Moby’s point about working from home, creating an environment conducive for creativity is a good one. It reminds me of the whole idea behind Record Plant LA when it first opened up, creating a space that feels more comfortable than a studio.

VIDEO: Moby Shows Off His Drum Machine Collection is a post from: wax&wires

Check out the latest from New Orleans’ finest, a band only 5 or 6 years into their current project that has already garnered Grammy noms and completely defined a genre all their own.

Armistice is definitely a departure from their self-titled full length, and even more so from their Reset EP, but it is just as catchy. The texture of the album as a whole sounds a bit more retro; not the compositions or instrumentation, more just the indescribable ooze that saturates the sonic qualities of every track, giving it a bit of a lo-fi temperament.

Compared to previous releases, Armistice is much more driven by Paul Meany’s vocal, set atop heavily effected and synthesized hooks that lay a simpler bed than in previous albums. It’s a well balanced album with moods that rise and fall to take you on a trip. No more bloviating, just give it a listen:

Mute Math – Armistice

Wax Pick: Mute Math – Armistice is a post from: wax&wires

Call it gimmicky if you want, but there are a lot of tools out there that can make your live performance stand out as an artist. Are people more likely to remember a performance where you harnessed an interface that they’d never seen before, or a performance in which you were hunched over your laptop moving a mouse around?

We’re seeing a lot of new interfaces come out as of late; many of which seem to be object-based, where the objects interact with eachother as well as the user. Remember the Siftables?

New ways of creating sound will completely work over your creative process, and thus the product that comes out. When I write behind a keyboard, the songs that come out are strikingly different compared to when I write with a guitar in my hands. How might your final compositions change if you write with a more creative interface, rather than a keyboard and mouse?

You can find more info about the Percussa AudioCubes, including tons of video, on their site.

Percussa AudioCubes is a post from: wax&wires

Organ virtuoso Qi Zhang plays her electric rendering of “Ridiculous Fellows” from Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges” orchestral suite. This exhilarating performance from TEDx USC features the Yamaha Electone Stagea, a rare, imported instrument specially programmed by Qi herself.

Unfortunately, for those aspiring to follow in her footsteps, the Yamaha Stagea Electone is only availalbe in parts of Eastern Asia. Several have been imported  to North Amera, and the UK, but you won’t be able to head down to your local GC and try it out any time soon. You could check out some pics and info on Yamaha’s Japanese site though.

Qi Zhang’s Ridiculous Performance of Prokofiev is a post from: wax&wires

Sonik Architects and BT have teamed up to create Sonifi, a sweet little iPhone App that lets you remix four tracks (Bass, Beats, Synth/FX, and Melody) by using the iPhone’s accelerometer and touchscreen. Here’s the official word:

Remix, Record, Control dynamic live FX & beautiful visualizers

AND Stutter Edit™….

LIVE.

Create and explore stunning live remixes, FX and visuals with a true first-of-it’s-kind portable remix engine. Sonifi™ is the world’s first true audio and visual remix application and protocol. Created by electronic superstar BT, this application showcases futuristic new music and remixes of The Rose of Jericho from his forthcoming 2009 artist album.

Sonifi™ is a powerful, portable, real-time remix engine. There are an infinite number of permutations of remixes you can create, mix, save and share….live, and anywhere!!

For iPhone and iPod touch 3.0 users, a revolutionary new multi-player feature has been added. Jam Link gives 3.0 users the ability to link with a friend (via Bluetooth) and remix live….TOGETHER. The mixmaster selects control over “Beats and Bass” or “Melody and Harmony”. Once JamLinked you and your buddy can remix, select tracks and Stutter Edit™ live. This is a first for any application, on any device.

In Sonifi™, four channels of four unique tracks allow extreme flexibility and remix possibilities. The (4×4 matrix of) tracks can be mixed, muted or soloed and contain four completely unique elements and arrangements per-channel. There are four tracks of ripping beats to choose from, four tracks of fat bass lines, four tracks of glitchy synths and FX, and four tracks of cutting edge melodies.

Everything in Sonifi™ happens in-time and on-beat; so making a mix is both fun and effortless. If you are a musician or DJ the sky is the limit! Currently, three discrete real time effects are controllable using the X/Y axis of the iPhone or iPod touch screen : Lo-Fi, resonant high pass filter, and resonant low pass filter.

There are mesmerizing visual elements that respond elegantly to user touch as well as the frequency and amplitude information of your remix. You are not just remixing, you’re visualizing what you are creating.

