It’s Richie Hawtin Watch time! The latest: NI teases an upcoming DJ controller by sharing video of Richie playing it in a club. The surprise: it’s actually what he’s doing with Maschine that seems most interesting to me. And if you recall the Twitter DJ app that he promised in the spring, it’s here, ready to use so long as you have Traktor and a Mac. (If you’re reading, Richie, do let me know if I’ve gotten my facts straight…)

Native Instruments yesterday pointed me to a video they’ve posted of Richie Hawtin DJing at Berlin’s lovely Saturday Adventure Club. The point of this is, of course, to tease an upcoming DJ controller they intend to announce in detail in November. You can already tell a lot from watching the video: it’s a hardware controller (or two chained together) that focuses on the Traktor working method. That is, there appears to be an emphasis on control of multiple effects, and cue and loop points, and it seems you can control Traktor’s full four decks. (At least, that’s what I get from squinting at the video; I could be wrong.) Regular Traktor users may be able to tell more, so … um, squint away.

To me, actually, it’s what Richie is doing with Maschine that looks most cool. He’s using NI’s drum machine to program in live beats and loop those, and it appears he’s then using Traktor as a sort of software DJ mixer / DJ source / effects unit. This shouldn’t be a big deal; in an ideal world, we’d have lots of DJs getting crazy playing their own beats atop their mixes and really mixing up the stuff they’re playing. Sadly, too often what you get is people playing tracks straight, which means you could just stay home and drink and dance in your living room. Richie’s sets do a lot more than that – and of course, what a lot of us are looking forward to is a rebirth of his original Plastikman stuff on tour, expected some time in the near future. If you’re interested in what he’s doing in his live sets, and his fellow minus mates, let me know and I can find out.

Before anyone complains about his line-up of gear, Richie was involved in the development of all these products, including the Allen & Heath mixer. So I would expect him to use the stuff!

In other news, the TwitterDJ app is now freely available, for Twittering tracks live from Traktor. The bad news is, the installation and setup is pretty involved, and it’s Mac-only. I like the idea – part of the vision of TwitterDJ is getting DJs reporting tracks they’re playing, so producers get paid when their music is played. And letting clubgoers discover tracks they’re hearing is also a great thing. I suppose the advantage of it being on Twitter is that it’s accessible to people at clubs with cell phones. But you do wonder if a Web-based format wouldn’t be better, and given that underneath is the cross-platform Icecast streaming server, it seems too bad to me that the app is Mac-only. Building networked apps is a perfect application for platforms like Java and Python. But don’t get me wrong: it’s great to see someone who plays out as much as Richie does experimenting, and sharing the tool he built. I’d like to know if the tool is open enough that other people could take it and adapt the idea to other platforms and servers / communication media.

For everyone who thought Twitter was just about “i m eating a ham sandwich lolz,” the desire to use connectivity to actually be connected continues to win out in unexpected ways. So far this month, we already saw the use of Max/MSP. Now, Twitter is showing up in the geeky, open source sound tool SuperCollider and in DJ sets in Traktor by Richie Hawtin.

Tweet a Sound, to the Max

First, some updates on Tweet a Sound, the sound design tool in Max that lets you share synth presets.

Creator Andrew Spitz has an updated story on adding a cleaned-up subpatch to Max/MSP. It uses the Ruby programming language to access the Twitter API. (You should be able to port to Pd, too – I have to look closer at this.) Correction: Ruby is implemented as JRuby, so it runs on the Java virtual machine – and there is a Java implementation for both Max (mxj) and Pd (pdj)

This means, if you’ve got a Mac or Windows copy of Max/MSP, you can now send Tweets from your patches. And that should open up still more possibilities when Max for Live becomes available, for Ableton fans.

How To Send A Tweet From Max/MSP { sound + tutorial }

Even if you’re skeptical about Twitter per se, if you’re interested in using Ruby and Max, this should be a good starting place for other APIs, too.

Friends of mine like Francis Preve have gone utterly nuts for this.

SuperCollider

SuperCollider is an elegant, free, cross-platform synthesis language that expresses sound and sequencers as code. Since, unlike Max, its language is text, no conversion is necessary: savvy SuperCollider sonic programmers are simply copying and pasting code directly into Twitter.

