Add this to the Internet of Things: imagine data recording scratching and scratch performances.

Technologists Jamie Wilkinson, Michael Auger, and Kyle McDonald propose a new way of storing scratch moves as data. They’re not just working in traditional ways, either: they’re hacking turntables and optical mice and cameras, and imagine not only recording performances, but having machines recreate scratching. (Robots!) And they want your help. Kyle writes:

i’m going to be leading a group at art hack day ( brooklyn, january 26th-28th www.arthackday.net/ ) about scratch markup
language, a tool for recording performances from turntablists.

this describes the general idea and who we’re
looking for. we need everyone from web designers/developers, to
hardware hackers, coders and musicians. if you’re interested, or know someone who is interested, contact me or join the google group groups.google.com/group/arthackday/

(We cover the awesomeness that is Graffiti Markup Language on Motion, which goes further to explaining why this sort of data storage can be powerful and enabling.)

All is described – rather bizarrely – in an image. (Can we have plain text, please? It is, at least, a pretty picture!)

dj sniff, aka Takuro Mizuta Lippit, has been a leading figure in experimental turntablism and experimental music in general. Following studies in New York and Tokyo, he’s been a key artist and curator in the scene, as well as a top practitioner of turntable technique that pushes the envelope of what the record player can do. I got to spend some time with him in the basement of STEIM, the cutting-edge “electro-instrumental” research center in Amsterdam, as he jammed on his rig.

Combining a computer running Max/MSP with interactive physical control and conventional scratching and mixing, Taku’s rig is a kind of hybrid meta-instrument, a one-man ensemble of sound. In our video, he first gives us an extended improvisation. It was literally just him messing around when I happened to flip on the camera; this flows out of him both as a soloist and with other musicians (including acoustic instrumentalists). Then, he walks us through that gear.

Some of what you’ll see, apart from the obvious turntables and a one-of-a-kind custom device of sniff’s own creation:
Mac mini
Cycling ’74 Max/MSP (you can’t see it, but via his custom patches, it’s doing the sampling)
Stanton SCS.3m Controller
Novation Dicer DJ Controller (the little, triangular device propped on the edge of the turntable)
Foot pad

The “Crossfader Trigger Sampler” is the heart of the rig, what Taku says he had to learn to play. It’s powered by a PIC18F microcontroller, though these days you might well choose a different option. (The device was designed in the pre-Arduino days.)

Take a look:

I’m listening now to dj sniff’s album, titled simply ep. It’s actually nearly a full hour of music, perhaps best described as experimental turntable jazz. I love Taku’s inscription on the back, from the liner notes, as it says a lot to me about the relationship of performance and recording media:

“With every scratch, our memory of a past is suspended and we hear and here the now.”

dj sniff is curating and playing STEIM’s PATTERNS + PLEASURE festival next month. We’ll be in Amsterdam, and will be doing a Handmade Music call; more on that shortly. I just hope I can fight through jetlag and make some music down in STEIM’s bowels.

More:
http://www.steim.org/
http://www.djsniff.com/

More dj sniff:

At STEIM in Tokyo, 2008:

Scratching, meet recycling. Rather than allow MIDI DJ controllers to consign themselves to landfills, a new open source project promises to retrofit these gadgets with scratch capabilities.

Scratch Decoder is a collaborative, open source effort to add or extend obsolete controllers, CDJs, and turntables with digital vinyl control – before they get tossed. Inspired by a 2009 thesis by Swiss student Ramon Mathis, advised by the folks who first developed the Ms. Pinky vinyl control system for Max/MSP, and rooted in years of work, the system is now publicly documented.

The ingredients:
An Arduino hardware board
The encoder sensor and board on a Numark CDX – which this project actually hacks into
MIDI, and Ms. Pinky’s software library

Upshot: add a computer, and you can translate scratch movements to MIDI messages for use with your DJ software of choice.

The video is in Spanish, so Mudo, who’s on the team, explains:

In the video, Norbert shows, as proof-of-concept, hijacking the encoder signal and connecting it to the digital inputs at Arduino. Then he sets up the software involved (serial-to-MIDI translator and Traktor controller panel) and starts the platter of the Numark CDX (the CDX is a CDJ without the ability to send MIDI from the platter) — all without a timecode CD, of course. It is not perfect right now, but it works at last.

