AudioMedia - November 2008 - (Page 22)

For the Record Calling It What’s the most significant new audio product of the next decade? rICHArD WEnTK phones in a report. Remotes come and go, and it was inevitable that someone would realise that it’s possible to run a version of Mackie’s HUI protocol on an iPhone to create the world’s first pocketable full-sized console. Having a phone attached means that your pocket console can also take messages while you’re busy with the audio. The built-in GPS can point you to the nearest up-market restaurant after a successful session, or the nearest pub after a bad one. As a last resort, you can also call people from it. It’s true that many iPhone apps are gimmicky or twee; we suspect that the recently released clone of the 70s retro classic Stylophone instrument may not be a world beater. It’s also true that Apple’s development program is reputed to be as friendly as a rabid badger. This has limited the market, although ‘jailbroken’ phones are developing a healthy side market of their own. Even with those negatives, there are two parallel revolutions happening. The first is that apps from the AppStore are almost ridiculously cheap – prices start at 99c in the US, which translates to 59p, in real British money. We all love our big ticket racks of boxes and high-end plug-in collections, but it’s understood that much of the purchase price is pure margin. Apple’s approach seems to be to throw open the gates to as many cheap applications as possible, selling on volume, not implied prestige. Ten thousand easy sales of a cheap application that takes a month to develop is a reasonable return for a developer. The second generation iPhone 3G is still massively less powerful than a Mac or PC, never mind a console plus outboard, but a few enthusiastic coders have already created micro-studios for it, and as speeds increase the difference between toys and tools will diminish. The other part of the revolution is already here, in the form of more flexible remote working. You can already buy mini-clones of the Jazzmutant Lemur multi-touch control surface for the iPhone, and it only takes a little hard work and head scratching to patch them to the controls on Ableton Live, Reaktor, or indeed Nuendo and ProTools. Being able to hit play, stop and record from a tiny wireless portable remote anywhere in the control room or main area is pretty damn useful on its own – after that, anything else is a useful bonus. From the interfacing point of view, consoles are physically reassuring, because once you work out where everything it is, it stays there. But as plug-ins become more sophisticated and routing options more complicated, the channel strip idiom is starting to creak a little – and scrolling through parameter lists on single-line LCDs has never exactly been a joy. The upcoming generation of laptop musicians doesn’t seem to have a problem with customisable interfaces, or with sending both control and signal information over Bluetooth, WiFi, and Ethernet. Add the tactile pleasures of the multi-touch interface, and you can do far more with your fingers than you ever could with a mouse. A stand-off between cheap distributed modular flexibility vs giant floor-standing behemoth isn’t necessary – with remote control, it doesn’t have to be either/or. But watch for interesting developments as cheap, smart, tactile distributed technology starts to collide with the long-standing studio tradition of bigger-is-better control room machismo. RICHARD WENTK is the owner of Skydancer Media, a digital production company providing sound, image, design and consultancy services to various clients in London and the West Country. 00 22 A U D II O M E D I A nN O V E M B E R 2 2 0 8 5 AUD O MEDIA OvEMbEr 000 http://www.berlinerusa.com http://www.berlinerusa.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - November 2008

AudioMedia - November 2008 Contents Recording News Post News Broadcast News Geofocus: Italy What's Up UK AES Review For the Record Studio Snapshot: Aquarium Abbey Road Plug-ins Brilliance Pack Neumann TLM67 Mercenary Audio KM-69 IZ Technology ADA Final Cut Special: Bond TC Powercore 6000 EP Productions Nagra VI Product Sampler: Location Tools Video Guide AMSR News Shure KSM9 Big Beach Boutique 4

AudioMedia - November 2008

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