design. But the core of the product really is its multi-touch interface, which should gratify readers of this site. Almost from the moment this site was founded, you’ve advocated the possibilities of touch and multi-touch interfaces. CDM first covered the JazzMutant Lemur (later distributed by Max/MSP powerhouse Cycling ‘74) in November 2004, and readers of CDM were pouring over the interface possibilities of multi-touch as revealed in Apple’s patents back in February, along with experimental, projected multi-touch interfaces and even Windows multi-touch.

Musicians, after all, understand the importance of physical interfaces — it’s the essence of musical performance, and anyone who works with MIDI is intimate with the process of translating gestures into numbers.

So now the iPhone is (almost) here. It’s a brilliant design that, unlike my Windows Mobile-based UT Starcom VX6700, seems to actually understand what a phone is.

With months left until release, a lot could change. But, while I’m very excited about the iPhone’s design, two major questions concern me:

1. Will Apple lock down the iPhone, blocking Flash, Java, custom widgets, and open development from its new platform?

2. Could Apple’s multi-touch patents actually stifle growth of new, interactive displays?

While a lot of CDMers looked at iPhone and thought “that’d make a nifty music controller”, a possibility that now seems more remote, these questions of course have much deeper implications. So, with everyone else to ooh and ahh over Apple’s as-yet-unreleased phone (check out the hilarious faux unboxing), I get the chance to play skeptic.

Tablets have always held a special, niche appeal for musicians. For notation, they’re invaluable: you can prop a tablet up on a music stand and use computer notation software in place of manuscript paper. But they’re quite nice for live music, too: tap synth parameters directly, and control performances onstage. Until now, though, there has been no easy way to get a non-Windows / non-Linux tablet. Enter the Axiotron ModBook:

ModBook Product Page [Other World Computing]

I got to try out the ModBook at Other World Computing’s booth and talk a bit to the engineers. The MacBook-turned-tablet is certainly a marvel of engineering. The case is a rugged mod of the factory MacBook with a Wacom tablet digitizer. Maddeningly enough, Apple’s Inkwell technology is truly brilliant: handwriting recognition is spot-on, and everything is beautifully integrated with the OS. You have to wonder if Apple planned to release a tablet computer and then canceled the product.

For those of you who asked, the tablet uses USB drivers, not serial.

The only problem I have with the ModBook is that you’d have to be truly obsessed with Macs to shell out for one. US$2200 and up buys you a model that’s comparable with PC tablets costing a full thousand bucks less. Worse, the mod seals shut the computer: there’s no QWERTY keyboard left. Given that plenty of PC tablets manage to convert between laptop and tablet without adding much weight or width, Windows tablets start looking pretty good — especially when you could afford both a standard MacBook and PC tablet for the price. But for someone, somewhere, I’m sure these will work — even if the rest of us can’t be without good, old-fashioned QWERTY.

It was easy to go into iPod accessory overload at this year’s Macworld Expo, which ballooned back into two halls of the Moscone Center more because of iPod products than Mac products. (Some wondered if the show should be called “Appleworld.”) But while it’s been bashed by Gizmodo, Belkin’s new TuneStudio shows a lot of promise as an iPod accessory that just might change how you use your music player.

I got a chance to talk to Belkin at the show, and learned some additional details about the device. If sound quality is up to par, it could be a really handy gadget.

The TuneStudio is what it looks like: it’s a mixer with a port for your iPod. Since the iPod can’t record multitrack audio, you get instead a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV file recorded to the iPod. (It lives in your voice memos folder, for easy syncing to your Mac or PC.) The mixer itself is a full mixer, with 3-band EQ, pan and level, and routing to headphones or a monitor mix.

Most interesting to me is that the USB connection on the TuneStudio will stream audio bi-directionally to your computer. That means you can use the TuneStudio as an audio input device for your computer, and/or stream sound back from your computer to the mixer and record the resulting mix on the iPod. With one device, in other words, you could plug in an instrument, mic, and sound from your computer software of choice, route the results to a house mix for a gig, but capture your performance onto your iPod for your band’s podcast.

I’m now in San Francisco at Macworld Expo, and will be reporting all week for CDMusic and CDMotion. Sure, word is Steve Jobs is going to be introducing some new gadget, but that’s not even the highlight for me. There’s a terrific lineup of music and visual events and parties, many of which will appeal even to you Windows users. San Francisco and the Mac platform in general have always been magnets for creative music making and multimedia technology. And best of all, unlike NAMM, this is truly a consumer show for people actually using the gear, not just the trade.

If you’re here in San Francisco, do come say hi! And if not, stay tuned here, as we’ll do our best to bring the full experience to you on CDM this week and next.

I’ll be around all week, but here are the events in which I’m personally involved, plus a link to our new flickr photo group so those of us in SF can share snapshots:

If you’re going to San Francisco (or, like, live there), come hang with some fellow laptop and electronic musicians at a special Macworld edition of the Backlit Lounge electronica party, which has been featured regularly on the CDMusic forums. I’ll be playing a featured set myself, and it looks like a great lineup. It’s the most logical place for CDMusic readers to meet up during Macworld week — especially since it’s free to all, even without an expo pass. Maybe I’ll bring a flag.

If you plan on coming, say hi in comments or email me directly. (I may just check out early, since I have to lead a day-long presentation Friday!)

And if you want to play yourself, I think the organizers are still accepting more players; head to the Myspace page below.

Macworld goers, this is very close to the Moscone Center.

Backlit Lounge SF
San Francisco’s Laptop/Electronica Lounge
January 10, 6 pm to 2 am
Rx Gallery
132 Eddy Street, San Francisco [Map]

Information, friend adds, photos, video, and those interested in performing:
backlitloungesf @ Myspace

Video series on the event, so you can relive Backlit Lounges vicariously (pour yourself a beer or two):
Backlit Lounge @ revver

See also the visual salon with workshops and VJ jam on Thursday night.

I’m excited to be hosting a new event at Macworld Expo called the Music and Technology Symposium. It’s a day-long intensive event during which top Mac musicians will share their creative secrets and talk about all areas and all levels of music production. The confirmed lineup includes a broad range of people, from producer COUNT (DJ Shadow, Radiohead, Halou) to guitarist Joe Gore (Tom Waits, PJ Harvey), producer/composer Walt Szalva of Planet-3 Studios (Neil Young, Paul McCartney), and musician, circuit bender, and writer Chachi Jones (Robotspeak, TapeOp). We’ll cover the basics of setting up music production techniques that work, for beginners and advanced users alike, and also talk about musical issues and how to unstop your creative process and work in a way that’s personally satisfying. Most of the panel (myself included) write about technology as well as use it in our music, and the day will be filled with demos and mini-performances. (Yes, I am on vacation, but this was too important not to share … more on the artists soon, as it’s getting to be an interesting lineup!)

The event runs all day (9-4) Friday, January 12, 2007 at Macworld in San Francisco:

Musicians and Technology Market Symposium [Macworld Conference & Expo Site]
Registration Details (Use code D-CDM; details below)

If you’re in the San Francisco area or thinking about Macworld, we have a special discount which you can apply to the symposium a la carte or to a whole exposition registration (several of which also include the music symposium). In addition to the symposium, Berklee College of Music and MusicPlayer network (Keyboard, GuitarPlayer, EQ, and so on) will be staging workshops on the show floor, I’ll be chatting about my book at the Peachpit Press booth and presenting a workshop on interactive visuals, and there will be the usual workshops on Logic, GarageBand, and more. It should be a fantastic show for musicians.

You do need to register soon, though, to take advantage of the discount: