Mixx Mobile

I just found this app as I was looking around PocketGear. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it as yet. The PocketGear description is as follows:

Application Description
Mixx Mobile is a stylish and user-friendly audio editing software for smartphones and PDAs. With Mixx Mobile you can create ring tones, record sounds, mix them and edit them in the integrated audio editor. There are numerous effects to fine tune the sound, like voice modification, bass enhancement, reverse, reverb and much more. Produce creative ring tones and sound projects from MP3, WAV, FLAC and OGG files in only a few steps. A fun experience is guaranteed.

But I did a bit more digging (well not much actually) and found the developer's site, which has quite a bit more to say about the application:

Produce ringtones on your mobile phone!
With Mixx Mobile you can create real music ring tones directly on your mobile phone in only a few steps. Use one of the wizards to create your individual ringtone in a second and impress on your friends. Or fine tune the sound with the numerous effects and editing possibilities.

Simple and professional audio editing in one!
• Mix audio with up to six tracks on your phone
• Record concerts or voice notes in lossless audio quality
• Edit the audio clips with the integrated audio editor
• Load MP3, WAV, OGG or FLAC audio files
• Cut, copy and paste entire audio clips or sections
• Apply one of the numerous effects inlcuding
· Reverse
· Time Stretch
· Voice Change
· Bass Optimizer
· Equalizer
· Chorus
· Reverb
· and more...
• Extensive zooming functionality for optimal precision
• Set the output directly as ringtone
• Send output to a friend by Bluetooth (Send2Friend)
• Use your favourite skin for Mixx Mobile
• Download cool Mixx Mobile projects and sounds for free
• Support for landscape mode
• Extensive stylus support on Pocket PC
• Reduced power consumption user interface

Imagine
Imagine having a fully feathered sound editor on your phone. Imagine recording your best friends voice with your mobile phone and making him sound like a small girl. Imagine finally getting a real bass feeling when listening to music on your mobile phone.

Does it sound too good to be true?

Let Mixx Mobile fulfill your mobile audio dreams.

System Requirements
• Phone or PDA running Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 (WM2003), 5 (WM5) or 6 (WM6). Both SmartPhone and pocketPC are supported.
• At least 3 MB free RAM for the software and ideally 10 MB for audio files
• Recommended: Processor faster than 200 MHz for realtime playback
For installation:
• ActiveSync connection between PC and device

I'm going to try it out and see what the application is like and post again about it.

Hardware or Software

I've set up a little poll to see what people think about this question. We'll see how the results look in a week.

Cyber Mod

Nifty little Mod player from Ledset

Here's what the Ledset site says about it:

What is Cyber Mod?

Pocket Cyber Mod is a mod music player for PDA's running Microsoft Pocket PC. Cyber Mod Player is freeware.

What is Mod music?

The sample files of today like mp3 and wma are only possible thanks to cheaper memory (the kids nowadays don't know how lucky they are... etc...). Mod music was developed at a time when storage/program memory was very expensive. A mod file contains a few tiny samples and some instructions telling the computer how to build a tune out of them. The end result is great sounding music that only occupies a miniscule amount of memory. This is IDEAL for smaller computers like PDAs, after all you won't fit many MP3s on your iPAQ but you'll be able to fit thousands of mod files on it.

No Palm Sounds OSX Widget

Sadly I didn't get around to doing this and now he copy of Dashcode has expired, so no Palm Sounds widget for the time being I'm afraid. Maybe if I get around to buying a copy of Leopard and a new Mac as well I might get it done.

Bhajis creator goes Google

Olivier Gillet, developer of Bhajis Loops and Microbe is off to Google according to him to "... do googly stuff".

So I suppose we should expect some interesting things from Google in the coming months.

Nanovoice

Shot of Nanovoice screen from auroranoise.

Palm Sounds on MySpace

Well, Palm Sounds has joined the Social Networking scene. Mainly this is to help promote music made on handhelds and starts off with a few tracks I made some time ago, but I hope to rotate and update these fairly regularly.