I actually kind of like that it isn’t perfect.

This deserves further explanation for those for whom this isn’t obvious (mainly, most normal people). Typically, digital vinyl works by including a disc (vinyl or CD) encoded with timecode. That way, by looking at the audio playback from the device, as someone moves the record, the audio stream can be decoded in order to tell that, say, they’re scratching the disc.

In this case, a device that lacks that timecode disc and has sensors that refuse to see MIDI can be retrofitted to provide signal to software.

The team in this case is inspired by other experimental turntablists, artists who explore the potential of modifying technology for use in turntable performance technique. The project says it draws from the artistic ideas of these inventors as well as their technological research, looking to the likes of DJ Sniff, Jason Sadural and the Rastieri Project, Aaron Faulstitch, Jesse Kriss, and Scott Wardle.

I’m finishing editing a video interview with DJ Sniff showing of his current rig, but I asked Sniff, aka Takuro Mizuta Lippit, about this project. He points CDM to a range of “hackable gems,” devices for DJing that failed in the consumer market but are now available for creative use in used form.

Examples:

The Tascam TT-M1 is, says Taku “essentially just an optical encoder that rides that spinning platter.” It’s the sensor you can add to something like the CDX – a non-open equivalent of the project above, meant to rescue your CDX from the trash heap.

The Stanton SCS.3M brought to bear a fascinating array of interactive touch strips, a compact, all-touch controller for DJing. It’s a device we covered on CDM when it came out, particularly due to its similarity to [warning: getting obscure] the never-released M-Audio [then Midiman] Surface One controller prototype. The SCS got further than the M-Audio piece in that it was manufactured, but apparently has since been discontinued and didn’t quite take the market by storm. [Fair warning: I don't see confirmation from Stanton that it's discontinued, so its status may simply be, "not the biggest controller ever to hit the market" until we hear otherwise.]

Taku uses that gadget in his work, which you’ll see in the video soon.

In the meantime, to follow these community projects, there are some interesting discussions and sites coming together.

En Español and in English:
Proyecto 1: Scratch Decoder. Convierte tu viejo equipo en un controlador midi para scratch!

Discussion on the DJ TechTools forum of this project:
Which controllers with motorized platter does Traktor support? [a slight misnomer in the subject header - eventually, you wind up with the project here!]

See Ramón Mathis’ dream of an open community for sharing scratch skills, styles, and “tricks” via an interactive e-learning system and community:
http://www.skrat.ch/

In a surprise update, Apple has made significant changes to its developer agreement, coinciding with the release of OS 4.1. It would seem that Apple is in fact responding to widespread criticism of vague language and specific restrictions. I expect much will be made of what this means for Flash, but I think what’s more significant is that the agreement represents a step toward what many developers wanted. Apple’s app ecosystem is, by design, not as flexible as traditional desktop operating systems, and it falls short of some of what is possible on some competitors (Android, MeeGo). But it’s also a platform that continues to evolve and change, and given some of the platform’s unique strengths, those changes come as good news.

The other flipside – something really only relevant to music developers – is greater freedom in regards to Library access, which should continue to unlock DJ software possibilities.

A More Sensible Contract

Daring Fireball has an excellent run-down of the changes in the developer agreement:
License Agreement and New Review Guidelines

Summary:

• Language bigotry is more or less gone. The widely-despised “Section 3.3.1″ has been slashed, so that mention of specific programming languages or the vague “intermediary translation or compatibility layers” is gone. That should open up Flash’s cross-compiler, yes, but more important is that a vague reference that could mean practically anything has been removed, and that Apple has responded to feedback.
• Interpreter language (3.3.2) is clarified. If you really want script interpreters, platforms like Android remain a better choice; interpreted code is allowed (thanks to the editing of 3.3.1) but must be installed with the app. But better language here means less developer confusion, and – as the agreement now explicitly says – there’s always WebKit.
• Analytics are more open. Language apparently written to ban AdMob (which in turn prompted legal and regulatory pressure on Apple) is gone. You can collect analytics with user consent.

