Groove On

I've been using ForScore for on the Mac for about a year now. It is so much nicer to organize my sheet music library on a desktop with a large screen. They added a feature to sync between the MacOS and iOS devices using Apple's iCloud. That feature works very, very nicely. But I'm old school, and I'm wary of things that automatically do something for me. After re-organizing my sheet music library on the desktop version, I saved a "Master" library in iCloud. That way whichever device I use, I download the "Master" and if I make any significant changes, I can export the library as the "new Master" back to iCloud. It's manual, but easier to keep track of the "current" library.

Nice one; interesting item to turn On. The description says "Unlock iPhone to allow USB accessories to connect when it has been more than an hour since your iPhone was locked." So apparently something happens at the 1 hour mark. Adding to the check list: Airplane mode All Wifi Off All Notifications Off (and Show Previews = Never) Turn On "Do Not Disturb" Use 2.4 amp charger or better

Yes, a lot of good thoughts in that article, especially the gigantic shift to subscription services. Socially/culturally, there's a whole young generation (under 30) that has grown up with subscription/free/streaming services. They're not interested in buying, owning and managing a music collection. They've had it all right at their finger-tips since they were kids. Those in their 20s might still know what a CD is and might have actually had to use one, but to those in their teens - the "old tech" is USB and MP3s - otherwise, it's subscriptions/free/streamings services all the way. I don't see this genie going back in it's bottle. Subscription/streaming/free is just too convenient for people across all ages, but it's totally embedded itself in the culture of the under 30s; that's where they get their music, tv shows and movies. And while I think the CD revenue will dry up, and online "sales" will dwindle, it will be the same old game. The artist still has to figure out a way to reach their audience - but nowadays, you'll have to be much more technically savvy to do it.

- it looks like another Casiotone, but wondering what kind of Casiotone? [EDIT] - more photos have been leaked ... https://www.matrixsynth.com/2022/01/new-casio-vocal-synth-ct-s1000v-pic.html

I officially know 40+ people who tested positive since New Year's, 5x of them in my close family, none of it serious just sniffles and a slight fever for a day or two. The majority didn't even bother with cough/cold medicine - it was that mild. No one has come anywhere close to needing to go to the hospital. In fact, most of them are chaffing at the bit to get out of quarantine. In the meantime, I have lots of partners for online gaming.

It's quite obvious to me, after completing work on the T2 chip, that he's going to Intel to continue building Skynet.

Two updated videos, with a glimpse of the keyboard. Looks like a similar form factor to the CT-S1 and sounds like a synth/vocoder/arranger? An update to the MZ series? Live Event Jan 20, 2021 at 1pm EST - https://casiokeynote.com [EDIT] Use the < > keys to step through the video between 00:06 and 00:08 - the light sweep reveals a Red main panel with lots of new buttons and dials. Also looks like there is a joystick above the pitch bend wheel.

Gotta ask. What's with the picture frame behind the Fantom?

Spotify For me Spotify is the simplest solution and it has the widest range of music and podcasts. If I was just listening to streaming, I'd stick with that. For finding new music, I especially like the user playlists and internet radio features. I know people have problems with the way artists are paid and I agree with that, but I think they better understand how the average person actually listens to music. I also think Spotify's business model is more focused on the customer experience, while Apple has a "set of features" that helps it sell hardware to casual users. iTunes I DJ so I have a collection of music that needs to be curated and lot of it was bought off the iTunes Store. I've given up using anything Apple for organizing my DJ libary. iTunes has always sucked at organizing a large neatly curated music collection; it just never developed past the level of iMovie. It's fine for casual buyers/listeners, but for a large music collection, it really fails hard. I once made the mistake of setting it up all up in iTunes - never again. For newly purchased/ripped music, I have basic playlists in iTunes for quick organization, but then it's copied over to my DJ library. One nice feature, it's possible to store iTunes playlists in the iCloud - and that works pretty good, but it has issues: 1. If you re-create your playlists on a new device, you have to download all the music again, it can be a painful process if you need the files for off-line use. 2. Storing iTunes playlists in the iCloud requires an Apple Music subscription, which I know eventually I will cancel - so I'll use the iCloud playlists while I can, but I won't depend on them in the long run. Apple Music I agree with those above about Apple Music + iTunes, it's usable for casual use but it's not as straight forward as Spotify; and I think that has to do with product focus of the two companies. Plus Apple Music and iTunes should have been separated from birth; smushing them together into a single app just aggregates all their problems into one big hot mess. I'm signed up for the US$15 subscription plan (which gives you iCloud, Apple Music, iTunes Matching, Apple Arcade and Apple TV), but I've basically turned Apple Music OFF so I can use iTunes in peace (for purchasing music). When I want to listen to streaming music, I yell "Alexa" and tell her to play Spotify.

Sounds like you just need a decent action. Good news is that you started at the bottom of the barrel so the only place to go is up. I had the same problem with the Go Piano, the action was a pain in the @$$ to control, it really put me off. It's a real shame because Roland put decent sounds in the Go Pianos/Keys - but hobbled it with a craptastic action. Definitely check out the Casio CT-S1 and CT-S400, for a budget keyboard, it has a decent action, much better than the Roland Go. I'll even go on record and say that the Casio action is better than the more expensive Korg Kross 61. You'll probably like the Casio PX-S series (1000, 3000, 1100, 3100), but they're much larger keyboards - so not as portable.

Used my VX50KB through the Christmas season for small parties, concerts and performances; it's definitely a keeper. It's my go-to for a light weight amp/built-in mixer. Just for the size alone, I find myself reaching for, before anything else. I'd get a 2nd one, but I'll wait until the original price comes down; with all the shipping problems the price went up from $200 to $300. The Alto TS308 and TS310 are (currently) in the same US$250-300 price range as the small Vox - but they are a big step up and are a lot of bang-for-the-buck. At US$300, I think the Altos are a better buy, especially if you need the volume and power; but I also feel like the Altos need a mixer with an equalizer. My QSC k8.2s sound solid out of the gate, but I feel like I have to tame the sound of the Altos. If you don't need that kind of volume/power the small Vox is a very nice go-to, especially at the original US$200; and it's good-looking amp.

It looks like Apple is going to own 2022 when it comes to hardware. Intel still has a lot of work to do to switch gears, maybe another 1-2 years before they do anything significant. AMD just announced their new 6000 CPU series for the 1st half of 2022, exciting for gamers but not super competitive with Apple. AMD also mentioned a new architecture to be released in the 2nd half of 2022, but the new architecture is also incompatible with all their old CPUs, so it's probably gonna be 2023 before all that matures. In the meantime, Apple's seems primed to pull even further ahead. The "Mac mini Pro" rumor is the one I find most exciting, that's something I'd love to see (not a mini but a mini Pro!).

FWIW - both the Casio CT-S1 and CT-S400 have a Dyno E.Piano patch. Don't know if it's the same sample or even if they're the same between the CT-S models, but there you go.

Reezekeys what's your impression of this Pianoteq performance? He's using a Roland HP605 digital piano. [video:youtube]

Most commercial audio software developers have shown zero interest in porting their software to Linux; so the number who actually sell anything is disappointingly small (Pianoteq, U-He Synths, Reaper, Bitwig etc.). Somebody will always point out the hundreds of open-source software audio apps, but none of it comes close to the commercial offerings. This has always been the problem with audio on Linux, it quickly comes to a dead-end, so you end up with a dedicated Pianoteq or Reaper box, but not much beyond that.

Pianoteq needs 256MB RAM (1/4 of a GB). I have Pianoteq running on a Raspberry Pi type computer with 2GB of RAM; total RAM usage is 1.2GB RAM (1GB for Linux, 256MB for Pianoteq). Incidentally, the computer boots from a 16GB microSD card, same card you'd use in a camera, so, I really don't think Apple hardware performance is the reason we haven't seen Pianoteq on iOS. SPECULATION I think the main issue with porting Pianoteq is needing to re-design the User Interface for iOS mobile devices. I understand that Pianoteq is coded on the JUCE/C++ platform. And since software written in JUCE/C++ is easy to port to other desktops, Modartt can easily support 4 desktop versions (PC, MacOS, Linux and Linux ARM). But those desktop GUI elements don't transfer well to a mobile device. it you try to port to iOS/mobile devices (and JUCE/C++ platform does support this) - you get a tiny version of the Pianoteq desktop GUI, except all those desktop GUI elements which are awkward on a desktop, become ridonkulous on a mobile screen. Think of all those times you've tried to search for a Pianoteq preset in the drop-down menu and had it explode all over (and sometimes off) the screen, now imagine that happening on a mobile screen and you can see they've got some work to do. I honestly think Modartt tried this to see if it works (and it probably did) but quickly figured out what a mess it would be. This is probably why Modartt has been so resistant to an iOS version. It requires a new separate code base to be maintained OR they have to re-write the entire code base so it functions well on both mobile and desktop devices. And I don't want to think of the headache of choosing whether to stay on JUCE/C++ or switch to SWIFT (which works better and is native to MacOS/iOS). Not a lot of fun choices here for Modartt ... but even then, I'm willing to pay the premium to get Pianoteq on iOS, it would be that cool.

Numark mini-DJ controller. Funnily enough it is supported by Serato DJ software, so it can play with the big boys I DJ'd the NYE dinner set (5-7p) with this little rig and it worked great.

Re: Charging/Powering iPad (with multiple devices connected) When I was still using the original iPad charger (1.0 Amp), I would occasionally get the "device not supported" error, but it went away when I started using a 2.4 Amp charger. Even better are the new USB-C 3 Amp chargers, with higher wattages. So at least on that front, some progress has been made.

Best iPad audio setup right now is probably the US$99 Arturia MiniFuse 1 - gives you two 1/4" line outs, headphone jack (w/ separate volume control), and a one-port USB Hub for USB MIDI devices; but you"ll still need an Apple dongle for power. Arturia MiniFuse 2 adds MIDI DIN (IN) Arturia MiniFuse 4 adds a second USB MIDI port and 2nd MIDI DIN (OUT) Arturia MiniFuse https://www.arturia.com/products/audio/minifuse/thecollection

It"s a good suggestion. iPads are great, but the entry-level M1 MacBook Air or Mac Mini open up a world of excellent music software: Logic, Main Stage, Pianoteq, Omnisphere etc.

And it made me hungry for McDonald's. Unfortunately it also made me think of my audio cables and how I probably need to un-tangle them.

1. I know some people who died and they will be missed. Grateful for those who made it through. 2. My elderly father passed away from cancer in 2019, right before this all started. Oddly enough, I am grateful everyday he didn't have to suffer through the fear of COVID while fighting cancer. A sweet sorrow on that. 3. No COVID infection for me, or at least not that I noticed; but I did manage to catch Dengue mid 2021! That dramatic-comedy spiced up my mid-year nice and good. At one point I was standing in front of the local emergency room, and the poor nurse explained she could admit me, but the whole E.R. was a hot zone with COVID patients; so I nursed the Dengue from home. Drank more Gatorade than I ever imagined, peed like a race-horse for a week! Now it's time for a garage sale and some eBay listings to sell half-the-crap I bought during the last year while I was trying to keep myself busy at home. MY PREDICTION for the coming year: I think Omicron will quickly blow itself out and we'll be able to get on with it.

Could it be a daily scheduled server/database backup? I notice I tend to get the server timeouts around midnite (Eastern Standard Time). Usually lasts 1-2 hours. When I avoid those hours, I don't experience any problems. Also if MPN is on a shared server it may be someone else on the same server, running backup and maintenance near those times.

I have a pair of QSC k8.2s - my favorite for acoustic piano; though I might eventually move up to k10.2s for my singers. I've also used the DBR10s and DXR10s which I like a lot. I feel the Yamahas are nicely tuned for acoustic instrument sounds (piano, guitar, voice, sax, violin etc.). I used to have illusions of running in stereo, but mono makes more sense for my smaller 2-3 person gigs. It's easier to get even room coverage and it's a better match for your singer/saxophonist/guitar. Plus many times, I need to use one speaker as a monitor.

You're supposed to question the science, that's how you do science. You always question the science: where it came from, how was it put together, who put it together and who benefits from it.