Check it out here.

This short documentary by Audio Technology’s Chris Holder, goes behind the scenes in the Behringer factory in China. It’s an intriguing and surprising insight, not just to Behringer, but to China too. Definitely worth a look.

New features include many which have been standard in Logic for a while, such as a suite of built in plugins and instruments, lots of loops, better MIDI implementation and finally, a score option. There’s also better comping, though Pro Tools has always been pretty well sorted in this regard, thanks to its playlist feature; one many wish Apple would implement in Logic, rather than Apple’s rather clunky (and maybe even buggy?) system.

The track count is upped in the LE version, which is only about time, and a new Complete Production Toolkit allows up to 128 tracks in LE. Of course, there are lots of other additions and you can read about them all here.

The arguments are mounting up for many to move over to Pro Tools with this upgrade. I for one, will give it more serious consideration on upcoming projects. However, Digidesign’s closed hardware/software system, their rather narrow compatibility windows (there is no word on compatibility with non-Intel, or with 10.4, or with the Digi 002), and the constant “holding out” on track count/insert count etc on LE, always makes me feel I am missing out unless I am using Pro Tools HD, which, let’s face it, is a lot of money to give to one company for something that still needs lots more money to really be a “studio”.

So I guess the war is hotting up again! Let’s just hope Apple will move some of the brains off the iPhone project onto their Pro products, rather than releasing another GarageBand upgrade first.

And here’s hoping they don’t think a Logic upgrade involves chucking a whole new bunch of loops at us and saying “there ya go!”

Of course, it’s not just audio apps that can get the remote control treatment. What about remote-controlling PowerPoint presentations? Or even DVD Player or VLC on your Mac? It’s all especially pertinent now that new Mac laptops no longer come with the little Apple Remote as standard.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, and you’d like to be able to control your Mac remotely, this is a no-brainer.

Apparently, according to an article in Silicon Republic, this is really ground-breaking stuff.

I’m sorry, but what rock have the suits in Eircom been under for the past 3 years?

Don’t get me wrong, this guy, Richard Griffiths seems to be a hotshot, and he knows what he’s talking about, but do Eircom really think they can oust the Sky+/NTL Digital brigade, years after the on-demand revolution began? After over a year of absolutely blitzing the market with introductory rates, anyone who cares has Sky+ already. And don’t even mention AppleTV or Media Center, because it’s likely these decision-making dudes in our former national telephone company never heard of these things until the meet with Griffiths, who might already be regretting his move from BT Vision.

Eircom, just stick to what you’re good at, which is… hold on, I forgot. What ARE you good at?

Apple, of course are famous for dropping support for what they see as “legacy” standards. They were first “floppy droppers”, getting rid of the 1.4MB disk to the dismay of many. Of course, history has shown they were right, albeit, a bit premature. And they have been right in this regard many times, whether it be SCSI, VGA or ADB, they killed them off before they could retire gracefully. No over 70’s medical card for defunct Apple formats then! (In-joke for the Irish there)

But firewire? A dead format? For one, DV (and HDV) relies on firewire, so video enthusiasts will be disappointed. Audio interfaces are also not USB-only affairs; I won’t even bother naming some of the manufacturers making firewire audio interfaces.

OK, this is supposed to be their entry-level machine, but seriously, there are plenty of entry-level firewire cameras and audio interfaces out there.

This seems like a bizarre decision by Apple, but if history is anything to go by, firewire is dead!

1: Remote (Apple)
OK, this one’s obvious, but if you haven’t taken advantage of the ability to control your iTunes library from across the room, or indeed the house (or however far away your wifi network will go!), you are missing out. Simple. And useful.

2: Oblique Strategies (Far Out Labs)
Ever stuck in the studio wondering what to do next? Well, Brian Eno and Peter Shmidt originally designed these random cards to inspire you to great things, in any aspect of your life, and now they are available for the iPhone. Stuck for an idea? Dial up a card which could say something like “What are you really thinking about now? Incorporate.”, or “What would your closest friend do?” Oblique, indeed!