Visit Palm Sounds at MySpace for a listen and to see what's going on there.

Useful beginner's guides on CM

There are some really useful guides in the Computer Music Beginners section.

OT: ZX Spectrum Orchestra

I just got a copy of "Basic Programming". The CD release from the ZX Spectrum Orchestra, and it is fantastic. Not really handheld I know, but certainly of interest.

Griff Plugin: Goldfish

The fantastic Goldfish bass synth from Griff

Here's what the the Griff site says:

"Simple and effective design from Zephod. Monophonic bassline synth Designed to be fast but still have a smooth filter. Controls include env mod, resonance, wave, glide, decay and cut-off."

A lovely sound, worth it if you have Griff.

Hardware or Software

I've written a few posts recently about hardware devices and I've found myself lusting after a Boss Micro-BR again. It makes me wonder, what is better, dedicated hardware or software for generic devices?

I like the idea of hardware that is made specifically for one task, but I also want to carry less gear that can do more so that I can do everything I need with the minimum number of devices.

I think maybe a poll to see what you think too.

Zoom shot

A lovely hardware shot. Looks nice!

Palm Sounds Calendar

Don't forget the Palm Sounds diary. It gets updated fairly regularly, but doesn't have too much in it at the moment, which is a bit of a shame.

If you have any news items please get in touch so that they can get on the diary.

DJmix2000

Here's a strange looking device from NTI Comodo Inc. A sort of podcasting recorder device. Although it is sort of handheld, I'm not sure who it is aiming at really. Here's what their site says about it:

"DJmix2000 is our latest addition of USB audio product that reproduced digitally enhanced audio/sound technology for empowering music lovers. Dynamic playback out comes sound and record in your desktop/ lap top PC.

......For empowering music lovers as well as Music deejay, karaoke lovers ....

Highlight

1. full duplex sound card inside
2. Microphone with Echo control.
3. Low latency pipe line for music

The DJmix2000 platinum USB audio/karaoke Console also retains the features that made the playback & record with microphone (vocal) echo control.

-. echo control
-. record/stop/play key
-. play/pause, stop. prev, next track
-. master volume control
-. 3 mode key microphone/music/mixed"

Fair enough, it is a Japanese site and the translation may not be all that, even so, who is this for?

Intermorphic Forums back

Forums and blog comments are back at Intermorphic.

Zoom H2

I do like dedicated hardware, and the Zoom H2 is very nice and very small indeed ...


Now everyone can record pristine audio in an infinite variety of applications. From seminars and conferences, to electronic news gathering (ENG) and podcasting, to musical performances, songwriting sessions and rehearsals, the H2 provides amazing recording quality. The H2 can effortlessly record it in high-quality stereo.


The H2 is the only portable recorder with 4 mic capsules onboard for 360° recording. With 4 mic capsules in a W-X/Y configuration, the audio is decoded instantly, bringing these four signals together for unparalleled stereo imaging.


Here's what the Zoom site has to say about the product:

But the H2 doesn't stop there. For maximum flexibility, you can record from the front of the H2 and at 90° or the rear of H2 at 120° in up to 96 kHz/24-bit WAV format, as MP3 up to 320 kbps. Additionally, you can record 360° in 48kHz/24-bit format which will allow you to convert your recordings to 5.1 Surround.

The H2 is a remarkably robust device that is incredibly easy to use. One button recording, gain controls on the side and an intuitive user interface mean you can always capture the moment. Set your levels, push record and go. It's that simple. Or use the Auto Start and Auto Gain Control functions to ensure complete capture at the right level. And if you need to fine-tune your levels on the fly, we made it easy with gain control buttons on the front panel.

The H2 records on Secure Digital (SD) media and a 512MB SD card is included. With a 4GB SD memory card, the H2 provides up to 2 hours recording at 96kHz, 6 hours at 44.1kHz, or up to a staggering 138 hours in MP3. Store your recordings on a PC or Mac with its USB 2.0 interface. And you can use its time stamping function for reference during production. Or use the H2 as a USB Mic or digital audio interface for recording directly to a computer.

The H2 weighs 4 ounces and fits in your pocket for the ultimate in portability and convenience. Two standard alkaline AA batteries will give you 4 hours of continuous operation and a backlit display means it's always easy to use in any situation.

I have to admit it looks good and it very small indeed. Almost the ideal size for a field recorder. All in all a very cool little bit of hardware.

QOTD: What would bring in developers?

It is fair to say that there aren't many developers of mobile music applications. Why is this?

Is it that the market is fairly small? Maybe.
Is it because developing these kind of applications requires a great deal of skill and expertise? Almost certainly?
Is it just not an area that people want to get into? Could be.

So, what would bring developers in?

It is a difficult question, and not one that is easily answered I think. What do you think?

Asus Eee PC

News on the flash based sub-notebook from Brighthand. The article is worth a look, although it doesn't explain how you could get XP on to it instead of the linux based OS, and I'm sure that was mentioned in their previous article on the subject.

The Synth that never was...

I was quite hopeful that this synth project might get off the ground, but it seems like the developer doesn't have time, which is a shame. I'd give it a go myself, although I'm no programmer.

TuneStudio release going back?

This story from e-gear.com suggests that the release may be going back to the Autumn of this year.

3 x Electroplankton

3 Nintendo DS playing Electroplankton 01
Uploaded by ptitkokiri

A little DS Orchestra for you!

More Bhajis Videos

Pixelh8 - Game Boy Music Tech

A video of a little GB Synth made by Pixelh8. His blog has some interesting stuff on it too, and can be found here.

Update from Screens Environment

An update from Screens Environment, not that I understand it particularly, but it is nice to know it is still moving forward.

More on new PSP

A video on the new slimmer PSP care of T3 magazine.

Casio VL-10 on eBay for £149 now

It must be the same one that was on for £299 a week or two ago, now half price!

New PSP coming soon?

This story says that Sony have a new PSP coming out. This could be good for products like Traxxpad.

Consoles Collection

An excellent collection of consoles from auroranoise

The Gadgeteer on miJam Guitar and mini mixer

The Gadgeteer reviews these toys and comes up with similar verdicts so other reviews.

Traxxpad for PSP!

Well this looks like an interesting application for the PSP. So far the PSP has mainly supported homebrew music applications (to the best of my knowledge), but now comes Traxxpad a studio type application for PSP, and it looks really interesting.


Traxxpad, is an application which transforms the PSP into a music studio. You can create, mix and sample tracks on the go with your PSP.


Traxxpad blends the power of sequencers, drum machines, and keyboards while simultaneously making the equipment easy to use and accessible, allowing anyone to create, mix and sample their own tracks at home or on-the-go. Music making can be as fun and easy as simply pressing buttons, or as in-depth and detailed as the user wants make it.


Equipped with over 1000 stock sounds, the extensive sound library ensures that there is always variety to choose from. Traxxpad can also be utilized as a Sampler, utilizing the PSP system microphone. Sample anything, anywhere, and then use the wave editor to trim, adjust gain, normalize or reverse the recording. Most importantly, Traxxpad allows users to export their songs to mp3 files, enabling production to be as easy as burning to a disc or transferring to your MP3 player.


Of course, now I'm wondering if I can justify getting myself a PSP!



If you've had a chance to play with this or know someone who has, please do get in touch with reviews.

tags technorati : PSP, Traxxpad, Music Studio, Palm Sounds, Mobile Music

Micro-Scale Blog

Here's an interesting blog about Nintendo based music.

Big iPhone update on the horizon?

This article on PDA Live suggests that there's a really big update coming that may even bring real applications to the iPhone rather than the current web only apps at present.