You can get a feel for something of what’s happening here:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23supercollider

It’s an interesting exercise. As people have done with Processing for Twitter-coded graphics, the tiny 140-character limit means the challenge of trying to do more with less.

Unsatisfied with picking these up manually, SuperCollider Charles Céleste Hutchins has built his own bash script, connected to Yahoo Pipes, for fetching the resulting SC sound creations:

Twitter Supercollider App [les said, the better]

You’ll also see in the search, in addition to code there are lots of casual exchanges of tips and advice.

I’m not sure anything can cure me of my own sprawling code, but there’s something soothing about everyone else’s little code snippets appear.

Richie Hawtin + Traktor

Here’s the biggest twist yet: Native Instruments’ Traktor Pro is now Twitter-enabled. Richie Hawtin’s label Minus has developed a custom Twitter application that uploads song metadata, using the Internet broadcasting functions built into Traktor Pro. (I’d love to see this using OpenSoundControl, though I think in this case it doesn’t.)

What this doesn’t mean: no, Richie Hawtin is not tapping away on a cell phone while he plays, and if we see any of you Twittering onstage, we will call in the Dead Acts police.

What it does mean: you can keep track of track listings by tuning in on Richie’s Twitter feed. Updates happen every 30 seconds.

http://twitter.com/rhawtin

Now, generally, the mention of the words “Richie” and “Hawtin” seem to trigger some sort of irrational torrent of Internet hate in comments, so I’m hoping that doesn’t happen here. Personally, I think there’s some interesting potential to all of this – imagine if people who heard your live set could then go check out album versions of your songs the next day, and discover that some of you really are doing live PA stuff and not just straight DJing, too.

Also, Minus promises they’ll release the software to other Traktor users in the near future.

It’s something of a contrast with the Max users who may actually broadcast the patches and presets they’re using while playing, but that’s what makes all of this so intriguing.

Updated:

Via Twitter, Giles notes that Beatportal responds to the announcement:

How Twitter tracklist app will change everything [Beatportal]

I agree with many of the points here on some level, but author Christen Reutens at Beatportal seems to be getting a little carried away. Online radio playlists were also supposed to change “everything” – and then didn’t. For one thing, the ability to purchase played tracks, while something that still has potential, hasn’t yet taken off in a big way. For another, legal questions have come into play. In the case of radio stations, publishing playlists in the US can make a radio station into a “jukebox” and become subject to greater licensing fees. I’m not sure what licensing considerations the DJ playlist could prompt – in the best case scenario, it could mean payments for artists; in the worst case, it might turn venues off from allowing DJs to publish playlists.

Also, as far as mystique, this is an entirely opt-in service. And many of the changes Christen describes have already happened because of digital files and Internet communication – with or without Twitter playlists.

Of course, feel free to disagree.

I have a simpler view, I guess. Publishing playlists is a cool idea for those who want to do it. It’s likely to be used primarily by really big fans of certain DJs. The problem with Twitter is, that information could get stuck on Twitter. Smart DJs will use RSS to pull the information into their blog and give some of that context back. And as for DJs who have hidden behind producers’ tracks while creating a false sense of mystique – well, uh, some of us who are greater fans of live PA won’t be shedding any tears. Those who are intelligently warping tracks so they’re barely recognizable, requiring a Twitter feed to follow what’s going on, we salute you.

I’m not sure I’d want to be glued to a Twitter feed while in a club, with all the other Tweets happening, but it’s interesting. Perhaps more interesting than the features for fans is that Hawtin and company propose to get producers paid some royalties when their tracks get played, by using this feature for more accurate tracking – see James Holden on comments here.

And there’s nothing stopping the smart-a** music enthusiasts from going to sets without this feature, tapping away on their cell phone to prove they actually know what they’re hearing. We might even follow you.

But is There Another Way?

This is all very interesting, but I have to wonder if we should all take the next step and start thinking about open ways of connecting software. Of course, it makes sense to use Twitter for quick snippets and Twitter-style communication, because people are there. (Not to mention, I like the idea of freaking out your Twitter followers with unreadable code gibberish.) Likewise, it makes sense for software makers to do some of their own online integration, as Ableton has done with Share – a feature we’ll be examining in more depth.

