This post is a nice book-end to my last post about ReBirth being released for the iPad. Alesis, makers of all sorts of music products, has just announced the new StudioDock Pro Audio Dock for the iPad at the 2011 NAMM Show! This ridiculous little piece of hardware is a beautifully designed dock for the iPad that adds a variety of input and output options that were sorely missed by musicians using the iPad for production and performance. According to Alesis' website:The StudioDock is the first device that enables anyone with an iPad to create, produce, and perform music with virtually any pro audio gear or instruments. The StudioDock is a universal docking station specifically designed for the iPad, and it gives musicians, recording engineers, and music producers the connectivity they need to create and perform with iPad. Connect all your pro audio gear to virtually any app in the App Store with the StudioDock.The device features two combination XLR and 1/4-inch inputs (each with its own gain control and switchable phantom power for condenser microphones), MIDI in, MIDI out, USB MIDI, 1/4-inch footswitch input, two 1/4-inch outs plus 1/4-inch headphone out, and video output. With this little dock, your iPad basically becomes a touch-screen recording studio, or touch-screen performance controller, or touch-screen instrument controller, or really whatever sort of touch-screen musical device you would like (assuming there is an app for that).
Well, they have gone and done it. Propellerhead Software has released ReBirth for the iPad. My favorite software synthesizer/drum machine/techno micro composer is now available on my favorite device. I have been rocking on ReBirth since the late 1990's, and now, what I used to spend hours sitting in front of my desktop machine plotting away at, I can carry around with me to any gig I want. Sure, it has been out for the iPhone/iPod touch for a while now, but with an entirely redesigned interface for the much more touchable iPad, it is finally the music making device I have always desired. It comes with all of the bells and whistles of the original software, the two 303's, the 808, the 909, plus all of the distortion, delay and other effects. It also has mod support and comes with five original user mods. This is the multi-touch, music production tool that I always dreamed of, and now it is here.
Hanukkah is fast approaching, with its early appearance this year (December 1-9), and I am already getting excited! Being a Jew, I don't have to wait until the end of December to receive (and give, of course) presents. So I am already making my wish list. At the top of it is an 11-inch MacBook Air, but since that is a dream that will most likely have to be deferred, I have a few other choices. The Native Shoes Fitzsimmons, size 12 in Academy Blue or Bottle Cap Gray, for example. Or the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 Digital Micro Four Thirds Camera in either black or red (which won't actually be available in the good ol' US of A until January, but I will take a rain check). Or an Alpha Industries N-2B Shortwaist Parka [pictured above], XL in Replica Blue. Or a Republic Bike Aristotle CRMO custom fixie bike. Or a Tokidoki x Marvel Comics skateboard deck [pictured below]. Or maybe just a hug! That's all I really need. Happy Hanukkah everybody!
Native Shoes, a relatively new (founded in 2009, but I just heard about them) footwear company out of Vancouver, BC, but made in China of all places, has got some of the coolest shoes I have seen recently. Their shoes are made from injection-molded EVA and are all one piece, making them extremely light and flexible. It also makes them very easy to clean and supposedly comfortable. They look like Crocs, if Crocs were at all stylish. My favorites, their Fitzsimmons hiking boots [pictured above] look like they would be very useful for the upcoming cold winter months. The Millers are reminiscent of the classic Vans Authentic kicks, the Corrados are nice, mid-top chukkas, and the Jeffersons are rips of low-top Chuck Taylor All Stars. All of them, except the Fitzsimmons, are slip-ons, which would be nice in the spring and summer months. Because the shoes are made in China and are one-piece injection-molded, they are relatively inexpensive. Check out their stockist list for where you can get them in your area. Or you can just get them online at Zappos.
Native Shoes Miller
Native Shoes Corrado
Native Shoes Jefferson
Two new MacBook Air models: 11-inch and 13-inch. SSD, multi-touch, instant on, new App Store, new iLife 11, etc. FTW!!! I want!!!
Alright, here is one reason I wish I stilled lived in LA. Not that I could afford one of them, but I think that Derringer Cycles makes probably the coolest bikes I have ever seen! Based on board track racer bikes from around the turn of the 20th century, these bikes feature a 4-stroke gas engine along with their regular pedal power. With the size and weight of these bikes, they can get up to 180 miles per gallon. That's nearly 360 miles on the 1.8 gallon tank. And they have pedals, in case you would rather use human power than gas power. With all of the hills here in Chapel Hill, the gas engine would come in real handy. Each Derringer is custom built for it's owner. Rather than stocking them, they prefer to consult with a customer first, then build one that reflects their personal taste and style. So they don't come cheap! I'm not sure how much their custom-built bikes cost, there are no prices on their website, but they have made a special Limited Ed. model for Equinox Fitness Clubs that'll run ya' $2300! And that one doesn't even have an engine in it. I like the brown one pictured above, with it's matching engine color and very useful saddlebags, or the spicy pumpkin orange one, with it's classic white tires, pictured below. Those would be real nice to ride to work in the lovely fall weather. I wonder if they ship from LA to NC?
