As you may know, the creators of games like Grand Theft Auto have collaborated with Timbaland to bring a mobile music studio to Sony’s PSP (and later, the iPhone), based on an ambitious free Flash experiment on their Website. Now, it’s my impassioned belief that you shouldn’t need lots of canned loops or celebrity endorsements to make music fun, so normally I might actually run the opposite direction of any story starting with that line. But here’s the surprise: underneath, the app is more powerful than I expected.

I’ve gotten an early preview of the title in person at Rockstar’s offices here in New York, and was also able to grill their developers on geeky details of how the sound engine is put together. A test copy isn’t yet available so I can’t properly review the app, but I am at least able to talk about some of what lies beneath the PSP screens and marketing.

For some time, a select few have known that the Sony PSP’s secret is that it’s a powerful handheld computer, ideal for mobile music. Brilliant-but-underground apps like PSPSEQ and PSP Rhythm capitalized on this potential, but required you hack your PSP in order to run them, because Sony restricts launching non-authorized applications from memory.

Beaterator is the first full-featured app that can be run directly on the PSP. Some people may not look past the fact that it comes from a game company, past its (admittedly) thick layer of marketing glitz and celebrity endorsement. But based on a first look, I believe Beaterator is the most powerful music app ever released through game channels, surpassing in functionality even the recent cult hit Korg DS-10 for the Nintendo DS.

Move over, Nintendo DS. You may win on quantity and you certainly have some interesting apps, but when it comes to hardcore, deep apps with rich sounds and capabilities, the PSP has turned into a mobile music creation powerhouse. And if you think mobile music production is a novelty or a toy or only for chipmusic fans, take a good long look at PSPSEQ and Little Piggy. These are serious, grown-up trackers that can put your current computer workstation to shame. (And yes, when it comes to accurate timing, I’m afraid that includes the app-of-the-week Ableton Live.)

Two big developments: a Little Piggy port (video above) and growing PSPSEQ documentation (video playlist below).

This Little Piggy Went to PSP

“Little Piggy”, aka LGPT, aka Little GP Tracker (which awesomely also stands for Laser Gated and Pumped Thyristor) is making its way to the PSP. Originally built for the Linux GamePark platform, creator nostromo got this LSDJ-inspired tracker working in basic form on PSP in just a weekend and an evening.

Grab the beta at:
http://www.littlegptracker.com/lgpt_PSP.rar

LGPT is inspired by LSDJ on the Game Boy, but brings some twists of its own – and is nice and easy to see on a bright PSP screen. Now, LSDJ still has its place, thanks to the unique sound of the chip on the vintage Game Boy and the absurd cheapness of those machines, but it’s still good news.

PSPSEQ Documentation

PSPSEQ is already mature, but it tends to baffle newcomers. And creator Ethan Bordeaux has enough DSP technique in his head that you really want to know every little detail of the software he created. He’s working on copious tutorials. They already cover basic workflow, though the real gems should be once he gets into synth editing – PSPSEQ’s synthesis capabilities can rival a lot of desktop soft synths, and you can get into tweaking sounds instantly – no messy, gimicky UI getting in your way.

I’ve got a playlist below. I’m also working on a more compact guide to getting you up and running quickly – once I digest all the work Ethan has already done.

Updated: Watch on your PSP. Ethan sends along a video with direct-downloadable tutorial videos that should play nicely on a PSP. (Ethan recommends the homebrew video player PSPlayer, or you can try a conversion utility like the free PSP Player. Of course, you can’t watch and use at the same time, so you may wind up loading these elsewhere.)

http://dspmusic.org/psp/pspseq301_videos/ [easy on that link - only download if you really need it; i.e., have a PSP and PSPSEQ running on it!]

Both apps are free, though you will need a hacked PSP as with any PSP homebrew. I’ll keep dreaming of officially-sanctioned online distribution, in the meantime.

Next stop: we need a hardware MIDI hack for the PSP.

Retro hardware? Vintage game machines? Old computers? New mobile devices? Whatever it is, we’ll make music and motion on it.

The Blip Festival, the legendary international festival of vintage music and visual tech, invades New York today (Thursday) through Sunday. There’s an unbelievable lineup, with fantastic musicians and live visualists playing every single night Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, from music from m-.-n to Bubblyfish and visuals from Paris Treantafales to Meneo (and many other friends). In fact, every single musician has their own live visuals, so your eyes and ears are guaranteed to be (over)stimulated at all times.

Saturday afternoon is a lineup of workshops, including making your own visual electronics with VBLANK and putting music on NES albums with NO CARRIER.

Sunday is the debut of Reformat the Planet, the documentary film.

