Are you all ready for this?

Indaba has introduced a new JavaFX-powered digital audio workstation, Music Console, that’s like GarageBand for the Web.

Music Console lets you record and mix high-quality uncompressed audio directly with your browser and work both on and offline. The console features advanced web-based mixing and editing tools, real-time effects, and loops.

Features include:

• Recording: High-quality audio recording directly to Indaba
• Clips Library: Choose from hundreds of Creative Commons-licensed loops
• Real-Time Effects: Chorus, reverb, EQ, flanger, and more!
• Online/Offline Use: Use the console anytime, anywhere!

This is brand-spanking new, and Indaba is pushing the envelope of what you can do via the Web. So, they’re asking people to give the new Music Console a try and to give them feedback.

The site and service is free, with two paid versions available also: Pro ($5/month), and Platinum ($25/month).

If you give Music Console a try, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Tweet A Sound is a Mac desktop application that uses Twitter as a platform for sharing sonic tweets.

Pushing the idea of “social sound design”, Tweet A Sound allows you to design a sound and share it in a community of like-minded folks. It is an opportunity for fun interaction with sound.

Here is an introductory video showing you how to get started with Tweet A Sound.

If you give this try, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Walkthrough of the new Nine Inch Nails iPhone application with Trent Reznor, NIN art director Rob Sheridan, and special guest Kevin Rose of Digg.

The application is a state-of-the-art example of how musicians can use new media to interact with their fans.

NIN: Access is a free app for iPhone and iPod touch that gives you mobile access to nin.com’s media and community features, as well as a new “Nearby” feature that lets you exchange messages and photos with other fans in your area.

NIN: Access will be released in April 2009. More info: http://access.nin.com

SoundCloud

We’re really excited about the release of our brand new Cocoa/iPhone development kit, built by Ullrich and Gernot! This means you can really easily integrate SoundCloud in any Cocoa-based (iPhone 2.0+, Mac OS X 10.5+) application, complete with oAuth-based authentication, asynchronous requests and uploads with a progressbar. We have only begun to imagine what kind of cool audio sharing apps could be built using this little toolbox…

So if you’re an iPhone-hacker, don’t hesitate to download the source and start hacking!

We’ve also taken the opportunity to upgrade pretty much all of our API pages. We’ve moved all code and documentation over to Github, so it’s easier than ever to browse and fork it. Since long time there’s already a complete Python wrapper for our API, and now it’s been better documented as well.

This could lead to some interesting new iPhone apps!

The idea of crowdsourcing is that the more people you have access to, the better the results can be. Whether this is a valid concept or will work for music remains to be seen. 

In this day and age, most computer musicians are interested in doing as much as they can themselves. Sites like Minimum Noise, though, promise to let you connect with musicians around the world, so if you need a dumbek solo for a soundtrack you’re working on, you’ve got access to a dumbek player from wherever you may be. 

Here’s how Minimum Noise works:

• A project is created, describing the kind of production requested and the prize offered.
• Musicians audition for the project with sound bites or examples of previous work.
• A winner is chosen and audio and money are exchanged.

While the site is launching, you can try it out for free. Details at the site.

What do you think – is there a future in “crowdsourcing” music?

via Rekkerd

Would you like volunteer with the project, but don’t know how to code?

If so, we might have found the role for you – We are officially looking for a Mixxx Community Coordinator.

As the Mixxx community grows, we’re finding that we’re spending more and more time on administrative tasks and less time writing code. We’ve got cool ideas for stuff to do with our community, but we don’t have time to do them and keep pushing development forwards at the same time. A community coordinator will help fill a growing niche in our development team and will be a great benefit to the project.

Our community coordinator will have many responsibilities, including moderating the forums, writing blog and news posts, and will also hold the cherished title of Mixxx Chocolatier. We’re looking for a dynamic, enthusiastic individual with a passion for DJing (and excellent English language skills) to fill this position. Any experience with forums and HTML is a plus.

This looks like it could be a fun opportunity for the right person to get involved in an open source project.

Sonoma Wire Works has released a free update for RiffWorks Standard recording software (Windows & Mac).

With RiffWorks Standard you can record ideas, create complete songs with drums and effects, collaborate online with musicians around the world, post tunes to the RiffWorld.com online community and now export to any DAW for editing and mastering.

Here’s what’s new in Riffworks Standard v2.5:

New Export Options:

• Export Current Riff – Export all the layers of the currently selected Riff as Acidized .wav files including the InstantDrummer and Metronome. Files can then be imported into any DAW.
• Export All Riffs – Exports all riffs from a song as .wav files into separate file folders.
• Sonoma 7 VST Plugin – The 7 award-winning effects from RiffWorks as a VST Plugin. Effects presets are saved during export for access from the Sonoma 7 VST plugin in your DAW. This plugin is available for free to all RiffWorks Standard users as a separate download.
• 32-bit Recording and Export – RiffWorks has always done all processing at 32-bit, but audio files were saved as 16-bit for space and performance reasons. 32-bit file recording is now available as an option in the Audio Setup Window. 32-bit provides the highest recording quality, but takes twice as much disk space.
• 32-bit Mix – The option to mix a 32-bit floating point .wav file allows users to take their final mix into a mastering program at the highest quality.
• Improved Master Output Compressor/Limiter* – All new program-dependent master output compressor/limiter increases overall output level and eliminates pumping and breathing at high output levels.
• Improved Compressor – New algorithm improves compressors on Layers and Riffs.
• FourTrack Import – RiffWorks Standard and RiffWorks T4 v2.5 automatically detect and import tracks, complete with gain and pan settings, directly from the FourTrack iPhone application using Bonjour on Mac and Windows.
• RiffLink Progress Bar – RiffLink now has a progress bar during song loading.

