Author Archives: mpomy

iPad music compositions using Korg iMS-20 and Propellerhead Rebirth

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Both of these apps are incredible!  The multi-touch interface of the iPad just makes it all come together, even for me – someone who has no idea what he is doing.  First check out this jam from Saturday morning using Rebirth from Propellerhead:

Rebirth Jam – 11/20/10

Although I find the sounds of Rebirth to be more historically relevant / important (Roland TB-303 x2, TR-808 and TR-909), the Korg iMS-20, which is an emulation of an analog synth called, not surprisingly, MS-20, is a little easier to nuts with.  Plus, the super-slick Soundcloud integration has me thinking about upgrading to a premium account.  Uh-oh…

New Session 2010-11-20 10.27.42.wav by mpomy

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I’ve been locked in to @opera as my default desktop browser for a few weeks now

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… and everything is going great.  I’ve just been all about this browser from Scandinavia for so long (could it be, on and off, ten years?), that I can’t let it go.  I’ve just finished many months using Safari because the earlier version of Opera 10 could not handle Google Calendar.  Although that problem is not currently solved, it is being very well managed.  The calendar simply has a tendency to be a bit too wide, so a little scrolling allows you to see everything clearly.  The one other issue I’m having is with the Nike+ page that I use to keep track of my running.  Opera, at least for Mac, can’t see that page at all.  Also, legal research at Lexis is still being done on Safari, but I haven’t tried the latest update Opera.  It may work, but the folks at Lexis have one of the worst websites of all time, so I’m inclined to not challenge it with anything remotely out of the ordinary.

Before going back to Opera, I did give the Firefox 4 beta a go and it was lovely, showed every page I could think of, but was slow with extensions.  In fact, it was slow without extensions.  I know everyone loves Firefox, but I’ve never had a good experience with consistent use.  Maybe once 4 is finalized I’ll give it another go.  It’s got tremendous features.

I haven’t gone back to Chrome for a long time, and I really don’t know why.  My main issue is that I have an aging computer (almost three years!!) and I need the lightest software available.  Chrome advertises itself as such and I liked it while I used it, and now can’t remember why I stopped. Maybe I should give it a go again.

But Opera is like an old friend, like a certain band that is so cool, but nobody else knows about it.  Plus, stuff from Scandinavia are awesome!

Stunning rendition of A Saucerful of Secrets (closing section) using iPad apps

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Minisynth from Yonac Software is an extremely powerful synth for iPad – it was one of the first ones I picked up.  The interface is beautiful and easy to use and the keys are nice and big.  Since I installed this bad boy, I’ve been thrilled with the quality of sound manipulation available – it’s phull on PHAT.

Now Apple is getting ready to add midi to  the iPad, which means that we’ll be able to control the powerful music machines, like Minisynth with a standard midi controller keyboard – thus eliminating the need for a PC or laptop in performance.  The next version of Minisyth will interface with the iPad’s new midi capabilities.

To demonstrate just how far you can take this, Yonac has released the following video showing the next version of Minisynth, jamming with the next version of iOS for the iPad.  The performance also benefits from another Yonac app, Minidrums, which I have not yet tried.

But in this video, my heart has been stolen.  So many years ago, when I was just at the earliest moments of my music education, I came across Pink Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets, the title track from their second album.  The song is a cacophonous arrangement of sound effects and rhythms through it’s first half, but resolves into a beautiful progression played by the late Rick Wright on Hammond.  The juxtaposition enhances the effect, but even on its own, the progression is a haunting thing of epic beauty.  That finale of the Floyd’s early masterpiece forms the basis of the synth jam you see below.  I have also attached a video of the original, as performed by Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright at Pompeii in 1970.  Watch them in whatever order you see fit.

(h/t the amazing Synthopia)

ReBirth for iPad – also, @peff is the coolest!

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I’m posting this more for my benefit, as Kurt takes you through how to build a song with ReBirth for iPad.  I’d messed with the iPhone version, but it’s too damn small.  This looks beautiful and I can’t wait to start messing.

How much do love @peff?  I kinda wish he would do a similar review for the Korg iMS-20, which I picked up yesterday.  It also sounds pretty hot and has huge versatility.  Hopefully I’ll be posting jams (complete with resonator slide guitar parts?!?) from both of these killer apps soon.

We ran the bridge!

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This picture comes from the amazing gallery over at the Courier Post online – check it out! This was a 10K to benefit the Larc School. It took us over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge into Philly and back, then through the streets of Camden, past Salvatore J. Avena’s law office, over by the Battleship New Jersey, and finished in the left field at Campbell’s Field. Em and I worked a nice time (for us, anyway), and it was a beautiful day and a great workout.

Oh, for a muse of FIRE!! – How do you fancy a sci-fi Henry V?

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Ray mutherfucking Winstone

Well, let’s up the ante a bit, shall we? Perhaps Michael Caine, Ray Winstone, Derek Jacobi, Vinnie Jones and Gerard Depardieu would make you feel better about the sheer credibility of it all? io9 is happy to report this project in preproduction, and I’m happy to be in receipt of such a report. Very happy indeed!

From the Darclight, the film’s production company, comes the following:

In an age of apocalypse, in a land without a leader, a dissolute prince finds redemption when he crushes a rebellion that threatens to destroy his father’s kingdom. But upon assuming the throne himself, he immediately engineers a war against a neighboring state to slake his lust for power.
Despite his enemy possessing weaponry rendering their forces almost invincible, the newly crowned king seizes a glorious victory from the jaws of defeat by ruthlessness and cunning. But for all his wiles there’s one thing the young monarch has overlooked. Just as he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure victory, so is his enemy…

The Devil You Know – by Mike Carey

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I had to cut bait on Connie Willis‘ The Doomsday Book.  After reading half way through a 575 page book, I finally realized that a comedy of manners about time-travel into medieval Oxford was not going to do it for me.  I believe it is a fine work of literature and the author an artist of exceptional talent, but, personally speaking, I needed a bit more sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

All that being said, I landed a pretty good title with Mike Carey‘s The Devil You Know.  Carey became known to me via his work on the DC/Vertigo comic Hellblazer, which itself is a spinoff from the iconic Saga of Swamp Thing and Sandman series.  Carey wrote John Constantine, the Hellblazer himself, as a wonderfully sarcastic anti-hero in a trench coat, prone to making VERY bad decisions, but also possessing a surprisingly strong moral compass.

Felix Castor is John Constantine, but belonging solely to Carey.  In Hellblazer, Carey has to conform to a character that is not of his creation and managed by several authors over time.  With Castor, Carey is the boss from word go.

Castor also operates in a slightly different professional capacity.  Whereas Constantine made a living going back and forth between the temporal plane and the underworld, Castor is merely a privateer exorcist, using his tin whistle to move the undead away from a haunted realm to god-knows-where.  But that little moral qualm of “killing the dead”, along with a suitably wrecked personal life and a weakness for the ladies makes this Chandler-esque supernatural romp most enjoyable.