Finally, Sonifi™ contains BT’s patented Stutter Edit™ technology and is the first application to showcase to its abilities. Instead of using a mouse, USB device, or other input peripheral (like you would with a computer), your phone becomes an instrument!! Simply shake the phone in one of six vectorial directions (left, right, forward, backward, up, or down) and at the next 1/8th note the Stutter Edit plugin will perform an incredible micro-note or fill pattern repeat, some with release crashes and hits. Basically, you shake your phone and sound like a genius.

Endless fun ensues!

Planned upgrades will include downloadable Sonifi™ media packs containing other artists songs and remixes, new visualizer elements and band & artist links.

Let the live remixing BEGIN!!

LANGUAGES:
- English

FEATURES:
- Four channels of four tracks (Bass, Beats, Synth / FX and melody) with arrangement
mapping for true and limitless remix options
- Three studio class X/Y controllable FX (Lo-Fi, High Pass Filter and Low Pass Filter)
- Stunning and interactive visualizers that respond both to music and touch
- Numerous visual behaviors and screen-sets
- Save, Edit and rework your mix
- First ever use of BT and Sonik Architects Stutter Edit™ technology

REQUIREMENTS:
iPhone OS 3.0
Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch (first and second generation)

Sonifi International LLC
Patent Pending Sonik Architects ©™2009

Website : www.btmusic.com

By forcing effects to end on beat, it really makes it an intuitive and easy to use app. The visuals are what really make this App stand out. I think it’s pretty funny that they added in a dramatic pause before …. “STUTTER EDIT.” I’m not sure what the hype is about with that; it’s a great effect, but so are the visuals of the app, the filters, etc.

Here’s a link to the iTunes store to pick it up (it’s $5). And a little video to boot:

BT’s Sonifi iPhone App is a post from: wax&wires

Be sure to turn HD on if your bandwidth can hang:

Here’s the official press release:

Nashville synth-rock quartet Paper Route releases the documentary 7 Minutes online today. The video features footage from the band’s December 2008 UK tour and the recording of their full-length debut Absence, which was released April 28th via Universal Motown. The video was shot by the band & photographer Bob Miller & edited by Olivier Groulx (Arcade Fire’s “Black Mirror” video, Human Highway’s “The Sound” video). Groulx also directed the video for the first single “Carousel” available for stream here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u18F2Gl55Q.

Since releasing three EP’s – Paper Route (2006), A Thrill of Hope (2006) and Are We All Forgotten (2008)- the band has continually received praise from critics and fans alike…

“Paper Route are America’s answer to symphonic-pop artists like Elbow, M83 and Air, especially on Absence tracks like the propulsive ‘Tiger Teeth’ and anthemic, Doves-like ‘Last Time.’” – Rolling Stone

“Filling the gap that retro-synth group the Killers have left with their last few records, and capitalizing on, in their subtler moments, the electronically induced emo-pop that fans have been biding for since the Postal Service emerged, Paper Route are nostalgically sweet and atmospherically dreamy.” – Performing Songwriter

“Absence is a dazzling and haunting soundclash of electronica and indie with bits of lo-fi, shoegaze and folk thrown in for added confusion; think Editors, Bon Iver and Imogen Heap mixed in a blender.” – Alternative Press

“The starkness in these songs is striking; the hurt palpable…a refreshing mix of the organic and the electronic, with quality songwriting to match.” – Paste

“[Paper Route] has combined a great sense of melody and soaring guitar pop with electronic trimmings.” – Filter

“The compositions are in a word: divine.” – Nylon

Paper Route is currently in the road with Young Love. Catch them in the following cities:

May
18 – San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit #
19 – Houston, TX – Walter’s On Washington #
20 – Austin, TX – Mohawk #
22 – Miami, FL – The Vagabond #
23 – Tampa, FL – Orpheum #
24 – Orlando, FL – The Social #
30 – Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar #
31 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East Upstairs #

June
2 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom #
4 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop #
5 – Detroit, MI – The Shelter #
6 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen #

7 Minutes: Paper Route Documentary Out Today is a post from: wax&wires

Say hello to one of your favorite albums of 2009. Absence is the much anticipated debut from Nashville’s Paper Route. I first wrote about them a while back in recommending their EP, Are We All Forgotten.

Absence takes all the best pieces from Paper Route’s EP, consolidates them onto a full length, and sharpens the band’s identity even more. It’s very easy to overproduce music in thier genre, adding too many layers, swallowing the vocal, forsaking the emotion that ought to be driving the music in the first place. However, Paper Route found a great balance between layered textures of synths and guitars, while still keeping the lyrics and melody as the driving force of the album. You still walk away singing the vocal, rather than the guitar lick and there’s not one song on the album that feels like a “filler.”

The album opens with “Enemy Among Us,” a haunting track that transports you into the landscape of the album, especially if you’ve got a good set of headphones on. It warms you up for the push of more uptempo songs to come, and pulls you in with heartfelt lyrics.