I actually strongly recommend reading Daring Fireball’s whole post; I don’t always agree with him, but I think author John Gruber is spot-on on this one.

Okay, so you’re reading the above news all over the Web. Here’s news exclusive to our audience.

New Library Access API in iOS 4.1

While not significant to as many developers, OS 4.1 is a big leap forward in terms of access to the music library. That’s going to be helpful to DJ apps, but also any music creation app that wants to store its audio assets on the device.

Gordon Childs, author of the DJ app Flare, writes with an update:

So your readers know their stuff and pretty quickly figured out that Flare on iOS 4.0 didn’t have “direct” access to the iPod Library samples and that in fact Flare was doing a lengthy and slightly clunky import.

iOS 4.1 finally resolves this situation with a new API class called AVAssetReader. Flare Scratch is the first DJ app (maybe the first overall app) on the AppStore to use this API.

So that means that local library files and iPod tracks are on a
fairly equal footing and that when the other apps catch up
you won’t have to waste space uploading the same tracks
over and over, nor deal with lame ad hoc WiFi upload schemes.

The only reason I haven’t yet pulled the built-in library in Flare Scratch is that some meta-data is not yet reliably reported via the new API, against which I have several bugs logged, so for example you can’t seamlessly loop an mp3 yet.

http://async-games.com/flare.html
http://itunes.com/apps/flarescratch

So, 4.0 was an improvement for music apps, 4.1 is way better and all we need now is multiple audio channels (i.e. via bluetooth) and you’ll have the perfect digital music device.

Below: a video demonstrates why this is cool.

And major kudos to Flare: they appear to be the first app to take advantage of this feature, shipping before even Apple’s own iMovie.

Good Times Ahead?

I’m personally gratified by this news. But part of what makes me and many developers excited is what’s happening in the larger landscape. I think some of the biggest advancements won’t come from any one platform – iOS or Android, to name the two most active for developers.

Competition and criticism is keeping platform vendors (Apple, Google and their partners) on their toes. Cross-platform development technologies continue to get more robust, so that some of the best work will be done between platforms. (I hope to talk more about that soon, as there are some technologies of specific interest to both Create Digital Music and Create Digital Motion.)

Nor are we just talking phones: bigger tablets, alongside or in place of laptops for performance, are part of the picture, too.

And because creative music apps push the envelopes of almost every aspect of these platforms – yes, far more than those fart apps – I think we stand to benefit the most from an innovative climate.

We’ve known since January that Ableton Live, the live production software, and Serato Scratch Live, a leading virtual vinyl and DJ app, were to be connected with new software called The Bridge. (See our Q&A from the NAMM trade show at the beginning of the year.) Now, after a limited private beta, the software is available as a public beta. There’s also full documentation online if you just want to browse through and have a look (which you well may want to do, as the prerequisite hardware/software setup is non-trivial).

How does The Bridge work? To sum up in one line, The Bridge provides access to Ableton Live sets inside Serato, and allows you to export your Serato mixes in Live’s native format for after-the-fact tweaking. Having talked a lot about The Bridge, I’m eager to hear how it works in the real world.

The Bridge 1.0 Manual [Serato]
Serato Scratch Live 2.1.1 featuring The Bridge 1.0 public beta [Serato Forums]

Back in January, a number of us also wondered if people would try the opposite approach for integrating virtual vinyl with Live, by using Ms. Pinky via Max for Live devices inside Live. It’s very possible people have continued to work on this; I haven’t followed it closely enough. If that’s you, give us a shout.
Ms. Pinky + Max for Live = Scratch Anything in Ableton

As they did with their previous Kontrol X1, Native Instruments is using a live appearance to tease new hardware before they make details public. (And believe me, I asked for more detail – this is all we’ve got.) In contrast to the diminutive Kontrol X1, though, this is a fully-integrated controller capable of providing tangible access to everything in Traktor. As is clearly visible in the video, that includes not only mixing and effects (and presumably looping and browsing) controls, but also two impressive-looking virtual turntable platters (jog wheels) – something that could perhaps finally threaten devices like the Pioneer CDJ.

This time, it’s Dubfire at Ibiza’s Space Lounge. (That’s right; you don’t have to be in Germany to see NI hardware early after all.)