But Twitter itself, while an interesting novelty, is not ideal, because of its data limits and the proprietary, crash-prone system behind it. Here are a couple of alternatives. XMPP is a standards-based protocol, built on XML, for bi-directional communication. For chat-style, real-time communication, XMPP – the basis of Jabber and Google Talk – makes much more sense. And there are existing, open source libraries out there with XMPP support, meaning it’s not tough to build upon. It’d be great to use XMPP to allow artists to communicate about what they’re doing in real-time.

For collaborating on shared projects, version control is a great way to go. Previously the domain of programmers, version control is catching on with all sorts of people, because it makes collaboration easier by tracking changes. Subversion remains the most popular way of doing this, even as Git gains some traction. And Sourceforge has beefed up its own functionality lately, while Sun’s Project Kenai is developing nicely, too.

See, previously:

Version Control and Sharing for Patching: Keep Those Max, Pd Patches in Order with Git

In other words, I hope this is all the tip of the iceberg. Ideas?

You probably think of social networking and messaging as being about text, about saying things like “Wow, this tuna salad sandwich I’m having for lunch is delicious!” But the next Tweet you get on Twitter could be a synthesis preset.

Say what?

Working in Max/MSP, Andrew Spitz has developed a tool called Tweet a Sound. It uses Twitter as a communications platform for “social sound design.” Instead of just saying, “Wow, I be makin’ phat basslines,” you can actually share the sound. Whip up a sound using typical FM synth parameters and Max/MSP’s sound engine, then click “send.” You’ll send a string of numbers to your Twitter account, confusing those friends not in the know. But other users will be able to grab and play with your sound.

Andrew even encourages synthesis n00bs to play without fear – grab those envelopes and mysterious-looking settings and see what comes out. So, I hope you synth geeks do share this with some friends new to synthesis, as I think they’ll have a great time.

Right now, Tweet a Sound is Mac-only; we just need someone to save a Windows standalone version. Someone has asked about a Pd port, but let’s put it this way: this is the tip of a very, very big iceberg of sharing. It’s something worth considering in anything you’re doing, not just with Twitter, but whether you can provide networked capabilities in whatever you’re happening to build.

Ableton, of course, recently added the Share functionality to Live. But with open APIs and basic networking protocols, there’s no reason you can’t explore other features. Why not build a drum machine that lets you collaborate with one of your friends on your IM list, or a sequencer that automatically posts ideas as you revise them? Just doing these things for the sake of it could be a waste of time, but on the other hand, these social features could turn Web 2.0 sites into places that actually inspire you to make and share music rather than distract you with mundane activities.

I love the idea; let us know if you have some fun with it.

Tweet A Sound { sound + software } [Andrew Spitz Blog]

Twitter has been (rightfully, in many cases) maligned as a distraction, but at times the “microblog” can keep us connected in smaller bits of time, not larger. People read while something is rendering, when they feel a bit lonely or distracted to begin with (a bit like taking work to a virtual coffee shop), while they’re in line at the grocery looking at their phone. And for the bedroom- and studio-based music maker, Twitter reveals something of what the future might be like. Twitter itself can sometimes prove too unstructured to be useful, but that one service aside, it demonstrates that we can find ways of being connected to other music makers in new ways – ways that have probably only just begun to evolve.

Yesterday I looked at why I thought Imogen Heap was doing Twitter right – both as a model to follow, and a chance to see her as an artist in a different light. But I also hoped to hear who readers here might be following. In the informal tradition of “Follow Friday,” here’s a look at a few of those people.

Side note: I’ve actually gotten a whole lot of useful stuff from Twitter – it’s allowed me to keep connected to people I might otherwise lose touch with, and I’ve gotten great news leads and project stories out of it as a writer. I’ve gotten more technical help than musical – but that’s also helped me fix the technical stuff with servers and the like so I can get on with music and visuals. I have a mile-long list of complaints about how I think this sort of thing could work better, but – well, I’ve been online since the days when I had a 1200-baud modem. There’s always hope for change. Oh, and TweetDeck is the best client for processing information productively; I’m just waiting for multi-account support.

Reader Tips for this Week

The first two here also tour with Imogen Heap, but are great musicians themselves (with terrific accompanying solo careers). The last two take us another direction, thanks to one of CDM’s Twitter followers.

