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Apple Soundtrack Pro 3

David Biedny — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:37:56 -0600

Soundtrack Pro is a multitrack audio editor intended to be used as part of a video workflow, though it’s equally adept at standalone audio projects. It was once sold separately, but for the last few years, it’s been available exclusively as part of the Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio bundles. The latest incarnation, version 3, offers a wide range of fine-tuned interface tweaks and a few new tricks that will make anyone who produces pro audio take notice.

The most significant new feature is audio-level matching, which allows you to raise the overall volume levels of one track and match them to another, a boon for podcasters and anyone who works with multisource audio. The big caveat with this new feature is that it only works with isolated voices on separate tracks. Anyone recording an interview with a single recording device, or via Skype, won’t be able to use the feature.

Audio-level matching equalizes the sound of two different tracks.

Field recording enthusiasts are often stymied by ambient noise in anything but the most isolated environments. Soundtrack Pro 2 had some noise-removal filtering and version 3 significantly improves upon it. The software allows you to select multiple harmonics of the base frequency--audio-geek speak for “it catches all the hum.” Previously, users often turned to third-party noise reduction plug-ins to handle these problems, but the new built-in stuff does a great job. And if you still need specialized third-party add-ons, advanced users will be pleased to see that their plug-ins show up in the same pane as Apple’s built-in tools--a great practical touch.

Time-stretching is a key aspect of creative audio editing, and you’ll be thrilled to find some new time-remapping mojo in Soundtrack Pro 3. There are three different remapping options, making us think it’s based on the tools in the new Logic 9 software, which we totally dig, because it produces some very nice, transparent results. Another feature ostensibly lifted from Logic is the ability to edit audio directly in the Multitake editor, a seemingly minor improvement that will make folks using this feature very, very happy.

Doug Adams Dupin

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:20:00 -0500

Initially we all had just one Mac and one iPod. We’d dutifully sync our iPod with our Mac, and life was grand.

Then we got a MacBook, another iPod, and finally, an iPhone. Soon it was apparent that our music library was scattered across multiple machines and the idea of trying to figure out which machine had which songs became an onerous task. So we just threw them all together, resulting in tons of unwanted duplicate tracks.

Even without Foreigner, we had double vision--but that was before Dupin cleaned up the duplicates in our iTunes library.

Dupin scours your iTunes library for duplicates and helps cure you of double-track syndrome. iTunes contains a Show Duplicates feature, but it’s woefully underpowered. It works fine for a couple tracks, but music fans with larger libraries will by stymied by its extremely limited definition of “duplicate.” Dupin turbocharges the process, making it easier to find actual duplicates--as opposed to different versions of the same song. With 10 selectable criteria for defining duplicates and the ability to confine searches by playlist or specific library, there are few rogue tracks that can escape Dupin. iTunes doesn’t have to be open for the application to do its thing, and, in fact, you can continue listening to iTunes music without fear of interruption from Dupin.

Once the dupes are identified, you can set filters for the application to determine which files to keep in your iTunes library and which to purge (keeping higher-bit rate versions and tossing lower-quality copies, for example). We threw multiple songs with the same name, songs stored on different devices, and songs with varying bit rates at Dupin, and it was able to reliably separate the keepers from the unnecessary duplicates.

You can tell Dupin to simply remove the tracks from your iTunes library without deleting them, send them to the Trash, or have them deleted on the spot. We recommend hanging on to them, but we wish Dupin gave us the option to move the files to a specific folder--which would reduce the size of our Music folder while still giving us the chance to back up the duplicate files. Purged tracks that are sent to the Trash can be manually recovered, but you lose the Artist/Album folder nesting that iTunes creates, leaving an organizational nightmare.

