iOS recording

Gadget By Korg – A Must Have DAW For IOS AND Now – Mac

June 9, 2017 by Elaine Sy Leave a Comment

Korg’s “Gadget, ” that has been a popular iOS music app for some time, can now be used on your Mac! This is very cool. No word yet on a Windows version.

So what is Gadget?

This simple-to-use app is essentially a digital audio workstation (DAW), the term used for software used to record multiple tracks of audio. For more on DAWs, see my posts, What Is A DAW? and Why Reaper Rocks as a DAW.
Gadget is built around a collection of synth and drum instruments called – you guessed it – “gadgets.”
MusicTech calls Gadget a combination of Ableton Live and Reason software. Pretty powerful tools!

How does it work?

Well, the picture above can give you a little bit of an idea. Gadget boasts of its use of a four pane layout that enables you to see all scenes, mixer, MIDI editor, and instruments on one screen.
Get your Mac version here for $299.
Read MusicTech’s review of Korg’s Gadget here: http://www.musictech.net/2017/06/korgs-gadget-mac-review-absolute-must-have/

New Apogee/Sennheiser Lapel Mic For iOS

April 27, 2015 by Ken Leave a Comment

Apogee and Sennheiser have teamed up to produce high-quality lapel mics with lightning connectors, meaning they plug right into “modern” iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch devices. The two companies announced this partnership earlier in 2015 and will be bringing the ClipMic to market in May of 2015 (watch this space for when you can get one for yourself!).
By the term “modern iOS devices,” Sennheiser gives the following list of devices you’ll be able to use the clipMic on:

iPhone 6,
iPhone 6 Plus,
iPhone 5s,
iPhone 5c,
iPhone 5,
iPad Air 2,
iPad Air,
iPad (4th generation),
iPad mini 3,
iPad mini 2,
iPad mini,
iPod touch (5th generation)

One reason the new ClipMic will be great (besides its on-board mic preamp and converter) is that you’ll be able to use BOTH the headphone jack AND the attached microphone on the iOS device. Most of the current crop of microphone attachments for iOS devices plug into the headphone jack, making it difficult or impossible to monitor the audio as it’s being recorded.
I mentioned the high quality hardware. You can read more about that, and about more details in this article about the project – http://www.audiomediainternational.com/new-gear/sennheiser-and-apogee-collaborate-on-clip-on-mics/04359

The New Rode NT-USB Microphone

September 17, 2014 by Ken Leave a Comment

Rode_NT_USB_Mic picture — Rode NT-USB Mic

Rode recently released a studio quality USB mic – the Rode NT-USB. I am super excited about this because my primary studio microphone – for voiceovers and for music recording – has been a Rode NT2-A microphone for about 6 years now:). The quality is outstanding. But though it definitely fights way above its weight (odd metaphor meaning its quality is similar to that of much more expensive mics:)), at $399 it’s still a bit pricey for folks just getting started.
But now you can have Rode NT quality for a much more affordable price. The NT-USB is just $169 (with free shipping in the US from Amazon). Nice!
Along with the microphone itself, the box contains a pop filter/shield, a tripod desk stand, a USB cable (duh), and a ring mount. So you can remove (unscrew) the desk tripod and attach the mic to a regular mic stand using the mount.

So what are the features?

As with all USB mics, you do not need a separate audio interface unit/box between the mic and your computer (it works with both Windows and Mac machines, BTW). You simply plug the thing into a USB port and you’re on your way. The analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and preamp are built right into the microphone. So not only are USB microphones less expensive in general, but they allow you to get into professional quality recording at a fraction of the cost of standard (XLR) microphone set-ups because you don’t ALSO have to buy the interface!
Here is an example. For a setup similar mine, you’d have to buy the microphone (the Rode NT1-A is the single pattern (cardioid) XLR equivalent and costs $229) and an interface (like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo – $99.00), which would cost a total of $329.99. The new NT-USB mic allows you to get in the game for less than half that!
Anyway, here are the features. It records 16-bit/48 KHz resolution, has a single cardioid pickup pattern, has a headphone monitoring jack (1/8th-inch) right on the mic with a knob (also on the side of the mic) for headphone volume), and has “Direct Mix Control.” That last thing means you can control the mix (via a 2nd knob on the mic) between what’s going into the mic (your voice, for example), and what is playing back at the same time, maybe some music you’re singing along to). With the dial all the way to the left, you would hear only what is going into the mic. You’d probably use this if you didn’t need to listen to any reference tracks for syncing or overdubbing. If you ARE overdubbing (layering a 2nd, 3rd, etc. track along with previously recorded audio), you’d want to hear BOTH your voice (or guitar, etc.) as you record it, AND those previously recorded tracks. So you’d turn the dial somewhere in the middle. You can adjust which source is louder in your headphones. Then after you’re done recording, you can listen to the playback of ONLY what is already recorded (without any distracting sounds from the mic like breathing, purring or meowing cats, etc.) by turning the dial all the way to the right.

