Matt Tinsley

Matt Tinsley's Latest Posts

Interview: Olivia Broadfield on Macs, apps and DIY music making

by Matt Tinsley (Dec 14th 2011 8:00PM)

You've probably not heard of UK based singer songwriter Olivia Broadfield before, but chances are you've heard her music at some point, especially if you watch a lot of TV. Songs from her debut album, Eyes Wide Open (released in 2009), reached over 50 TV placements on shows like The Hills, ...

Hands on with Korg's NanoKONTROL2

by Matt Tinsley (Dec 12th 2011 10:00AM)

Korg's popular, slim-line NanoSERIES USB-MIDI controllers have been updated to 2.0. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the NanoKONTROL2 control surface and put it through its paces. Like the the nanoKEY2 (a 25 key, velocity-sensing MIDI keyboard) and the nanoPAD2 (with 16 responsive ...

Logic Pro and Main Stage land on the Mac App Store

by Matt Tinsley (Dec 9th 2011 10:00AM)

It's taken a little while, but Apple's flagship music production software and music performance software have arrived on the Mac App Store, joining Apple's other Mac App Store offerings like iWork, iLife and Final Cut Pro. Logic Pro 9 and MainStage are now available for download from the Mac App ...

Amidio's Laugh Synth makes you cry -- with laughter?

by Matt Tinsley (Nov 30th 2011 7:00PM)

Amidio is known for their mobile music creation apps for iOS devices. They've brought us fully featured apps like the recent Songineer, Seline HD and Touch DJ. But the focus of their newest app, Laugh Synth, is a little more, well... light-hearted. Laugh Synth does what it says on the tin, it ...

IK Multimedia's VocaLive comes to the iPad

by Matt Tinsley (Nov 25th 2011 12:01PM)

Earlier this year, IK Multimedia introduced the iRig Mic and VocaLive app for the iPhone. Our very own Steve Sande did a review of the iRig Mic, which you can check out here. The app is good, but it's not universal which is a big drawback for folks who have an iPhone and an iPad. Of course, you ...

Tascam debuts iM2 stereo condesor mic for iPhone

by Matt Tinsley (Nov 25th 2011 8:00AM)

Around this time last year, Tascam introduced the Portastudio app, a 4-track recorder modeled after the legendary Portastudio 144 4-track recorder of some 30 years ago. Now, Tascam has debuted the iM2, a stereo recorder with two condenser mics and a built-in pre-amp that's based on Tascam's ...

Amidio debuts Songineer - Instant Composer for the iPhone

by Matt Tinsley (Nov 21st 2011 9:00AM)

Amidio, makers of mobile music creation apps like Seline HD, have released Songineer, a scale-based sequencer to help you create and generate melodic sound and groove while on the move. Featuring a drum machine with 5 drumkits, a beat randomizer, 20 instruments, a DNA keyboard (which means ...

First-generation iPod nano replacements begin to arrive

by Matt Tinsley (Nov 18th 2011 12:00PM)

As detailed late last week, Apple announced a replacement program for first-generation iPod nanos created between September 2005 and January 2006. These particular models may overheat and pose a safety risk. Registered users of these iPod nanos were sent an email from Apple directing them to ...

Mac 101: Getting iWork files on your Mac onto iCloud

by Matt Tinsley (Nov 18th 2011 11:00AM)

Here's another Mac 101 tip for novice Mac users. When I first heard about iCloud syncing iWork documents between Apple devices I became quite excited. Like many, I create iWork documents on my Mac and then access them on my iPad or iPhone on the move. Up until now, I've been using Dropbox to ...

Mac 101: Locating the root path of a Pages document in Pages

by Matt Tinsley (Nov 16th 2011 11:15AM)

Here is a Mac 101 tip for novice Mac users. Running Pages in Mac OS X Lion means you never have to worry about saving a document, it just happens automatically. While this is wonderful, this new feature has caused me to scratch my head a few times while I acclimatise to this simple, but quite ...