Pixel Research Labs Ringer

Ray Aguilera — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:06:03 -0500

For several years now, the music industry has had quite a scam going. No, we’re not talking about the insane price of physical CDs. And no, we’re not talking about the fact that major label artists--the folks who actually did the work--make pennies on the dollar for the sale of those CDs. We’re talking about ringtones. iPhone users are luckier than most--iTunes will let you buy a ringtone for a mere 99 cents. Other cell carriers and plans can charge up to several dollars more. If you’re big into custom tones, that can add up fast. Ringer can help you quickly create your own iPhone ringtones from your existing media. No longer are you subject to iTunes’ sometimes spotty ringtone availability.

Whip up custom ringtones in a couple clicks.

Ringer is a simple app. All your editing happens in a single iTunes-style window, with your source list on the left, and a waveform of your selected song to the right. All it takes to create a ringtone is to drag the blue selection marker over the portion of audio you want to use (anything up to 30 seconds in length) and click Create. Ringer will downsample your audio (making the file size manageable while maintaining decent sound quality) and import it into iTunes automatically, where it will be ready for syncing to your iPhone.

The app offers some rudimentary playback controls for finding the right section of the song and also features a Preview button, which will play your current selection as a loop, so you can hear how it will sound coming out of your iPhone. There are also options to fade the beginning or ending of the clip and to add a short delay into the loop. Editing was simple enough, but there’s no way to zoom in to allow more precise editing of the start and end points, so those looking to create a seamless loop will have to rely on bit of trial and error to get their tones just right. And unlike iTunes’ ringtone feature, Ringer will work with any file you can open in QuickTime (including video files)--if you’re just dying for a ringtone of Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs, for example. Be warned: If you have any protected tracks from before iTunes went DRM-free, you’ll have to burn them to a CD and reimport them before you can use them with Ringer.

Ableton Live 8

David Biedny — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:57:34 -0500

In the pantheon of music-creation software, Live has always presented an original and truly innovative approach to making music in the studio and onstage. In this latest release, Ableton has delivered a very strong balance of new features and interface tweaks, which will definitely please existing Ableton fans and likely turn the heads of folks more accustomed to using audio software like Apple’s Logic and Digidesign’s Pro Tools.

The overall workflow found in Live hasn’t changed in any radical way since the program’s inception, but new features give users a new set of musical tools. The new Groove Patterns offer a truly innovative way to completely change the overall timing and “feel” of both sampled audio segments and MIDI recordings. Ever want to take a song recorded with a straight dance-style beat, and try swing, bossa nova, and Latin variations? In Live 8, it’s as simple as choosing from myriad groove styles in any of the many provided categories and applying them to a selected track or an entire composition, with surprisingly gratifying results. We’ve really never seen--or heard--anything quite like this, and you can even extract groove information from existing music files to reuse on other tracks, which is some heavy-duty automated magic.

Live 8 offers up some hot new effects, including one of the best Mr. Roboto vocoders in the Mac audio universe.

Because it was primarily designed for live performance work, Live has always had some industrial-strength time-shifting abilities. The upgraded audio-warping engine delivers truly superior audio quality and the ability to grab audio and directly stretch it in the time line to fit the tempo of your project, with much better algorithms for warping rhythmic music, as well as complex, layered audio. We also fell totally in love with the new Looper effect, which surpasses the real-time looping capabilities of dedicated hardware that costs as much as the Live software. And Looper does it all with a minimum of effort. Use any basic MIDI hardware footswitch to turn the Looper recorder on, play a riff on your guitar or keyboard (or voice, for that matter), hit stop, and the Looper automatically detects the speed of your playing, and lets you record layer after layer of accompaniment. It’s heady stuff--insanely cool for live performance work, and it’s one of those features that will likely tip longtime users to pay for the upgrade.

The new Vocoder effect is perhaps the most capable we’ve ever seen in any program, perfect for whipping up bizarre robotic voices or morphing a drum beat with a heavy guitar rhythm. There’s a crunchy new Overdrive effect for adding raunch to cleanly recorded guitar solos, and for those who want to wrangle the absolute top-quality audio results from Live, the Multiband Dynamic and Limiter plugs do an absolutely stellar job, comparable to standalone audio products costing hundreds of dollars. And all of the many workflow enhancements left us smiling in pure agreement and synchronicity.

