Physically Playing Virtual Instruments

One of the frustrations with using keyboards as the predominant way in which to encode digital music is that they are a poor input device for capturing the nuances of wind and bowed instruments. Well, that's all about to change, as Hagai Davidoff illustrates in this video.

By using a Leap Motion controller, and the Reaktor "Ensemble Serenade III", he is able to mimic the motion of a bow on strings, and generate a richly textured set of outputs.

If you are interested in experimenting with the Leap Motion controller for making music, you need to check out the  Geco Midi Controller (http://uwyn.com/geco/) as can be seen in the video below:

Mobile is Eating the World

Benedict Evans, who is now a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, is a must watch. 

Here is the full audio and visuals of Benedict Evans' presentation on the future of mobile (which happens also to be the future of tech). The talk was delivered at a16z's 2014 Tech Summit. WATCH: 13 minutes

For more insights, you should check out his blog at http://ben-evans.com.

Latest Remix: Hypnotize (End of Evening Remix)

More flights, more remix projects. This one, a late night, somewhat moody remix of Wellenrausch's Hypnotize. Pulled together from a Traktor Remix Deck, with Strings and Voices (courtesy of Native Instruments Komplete Library) played in on the keyboard.

Latest Remix: I am Your Shadow

Spent some more time crossing back and forth across the Atlantic last week, took some much needed downtime to work on a new remix. This one a is a bit more moody ... that's what staring out into a dark sky at 35,000 feet in the middle of nowhere will do to you ... call this a "late night feel".

Latest Mix: Elevation (Dancefloor Mix)

Had the pleasure of seeing Erasure in concert in Toronto a few weeks ago, and was inspired to remix Elevation on one of my many recent international flights. Pulled apart the track using Traktor, then re-assembled using Bigwig Studio, augmented with some third party loops.

Downtime Matters - Make Time For It.

As an entrepreneur, there never seems to be enough time to do it all ... work, travel, spend time with family, sleep, exercise, eat well, explore your passions ... dare I say just have fun.

As entrepreneurs we get a great deal of enjoyment from our work, but it's important that you leave time for a rich and stimulating life outside of work ... in doing so, you will be healthier, you will be a more effective leader and you will gain both valuable perspective and improve your ability to innovate.

Work hard, yes. But remember that life is a marathon, not a sprint. Take the time to explore and celebrate the other parts of yourself, and your life. Heck, just leave time for fun. You will likely accomplish far more that way.

Get out there ... and have fun.

Latest Remix: Live from 34,000 Feet

Making music is truly the best way to pass time on transatlantic flights, although you so sometimes get strange looks depending on the setup you are using at the time  :-)

This time I leveraged a Traktor remix deck (faster then cutting up the track yourself), double checked the timing in Traktor, then imported the deck into Bitwig Studio (which is rapidly becoming my fave DAW). The first pass of the remix was then done using a Launchpad S, much to the amusement of the flight crew, who kept stopping by to see what I was doing.

The mobile setup.

Latest Remix: Live From Heathrow

Was sitting in the BA lounge high above Heathrow terminal 5 waiting for a flight to South Africa, playing with Bitwig Studio and remixing Alpha 9's Come Home ... all the time wondering what a Heathrow Dance Party would be like :-)

How To Lead Your Team Through Change

Abigail Phillips gets it right in this article on leading through change.

“Business demands fluidity, which requires leaders to embrace change and take risks. Put simply, if you’re not ready to lead change then you’re not ready to lead full stop.

Mark Zuckerberg once said, “In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks,” and he was right. Leadership is not a static endeavor. Successful managers not only acknowledge the need for business development but also are willing and able to navigate their team through change.

The prospect of change can be daunting. But if managed correctly, the process doesn’t have to be painful. In today’s fast-paced society, the difference between success and failure can lie in a company’s ability to adapt.

Fail to grow your business and adjust to new ways of thinking, and your business will stagnate and die. Change in the business world is not an option, but a prerequisite for success. And leading change effectively is essential for development.”

— http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235832

She goes on to highlight a simple but useful roadmap:

“1. Create a plan.

Every business requires change in order to survive. If a company doesn’t innovate and react to changing market demands, it will collapse.

But make sure to not to make changes just for the sake of it. Before embarking on a journey of transformation be sure to have a solid business plan. Identify the areas of the business that need to be updated and put a plan in place for its execution.

2. Understand the end goal.

It’s critical to understand the end goal and objectives before starting out. Ask, Where is the company today and where does it need to be?

A change leader must have the confidence and capability to change tack, though, if another path looks clearer and makes more sense. Listen to employees, be bold enough to adjust the direction the company is headed toward and dispense with pride if another route makes more business sense. The path for change and innovation is not set in stone.

3. Communicate clearly.

Communication is king when it comes to corporate change. From Day 1 it’s critical to have all members of the team be behind the leader. Be sure to keep everyone fully abreast of developments and ensure that employees understand the end goal.

Keeping the lines of communication open and involving employees in the change process makes it more likely employees will get on board. Give them the opportunity to share ideas, concerns, comments and suggestions throughout the period of change.

Corporate change should be an exciting, rewarding and worthwhile experience, with effective communication being critical.

4. Identify key players.

People react differently to a transformation in the workplace and the leader’s duty is to identify change advocates as well as potential saboteurs. Get key players on board from the beginning and take the time to walk them through the anticipated changes.

These team members are likely to be instrumental when new processes are put into practice and can encourage skeptics to participate and help sustain the morale of the rest of their departments.

5. Delegate tasks.

Leading from the front is important. But an individual leader cannot implement change alone. Delegate tasks to individuals across the team and assign firm deadlines for completion. Be sure to follow up with each individual and provide support when necessary.

While going through this period of change, be on hand to answer questions, provide guidance and offer support. By giving people responsibilities, more will get accomplished as others are encouraged to take ownership of the prerequisites for change.

6. Set realistic objectives.

The leader should not set up himself (or herself) and the department for failure. During a period of change it’s reasonable to expect key team members to put in extra time and effort, but set realistic targets.

If the expectations are too high, not only will quality be compromised but also deadlines won’t be met, morale will plummet and people will become alienated. The result? A despondent, unhappy and floundering workforce.

7. Manage expectations.

The worth of any business leader can be measured simply by analyzing his or her ability to manage expectations. When leading a department through change, managing expectations is more critical that ever. Clarify what is expected from employees, and conversely figure out what they expect from the leader.

8. Hold people accountable.

Hold employees accountable for implementing change. To do that, equip them with the proper tools, talent, resources, responsibility and authority necessary for finishing the race. ”

— http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235832

Couldn't agree more ...

Latest Remix: Dangerous

This time, done completely away from the studio, using BitWig Studios, a MacBook Pro, an xKey and a Novation Launchpad S.

And here is an image of the bigwig project ...

Apple and the Internet of Things

With the advent of HomeKit, it is clear that Apple wants to play a role in defining standards for the internet of things. Not surprising, therefore, that the internet of things is so prominently featured in its newest ad.

Annual Internet Trends Report

Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends Report is a must watch/read ... 

The full report can be seen below:

KPCB Internet trends 2014 from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Mark Ronson's TED Talk: In Defence of Sampling

Mark makes a strong argument that sampling isn’t and has never been about copying music, but rather adding to the ongoing narrative of it. It isn't about “hijacking nostalgia wholesale,” but rather "about inserting yourself into the narrative of a song while also pushing that story forward."

Worth a watch, including his beautifully executed mashup of  15 TED Talks.

If you are interested in other TED talks related to music, you can find the full list here.

Exploring Bitwig Studio - Day 2

Spent a few hours on Easter Sunday re-mixing Plumb's beautiful song, Cut.

This is tough material to work with, and it was particularly challenging to respect both the content and the spirit of the song. I started by using Traktor to cleanly break apart the original song, then used Bitwig studio to re-arrange the parts (the first pass of which was triggered by a Launchpad S session). I then added new elements (piano, strings, etc. played in from a Novation Impulse) leveraging both Bitwig's stock instruments and some Kontakt 5 sounds. Needs lots of work still ... and is a very basic mix at this stage ... but was a fun project to work on, and (the original at least) is a beautiful piece of music to work with.

This is the third draft of an experimental remix of Plumb's Cut. This time mastered with the help of the team at Sage Audio.

For those of you who have not heard the original, here it is.

from Plumb's 1999 2cd hits collection

Experimenting with Bitwig Studio

Bitwig Studio has been in the works for some time. In fact, it seems as though we have been waiting forever for what has been touted as the next generation in music creation software.

It does not disappoint. In many ways, it is a cross between Ableton and Logic ... offering the best of both worlds. Simple, intuitive and fun ...

I played around for a few hours today, and here's a quick snippet of the tool in action ... 

Fun With TV Commercials

Over the past couple of years heading up Wonga in Canada, I've had the opportunity to work on 3 TV commercials with the amazing team at SID LEE. 

In over 15 years as a startup tech entrepreneur, I've never really considered TV as part of our customer acquisition toolkit, so it's been very interesting to explore the power of this medium, especially as it pertains to rapidly establishing a new brand in a competitive space. 

When building the ads for Canada, we tried to find a balance between amusing/engaging and educating the audience. In this case, we were introducing a fundamentally different short term loan (faster and on-line, simpler and more transparent, materially less expensive and far more flexible) than those already on the market. We wanted to deliver a serious message in an amusing and engaging manner.

Although we were able to leverage some stock footage from the UK, we had to remake the commercials for a very different market stage, a different product offering and a subtly different sense of humour. They were completely re-scripted.

In the first spot "The New Intern" , we introduced the three Wongies (Betty, Earl and Joyce), establishing a humorous tone for the company, and beginning to flesh out the characters ... in this case, Betty's fascination ("he's hotter than a teapot") with Earl (the new intern).

In the second spot, we introduced Joyce, the (seemingly) more serious of the bunch, who revealed the potential of a more vibrant side ("this beat makes me want to crumpet"). We'll hopefully have some fun with Joyce over time.

In the most recent commercial "Saucy Devil", which started airing this week, we continued the Betty and Earl storyline, with Earl finally revealing his feelings for Betty. We were left with Betty's somewhat ambiguous response.

In each ad, we tried to end with a memorable line, one that hopefully would drive some social media pickup. For weeks after each release, we were encouraged to see "he's hotter than a teapot" and "this beat make me want to crumpet" playfully picked up in Tweets and Posts on-line. We're hoping "saucy devil" will have the same take-up.

Of course ... there is a message embedded in each of these ads ... the storyline is just there to provide an engaging experience.

What's next? A torrid affair? Stay tuned ... 

Creating something new from the magic of others

Recently I have been experimenting with remixing music, as a sabbatical of sorts from making my own. This activity is fundamentally different from passively consuming music, as it forces you to really get inside the mind of the original artist, to explore what they were trying to achieve, to break apart the musical elements they brought together to make the piece, and to imagine how these might be brought together in different ways to create something new that embraces and yet extends or even re-imagines what they have done.

Creating something new from the work of others is not trivial ... it's quite different from creating something of your own ... but it's no less complicated. In fact, to do it really well, may actually be more complicated.

In many respects (if you permit me to digress for a second) it's very similar to the challenges you face as the leader of a startup. You are seeking to mould something fresh and compelling from the creativity and capabilities of an entire team of people ... each with their own ideas, experiences, perspectives and skill-sets.  Running a startup is NOT about gathering a bunch of people together to blindly implement what is solely YOUR vision. You'll get beaten by companies who know how to leverage a chorus of individual voices every time. People working effectively together have the capability to create something that is far greater than sum of the parts. 

Anyone who has ever been in an orchestra, a band, quartet, or a choir of any kind knows that moment when things just click ... when you are all in complete musical sync ... that moment when you are all aware of each other, and are seamlessly complementing and building off each other ... blending and creating a new voice from the discrete voices of all participants. It's much more than just musical harmony ... and it's almost impossible to describe unless you have been part of it ... but boy, when it happens, it makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. It's magic ... and you don't want it to stop.

Great startups are a bit like this ....  there is something fundamental that happens when the team is in sync, working seamlessly together, and building off each other. 