Clarification – quadruple your enjoyment: There are two jog wheels, so two “decks” in the sense of platters you can control physically at once. There indeed appear to be mix controls for up to four decks, which makes perfect sense for Traktor’s up-to-four-deck controls. We’ll get official details from NI once they start talking. Thanks to readers for the feedback (and I can see that four decks matters to someone, at least here among CDM readers).

DJs have some choices when it comes to controller hardware for Traktor; NI themselves have pushed compatibility with a variety of hardware, and we’ve recently covered boutique options from Faderfox and Livid, to name just a couple of examples. But if NI has nailed the jog wheel component, this could be interesting. I’m hopeful, too, that like controllers like the integrated device for Maschine, NI will support MIDI, as that could open up fun applications well beyond just Traktor.

Stay tuned, and if you have questions, let us know now and I hope NI will answer them when they launch. NI promises more news next month. (NI PR in a note to me wondered if CDM covers DJ tech; I say it’s fair game and we’ve broken an occasional storiy over the years, largely thanks to tips from you readers. So bring on the tough questions.)

Developers for iPhone, iPod touch, and now the iPad have long complained about lack of access to the iTunes library, the file store and metadata for uploaded files. While version 3.0 of the OS provided limited playback capabilities (play/pause/stop), it was a far cry from what you’d need to build a DJ or other music app that made use of a user’s content. You couldn’t, for instance, adjust volume control, cueing, no mixing, or scratching.

Update/clarification: I may have exaggerated how much access is available. Obviously, Flare is working, as you can see, but the question of the exact mechanism by which it works and the documentation of the updated APIs is something that remains to be confirmed, beyond Asyn’c experience. I’m actively researching this issue. I’ve changed some wording to reflect the fact that what we do know about access to this functionality in the SDK, and how it works in the real world, is based on one shipping application for iOS 4 and the experiences of the developer of that app. The other issue is what mediates between the file in the database and playback; that is, unlike on desktop, you don’t necessarily get direct buffer access to files without an additional step. But the upshot is still that you can scratch tunes from iTunes, at least! -PK

Executive summary: It appears what has opened up is the ability to export assets from the library on the device, and following that extra step, use a local copy for access to buffers. See comments for more discussion. This would fall well short of being able to manipulate buffers from the file directly, but it’s a step. Stay tuned for further info next week as I confirm with developer sources.

With iOS 4.0, currently available for the iPhone and iPod touch, that changes, at least according to what we’re hearing from one developer – and seeing demonstrated in a shipping app. CDM has confirmed with developer Async Games that a new public API (meaning a fully supported developer tool) provides something closer to full-blown access to the iTunes library, in terms of not only metadata about tracks but also manipulation of audio data during playback. Result: you can now, for instance, scratch audio from songs uploaded from iTunes on a Mac or PC to the device. If correct, that would be likely to mean a coming flood of DJing on the iPhone and iPod touch, soon to be followed by the iPad whenever the 4.0 OS becomes available for Apple’s tablet. (Nor is this even limited in applicability to DJ apps – iTunes could become a more convenient way for syncing your own tracks and samples, or loading a playlist of backing tracks or other musical content onto your Apple mobile.)

The caveat appears to be that you need to “import” tracks from the library first; I’m confirming what that means and how long it takes. That would be shy of having direct, buffer-level access to tracks as seen in desktop DJ apps.

So far, the first app to actually ship with support for the feature is Flare Scratch, a simple simulation of a turntable with touch scratch support. You can scratch any song in your iTunes library, meaning this app developer has figured out a way to access audio buffers as they’re played. Apparently, the API isn’t entirely perfect, but it sounds like a step in the right direction, based on the impressions we hear from this developer. The developers of Flare Scratch also make a more full-featured DJ tool called Baby Decks DJ for the iPad, which could mean that, with iPad support, the tablet could become an all-in-one DJ solution. (Of course, a MacBook still has one significant edge – far, far greater storage capabilities.)