3: ProRemote/ProTransport (Far Out Labs)
Now, this one’s serious, and not cheap, but it does provide Pro Tools and Logic users with remote control over their application. Brilliant for musicians who want to press record from behind their drums/piano/whatever. You could even let a singer control their own mix in the live room. There’s lots of possibilities with this. There are essentially 3 versions; ProTransport which allows simple record/play/rewind/rtz type functions for €5.99; ProRemote Lite (€31.99) which allows simple level changing as well as transport control, and ProRemote (€109.99) which has more extensive controls. Not for the faint-walleted, but if you need this sort of control and have an iPhone or a Touch, it’s a good ‘un.

4: 4Tracks (LittleCodeShop)
It is what it says it is. If you need a 4 Track on your iPhone, then buy this. The quality isn’t great through the iPhone mic, so an authentic 4 track experience then!

5: Thereminator (Yonac)
Instant B-movie soundtracks are yours with this virtual theremin. I love it to bits. Especially useful in quiet pubs where you can freak out other punters. Wicked!

6: Simplify (Simplify Media)
This beauty allows you to access your home iTunes library when you’re on the go. Just load up the software on the iPhone/Touch and on you home machine, and hey presto; once you have a quick enough connection at both ends (preferably wifi rather than 3G I imagine, though I’ve never tried it with 3G), you can browse and listen to all your music on the go, not just the stuff on your measly iPhone drive. Basically, it’s the app Apple should’ve made, but won’t as it would effect their sales too much if people don’t need to keep buying bigger iPods. What’s more, it features artist and lyric tabs, which makes me wonder why this isn’t a standard feature in iTunes 8. This one is a must have, and it’s free!

7: ITM Suite (Silicon Studios)
These are for the serious geeks, but they are quite brilliant. MIDI control over your iPhone of any software that receives MIDI. Various types of software controllers are available, including a keyboard, a mixer frontend, and even one that turn accelerometer information into MIDI. If you want bespoke control of your DAW or anything else for that matter (imagine the possibilities with Max/MSP!), then you want these puppies. Prices vary from free to €4.99.

8: Karajan (Holger Meyer)
A high-spec ear-trainer for the iPhone. If you’ve got your grade 8s coming up, buy it.

9: Band
A very silly but fun collection of virtual instruments, including piano, guitar, bass and drums. None of them can be played very convincingly, but it’s a bit of crack, nonetheless. Warning: don’t buy this if you expect it to replace your mobile Pro Tools rig.

10: MiniSynth
A proper subtractive synth on your iPhone. If you are a beginner, trying to figure out how subtractive synthesis works, you could do a lot worse than buy this.

There’s lots more great apps out there, so sorry if I left a favourite out. Of course there’s lots of crap too (how many metronomes could one person possibly need?), but the future is bright for iPhone music apps.

Korg are a little behind the curve here, and the Juno G and MO both sound amazing for the price. Besides which, the Juno G is very nicely featured with a MIDI and audio sequencer built in. But Korg they have added a touchscreen to the M50, which at that price, is pretty nifty.

As usual, with the big 3, they are all pretty great, so it comes down to taste as to which you prefer. Personally, for features, I’d still go for the Juno, but this M50 is a real contender.

I wonder if you can pay for it on eFlow?

The entire entry is available here. Personally, I was amazed at how the whole thing reads a bit like a programming language, with Xs marking information which needs clarification, and lots of “(IF STOCK RISES)” caveats all over the place. Basically, when someone famous dies, an intern in Bloomberg fills out the publishing equivalent of an iTunes Smart Playlist, and hey presto! the obituary will hit the stands. Freaky, but true.

It’s an iPhone/iPod Touch with the latest software from Far Out Labs called the ProRemote.  It allows the iPhone/Touch to control various aspects of Pro Tools/Logic, so it can be used as a remote recording device, allowing for example, drummers to hit record from behind the kit, and fader control from anywhere in the room (or any room for that matter!).  You can control up to 8 faders at once, which is about the limit of my brainpower to control on a console at once anyway, so that’s good enough for me.  It’s not cheap, at €110, but for some, it could be the easiest route into remote controlling for many, especially if you already have an iPhone/Touch.

I trust this is only the beginning of a plethora of new control surface style applications available for the iPhone platform.  See http://www.folabs.com/for more details.