2008 Blip Festival

And before the Friday night Blip festival starts, get your 32-bit / mobile gaming + music device / happy hour mixer on:

Mobile Music: 32-Bit Blip Drinkup/Meetup with CDM + Boing Boing [Facebook]

Friday 32-bit BB/CDM Meetup @ Bell House Bar

Blip has a strictly 8-bit and/or retro focus. The stated mission is to:

showcase emerging creative niches involving the use of legacy video game & home computer hardware as modern artistic instrumentation. Devices such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Nintendo Game Boy and others are repurposed into the service of original, low-res, high-impact electronic music and visuals…

Now, I love retro tech, but being the subversive character I am, I have to say, cough, “low resolution”? “8-bit”?

And so, with Joel Johnson (Boing Boing / Offworld / Boing Boing Gadgets), we’re hosting a very informal meetup to celebrate all things mobile and 32-bit with the Boing Boing and CDM communities. If you’ve got one, bring your PSP, your Nintendo DS, and your GamePark (or even mobile phone / PDA), and prepare to share. I’m especially hopeful we’ll get some wireless action with multiples of the DS, Korg DS-10, and homebrew. We may be able to unlock your PSP for homebrew (contact us first – likewise, give us a holler if you’re good with a Pandora’s Battery and Magic Memory Stick). If you’ve found a way to hook your 8-bit Game Boy into your new DS DIY MIDI interface, all numbers of bits will be accommodated.  I’ll be bringing my PSP with the incredible PSPSEQ onboard – which sounds utterly beautiful and is really inspiring to use. I’ll have DS homebrew, too.

If you just want to meet me and Joel and folks and see what’s possible and nerd out and have a few drinks, that goes, too!

We’re meeting at the bar at the Bell House, which also happens to be where Blip is happening. So you can come, get some drinks and snacks, and get your mobile music/visual geek on. Bonus: it’s two-for-one happy hour, so bring a friend / significant other and we’ll make them feel at home!

Bell House Food & Drink Menu

RSVP on Facebook

When: Friday, December 5, 6-8p

Where: 149 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215 [Map | Directions]

See you there!

Again, very important rest of the planet, I’ll try to stream live if WiFi cooperates in the bar! Watch http://twitter.com/cdmblogs for updates.

Being expressive and productive creatively is all about finding a workflow that fits you. Form factor is part of that, because location matters. (I discovered this when trying unsuccessfully to operate my MacBook on a bus to Boston this week that wouldn’t accommodate my knees. Mobile devices suddenly had more appeal.) Naturally, not everyone has the same needs or interests. So today, we have some survey data on how readers feel about mobile tech, as well as an update to the iPhone/iPod touch Beatmaker app that could have a big impact on how you use that device in conjunction with your primary laptop or desktop computer.

This site has always been about making music with computers and digital technology. Today, we increasingly have access to powerful computers in mobile form factors. But, despite the simple fact that all of these are ultimately computers, I’ve quickly learned that mobile music production is a divisive issue. Some of you are as passionate about hating mobile tech as others of you are about loving it, perhaps propelled by a strong uptick of iPhone hype and accompanying resentment. Don’t worry — I won’t be swayed too much by either group; I’m committed to computers in all forms, tiny and large, and accompanying digital synths. And analog synths. And, really, anything that makes sound.

That said, the survey results we did on mobile tech are very interesting. Story topics for CDM aren’t a popularity contest, but your responses do reveal a lot. (The best reading turns out to be the write-in portion.)

First up, here’s a look at what mobile platforms people own. I expect the survey is somewhat self-selecting (some of you in the “none of the above” category likely didn’t respond), but note how the game platforms dominate.

That’s platforms you already own. But which are you interested in reading about? The margin on each device increases significantly. (Sony’s PSP doubles; Linux triples.) So that demonstrates that people are interested in learning about the larger landscape, and may be basing future purchase decisions on what’s available for music creation. (It also appeared that stronger support for PSP and Linux came from Europe than North America, possibly in part due to painfully-inflated costs for iPod touch and iPhone in that market.)

Zany Write-In Response

Okay, enough demographics. The best part of doing the poll was getting your write-in responses.
Google’s Android platform unsurprisingly got a number of write-in votes; GP2X got fewer, but I expect people just (rightfully) answered “Linux.” We did get some interesting responses, though:

Mobile device suggestions:

• Boss Micro BR
• Buddha Machine
• Graphing calculators (careful; with the readers here, you might get your wish
• Korg Kaossilator
• MPC 500
• Psion organizers
• “steam powered”
• Yamaha QY100
• Speak and Spell
• PlayStation 1 (that’s mobile?)
• Nokia N-gage (but now I know you’re joking)

And then there was the hater/lover argument:
“PLEASE GIVE THE IPHONE A REST! BORING YUPPIE TOY. soz for capitals.”
“Not all of us have tiny little girlie fingers!!!” (ouch!)
“The above statement should be “I really couldn’t care less.” As it happens, I am interested in all of them, so I really could care less.”
“mobile audio coverage is getting ridiculous”
“Just keep it to a minimum, guys =)” (Well, it is by definition miniature, right?)
“more iphone!!!! screw the haters”
“Everything. If there’s something new and interesting done with a C64, it could be worth going out to buy a setup.”
“every – f***ing – thing !”