audiopad : tangible media explorations in sound

[vts31]

i want one!! http://web.media.mit.edu/~jpatten/audiopad/

[iso]

that's a pretty cool toy, eh? i got to visit the Tangible Media office/lab last winter and they gave a lot of neat demos, most of which were as cool as the Audiopad... they had it hooked up to a Mac G4 running Ableton Live and he was just destroying the track with a bunch of delay and distortion... all without laying hands on a real knob or slider. very impressive.

[vts31]

this so cool it needs to be bumped!

[mdipi]

that is cool. so it makes sounds on what you move like? cool

[I am the Noah]

omg! that is so awesome! I would pay thousands for one of those, and it looks easier than Reason or ReBirth. Ive never seen anything like this, but i wonder if you make your own sounds by uploading them or save songs. omg this is so kewl!!!

[lostinbeta]

WOAH!!!

I would love that.

If making electronic music wasn't so dang expensive I would definitely get into it.

And for those of you who think it isn't expensive, im not just talking about buying the latest sound editing software, im talking synthesizers, drum machines, and all those other rockin gadgets the pros use :beam:

[fester8542]

I just watched that whole move. I was captivated by that thing.

[I am the Noah]

Yea i know what you mean by expensive Lost, my brother is going to do that for a living, he uses all sorts of synthesizers and programs to make music, ive been getting into it alos its soooo fun

[lostinbeta]

Wow, finally downloaded and got through that video...

simply amazing :!:

[mdipi]

i didnt see the movie, but now that i watched it. tis safe to say taht is the coolest thing ever!

[iso]

i wanted to add that the Audiopad doesn't contain any sounds, it's just a specialized control surface that send MIDI data to a piece of software. as i mentioned, it was hooked up to Live when i saw it... it's not a synthesizer or a sampler. it's a framework for building a set of virtual manipulators that you use to modify pre-existing parameters that are built into the software (or it send the same MIDI data to a piece of hardware). for those of you familiar with electronic setups, it's really just a tricked-out version of a MIDI controller, but a lot more flexible and intuitive.

lostinbeta - you would be surprised at how many "pros" have ditched most of their hardware and are now mostly digital in their setups. one by one they're realizing that they don't need much physical gear anymore... my definition of "pro" would include everyone from mainstream pop producers to the more respected underground electronic artists.... (including Aphex - i saw that line from Windowlicker in your post.) the software is so good now, and so much more scalable and cost-effective, that there's little reason for most people to keep all that gear around. the idea that you need a lot of gear to get good sounds is just a myth... just as many pro photographers are saying that digital cameras can now handle most of their commercial needs, the quality of audio software is now competitive with overpriced "pro" hardware. it wasn't like that a few years ago in the days of Rebirth, but it's totally there now. even a cheap new PC is powerful enough to handle loads of tracks and plugins. the sound quality and flexibility of a high-end softsynth like Reaktor is above and beyond what most sub-$2000 hardware synthesizers can do, and there's no hardware in the world that can do what software like Max/MSP can.

and besides, for just a few thousand bucks you can come up with a very respectable old-school setup based around used analog synths and non-harddisk recording systems... start saving those pennies :)

[mlk]

totally grooooovy

man these the djs of the future - it totally rocks. and god look at the potential it has - you can edit absolutely everything !!!!

[lostinbeta]

iso: Yes it is true that many mainstream electronic artists are using software more and more. Richard James is even working on creating his own sound editing/synthesizing software (which I assume will be just his and not for sale), and he has always built all his own hardware as well, which is part of the reason I am... uhh... obsessed (yep, thats the word) with him. But i'm sure the "pros" out there still use some of the oldschool type machines as well as software.

If only I could content Richard James (Aphex Twin) or Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares) and find out how they do the amazing things they do :love: