Ocarina is the “first true musical instrument created for the iPhone. Ocarina is sensitive to your breath, touch and movements, making it even more versatile than the original [instrument]. Unlike other musical applications, there are no pre-compiled riffs so musicians will find unlimited opportunities for self-expression. Advanced options allow you to choose between diatonic, minor and harmonic scales.” You blow into the iPhone microphone and use your fingers to play the “keys” on the screen.
Ocarina is also a social application. “Tap on the globe icon and you will see and hear other Ocarina players throughout the world. The globe view will highlight the source of the music. Rate your favorite performances so that others may benefit from your judgment. Name your Ocarina if you want listeners around the world to identify your performances.” Download the app at the iTunes store for $.99. According to the company, the app is optimized for 3G phones. For first generation phones, they recommend upgrading to the 2.2 firmware when it becomes available.
I’m amazed by the video above and others on their site. This app is one of the first to really take advantage of all the unique features of the iPhone. Downloading and installing the app now!
With this USB turntable, you can “take your old vinyls and convert them to CD in minutes with a few simple steps! Enables the recordings of all those old albums into digital high quality format and sound. Easily interfaces with a USB port on any computer.” [via emilychang at Stylehive]
"To celebrate this week’s single release (we still have those in England) Radiohead have broken up the song ‘Nude’ into pieces for you to remix. For those of you who enjoy this sort of thing, you can buy the separate components or ‘stems’ (bass, voice, guitar, strings/FX and drums) and remix your own version of the song. You can do this by adding your own beats and instrumentation or just remixing the original parts. More information here. You can buy the stems here or at iTunes. You can upload your finished mixes and be judged and even voted on by ‘the public’. You can also create a widget allowing votes from your own website, Facebook or MySpace page to be sent through too.”
"The Minipod loudspeaker follows an organic design, where form follows function. Each characteristic of the design has a precise acoustical justification. The Minipod is essentially an amalgamation of three spheres to form one pressure-vessel, minimizing cabinet vibration, sound radiation and distortion, allowing sound waves to move more freely.” [via honeybee at Stylehive]
Chetan Sorab’s Modular Mp3 player is playful and practical. “The central console of Bloc forms the core unit of the mp3 player with the interface and display. When it runs out of its built in 50 GB memory you can add another 50 GB or more as a modular storage on any one side as an additional block. You can share songs, data by removing one of the blocks and giving it to your friend or close ones to listen or download them. Bloc also helps you to customize the colors according to your liking as they would be available in vibrant colors.”
We like binary. Apparently, Radiohead’s albums, OK Computer and In Rainbows are one album called “01 and 10”. See the Indie music journal Puddlegum’s post for the details. [via Jake Luer on Twitter]
"As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people’s lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In The Future Is Unwritten, from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe’s life, Julien Temple’s film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.” The film premiered at Sundance and opens to the public on November 2nd, 2007. Visit the movie site or check out the trailer on IFC’s Virb page.
If you’re an independent or non-profit filmmaker, film student or someone “in need of free music for your independent, non-profit film, video or short,” Moby has been thinking about you. The always innovative and individualistic musician launched mobygratis.com, a site that has seventy tracks of his music (some of it previously unreleased) that you can use in your next project. I know I’m going to! If you want to use it for a commercial film you can apply for a license and the money will be donated to the humane society. Watch the video of Moby describing his project below.
Just last week we posted about Radiohead’s new pay-what-you-want pricing for their new album. Today, Trent Reznor announces that Nine Inch Nails is now “a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label.” He goes on to write: “I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.” Hopefully, more and more artists will free themselves from the bonds of the music industry and record labels. When they do, new and old fans alike will be here to support them even more than before. (via MarshallK’s twitter)
"Based on more than 25 hours of never-before-heard audiotaped interviews conducted by noted journalist Michael Azerrad, the movie Kurt Cobain About a Son is an intimate and moving portrait of the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, told entirely in his own voice—without celebrity soundbites, news clips, sensational or tabloid angles. It’s who he was from the man himself, with cinematic imagery shot on film of the three cities in Washington State that played a major role in his life (Aberdeen, Olympia and Seattle).” The soundtrack is by Northwest musician and producer Steve Fisk and Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard, as well as the music of “more than 20 artists who influenced or touched Cobain during his life.” The movie opens in select cities in October. The soundtrack is out now on Barsuk Records or you can see the trailer on their Virb page.
Radiohead‘s new album, ”In Rainbows,” is set to be released on October 10th. The band is currently accepting pre-orders through their website either as a download or discbox. The price of the download? It’s up to you. I bet fans will voluntarily pay even more than they would have if the price was set. Supporting the artists we love directly is what we’ve always wanted to do - cutting out the labels, the distribution costs, the DRM. If the comments at Digg are any indication, this is the how we all want our music.
While cruising through Virb, we came across The New Young Pony Club, a five person Alternative / Electronica / New Wave band from London. They’ve got a definite New Wave sound and singer Tahita Bulmer’s voice has an edge that pleasantly reminds us of Romeo Void. Their debut album, Fantastic Playroom, just came out in the US on August 28. You can hear it on their Virb page, but if you like it, buy it here for only $9.99.
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