Nanoloop Recording Rig

You have to admit this does look very cool indeed.

More iPod rumours ...

Further rumours about an OSX based iPod coming in the next few months...

A Reader Synth Project

Some time ago a Palm Sounds reader contacted me about copies of the Capers applets and demos for a synth building project. Well, the project is moving forward, and there's news and pictures:



"... we've had a few interesting setbacks but things are looking pretty good at the moment. Good news and weird news to say the least. the first test build of the synth literally went up in flames. I suspect it was a short somewhere on the circuit board, the designer of the board insists it was due to an error in my assembly. We argued about it for a few weeks and decided it was best to forget about it and look over all the design and see if there was anything we could improve. We've ended up with a really killer board. It's a hybrid synth using digital sound generation with analog processing. so it's got a beefy filter section, some pretty interesting routing capabilities, and a fairly small size for something built from non-micro sized components. It will feature the palm as it's primary controller but will also allow full midi input. All in a six or seven space shallow rack.



I've got a friend who is a metal fabricator who promises he will cut my control panel just as soon as he gets a chance. I've been traveling quite a bit for work lately so things have been hectic.



I've attached a few photos of all the components.



All told there about 1000 parts. the photos don't really convey just how many parts there are. Way more than anticipated, but my designer friend assures me it is the bare minimum for the desired results...."





Well, it sounds like a really interesting project. Check out the reader's site at Siempre La Luna, and I'll post more on this as I get it.

Will we see miniMIXA in another guise?

This article suggests that a VC has bought Tao Group's IP address. Will the group's intellectual property re-appear under another name? Perhaps?

tags technorati : Tao Group

Griff Plugin: Pocket Snare

Whilst I love sampled sounds as much as the next guy, I also love using synth drums too. This is a great little plugin for Griff with a nice interface too.

Here's what the Griff site says about it:

"Snare Drum Emulator by Zephod.
The next plug in the pocket-acid range: PocketSnare 1.

It provides you with the same style of snare sounds a certain famous drummachine does..
The controls are simple:

Tune: Sets the pitch of the snare
Snappy: Sets the duration of the snap
Tone: Sets the tonal/noise content ratio

of course the velocity in the pattern editor can be used to create the classic building drumrolls :)"

If you're a Griff user it is worth a look, and only £9.99 too!

Psion Music Making Links

The Psion was never a strong platform for making music, but here are some useful links if you have a Psion.

In praise of miniMIXA

I thought I'd post some favourite video moments from miniMIXA as a way of remembering what a great product it was.

tags technorati : SSEYO, Tao Group, miniMIXA, intermorphic, Mobile Mashup, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile

Zoom PS04: Hardware review

Well, I have to be honest and admit that I've actually sold my Zoom PS04 now. However, as people have asked for a review of this I thought I might trawl around and find some reviews of the device. Here they are in no particular order:

Harmony Central
A lot of user comments on this, perhaps not entirely objective.

Zzounds.
Up to date (posted in Feb 07) and seems reasonably objective from a mobile musician's point of view.

Sweetwater.
Some more user reviews.

When you read this stuff you get the impression that overall this is a hard working little device that does a good job, but is smalll and has maybe had too much designed in to it in one go.

For me it wasn't intuitive enough, although I know that there are plently of people who love the device and work with it quite happily.

Windows Mobile 6

What does it mean for mobile music? Will it mean that it is easier for developers to create new music applications? Will it mean application development is easier so that more developers decide to create mobile music applications? I don't know. Let's hope it is something good.

Nanoloop Live Rig

How cool is that!

CDM

Nice little feature on CDM today on Windows Mobile software.

Ubisoft Jam Sessions video

A little video of Ubisoft Jam Sessions.

tags technorati : Ubisoft Jam Sessions, Nintendo DS

iPhone emulation

I'm not talking about making other devices look like an iPhone, but more about the iPhone being able to emulate something else. It is supposed to be running a version of OSX, so it should be powerful enough. So, why not (as one reader / commentator has suggested) have a Palm emulator for the iPhone?

