OT: Some days, you get Dave Smith Instruments’ Prophet ‘08.

Some days, you get Ableton Live 8.

And some days, you get Two You Tube Videos And A Motherfucking Crossfader, a site that turns your web browser and your favorite YouTube dance tracks a rudimentary DJ setup.

Use the twin search fields to help cue up your next tracks, press play and then start crossfading.

via PranksterDice

The Akai APC40, shown above getting a workout with a Freestylers/Noisia/BustaRhymes/Dillinja remix/mashup, has gotten a lot of people psyched about hardware controllers for Ableton Live.

To help showcase what people are doing with the APC40, Akai Professional has announced the European APC40 Video Contest, starting November, 1st and ending December, 31st 2009. Prizes include your choice of any product from the current Akai Professional product range, the Akai Pro LPK25 and the Akai LPD8.

Heres what to do:

• Go to http://www.youtube.com/group/apc40contest;
• Register to YouTube and become a member of the APC40 Video Contest Group;
• Tag your video with APC40 and add it to the APC40 Video Contest Group;

Performances will be judged by a panel of artist who are APC40 users.

In Bb 2.0 is a collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls.

It’s made up of a collection of YouTube videos, all featuring musicians playing something in Bb major. The videos can be played simultaneously and the mix can be adjusted with the individual volume sliders.

Anyone can participate. Here are some guidelines:

• Sing or play an instrument, in Bb major. Simple, floating textures work best, with no tempo or groove. Leave lots of silence between phrases.
• Record in a quiet environment, with as little background noise as possible.
• Wait about 5-10 seconds to start playing.
• Total length should be between 1-2 minutes.
• Thick chords or low instruments don’t work very well.
• Record at a low volume to match the other videos.
• You can listen to this mix on headphones while you record.
• After you upload to YouTube, play your video along with the other videos on this page to make sure the volume matches.

The concept of In Bb lends itself to ambient music, because of the lack of sychronization between the videos, but it’s open-ended enough that you could add a drum and bass track to the mix and it could work just as well.

Check out In Bb and leave a comment with your thought!

Need some more of that Kutiman YouTube funkiness?

Here’s Kutiman’s complete collection of YouTube remixes, followed by a short video in which Kutiman explains how he does what he does.

Enjoy!

Kutiman

Stephen Hill introduces Steve Roach on his ambient radio show Hearts of Space.

Bizarre, but fun parody of Stephen Hill, who has done more for ambient electronic space music in the US than just about anyone.

via arntard:

This sounds a bit like a single entendre – but if you’ve got Alesis equipment and you show your rig on YouTube, you could win a big package and upgrade your gear. 

Here are the details:

Do you love your Alesis gear? Tell the world about it and you could win a DM5 Pro Kit with SURGE Cymbals! Just fill out the form below and upload a video of a performance (solo or group) or demonstration of you using your Alesis gear to YouTube between now and January 11, 2008 to enter the contest. Videos must cover current (not legacy) Alesis products to win, preferably from the new products page. 

The lucky winner will receive an Alesis DM5 Pro Kit with SURGE Cymbals for their entry!

You can enter as many times as you like, but please submit only one video per piece of Alesis gear you own so enter early and often! We will notify the winner via email live from the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA on January 15, 2009. 

Details here.

Virtual instrument company SMule is looking for the most “smulian” Ocarina videos in their This Contest Blows contest..

This is off topic – but it’s about a fascinating application of Internet technology. 

YouTube is organizing a YouTube Symphony Orchestra:

Interested in joining the first-ever collaborative online orchestra? Professionals and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments are welcome to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). We have tools to help you learn the music, rehearse with the conductor and upload your part for the collaborative video.

And how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice and upload. Send us your talent video performance from a list of recommended pieces. Finalists will be chosen by a judging panel and YouTube users to travel to New York in April 2009, to participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra summit, and play at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

The deadline for all video submissions is January 28, 2009.

It’s hard to imagine YouTube being the most effective way to audition people for an orchestra – but then again, it taps into a deeper pool than any regional or even national orchestra is likely to have. 

Let me know what you think of this. And is there a way something similar could be done with electronic music?

The entire site is shovelware pablum. It’s a leach sucking life from the already tarnished MTV brand.

Haven’t these guys ever heard of the long tail. Or of YouTube?

Try finding videos by Autechre, Buuren, BT, Brian Eno, Jean Michel Jarre, Thievery Corporation, Orb, Sasha, Digweed, Kompressor, Lords of Acid, Future Sound Of London, Vangelis, Ian Van Dahl….you get the idea. 

Somebody said to put all those old MTV videos online, and that’s what they did.

The sad thing is that a lot of people will go to the site because it’s getting so much hype.

Cakewalk has been posting SONAR 6 video tutorials, giving people a sneak peak at a few of the program’s new features before it hit store shelves. Cakewalk customers were able to get an in-depth look at the highly anticipated Active Controller Technology, AudioSnap suite of audio timing manipulation tools, and the Session Drummer™ 2 virtual instrument.

Here’s Cakewalk’s overview of the latest Home Studio:

In addition to a steady stream of SONAR 6 videos, Cakewalk has also added video tutorials for its popular virtual instruments, Dimension Pro and Rapture, along with demo footage and artist appearances from trade shows. Excerpts from two notable artist talks include Rory Kaplan (Queen, Sting, Sheryl Crow) and 2005 Grammy-winner Terry Howard (Ray Charles).

The company is also committed to posting videos from its archives featuring older versions of products as a means to provide continuing support for customers who have not yet upgraded to the latest version, and also to acquaint current customers with older features that may not be the focus of current marketing activities. Older videos posted to date cover topics such as perfecting vocal tracks, comping guitar solos, emulating acoustic spaces, and more.

The company is also adding videos by users of Cakewalk software to its Favorites List on YouTube to provide additional promotion to their customers.