Live 8 also features a new Collision instrument for modeling all sorts of cool percussion sounds and a vast library of Latin percussion sampled instruments. We also really love the newly updated Operator synthesizer that comes bundled with the awesomely full-featured Suite version of Live. That said, we’re still a little surprised that the overall cost of the Suite is north of $800, which is still a bit pricey in a world where Apple’s Logic Studio is $499.

iPhone Helper Apps for Insanely Specific Scenarios

Leslie Ayers — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:06:00 -0500

Every day, life presents any number of problems that need solving—from settling bets to knowing which fish are OK to eat to remembering where the soupspoon goes in a formal table setting. Your iPhone or iPod touch can act as a digital Swiss Army knife, offering up the right tool to get you through almost any dilemma. We review and rate a collection of handy helper apps and ass-saving accessories that are sure to boost your rep as the consummate boy scout, always prepared for anything.

For Anyone Who's Ever Asked, "How?"

Howcast.com's free iPhone app puts the site's eclectic collection of how-to videos in your pocket

Think of all the things you’ve always wanted to know how to do: fold origami, set a formal dinner table, pick a lock…or maybe have sex in a car? Amazingly enough, you can learn how to do all of these things—and many more—with Howcast’s free iPhone app. This excellent freebie puts an iPhone “wrapper” on the mind-blowing array of how-to video content available on Howcast.com.

Click here to read a full review of this app

Search for topics in the search bar or tap on Most Recent or Featured to see a list of how-to videos on Howcast.

Howcast How-To Videos
Howcast Media
www.howcast.com
Free

Six More Ways to Skin a Cat (Not Literally, OK?)

These apps offer more practical solutions to real-life problems

Heads, You Win; Tails, You Win

Need to settle a bet but don’t have a coin to toss? If you spend a buck on My CoinFlip, you’ll never be without a way to force your friends to choose between two options. The app features 11 different types of coins, including a variety of euro coins.

The Vatican euro offers a nice option for your Catholic friends.

My CoinFlip 1.2.3
Sandro Stricker
www.software.sandrostricker.de
$0.99

Wait, How Many Spider Rolls Did We Order?

Ordering sushi for large parties can be an exercise in chaos—especially after a few sake rounds. Sushi Boat! presents a list of common sushi offerings—nigiri, sashimi, and maki—so you can you pass your phone around to capture a digital account of your order. When everyone’s weighed in, tap My Order to see the tally, which can then be read to the server by whoever’s most coherent.

Handy translations ensure you won't order hamachi (yellowtail) when you want maguro (tuna).

Sushi Boat! 1.0
Impresario Digital
www.impresariodigital.com
$0.99

Automatic Name That Tune

Can’t put a name to the tune that’s playing over a public speaker system or at a party? Shazam can ID the song, artist, and album—then let you buy it directly from the iTunes Store. Just tap Tag Now and hold up your iPhone so it can “hear” the music.

Shazam effortlessly recognized Len's "Steal My Sunshine," after only hearing the first couple seconds of the song, which is a bunch of talking.

Shazam 1.5
Shazam Entertainment Ltd.
www.shazam.com
Free

Wash and Wear

LaundryPal is exactly what college kids whose moms coddled them and newly divorced bachelors need: It deciphers the often mystifying care symbols found on clothes labels, ensuring that you don’t machine-wash a hand-wash or dry-clean-only item. Even better, it includes a laundry how-to, as well as tips in each symbol section (Wash, Tumble Dry, Iron, and Bleach, Dry Clean, and Dry). If only it could fold your laundry too!

The Do Not Dry symbol is presumably interchangeable with the symbol for Do Not Tumble Dry. Otherwise there will be a lot of laundry noobs walking around wearing wet—albeit clean—clothes!

LaundryPal 1.2
Hip Fire
www.hipfire.com
$0.99

You Go Green, Girl!