After all, Windows Mobile has Styletap, so why not Styletap for iPhone?

Line6: PocketPOD

This is a lovely little device for guitarists on the go, and completely tiny. The Line 6 devices are becoming really tempting these days, I think I could accomodate one of these in my bag.

Newton Music Links

The Apple Newton was never a strong platform for making music, but here are some useful links if you have a Newton. I expect that some of these links will fail, as I think a lot of this stuff is qute old now.

How long for the iPhone to be hacked?

Any bets, days, weeks, or less maybe?

Casio VL-10 on eBay for £299!

Someone is selling a casio VL-10 on eBay for £299.00. Now, I wouldn't mind getting one of these, but I don't think I'd pay £299.00, + £6 postage on top!

Whilst I think they're great little toys, I wonder what Casio could do with a box that size these days? Imagine that for a moment...

Email from Pacemaker

I got another email from Pacemaker about what they're up to, here's what it says:

Hey friend!
Here’s an update with the latest news from Pacemaker – the pocket-size DJ system.

1) Our website is updated with new 3D demo films, with some tasty previews of the functionality of Pacemaker. Have a look at http://www.pacemaker.net

2) We’re just back from the Sónar festival in Barcelona, where we pulled of a couple of much appreciated ‘street-jaying’ and ‘beach-jaying’ sessions with Pacemaker, together with DJ duo ‘Housewives’. Check out the pictures at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacemaker/ and the short films at
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Pacemaker01

3) Thrilled over all the feedback we’ve been getting from you guys out there, we will be opening pre-bookings of the first limited edition.

More news coming shortly.

All the best / Pacemaker Possé

The updates to the site and photos (previously posted) are worth a look.

tags technorati : Pacemaker, DJ, Handheld

New Milkytracker video

A new helpful video from Milkytracker, worth checking out.

Pacemaker video on YouTube

A very small video from Pacemaker.

Doesn't tell you much though does it?

iPhone Garageband conversations

I found this post on theappleblog.com which seems to have got a number of people interested in Garageband on the iPhone.

I think it is a good concept, but I doubt that Apple would do it without introducing something more interesting to an iPhone GB version.

tags technorati : iPhone, Garageband, Mobile Music making, Palm Sound

6th Generation iPods running OSX?

This post on iLounge claims that iPods running OSX could be announced as early as September. I have to say that if they are as limited in terms of their scope as the iPhone, I don't think their going to do much for me!

DS Emulator for Palm not so likely it seems

It seems now that this forum thread about the GBA / DS emulator for Palm may not get to the DS part for some time after all. A bit of a shame, but you never know, it still may deliver in the end.

tags technorati : Palm, Emulator, GBA, Nintendo DS, Electroplankton

Kinetica Soundwaves Closing Event

A bit late to go along, but I thought it worth noting that the Soundwaves exhibition / festival has had a closing party tonight. I would have like to go, but couldn't make it tonight. I would expecially have liked to have seen the ZX Spectrum Orchestra.

Soundwaves Closing Event, Friday June 29th, 6pm-11pm

To celebrate the success of Soundwaves we are organising a special closing event this Friday. The event will feature final performances by Soundwaves artists, and a programme of live acts and visually-motivated music from the Noise of Art.

There will also be a beer terrace, and it'll be your last chance to smoke in Old Spitalfields Market (a covered public area).