Anyway, digression over ... back to re-mixing. 

With little or no experience in this area, I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of excellent tools available that reduce the learning curve, and let you stretch your inner creativity ... from iPad apps such as TraktorDJ (which are great for exploring ideas on the go) to the more full featured special purpose applications such as Traktor Pro

Of course, this space is a toy-lovers dream (see right). In fact, the software I have mentioned above, when equipped with hardware such as the Traktor Kontrol S4 and the Traktor Kontrol F1 can be a ridiculously amusing way to pass the time. 

At any rate, this phenomenon is part of the overall democratization of creativity that is happening across all forms of media including music, photography, film making ... and even (with the invention of 3D printers) physical objects. Tools are lowering the bar for people to create without the time, resource or capital investment that was often required before.

I haven't acquired much (if any) skill in this area as yet, but the technology has allowed me to begin to explore a whole new area of creativity ... and to have fun doing it.   

Here's a work in progress project. It is a remix of Manvel Ter-Pogosyan's Fallen In Too Deep using Traktor DJ on the iPad to create the core remix (essentially folding parts of the song on itself) and then Logic Pro X to add the additional string voices in order to create a more cinematic feel. It doesn't massively restructure the piece, it just subtly re-works it at the beginning, and later gets a bit more ambitious as I take parts of the original piece and fold them on top of each other to create a deeper soundscape.
 
The remix was done live, in one pass, and captured before then adding the strings on top in Logic. Harder that I ever thought ...

The next mix was done live, end-end, in one pass, using  TraktorDJ on an iPad.  It uses about 8 cue points (some loops) to restructure Mia Martina's Go Crazy. The challenge when doing this stuff live (i.e. without the safety net of a DAW), is that you need a pretty clear sense of how you want the remix to work before you begin the session. Given that a song can be 5-6 minutes long, it's easy to forget exactly what you were planning in any region, and so you sometimes have to ad-lib to recover. Well, a lot like startup pivots in a way :-)

Build A Company That Attracts The Next Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs joined Atari in 1973. On his very first day, he walked into founder Nolan Bushnell’s office and said “I think you have a really awesome company. I think that everything is pretty good, but I’ve seen your soldering connections and they’re really crappy.” to which, although somewhat taken aback, Nolan Bushnell replied, “Well, let’s fix them.” and Jobs did.

So what made Atari a company so attractive to Steve Jobs that he actually walked in off the street and demanded a job?

Recently Bushnell, in his book called "Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Hire, Keep and Nurture Creative Talent", describes the culture and the allure that was so critical to hiring and keeping creative talent like Jobs.

Don't forget that many of the famous entrepreneurs of our time all started out working for someone in the beginning.

How are you going to attract this sort of talent? Below is a great interview with Nolan Bushnell that's worth a watch. 

For Every Yes There Are A Thousand No's

Apple has summed up its product philosophy in this powerful and very plain video manifesto.

It's vintage Apple ...  another shot at reiterating its long standing "Think Different" mentality. 

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”

– Steve Jobs, WWDC 1997

Formula for Entrepreneurial Success (From Ev Williams)

Excellent advice from Ev Williams (Twitter, etc.), one of the most prolific and successful entrepreneurs of our time.  

I can't say it better than this ... so I will just quote it in its entirety below: 

1. Work with Amazing People

Don’t compromise on who you choose to found your company with and hire. Do not put up with ego-centric personalities or downer attitudes.

2. Take on Big Challenges

It’s pretty simple: Hard things are valuable; easy things are not so valuable. Reaching the mountaintop is rewarding because it is hard. If it was easy, everybody would do it.

3. Focus

Say no to most things: Features. People. Partnerships. “Coffees.” Projects. Only a few of them really matter. (Yes, it’s hard to know which.) Don’t get distracted.

4. Take Care of Yourself

When you don’t sleep, eat crap, don’t exercise, and are living off adrenaline for too long, your performance suffers. Your decisions suffer. Your company suffers.

5. Love those Close to You

Failure of your company is not failure in life. Failure in your relationships is.

Take heed young entrepreneurs ... he's absolutely right.