BanPiracy.org is a independent organization pursuing “copyright enforcement” for pirated software, targeting studios with sting operations and lawsuits. Recently, I challenged them to demonstrate that they have other developers onboard aside from Waves Audio. That seems reasonable, given their website claims they have been contracted by “many of the biggest names in the industry” and that they’re the “leading rights advocate for the audio software and digital content industry.”

Ross Johnson of PR firm Strick and Company contacted me this week to say BanPiracy had responded to my challenge and, presumably, various criticisms these tactics have attracted. (Paris Hilton and Halliburton have turned to his firm, which is known for defending companies in crisis.) Ross writes:

“As a big fan of the lively discussions on your user forums relating to BanPiracy, I have encouraged my client to respond to your challenge recently posted.”

The response is titled “BanPiracy Says Thanks to the Brave Ones on Its Anniversary!” and was sent to various media outlets. Now, I’m likewise a fan of lively debate, so I want to thank Ross for encouraging BanPiracy to join the discussion.

But the answer to my challenge, evidently, is no, they can’t demonstrate that they have any other developers onboard. They even acknowledge that the fact that they’re a for-profit endeavor might “be a tough sell.” They manage to copy and paste supportive comments from a trade group and an anti-piracy manufacturer, but take those quotes out of context (including, bizarrely, a comment left here on CDM by one of our own contributors — he has a few, ahem, words for BanPiracy in comments now that they’ve distorted what he said).

Here’s the full response, penned by Tomer Elbaz and Michael T. David, COO and CEO respectively. I’ll say this: couched in epic battle terminology, it isn’t PR speak:

We asked to hear from some actual studios targeted by plug-in maker Waves’ anti-piracy police (aka “banpiracy.com”). Here’s one report from Nick Buxton, via comments:

I haven’t read all the comments but wanted to add our experience; all our recording software is legal, we use uad plugs but wanted to see how waves worked; couldn’t get a demo version, so tried out a “copy” on personal projects; decided what we already had was better so decided not to buy; but didn’t erase the “copy”; stupid; now maybe we were denounced, although since we didn’t use it on any commercial projects, this is not likely; whoever is behind this, got a court order by claiming that we advertised wavelab on our website, which was true, and that wavelab belonged to Waves, which is not; result, visit from a court officer, examination of our computer, legal proceedings; now we could fight this; false information for a court order, no proof we used the software, we are a tiny company; etc etc… but this costs legal fees, time, stress; so we are considering taking up the offered “solution”, ie buy the plugs, probably have to pay some legal fees, but end of story; i am making no excuses; we were wrong; but this does not seem to me the best way to sell your product

Electronic musician BT recently had US$150,000 in gear stolen from his studio, including his primary show computer with the entire This Binary Universe show on it and rigs for two other live shows and recording. He doesn’t just want to get his stuff back, though: he also wants to help musicians protect themselves from a similar fate. Few of us have studios worth anywhere near that amount, but losing your whole rig: priceless.

Among the loot: a Dave Smith PolyEvolver, serial #271, a Hartmann Neuron with BT’s patches, and a loaded Apple Mac Pro with This Binary Universe. All pretty priceless; the Neuron and PolyEvolver would be tough to replace and the Mac Pro has a whole show on it. To get them back, BT is offering a $20,000 reward or equivalent time as a producer to anyone with a name and address.

BT Theft Announcement and Proposals on MySpace

Via electronic music site Filter 27

And this would just be another painful gear theft story, except BT wants to go further:

1. Protecting gear from theft: He wants to start a simple subscription service to register and thumbprint gear, so it can be easily traced to retailers and online auction sites. (Note that New York’s Sam Ash, for instance, does just this for used gear and coordinates with the NYPD, but with online sites, tracking just got a lot harder.)
2. Giving music tech gear to the needy: He wants to collect new and user gear to give to musicians and producers who can’t afford it.

While the second one is an interesting idea, I’m not exactly sure how it would work here — and there are other, worthy organizations dedicated to this idea. But helping protect gear from theft sounds ideal. BT is looking for lawyers, musicians, and vendors to donate.

Know of similar initiatives? Or think you might be able to help with this? Let us know in comments. Know where BT’s gear is? Email gear@binaryacoustics.com

No matter how many music tech toys you have, no matter how many music tech toys you’ve ever seen, Nine Inch Nails still has more. Michael Hetrick writes to point us to his latest post over on KVR:

Total Gear-Porn on new NIN site [KVR Audio Forums]

It’s especially nice to see some of the no-prisoners, raunchy, tube beauty of Metasonix in there.

Of course, we’ve seen Trent and NIN deliver the gear lust before:

Hotel Room Studio: NIN’s Rack-Mounted Dual G5s

Inside NIN’s Studio on Audiohead

For many of us, our studio and our home are one and the same. The speakers we use to monitor mixes are the ones we use for rehearsals, improvisations, and casual listening. I first got interested in the Anthony Gallo A’Diva series speakers partly because I’ve long admired Gallo’s home speaker products, but also because the Gallos seemed to be comfortable walking this home/studio line.

Normally, engineers steer far clear of home audio equipment when it comes to monitoring. But producer Neal Pogue has been using the A’Diva speakers for just that, including five songs on the new Stevie Wonder album, and projects for Nelly Furtado, Indie Ari, Earth Wind and Fire, and Outkast. (See studioexpresso profile, or a 2004 interview in Electronic Musician for more about Pogue’s production background.) That’s pretty unusual for speakers aimed at the home market.

Having lived with a 2.1 set of the A’Diva Ti satellites for a while, I’m impressed, as well. The sound is uncolored and clear, with really gorgeous high-frequency definition. It makes these speakers sound both much larger than they are (you can fit them in your hand), and much more expensive. (They run just over US$200 a speaker, but you could easily fool someone into thinking they went for more.) That could make these ideal for complementing your existing set of monitors. I got to talk to Anthony Gallo, the speaker’s creator, about his background and, most importantly, why the speakers are spherical in the first place.