Level One: Live acts
George Demure - the velvet voice of London's electro scene
Anarchist Wood - feisty new punk cabaret band
ZX Spectrum Orchestra - experimental pop/electronica using no more than Sinclair hardware and peripheral devices
Devil Fish - north/south London duo peddling acidic electro-breaks

Level Two: DJ vs VJs
Screenings of audiovisual works including Barbican Centre commissions by Tal Rosner ('Stravinsky Concerto for Two Pianos' & 'Doppelganger') and Sophie Clement ('Bicycle Samba')
+ Ben Osborne and Elliot Adams (CD Baby) DJ to an eclectic electronic mash up of visuals courtesy of Funk Cutter and Hybreed.

tags technorati : Kinetica, Soundwaves, ZX Spectrum Orchestra

DS Emulator for Palm?

This forum thread on 1src hints that there may well be GBA / Nintendo DS emulator in the pipeline (although a later post suggests that the DS 3-d hardware emulation will be more of a long term goal). Even so, I would love to see Electroplankton running on a Palm!

iPhone day!

Fair enough, the big day arrives, in the US at any rate. Let's see how things progress and what the consumers say about iPhone.

iPhone -1

The hype is amazing. I hope it lives up to it all. I dare say that the media attention will continue for a few weeks at least.

Processing Beta 1.0

I've downloaded the Processing Beta 1.0 and have just started playing with it. I hope to be able to make some simple applications and get them running in the IBM Java Websphere Micro Environment on my Treo. I'll let you know how it goes.

iTunes 7.3 custom ringtones

Of course the iPhone needs to have some kind of ringtone, and I guess it makes perfect sense for those to come from iTunes. Here's what Macrumors has to say about it.

Saguaro

I like the look of Saguaro, but I wonder what (if anything) it will bring for mobile music. I think it would be great if it had some sort of music widget apps you could run, or if you could window current palm applications.

Saguaro has been releasing beta versions with limited functionality, but they are very heavy on memory. No idea of when a final version will be released though?

tags technorati : Palm, Saguaro, OS, Mobile Music

Pocket PC and UMPC all in one!

This is an interesting story from Brighthand about a new HTC device that will run MS Vista and Windows Mobile 6. It has to be said that it is a very high end device, but something like that could be a mobile musician's dream. I think?

I think I'll have to keep an eye on this.

MeTeoR 1 Month in

A month on from the release of the first mobile multi-track. Some thoughts ...

One month ago 4Pockets brought Windows Mobile users the ability to record and edit up to 12 audio tracks on a PDA, with the final mix being exported to .WAV or an MP3 file.

MeteoR lets you bring audio into an audio pool from which you can import clips in standard .wav format, work with them and clips recorded directly on your device.



After a month I have to say I am still impressed.

A multi-track in your pocket? The dedicated hardware version have been around for a long time. Devices from Zoom and Tascam spring to mind, with 3 or even 4 tracks, but 12. With automation, effects, and MP3 export, and running in Windows Mobile? Now I still think that's amazing.

tags technorati : 4pockets, MeTeoR, Multi-Track Recorder, Windows Mobile, Audio Editor,

Chocopoolp Default Dir

Another, cool freeware application from Chocopoolp.

This application is the easiest way of getting rid of the no application on your handheld to open these files error message that is displayed when you try to install a file with an unknown extension on the SD card. Register, unregister or modify the default directory information for any file extension!

tags technorati : Palm, ChocoPoolp

Nintendo Games on an iPhone?

There have been loads of rumours about Nintendo Games being available on the iPhone. I'd like to see Electroplankton on the iPhone, or perhaps Band Brothers.

Nanoloop Live?

It does look like this is a picture of Nanoloop being used at a live gig. The caption reads "playing the gameboy with nanoloop at my bar 23 gig".. Cool.

Ring Tone Librarian

A lesser known product from Chocopoolp. This application allows you to copy MIDI files stored on your memory card to the ring tones database of the Treo 600 / 650 and archive the ring tones as MIDI files on the memory card.

Useful!

tags technorati : Palm, Chocopoolp, Ringtone librarian

Drum Kit ACE: Mini Review

I've posted on this app for Pocket PC once before, but now I've had a bit more time to play with it, I thought I'd post a brief updated.