Bug fixes:

• RiffLink peformance
• Sound improvements
• RiffEffects on SongLayers
• Export/Import SongLayers

I was amazed at the fact that there were that many digital music startups, and almost as amazed that so many of them were so forgettable. 

The most forgettable may be Total Pop Star - an online talent contest where users uploaded their performance videos then got rated by judges, including – wait for it – Joey Lawrence and Debbie Gibson.

The least accurately named may be SimplifyMedia - a site that promises to simplify your media by letting you stream your music to up to 30 friends over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection from your iPhone. Or your computer. If you can get that **** set up.

From the land of what the hell were they thinking comes Guitarati - a site that’s all about music discovery through colors.

The most interesting startups on the list are SoundCloud, which lets you easily share audio files, and SongBird, the music-focused web browser.

Check out the full list here.

Did you get excited about any of the new music sites this year?

Last week, I asked for Synthtopia readers to send in some tracks to share, via the SoundCloud Drop Box in the right sidebar of the site.

We’ve had a ton of cool submissions that we’ve featured previously:

• Music from Synthtopia readers
• More music from Synthtopia readers
• Free music from Synthtopia readers

And the tracks keep coming in!

This batch is embedded using the standard Synthtopia player, rather than the SoundCloud one, because the tracks were sent directly to me via the site:

Tracks include:

• wileng3’s Yessir – An old comedy routine from the Library of Congress set to to a beat.
• Jhayes‘ As the ears weaps the eyes hear
• asnazzy – The Cosmos – a Space Ambient track from ‘Space Voyageur’ music album.
• slangteacher’s Concept 11 – a track from Kodomo’s debut album Still Life
• jtolbert2000’s The Confetti Effect – a sexy electronic piece composed for a corporate video project.

Check out the links above to find out more about each musician, and let them know what you think of their tracks!

Image: gabyu

Jochem Paap, aka Speedy J, wants to make an album that represents not just him, but the global techno community.

He’s using SoundCloud to create a new global techno project, and he wants you to contribute. He’s ask you to sen him a cool loop, sample, bassline, sound effect to him via his SoundCloud dropbox. I’ve embedded examples of what he is looking for above.

Speedy J will use the input as the raw material for his next album. The project will be released on his label Electric Deluxe and the collectivisation approach will also trickle down through the album’s profits, which will be split 50/50 with all the artists that appear on the album.

It’s a cool concept for an album, and an interesting use of SoundCloud.

via beatportal

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I’m checking out SoundCloud – a new music sharing site specifically for musicians. It’s a site that lets you upload your tracks and then share them via websites, blogs, email, Digg, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. 

I wanted to learn a bit more about how it works and see if it could be a useful tool for Synthtopia readers. So I embedded a SoundCloud drop box on the right sidebar of the site and asked for readers to send in some tracks. They’ve been pouring in since. 

I promised to share readers’ tracks on Synthtopia, so here are some of the first ones I received:

Stephen Drake’s oha noha:

Drake says “Trying out my klee sequencer – this is the first thing I did with it – very minimal setup – all analog modular stuff – no midi, all control voltages – only minimal reverb added, no other editing.”

The SoundCloud player looks great and is easy to use.

Parker’s Root Beer is a track by Eric Carl. “An experiment in trying out the Reaper DAW and its automation options, which I’m a fan of so far. I drank Parker’s Root Beer during its production,” Carl explains.

You’ll notice a difference in the way these two tracks are displayed. The Stephen Drake track is embedded with SoundCloud’s player. If a track is shared publicly on SoundCloud, then anyone can click on the track’s “share” link and email the track or get a player embed code for MySpace or other sites.

The Eric Carl track was sent to me via SoundCloud, but it isn’t a publicly shared track on the site, so SoundCloud doesn’t provide an embed code. I could preview Carl’s track on SoundCloud, but the track was not publicly shared. Because of that, I downloaded the track from SoundCloud, uploaded it to Synthtopia and embedded it using our usual player. 

Because SoundCloud provides both options, you can use the site to share your work in a fairly elegant way or you can use the site to send tracks to specific users, without sharing the tracks publicly.

Kurt Lorenz is a graphic designer and electronic musician based in Seattle, WA. USA. Here’s his experimental track, I need you to say something profound, which features samples of Lorenz and his son:

Gothick is a British industrial/experimental/rock band founded in 1999 by Sean Woodward. Aleister’s Amazing Bookcase is a track from the Gothick album INVOKATION OV NUIT, the first part of a free trilogy inspired by Aleister Crowley’s Book of the Law.