We debated including this, worried that the manly men out there would balk at the app’s title. This iPhone version of Sophie Uliano’s best-seller Gorgeously Green provides you with the core info from the eco-conscious lifestyle guide. What tipped the scale in the app’s favor was ultrahandy lists and tips, such as which types of fish are OK to eat, how to decode the numbers on plastic bottles, which produce you should always buy organic, and more.

Which produce should you always buy organic? The GG Survival Guide's got your back.

Gorgeously Green Survival Guide 1.2
Optima Drama
www.gorgeouslygreen.com
$0.99

Unlike Mace, It Doesn't Require a Permit

Panic Alarm is a personal alarm that can’t immobilize an attacker the way mace or pepper spray can, but could very well be all you need to scare off a would-be perp. The app consists of a large Alarm button that appears on launch, which, when tapped (or if you shake your device), sets off a very loud alarm. You can also set the app to call an emergency contact after the alarm sounds for a certain period before it’s turned off.

In the settings, designate a contact to call if the alarm goes off for a specified period without being turned off.

Panic Alarm 1.0
Adduce Studios
www.adduce.se
$0.99

djay 3

Roberto Baldwin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:27:06 -0500

Spin the Beats on the Cheap (click to embiggen)

There are two camps in the world of DJing--analog purists and the cutting edge digital folks. While the purists will hold on to their vinyl like a child clutching its favorite toy, the digital folks are out there looking for the best way to rock the house while attempting to stay out of the poor house. With all the software and hardware aimed at digital DJs, it's easy to get fooled into thinking you need a few thousand dollars in equipment to bring the noise. The latest update to djay by Algoriddim will give you the power to rock the beats without breaking the bank.

For the beginner, djay is a painless entry into the world of DJing. For veterans, it's a wonderful addition to your arsenal that doesn't skimp on features. For $50, you're given a surprisingly powerful piece of software. Djay interacts with your existing iTunes library, offering instant access to any DRM-free music you have on your machine. The interface looks like a typical DJ setup with two turntables and a mixer. Drag songs from the music library in the app onto the turntables and they become virtual records complete with album art (if available) while the track name appears above the album with the time elapsed and time left. Helpful if you're in a dark room trying to figure out what song is on each virtual deck.

Fans of multi-touch will appreciate the quick gestures to fade between songs and the digital scratching. While virtual scratching has a ways to go before it replaces the feel and control of scratching a vinyl record, djay does a commendable job recreating the feeling via multi-touch on the track pad. As tracks are added to the mix, the app quickly displays the BPM to help you determine whether the song will work in the mix, or if you need to speed up, or slow down the track for a seamless mix. The Sync button will help match the BPMs of the two songs, or you can adjust it manually.

The new audio engine handles scratches, variable speed, and reverse admirably even going so far as to replicate the braking sound of a turntable that has been stopped while the needle is still in a groove. The smooth slow-down of the song will spark memories in those of us old enough to remember vinyl. The software ships with audio effects and an EQ to get the sound just right.

If you're tired of mixing and need a break, you can use the Automix feature, build a playlist and let the application take care of the mixes while you cruise the party.

Djay 3 will be available from algoriddim on September 29.

SRS Labs iWow Adaptor for iPod

Leslie Ayers — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:25:23 -0500

The iWow Adaptor does not work with the iPhone, but it gives you a good reason to dust off one of your older iPods.

We’ve always admired music aficionados with such finely tuned hearing that they could effortlessly detect the sonic differences between digital music and music recorded on vinyl, tape, and other “old” media. There must be a number of these types at SRS Labs, because the iWow Adaptor for iPod, a small, lightweight hardware add-on that plugs in via your iPod’s 30-pin dock connector and filters the audio output to attached headphones, has a remarkable effect on the clarity of music played on iPod, effectively separating the various layers of audio in a given recording, and bringing out depth that can often get lost in digital recordings.