It is unusual in that it is a combination app including a memory game and also an easy to program drum machine. In the two game modes Memory Master and Rhythm Master use your touch screen stylus to hit the drums and follow the computers lead. Practice drumming in Freestyle mode, complete with metronome to help improve your timing.

The Drum Machine enables you to create up to 99 drum tracks. Whilst the interface is simple and intuitive it isn't going to break any new ground.

Fun to play with though and nice drum pictures.

tags technorati : PocketPC, Drum Machine

Kinetica YouTube Channel

Keep up to date with video from Kinetica.

Tenori-On?

My mistake, One Tonne Music had a totally different idea of what was going on from the one I thought of.

My apologies!

tags technorati : Tenori-on, Yamaha, LEDs, Alternative Interfaces,

Tenori-On?

This post on One Tonne Music has some possible news on the demise of Tenori-On. I hope not though.

PLEA: Anyone got a BeatPlus Module?

If you know of a spare or unused BeatPlus module, please let me know, I'd be very interested in acquiring it.

tags technorati : Handspring, Visor, PDA, Springboard, BeatPlus, Module, MIDI, Mobile Music, Palm Sounds

Syntrax tutorials

Some very good video tutorials on Syntrax. Worth a look now especially as Syntrax is now free!

New forum at Intermorphic

If you hadn't heard there are new forums available at Intermorphic.

DSMI (DS Music Interface)

Here's a video that demonstrates the wireless capabilities of DSMI



About DSMI

So what is DSMI exactly?

DSMI consists of libdsmi An open source library for DS homebrew development that makes it easy to write DS software that acts as a MIDI controller or MIDI client.

DSMIDIWiFi Server
An application that runs on the computer and forwards the MIDI messages received via Wifi to MIDI applications. The DSMIDIWiFi server is open source and is available for



DS MIDI Keyboard

DS MIDI Keyboard acts as a MIDI keyboard, including pitch wheel / MIDI control adjustment by sliding the stylus vertically/horizonally.

Kaos DS is an XY controller similar to the Kaoss pad. You can use the stylus or your fingers to adjust MIDI controls.

Pulse DS turns the DS into a MIDI synthesizer that uses the DS's PSG (programmable sound generator) to produce Game-Boy-like sounds.

tags technorati : Nintendo DS, MIDI, DSMI

ZX Spectrum Orchestra

I guess in some ways you could argue that the good old ZX Spectrum was almost a pre-cursor to a handheld. It was tiny (in many ways), and very portable.

This video is from the ZX Spectrum Orchestra which you can find on the Warmcircuit site. It is really amazing.

tags technorati : ZX Spectrum Orchestra, Warmcircuit

Intermorphic and Mobile...

Thanks to the guys at Intermorphic for their comments, not only about the Palm Sounds blog, but also confirming that they have plans to bring their new suite of apps to the mobile world in due course.

That's something to look forward to!

Theremin (Clangers) for PocketPC

Freeware Pocket Clanger Theremin
How cool is that. This is a real fun app for Pocket PC. It even has a cute Clanger right there in the middle. Pick it up here. Here's what the Ledset site has to say about it:

A FreeWare Theremin for your PocketPC - V1.02 24th Jan 2004

With a real Theremin, the user is able to create music by simply moving a hand in the proximity of a radio aerial, this movement effects the tuning of an electrical oscillator circuit, and thus music can be played with nothing more than gestures of the hand.

A PocketPC doesn't include the means to replicate the radio circuitry capable of detecting the presence of a hand, but it does include a CPU powerful enough to synthesize the analogue circuitry within a theremins sound generation stage.

The Pocket Clanger Theremin is controlled by moving your stylus/finger around on the multicoloured pad with the picture of the Clanger on it:

Moving horizontally will cause the frequency (pitch) to change.
Moving vertically will cause the amplitude (volume) to change.

With skill and practice there's no reason why you can't become a virtuoso on this peculiar instrument.