Zoe Keating, suggested by Tim/newmusicmonday in comments
Bio: “cello, computers, pancakes.” (great line)
Sample tweet: “mix, tweak, mix, listen, rest, mix, tweak, mix, re-record, listen, rest, go to post office, mix, mix, mix.”
Website | http://twitter.com/zoecello

Levi Weaver, also suggested by Tim
Bio: I’m always doing at least 3 things Ed.: hint – one of those is making great music
Sample tweet: “Just avoided RyanAir baggage fees the same way I used to try to make spankings not hurt as a child: Books down the back of my pants.”
Website | http://twitter.com/leviweaver

Todd Reynolds, the superstar violinist
Bio: Digital Violinist and Global Music Citizen and Advocate. Teacher.
Sample tweet: “If there is one thing that I learn over and over again in music, it’s that simplicity, when embraced, opens a straight shot to the core.”
MySpace | http://twitter.com/digifiddler

Steve Lawson, suggested by @MKS21471
Bio: “Bass 2.0 – musician, webbist, uni lecturer on music and technology, bass teacher, music journo… one of life’s enthusiasts. :o) ”
Sample tweet: “Wordpress nerds, what CHMOD settings do I need to have files uploadable to the server etc. but still be secure?” (hey, I told you this is part of what Twitter is useful for)
Website | http://twitter.com/solobasssteve

Steve’s blog, by the way, is full of tips on social media (still hate the term, but the idea is good). http://www.stevelawson.net/wordpress/

Regular Information Sources

Other active Twitter feeds I follow:
@stretta – of monome fame, “Graphic Designer. Musician. Tea snob.”
@Chris_Randall – of Audio Damage / Analog Industries
@podcasting_news – James Lewin on both his podcasting site and the prolific Synthtopia; expect a lot of tweets (but you won’t have to dig through RSS)
@wesen – for beats and powerful geeking on new projects like the Mididuino
@serial_consign – Greg Smith on digital media, culture, theory
MarkMosher is doing all sorts of things, Web and musical, including running the ModulateThis blog
@MusicThing – the blog is gone, but Music Thing lives on as Tom tweets

Modular Friends, Ableton Tips

Twitter is in everyone’s thoughts, this week, it seems. (Perhaps the perfect medium for a sagging economy?)

stretta himself rounds up a fantastic list of Twitter feeds, with an emphasis on modular synths.

As noted by Wire to the Ear (and note Oliver Chesler’s feed, too):
AbletonTweets, entirely unofficial tips on Live

Me

Oh, yeah:
The blog feed – more CDM business, CDM headlines
(I found it made sense to separate the two.)

Do say hi, and since I’ve lost track of who’s following them, send a @shout at me and I’ll take notice of you!

Micromusicblogging?

But what if Twitter really does seem like just a distraction? Could quick blog entries make you more productive musically, and help you share what you’re doing with others?

Dan Gillespie is trying a microblog concept in his own work: “MicroSong,” tagline, “publish your process.” It’s a bit like a musical tumbleblog – but only about the music, not the various Web distractions one finds online. He writes:

I’m hoping to have a couple friends and local artists come on and share their process when song writing and music making, this has always been the fun part for me.

Like I said, it’s just starting up, but it’s cool to see other people thinking the same sort of things. Maybe I’ll have to hook up with twitter as well.

microsong.blogspot.com

And yes, before someone steps in and says it, of course all of these are an additional drain of precious time. But then, that to me is the point – and it’s a good thing. Some of these ideas will prove to be distractions. But if you can find an approach where the benefit is worth the input, you’re likely to stumble upon something that’s efficient, that makes sense to you.

Let us know how it all works out, okay, Internets?

And, nope, this list isn’t close to comprehensive. That’s where you come in.

Speaking as a sometimes-music-journalist, I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that we were all part of a vast conspiracy. Our job can become wrapping big-name artists into a polished, glamorous narrative. There are small nods to humanizing them, of course, but the message can quickly become: this person is special and different from you, this is the person you should want to be or want to consume, and as a result you’ll buy our magazine. I’ve never believed that myself, and I do believe a lot of great music writing is something very different, but there’s always that danger looming somewhere in the background.