Flare Scratch @iTunes
Flare site

Incidentally, this isn’t an issue with Google’s Android platform, which provides open access to any file stored on the user’s SD card, and complete buffer access to that media (video, audio, the lot). Note that there may be some issues even on Android with using compressed assets; I’m writing some tests. Android developers, however, face a different set of challenges, like inconsistent handset audio drivers that can interfere with crackle-free, low-latency audio performance. (That situation looks brighter in the future, but it’s a whole other can of worms.)

Anyway, if you’re all alone on a park bench and want to scratch softly to yourself, you now have a solution. (Other videos, ranging from the useful tutorial to the somewhat frightening demo, at iflarescratch’s YouTube channel.)

I hereby open commenting to a bunch of people complaining about how this will ruin DJing and continue the slow decay of civilization itself. (Hey, I’m just the messenger. Leave me out of it.)

Ms. Pinky Revised from Mastah Lee on Vimeo.

What should DJing in Ableton Live look like? How could conventional vinyl cueing and scratching be integrated with the Live environment? Serato and Ableton gave us one possible answer to that question last week with The Bridge. Their solution: use your Serato DJ set normally, and simply sync the transport of Ableton Live when the two run simultaneously.

That solution could be ideal for some users, but it falls short of what many expected, which was the ability to scratch audio elements from Live as though they were on vinyl. Scratching Live clips would seem to be the best of both worlds: you get all the live sequencing features of Live, but you can still manipulate sound as you would on a turntable.

Enter Ms. Pinky. The vinyl control system has long been a highly-precise, solid-performing alternative to better-known names. Its ace in the hole has long been open control from your own custom patches, via an external object for the graphical programming language Max/MSP. The results have ranged from custom visual performance to a vibrating chaise lounge controlled by a turntable. With Max patches now able to interact more deeply with Live through Max for Live, that opens up the chance to build your own DJ-Ableton integration.

Ms. Pinky and Max for Live user Lee Goodrich has just done that. We saw an early version of the patch last month, but a new version irons vastly expands on the integration with Live, making this a truly complete solution for digital DJing.
Post on the patch with download
Information on the update

Some of the tasty features you get:

• Set Ms. Pinky to any track and use clips in that track
• Trigger a clip as you would normally, and it cues right into Ms. Pinky for scratching (see Lee in comments for more, but do note that the catch is that Ms Pinky actually loads the original file, because clips in Live don’t yet provide access to their playhead)
• Trigger different sequences of audio clips using a pattern contained in a MIDI clip (essentially automated cueing)
• Record clips using Live’s recording facility
• Scratch away with control vinyl

In relative mode, you can proceed directly to the beginning of the next clip without back-cueing.

The net result of all of this: Ms. Pinky acts like a scratch-anything device you can drop right into your existing Live set. With clever use of sampling and re-sampling, that opens up integration with any synths or external audio sources, not just audio clips.

Ironically, this is much closer to what I had predicted the Serato – Ableton collaboration would resemble.

Lee shares some comments about his experience:

I understand the concern people have about the one big caveat of Max For Live programming (You gotta pay to play, and no free runtime limits potential casual users), but honestly I think Max for Live is a slick enough product to overcome this. Making Max For Live patches has been the most fun programming I’ve ever had, and it is amazing how much you can do and how easy it is to do it. If other programmers are having as much fun as I am, then the bevy of awesome patches that come out of this product will end up being worth paying $300 at the door.

Perhaps the only other thing I’d like to say is that I’m not actually affiliated with Ms. Pinky at all, just another customer who wanted some functionality and due to the versatility of the software was able to extend it. So big thanks to Down Low Pinkstah and whoever else has worked on Ms. Pinky to make it so easily extensible.

Thanks, Lee! It’ll be interesting to see where else this may lead.

If you start using this in your sets, let us know – and get some photos / videos / mixes / whatever.

Oh, yeah, and I want to see a vibrating chaise lounge interface inside Ableton, too.

http://www.mspinky.com/

It had to happen sooner or later: the computer has supplanted the turntable, so why not a mixer intended for two computers?

That’s the idea behind the just-announced Rane SIXTY-EIGHT. It’s intended for use with two computers via two independent USB ports, plus controller support (intended primarily for Serato’s tools, but presumably adaptable to other software) for up to four virtual decks.