Did I mention you could use it on your iPad?

Oh yeah. You can use this mic on your iPad! There are lots of audio recording programs for iOS devices. Of course Rode recommends their excellent (I use it frequently) app, the RØDE Rec, RØDE’s dedicated audio app. But it also works great with the Garage Band app, Imageline’s FL Studio app, etc. HOWEVER, you will need the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (for iPad 1st to 3rd gen with the 30-pin connector) or the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter Cable (for iPads with the lightning connector – 4th gen and later) to record on the iPad. This kit is simply an adapter cable that lets you connect media devices to an iPad.
It is pretty exciting stuff (for this geek, anyway) to see the big names in audio gear putting out great quality AND affordable recording equipment. CLICK HERE to get more details or to buy one of your very own.
Oh, and below is a promo video from RØDE.

Now Available: Zoom iQ6 Stereo Mic Newer iOS Devices

September 8, 2014 by Ken Leave a Comment

Zoom-iQ6 picture — Zoom iQ6 Stereo Mic For iDevices

On August 28th I wrote a post about brand new recording gear at B&H – Brand New Audio Gear at B&H – Shhhh! At the time, one of the exciting new items was available only for pre-order and was not in stock. But today it is!
The item I am talking about is the Zoom iQ6 Stereo X/Y Microphone for iOS devices with lightning connectors. This means it works with the iPhone 5 and newer, and iPads Mini and 4th generation or newer. The earlier iOS devices used a 30-pin connector.
So what is this iQ6 thing? It’s a stereo microphone, so it has two capsules, as you can see in the picture. And they are arranged in what is called the “X/Y” stereo configuration (you can choose between 90 or 120 degrees). These are the same mics found in the Zoom H4n stand-alone recorder. You just stick it into your device’s lightning connector and just like that, you have a high quality, portable, stereo recorder.
It works with Zoom’s Handy Recorder app. But it also works with pretty much any other audio recording app on your device.
It has a gain dial on the front and a level meter so you can see how much signal you are recording and can adjust the dial to make sure you have enough while still avoiding overloading it. It costs $99.00, which is an awesome price. CLICK HERE to find out all the details and/or to buy one of your own!
Enjoy!

Sing Harmony Like Billy Joel And Jimmy Fallon

March 21, 2014 by Ken 2 Comments

On last night’s Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon had one of my all-time favorite singers – Billy Joel – on the show. They did something really, REALLY cool. They used an iPad looping app to create a 4-part harmony doo-wop group with just the 2 of them right there at the desk. See the video below.
I’ve been showing people how to sing harmony with themselves since I started this site. In fact, the desire to sing harmony with myself is the reason I became a recording engineer in the first place!
I demonstrate how awesome this can be on the Harmony Experiments page here: https://www.homebrewaudio.com/vocal-harmony-experiments/
But back to Billy and Jimmy. What they did was use a looping app, which Jimmy Fallon mistakenly called “The Looper.” It was actually the app called “Loopy HD.” The way it works is that you record a short piece of music or a short beat, and the app lays it back over and over again until you tell it to stop. Playing the same short piece of audio or video continuously, over and over again is called “looping,” hence the name of the app. Then while the first loop plays back, you layer a 2nd loop over it (yes, like overdubbing), like a harmony.
The main difference between what Billy and Jimmy did, and what I do, is that I don’t have a time limit on my tracks. Nor do I have to set a loop time (when using Loopy, or any looping program, you have to set a loop time and all parts have to be the same duration or they wouldn’t stay together). That’s mainly because I’m not using looping at all with my harmonies. I simply record one track. Then I start a 2nd track and sing along with the 1st. Rinse and repeat. Billy and Jimmy used about a 10-second loop, enough time to record 4 bars of the “wimoweh” part of the song “the Lion Sleeps Tonight. Check it out below:

If you have an iPhone or iPad (it works on both), you can download the app for $7.99 and start playing with it right away. It’s amazingly fun. And of course you can do more than just be your own doo-wop group. You can use it for beat-boxing, singing, practicing lead guitar parts (by repeatedly having the rhythm part playing over and over again), or any cool thing you can think of.
The first time I saw someone use a looper (though this was before the iPad) in a solo live musical performance was KT Tunstall doing “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” on The Today Show. It was just her, a guitar, and a “stomp-pedal” looper. She started out by recording her muted guitar strings for rhythm. Then while that was looping, she sang “woo-hoo.” Then while the guitar beat and the first “woo-hoo” were playing, she layered the harmony “woo-hoo” part. As soon as those 3 things were going, she just sang the song with her own 3 loops as her backup band! Pretty amazing stuff. The recording of the loops was part of the performance and took up only about 30 seconds before starting into the song itself.
Anyway, now you see the potential for hours of addictive fun using loops! Enjoy – but do not annoy your family and friends;).