Of course, now it’s 2009. We’re nowadays broadcasting minute details of our lives in real time, blurring the line between celebrity and nobody. We have all become a kind of text-only cinema verité. It can be downright scary to expose yourself that way, even as a non-celebrity. But then, in the occasional high-quality corner of a service like Twitter, something extraordinary happens: the little, insignificant moments of your life can actually prove to be what you want them to be. “Live each day like it’s your last” becomes “live each day like you’ll be pleased to read about it, even 140 characters at a time.”

Combine a really gifted creative imagination with a special kind of personal insight, and Twitter tells the side of a story a music journalist can’t: the day-to-day life of making music. Imogen Heap has been unusually generous with her Tweets. Following her Twitter feed, I think you’ll find new appreciation for her as a person and an artist, and also some of the ways all of us can work through day-to-day creative challenges and juggling to actually make music. It demonstrates that a world in which artists live-broadcast what they’re doing (but in the right quantities, and with the right attitudes) could be more utopia than dystopia.

Oh yeah, and thank God there’s a musician who drinks coffee sometimes and not just tea, and who gets a little wired.

Just looking at the month of January, we get bits of familiar insights into the day-to-day creative struggle. (Tip: go for a jog.)

Busy warbling away on A Cappella song… Darted out for a jog today in the sunshine. It’s a good day here at the hideaway….back to it :)

happy with verse/chorus lyrics/vocals but this one line’s been bugging me! Wouldn’t sit right. Here, by the kettle, it’s come to me :) x

I’m really starting to panic now at how almost impossible this a cappella one will be to do live. One thing at a time Heap! Bed I must go.

Imogen proves to be every bit as much of a gear lover as some of us, proof this ground isn’t the exclusive domain of dudes generally / Trent Reznor dude:

@mark_marshall Main bits: P-Tools, logic for VST/Midi etc, avalon 737, TLM 103, Waves, PlugsoundPro, Nord R3, Ivory, Liquid channel, M+K’s

Lots of NI stuff, TC electronic Voiceworks, Ircam solo instruments, Korg Electribe MX, occasionally dust off Ensoniq TS12

@REVERE I do indeed! So many great toys to play with! I have the Buddhamachine II. Really love it. X I’d love to make one if my own. X

And it’s not all techie gear — don’t forget the musical saw.

There are bits of music to hear:

12seconds – here’s some vocals i’ve been working oooooooonnnn!!! xxx http://tiny12.tv/HQ0JD

… and the moments of frustration that usually get left out of glossy-mag interviews:

@rguidry … my targets keep flying out the window. I’m closer every day. As long as I keep doing it.. I’ll get there. That’s all I know! x

jeeeeez… went jogging…meanwhile my inbox exploded with things to deal with and I’ve got nothing albummy done today. Juggling act. x

And in it, you watch music being formed. There actually is a certain narrative to Twitter, spread out into little pieces – something that gives some hope to our fragmented modern lives.

Had a really great day! Got 3 1st mixes done today. Will go back to them in Jan for a day but for now… Done x :) 6.30am! Time 4 bed x

Worked on rhythm for Swoon/ found some nice harmonies for 2nd ch. Nipped into town with my sis to see Lost and found Orchestra. I like saws.

Just having a bow of the old saw before bed whilst waiting for disk to back-up. Sounds quite nice but a little more practice I think! x

I am so sick of the sound of my voice!! Arghhh! Noises only tomorrow. Gonna start something new. A bit fed up with all these ones… x

Can’t sleep…just thought of lyrical spark for the new song. Throwing down strands of connections with laptop in bed. A start at least…x

ok.. that took a while but I now have a killer first verse and chorus lyrics. Waaaay better! Now for 2nd verse… first another coffee bzzz

Eeyore…I think Ive found my second verse so am going to hit the Heap hay, get another early bird session tmw and sing it into pooter x

I’m not going to try to reach any deeper conclusions about the usefulness of microblogging or Twitter, because I don’t have to. The point is that, with a Web-connected community of musicians, we get to share creative process with each other, and with the musicians we love. They arrive in real-time at times that may be random to us, and there’s no differentiation between our mate, our mum, an obscure artist or a famous one.