While the iWow Adaptor isn’t suited for every song or musical genre--in our tests it tended to muddy up heavy bass lines by allowing too much of the bass buzz to come through when we would have gladly let it hide--the device does wonders for acoustic and classical tracks. We happily lost ourselves in a variety of acoustic recordings by Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, and even Dynamite Hack (ever heard their cover of Boyz-n-the-Hood? Genius.) And we didn’t even feel guilty locking ourselves in our bedroom to enjoy Bach’s cello suites performed by Yo-Yo Ma, or violin concertos played by Julia Fischer, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields doing Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. The iWow Adaptor enhanced the pants off all of these recordings--multiplying our enjoyment of the music, making it sound fuller, richer, and much more nuanced. In short, the iWow Adaptor and a good pair of headphones made us feel like the performers were right there in the room.

The trade-off to this you-gotta-hear-it-to-believe-it sound enhancement is a dramatic blow to your iPod’s battery life. We found that our iPod classic’s battery ran down about 30 percent faster with the iWow Adaptor plugged in than without it. And occasionally, when we first attached the device and then plugged our headphones into the 1/8-inch jack on the bottom left, we’d hear a sound like an airplane taking off before the music started playing, as if the device had to warm up or something.

FadingRed Senuti

Susie Ochs — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:35:00 -0500

Being able to copy songs from an iPod to a Mac is incredibly useful, and no, we’re not talking about pirating tracks here. If you keep distinct iTunes libraries on more than one Mac, your iPod can carry them back and forth. If your hard drive crashes, or you get a new Mac, restoring iTunes tracks via an iPod is a great trick to have at your disposal.

But since the laws of DRM seem to be “guilty until proven just-a-friendly-customer-with-rights,” iTunes has never had this superpower built in. The only songs you can transfer iPod-to-iTunes are purchased tracks from the iTunes Store. Senuti (it’s iTunes spelled backward) has been around for years as an open-source project, but is now sold as $18 shareware, no longer under the GPL license, beginning with version 0.50.3. We’re cool with this—good, stable software is worth paying for. In Senuti’s case, FadingRed puts effort into updates and support, and plenty of free alternatives exist, so you can do some comparisons during Senuti’s 30-day trial.

You can drag not only songs and videos, but whole playlists, right to your iTunes library.

Senuti supports the iPod touch and iPhone, as well as all the iPods. When you connect your device, its library and playlists appear at the top of the sidebar, while your iTunes library and playlists are listed on the bottom. Blue dots next to the tracks show you which songs on your iPod already exist in iTunes, and you can hide them (View > Hide Songs > In iTunes). Drag songs from your iPod’s library and drop them onto your iTunes library, or select songs and click the big green Transfer button. Senuti can copy the songs anywhere on your hard drive for you to back up, or it can even add the songs directly to iTunes—just choose iTunes Music Folder as the default download location in Senuti > Preferences, as instructed in the manual. We had no problems with duplicate files being generated, and transfers went off without a hitch.

Senuti can also rebuild playlists from your iPod in iTunes, which worked as advertised. Smart playlists on your iPod become regular playlists in iTunes, which preserves the list as it was on your iPod, without adding in more qualifying songs from your iTunes library, as a smart playlist would. To copy a playlist to iTunes, you drag the whole playlist name from the iPod area of the sidebar and drop it on top of the word iTunes in the bottom half of the sidebar. A progress bar appears in the lower-left, and transfers were incredibly speedy on our 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with 2GB of RAM.

The app includes options to add songs to a particular playlist each time, to copy metadata like Play Count and Ratings, to compare songs based on an exact match or just certain criteria, and a complete array of file-handling options: If Senuti is told to transfer a song already on your computer, it can skip it, rename the new file, overwrite the old file, or ask you every time.

What Senuti can’t do is copy anything but music or videos—so no apps, photos, or other data. It can copy songs and videos purchased from the iTunes Store, although if they have DRM—that is, if they’re older music tracks purchased before the iTunes Store gave up DRM for music—you’ll still have to authorize any computer you want to play them on, and Apple limits this to 5.