This instrumental and atmospheric piece is inspired by the portable collection of books that would travel with Crowley, even on his expeditions in the Himalayas.

From Utrecht, Netherlands, Ate Matthijs Hes submitted the track for sale:

Finally, from Athens, Greece, les.paradis.artificiels submitted the wonderfully titled, The Phantom of the Oprah, described as a “psychedelic landscape formed by a cacophony of distorted sounds and voices.” This track was featured as reader’s music “Hot Pick” in Future Music magazine #193 (UK edition)

I’ll have more examples of Synthtopia readers’ music in the next few days. If you’ve given SoundCloud a try, let me know what you think of it in the comments.

Image: Merlijn Hoek

When you tweet them, your tracks are posted straight to Twitter, a microblogging site.

Tracks are tweeted from the share-box above each track:

Click here to see how it looks on Twitter.

Bojam is an online music collaboration service connecting musicians to mix, record, and collaborate to produce original or popular music.

Mass collaboration has been utilized in text (Wikipedia) and software (Firefox). Bojam does so with music, open-sourcing all aspects of the music creation process, including a wiki-style platform for adding song info, lyrics, and instrument tabs.

Our goal is to revolutionize the music creation process by harnessing the skill, enthusiasm, and creativity of the music community.

This video is from a TechCrunch50 intro to Bojam. I’ve put it after the jump because it’s set to autoplay (@#$#@!!!!)

Looks like it could be interesting – but watch out for the crap music examples…..

It features articles covering all aspects of the products that incorporate KARMA (such as Korg Keyboards like the M3, OASYS, Karma Workstation, Triton w/KARMA software and more).

Remember the Beavis Board DIY effect pedal kit?

The OpenStomp Coyote-1 is a similarly open-ended effects processor, except that it’s for digital effects. 

Coyote-1 is an open source audio effects processor, built for guitar players. But there’s no law that says guitar players get to have all the fun!

With the Coyote-1, users can develop custom audio effects in software (like distortion, echo, chorus etc.), mix multiple effects to build “patches”, and exchange those effects and patches with the OpenStomp community.

A companion Windows application (OpenStomp Workbench) allows users to combine effects into patches graphically, and to move patches and effects between the Coyote-1 device and their PC’s disk.

The Coyote-1 O/S is open source so users can tweak it to behave any way they like, and the hardware is fully documented so that developers can take control of the whole pedal, dedicating all available system resources toward the implementation of unique custom solutions.

The OpenStomp has not been released yet, and no pricing is set. Details at the Howleraudio site. 

Peter Gabriel has announced the launch of The Filter, a personalized discovery engine for digital entertainment content.

Its aim is to make sense of the overwhelming amount of digital content available on the web by filtering out the stuff that an individual probably wouldn’t be interested in and filtering in the stuff they would be interested in – all based on their tastes and moods.

In other words, it could recommend music that you are likely to be into, based on the stuff you’re into and the artists that you’re into.

“I’m a tired thumb person, I’m a channel clicker. Maybe it’s a male thing. I know there’s good stuff I’d love to watch out there but I don’t want to search all the time,” says Gabriel.

via TechCrunch

Rifflet is a new site you can have some fun with those songs that you’ve never gotten around to finishing.

The concept involves the uploading of something called a “rifflet,” which is a piece of a song – like a bass line, a guitar riff, a drum beat, or something else altogether. Each rifflet must also be less than 60 seconds long. Members of the site can then browse through these “proto-songs,” and combine them with other rifflets they find or even just incorporate them into their own original music.

Rifflets can be played, tagged, rated, commented on, and downloaded and each rifflet’s page will show the artist, title, genre, length, description, and the format of the recording.

via RRW

Tonium, the makers of the Pacemaker pocket-sized DJ system, has announced the launch of Pacemaker.net, a social networking site for Pacemaker users.

The Pacemaker music community allows members to upload and legally share the mixes of their music, created by them using a Pacemaker or the free Pacemaker Editor software.

According to Tonium, it’s the only company in the world to be allowed to legally stream any music uploaded to its site by users. This is due to a unique licensing agreement with music rights societies, STIM (www.stim.se) and IFPI (www.ifpi.se).

The site is actually not limited to Pacemaker owners. Anyone can use the Pacemaker Editor; a free, downloadable PC and MAC compatible application that lets you play music and create mixes.

Over at the Yahoo’s blog, they’re highlighting a group that’s using Yahoo Live, a new video chat system, as a tool for creating music online:

Just finished a great recording session with the Trackrunners – we spent about 3 hours with them live, giving them ideas and feedback as they composed a new track. The Y! Live audience chose the topic (pickup lines, heh), and the Trackrunners put down the beats, melodies, rhymes right there as we watched. The result is a brand new mp3, available for you all to download – just head over to myspace.com/thetrackrunners and download the opening track, “What I Gotta Say.” Nice job Trackrunners, hope to see you guys on again soon.

I’m not sure if I see this as an important new way of making music, but it could be a interesting option for getting more interaction in your music creation.