Sure, we’re all in information overload, surrounded by distractions. And sure, 99% of the volume of Twitter is crap. But then, there’s that occasional 1% that could remind you you’re not alone. So for that, thanks, Imogen!

http://twitter.com/imogenheap

For another great Twitter feed from a regular tourmate of Imogen’s, see:
Zoe Keating @ Twitter (zoecello)

Follow us on Twitter.
cdmblogs @ Twitter

I’ll post tidbits the moment I know them, and you’ll be the first to know when new stuff goes live here, I promise (including revisions/updates to stories).

At 3:30 pm (CUT/GMT -5 Eastern Time), we’ll carry Ableton and Cycling ‘74 news.
At 4:00 pm, we’ll have Native Instruments news.
Friday, we’ll have an exclusive from MOTU (not what you’ve heard about.)

But I do also expect some of the most interesting coverage to come the week after NAMM, as some of the questions (particularly regarding the Cycling announcement) are more technical and go beyond what’s been publicly released. We also have hands-on time planned both with the new Native Instruments and Akai hardware.

Now I feel like an ad on a cable network. Ahem. (Imagine James Earl Jones’ voice.) “For the latest news, stay tuned. This … is CDM.” What, you kids are too young to remember CNN in the 90s?

Here’s the story: because Native Instruments uses the free Kore Player for its soundpacks, you can make use of the included sounds without owning Kore, on Mac or Windows. Soundpack Compilation Volume 1 is packed with nearly 100 MB of 100 Kore Sounds and 800 variations thereof, curated from the various soundpacks they’ve released this year. That includes synths designed in Reaktor, FM8, Absynth, and Massive, percussion, effects, and more. Aside from the variations, you get quite a bit of timbral control over the sounds with pre-assigned parameters, even without owning the software with which these were developed. (In other words, no need to use the presets as-is in recognizable form!) If you own any of the products, you can edit the sounds.

KORE Soundpacks: Free Compilation Vol. 1 [Native Instruments]

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, Volume 1 suggests more may be coming.

Since it works with everything, I figured it was worth putting here instead of our kore.noisepages.com minisite. Let us know what you think of the pack, and if anyone else has freely-available sounds for the holidays.

And in other news, I suggest being as arcane as you possibly can on social networking services like Twitter and Facebook. For instance, “Peter is … jumping with joy because he’s found exactly the right granular size parameter for his new SuperCollider effect.”

People will think you’re about to cause the end of the universe, along with that Large Hadron Collider. Actually, excuse me while I Tweet that.

What does music look like? With new sounds and new technologies, the question is more apt than ever. Tom of Music thing points, via his Twitter feed, to this interesting post regarding Ligeti’s Artikulation:

Visualizing Artikulation [Bad Assembly]

Music notation takes on a different meaning in the age of computers. After all, the essential divide in notation – between sound representation and realization – is blurred in the digital domain, in which we move between visual and sonic information seamlessly and a sound can be reproduced exactly. But, perhaps in that fluid context and without the musical conventions that grew up with notation, the importance of notation becomes that much clearer.

In this case, the classic experimental electronic composition Artikulation by composer György Ligeti has already had a visual score associated with it. Rainer Wehinger created the visuals above after the fact as an “aural score,” intending visuals to present a visible “reading” of the sounds of the piece. That makes the score itself closer to the digital visualizations we see as motion graphics works all over the Web (and on our sister site Create Digital Motion). The point isn’t to create a set of instructions by which you can perform a piece, but a visual counterpart that allows you to (presumably) hear it differently.

To be honest, I’m not always certain what to make of these results. Does this score really help you hear the piece? I’m curious to hear different reactions. But I wonder if the real holy grail comes back to software and interface. Seeing a pre-composed score is already interesting. But make that score interactive, and, in short, you have music creation software. Perhaps we’ll get beyond simple sequencers and step sequencers and start to see a growing number of interactive software designs that play around with that concept. (See Tom’s other thoughts on that today as he looks to Audio Damage’s new Automaton plug-in.)

Side Note: Twittering

If you want to follow us music bloggers on Twitter, I’m (uncreatively) peterkirn; Tom Whitwell is tombola. FriendFeed for me is the same. I haven’t made a CDM Twitter account; if for some reason that interested you, let me know, but otherwise I’m inclined to think RSS is just fine.

And if you have Twitters/FriendFeeds you think I should follow, please do holler.