Tracks like “Good Intentions” take me back to the 90s with the strong pad and filtered drums in the background. The falsetto vocal hook is remeniscent of Tears For Fears era pop, but definitely given a more modern spin.

My favorite song on the album is easily “Be Healed.” Cue the return of falsetto hooks with a reverb saturated guitar and pulsing synth, and now imagine them playing in a tub of molasses as the song leans back on a great half-time groove. It seriously sounds like if Richard Ashcroft were to step in to cut a track with Kings of Leon, which is not bad company if you ask me.

For more info on Paper Route’s upcoming tour, as well as some exclusive content, click here.

Paper Route – Absence

Wax Pick: Paper Route – Absence is a post from: wax&wires

I don’t even have any info about it other than it’s made by Klangwabe and was shown at Musikmesse 2009, but I had to post it because it was so pretty.

From the pics, it looks like each module pulls power from the same power module, via the copper leads on the sides. That’s about all I can garner from the pics.

If you’ve got any info on it, leave it in the comments!

Thanks to sequencer.de for the pics!

Hexagonal Modular Synth is a post from: wax&wires

The OP-1 (Operator 1) is a synth/controller/recorder/sequencer and everything else wonderful smashed into one. Seriously though… I think they even have some unicorns, rainbows and cheeseburgers in there.

In standalone mode, it functions as a synthesizer with 8 models, 8 samplers, effects like delay, flutter, eq, and more; plus a step sequencer and arpegiator to boot. It also has a built in microphone and audio recorder so that you can sample things on the fly, including grabbing content from the FM radio reciever, which is also built in (kind of weird, but why not?). Lastly, in a stroke of brilliance, they’ve built in motion sensing control for audio manipulation.

After creating a track you can either play it back on the built in speaker, or export it to MP3 right on the device. Yes, all of that is in stand-alone mode.

As a controller, it offers a keyboard, four control knobs, transport control, and 16 quick-keys for mapping to your DAW.

As far as I/O,  the OP-1 possesses mini-jack ins and outs for audio, and USB 2.0 for interfacing with your computer.

The OLED display is absolutely beautiful too. You can get some glimpses at it in this video, as well as some basic audio candy.

Though Teenage Engineering hasn’t yet set a price, they’ve listed 10-12 months as the estimated time until completion.

You can check out more about the OP-1 at the Teenage Engineering site.

Teenage Engineering OP-1 – You Already Want This is a post from: wax&wires

Here, they cover the MGMT hit Kids, using the iPhone Apps Ocarina, Retro Synth, miniSynth, DigiDrummer Lite. I don’t know if it’s just the RetroSynth app or the finger that’s driving it, but that bass part being off time was a bit naggy to me. I know it’s being too picky, as the overall job on the song is solid.

Is your best play to get noticed covering somebody else’s song? It wouldn’t be the first time. Mark Ronson’s full album Version is comprised of interesting covers. Yael Naim’s cover of Toxic, plus her song’s use in the MacBook Air commercial, put her on the musical map.

New business plan: make a viral video.

The Mentalists Cover MGMT’s Kids Using Only iPhones is a post from: wax&wires

I’m seriously done with teddy bears. I think my kid’s going to get a felt keytar for baby’s first Christmas instead. You can pick one up as your new snuggle buddy over at Etsy, or check out the Flickr page for more pics.

Felt Synths From Pul(sew)idth is a post from: wax&wires

Touching the screen causes the robot to move and make sounds controlled by your movements. Play it like a musical instrument, or just have fun watching the robot and making noises with your fingers.

Features 4-voice multitouch polyphony, multiple synthesis modes, tweakable sound parameters and echo effects, and hypnotic interactive backgrounds.

This app is awesome. It presents such a creative interface that really sets it apart from all other iPhone synth apps out there. It’s only $1.99 too, so I expect to do pretty well. I noticed it on the front page of the App Store and had to bring it to your attention. Check it out if you’ve got an iPhone or iPod touch!

You can get more info on the chipper, music-making robot at NormalWare’s site.

Bebot iPhone App Combines Creative GUI With SoftSynth is a post from: wax&wires

At NAMM yesterday, Roland revealed that the now-popular neo-new-wave instrument has been reissued with some major improvements, including:

• Built-in sound engine with Roland synth voices
• Ribbon controller, D-Beam (in a usable location this time), Modulation bar, Knobs, and Display
• USB MIDI for quick connection to your computer
• V-Link button for video/visual control
• Longer battery life

So keyboard players, you’ll still look dorky and awkward, but now you can do it standing up!

You can read more about the AX-Synth here.

Roland Resurrects The Keytar is a post from: wax&wires

Check it out here.

MIDI Interface For Analog Synth is a post from: wax&wires