Now, as a way to manage four decks, it seems like absurd overkill – hasn’t Traktor done four decks for years? But if this solution is indeed software-agnostic, it could be a boon to advanced computer musicians wanting to use computers, or DJs wanting to mix Ableton Live on one machine and a DJ app on another. Of course, you could simply do that with normal audio outputs, or even digital outputs that aren’t USB – in fact, many of the Apple machines (among others) come with digital outs.

Where the SIXTY-EIGHT starts to get very interesting – beyond just for Serato users – is its effects buses, which allow you to sub-mix up to six channels into a bus, insert analog effects or even computer effects (via USB), and use beat-synced internal effects on the box. And I’ve been impressed with the quality of Rane’s mixers in the past, too. It’s not its prime audience, but I can imagine the SIXTY-EIGHT being used by someone, somewhere, doing live computer performance and using the Rane as a powerful mixer/effects for two computer sources.

But ultimately, I have to admire the SIXTY-EIGHT not so much for what it does, but what it means: it means DJ mixers are entering the computer age.

It just happens that what some of us really long for is easier, HD-res video mixing — audio’s easy. We’re working on that, too. Full specs from Rane:

• Two independent USB 2.0 High Speed ports, each supporting twenty-two, 32-bit floating-point audio channels at 48 kHz.
• Real-time support for two computers.
• Support for 2, 3 or 4 Virtual Decks on one or two computers.
• Direct control of over 30 Scratch Live Library, Cue and Loop functions.
• Unique FlexFx bus:
Process a sub-mix of up to six audio channels.
Six internal effects with seamless on-beat switching between effects.
External analog insert support for legacy hardware effects.
USB insert support for computer-based effects.
• Four full-featured input channels:
Four stereo Phono/CD inputs of Line, Phono or S/PDIF.
Four stereo auxiliary inputs.
Four stereo USB playback options.
• Two mic inputs: one with phantom power and one with line-level.
• 3-band full-cut EQ, plus new High-pass / Low-pass Filter.
• Flexible USB recording options, record from any PGM or output.
• Internal universal switching power supply (100-230 VAC)
• Unit size: 14.3″H x 12″W x 4″D (36.4 cm x 30.5 cm x 10.2 cm)
• Weight: 11.3 lb (5.2 kg)
• Shipping Size: 7.75″H x 12.75″W x 19.25″D (19.7 cm x 32.5 cm x 49 cm)
• Weight: 12 lb (5.5 kg)

http://rane.com/sixtyeight.html

It may be 2009, but you can still play electronic music as though you’re an invading alien visitor from the future. Just ask The Sonic Manipulator, an electronic musical performer and inventor, alias Claude Woodward. His musical creations range from warped radios to instruments derived from turntable scratches and Theremins. And then there are some instruments that seem to be sonic weapons. (Apologies to recent protesters in Pittsburgh.)

CDM reader Andrew Cordani caught Claude at the UK’s British Invention Show. Claude is apparently a Perth, Australia transplant, by way of Cambridge, though Andrew writes that he “has been known to travel about a bit (Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Alpha Centauri, Epsilon Indi, Teegarden’s star and further).”

Andrew describes Claude’s other creations:

Met at the British Invention Show (http://www.britishinventionshow.com/show/index.html), at Alexandra Palace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Palace)
(Organized by [MP3 player inventor] Kane Kramer – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kane_Kramer)

http://www.youtube.com/user/sonicmanipulator

http://www.sonicmanipulator.com/

http://www.sonicmanipulator.com/Inventions.htm

The Claude-a-tron – a sort of pre-wireless (i.e. wired) Theremin – and is “Way cool”

The Radiolian a lot of fun – Essentially triggerable (pre-recorded) radio samples – Used to switch-between radio programs (reminds me of http://www.neave.com/television/ )

The Greet-o-metre + The Transatron should be given out to all travellers, interstellar or not!

(My fave was the Rap Rod – which does for scratching what CDs did for vinyl. The Bash-a-tron was a close second, though)

Definitely check the Sonic Manipulator site for many, many more bizarre creations if the one at top doesn’t impress you. See a couple of my faves at bottom.

Fans of DIY, the whole event sounds fantastic! Thanks, Andrew, who can be found here (with his own futuristic creations):
http://midisticks.ltd.uk/