It’s impossible to continue just to make music and ignore the serious threats to our security and the safety of passenger aviation. Tightened security has focused primarily on threats from the past, and reactive measures that can only prevent existing, known dangers. You know where I’m going with this: we need to evaluate screening methods and other security provisions to respond to the significant issue of snakes on a plane. I just can’t believe no one is doing anything about these motherf****** snakes.

Cult-hit-before-it-was-even-released movie Snakes on a Plane has none other than Trevor Rabin composing the musical score, as if I needed an excuse to bring up Snakes on CDM. Rabin has had an incredible history as a musician. Born to noted classically-trained parents, he went on to co-found the wildly successful Rabbitt, recorded a significant anti-Apartheid anthem, played with Yes, and wrote their #1 hit Owner Of A Lonely Heart. He even worked with Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, and Rick Wakeman. Now, like some other former rockers (Stewart Copeland comes to mind), Rabin has become a successful film composer, with a distinct action-movie tilt. (Armageddon, Bad Boys II, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds — no chick flicks in there, really.) Pictured: both “Rocker Trevor” and (from SoundtrackNet’s great story on Snakes) “Composer Trevor.”

And Rabin is a Mac guy. His studio Jacaranda Studios is powered by Power Mac G5s and, evidently, too much cool gear to list. Various reports suggest he uses both MOTU Digital Performer (like Copeland) and Pro Tools (probably because the studio guys require it). It’s funny, even though audio often gets bounced to Pro Tools for compatibility, film composers really largely prefer Digital Performer to anything else out there, and it certainly includes the most film scoring functionality. If you want to get inside his studio:

Home Recording visits Trevor Rabin

Trevor Rabin Scores Snakes on a Plane [SoundtrackNet]

Don’t try to get in touch with me at 10 pm tonight, incidentally, because I will be at the first show. (Check out the official site for a fun Flash feature that lets you record custom Samuel L. Jackson messages for your friends.) And will I be disappointed when the movie is awful? Absolutely not. I’m betting on it.

With New York City close to breaking its all-time record heat record of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s over 38 degrees Celsius), non-renewable energy costs soaring, and Con Edison unable to deliver reliable electricity, it seems like an odd time to be advocating electronically-powered music. It must be time for solar power. Via Rozling on the forums, here’s a thought: go solar, instead:

Friends of the Earth Climate Case Studies: The Premises, Solar-Powered Studio, via Synthtopia (originally) and Treehugger
BBC News on Eco-Studio
The Premises official site

This London studio has hosted Jamie Cullum, Franz Ferdinand, Hard Fi, Bloc Party, and Charlotte Church, and they’re now entirely self-powered via rooftop solar panels. They cut down on power costs, via low-power air conditioning and a low-power mixer, but here’s a bonus: sound insulation is also great heat insulation. Even if you don’t care about a climate crisis, you’ll save money; they estimate they’ll recoup costs in a decade. (That time could be vastly reduced if power costs went up — and increased production drove solar panel costs down.)

For further inspiration, here’s an important announcement from Al Gore, once he fights robot insurrection:

… via his film, An Inconvenient Truth. Now, come on, this isn’t a political post. I just think Al is the best summer movie action hero yet. Watch Apple Keynote go. Damn.

I’ve seen solar backpacks for laptops, and a lot of the interfaces we use are bus-powered. Any chance for a solar-powered computer setup? Suggestions, anyone?

Watch a behind the scenes video of film/TV composer, producer, and electronic musician James L Venable as he’s working on the final touches to the score for “Clerks 2″, in theaters now:

“Music Lessons” with James Venable, via Train Wreck: Video Chronicle of Clerks II Production

Venable is best known for the D&B inspired theme for “Powerpuff Girls”, as well as various Kevin Smith/View Askew scores starting with “Clerks: The Series”.

Pretty phat pad, check out special apperances by the JP-8080, Pod XT, [Logic Pro], and racks upon racks of gear.

Not to mention Scott “Snowball” Moser rockin’ the kalimba (thumb piano).

Check out this studio:

Ed: Brilliant composer, dream gig, dream studio, gear p-rn — what could make us happier? Adrian thought the software was Cubase SX, but it’s definitely Logic Pro 7. (I have to get that right; it’s my primary DAW aside from Ableton Live.) Logic looks like it’s primarily being used just to track external MIDI gear, from what I can see, and Venable appears to be checking scored ideas against both a paper manuscript and (in some instances) the notation view in Logic.

Any more gear spotting? (You know you want to.) -PK

It’s not about pissing contests with who can get the biggest rack of gear any more, evidently. While some of us CDMer can’t stop collecting computers (see the forum thread on that), many are looking for a minimal setup that lets them focus on actually, you know, making music. These setups often aren’t just minimal for the sake of it; going on the road or moving from one house to another often requires sacrifices at least temporarily, and that should be no reason to give up your daily music creation dose. (See last week’s mobile guitar rig roundup for more thoughts on that.) We got to see Billboard-topping remixer Francis Preve’s setup on Friday; here are some more:

My friend Francis Preve sends pictures and details of his new “convertible” studio. He claims this is shameless self-promotion, but I call it aesthetic envy — and for another reason to be envious, Gabriel & Dresden’s Tracking Treasure Down (for which he did a remix) just hit #1 on the Billboard Club Charts. Not too shabby, saying you have a #1 single. Maybe it’s the shoes. Maybe it’s this studio. I love the slim-line M-Audio keyboard in a drawer.

Fran sends the details, for your enjoyment: