Tag: ipad

Posted on

Vital Statistics

Aches & pains: ankles, back muscles, possible tongue thrush

Current reading: Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

Recent listening: Infected Mushroom, Foreigner, Primus, Greg Kihn, Massive Attack, Thievery Corp., Weird Al (new album!), Radiohead, Motown, Portishead, Canned Heat, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Recent viewing: Leverage (season 3 & 4), Frontline, The Planets, Pulp Fiction, Stan Lee’s Superhumans, The Story of the Blues, Super 8

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Mondo Solitaire

Recently accomplished: Both children advanced to next grade level, camping/biking in Idaho, acquired fireworks of questionable legality, paid bills, Roundup for weedy areas, weed and feed for lawn, mowing

Imperative To Do: Light fireworks, back to work, clean garage, clean gutters, new shelves for stereo, bark dust, doctor appointments

Posted on

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2567
Aches & pains: itchy tattoo
Current reading: George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking
Recent listening: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Sabbath, Michelle Shocked, Muddy Waters, Dio, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Waits
Recent viewing: Lost, Modern Family, Doctor Who, Glee, Fringe, Moon, Iron Man 2, Donnie Darko, The Big Lebowski, It Might Get Loud
Recent playing: Words with Friends, Plants vs. Zombies
Recently accomplished: Collected summer camp fees, finished Iowa vacation planning, learned to solder, fixed 1 of 2 broken LCD displays, unclogged traps in both bathrooms, job interview, endured first tattoo, setup Troop 820 website
Imperative To Do: iPhone application, pay speeding ticket, weed and feed, groceries

Posted on

DJ Demos Twin iPad Setup

I’m very excited about Apple’s new product. You may have heard of it, it’s called the “iPad.”

In all seriousness, though, from the day Apple publicly announced it, my feeling has been that this device could be groundbreaking with the right software. The video below demonstrates just how powerful and remarkable iPad software can be. In the video, Robert Scoble interviews DJ Rana Sobhany, who demonstrates the software she uses with two iPads to create music.

In order to get the full context, you have to watch the whole video. However, I’ve attempted to summarize below just how amazing software on the iPad can look and feel:

  • 3:00: Demonstration begins for the Korg software
  • 5:20: Explanation of what the Looptastic app does
  • 6:10: Demonstration begins for how she puts it all together
  • 6:50: Notice as she adds more music on the left iPad, she uses two fingers to drag two different things into the mix.
  • 8:00: Again multiple simultaneous finger interactions with the controls.
  • 15:44: Demonstration of using audio effects like the high pass filter

What I find amazing about this demo is that how obviously simple it is to use this software. When she drags things in from the musical palette, the motions she uses look completely natural and it’s obvious she doesn’t have to think about how to get where she wants.

At the beginning and end she makes the point that iPad applications are going to get better now that developers actually have iPads. The initial influx of apps were created using Apple’s software simulator that runs on a Macintosh computer. While it gives you a good idea about sizing of controls and such, there are many lessons you learn once you pick up the iPad and try to use an app. In the case of the Korg app (the first she demonstrates), it is obvious that the developers were seeking to mimic a “real” (i.e. hardware) component by having things like dial controls. Although they look cool, such controls will likely morph into other controls that are easier to control on the iPad (for example, sliders).

You can follow Rana Sobhany on Twitter or visit her website, destroythesilence.com.