Archive for the 'Music' Category

iTunes has many often-forgotten features. Among them are the web radio, visualizer, and (what I think is the coolest) shared music libraries. iTunes users on the same wireless network can share their entire music libraries (or only specific playlists) with each other by turning on “Sharing” in iTunes’ preferences (in either the Mac or PC version of iTunes). Once both computers are setup to share libraries, users at both ends can browse each other’s libraries and stream each other’s music. However, there is no way to download the music; users can only listen.

Many of us are dependent on Amazon for everything from books and video games to batteries and toilet paper. Nearly six months ago the online shopping behemoth launched their MP3 store amidst hopes of topping Apple in the music download arena. Besting Apple may prove an uphill battle, however. In the months following the Amazon MP3 store launch, iTunes became the number 1 music retailer in the US.

Despite iTunes’ big lead, Amazon still has a lot going for it. If you haven’t yet made a purchase via the Amazon MP3 store here is what you’ve been missing out on: Amazon sells high quality, non-DRM MP3 downloads for less than a buck each.

Way back in April of 2007, I reviewed djay v1.2 for MacApper. Since then, djay has hit v2.0 and received many improvements, and new features. Among these improvements include a new interface, live undo/redo, and an improved audio engine.

If you looked at djay when it was still at v1.2 and found it wasn’t for you, I recommend you take a second look. You can tell that a lot of work has went into improving this application. Make sure to watch the review and look for the giveaway at the end of this post. UPDATE: A new video has been uploaded, which fixes the problem with the sound.

A few weeks ago, a teaser page went up for an application called Misu. The tagline reads “Mi iPod es Su iPod,” which literally translates into English as “My iPod is your iPod.” This new app is being developed by Ollie Wagner of Specere and Geoff Pado of Elgebar Studios.

If you have seen the teaser page and have been wondering what this app is all about, today is your lucky day. I have had a chance to play around with the beta, and the developers have sent us a short video demoing the premise behind Misu.

If you’re like me, then the empty stars next to your songs in iTunes are a source of constant, nagging guilt. I know, one of these days you will get around to rating your music collection, or at least that’s what you keep telling yourself. Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen; once you get a few thousand songs, rating your collection will be stuck in a state of perpetual procrastination. Fortunately for both of us, there’s AutoRate.

If Front Row just isn’t cutting it, there might be a better option. The Xbox Media Center on OS X (OSXBMC) is a port of the popular XBMC — for turning a Microsoft Xbox game system into a powerful media center — and like the Mac’s built-in media center application, OSXBMC can display videos, music and photos.

There’s nothing quite like getting a group of people together in a dingy garage and playing live music together. But eJamming AUDiiO comes close.

The eJamming software is like Skype for musicians. It allows you to connect with fellow rockers over the Internet and jam — even if your drummer lives a few states away. And because you can do this all through a set of headphones, you won’t have to worry about the police knocking on your door after your neighbors file a noise complaint.

Most of us probably rip DVDs from time to time. iTunes can be a very powerful metadata tagger, but for some of us, it is just not powerful enough.

Yes, iTunes has many information fields that you can fill out, but there is still much more information that it does not let you add. For these, there is Lostify.

Lostify is a simple Metadata tagger for M4Vs (videos) and M4As (audio files), the perfect companion for Handbrake. It lets you fill out MCAA rating, Actors, Directors and every other piece of Metadata that iTunes can handle. The best part is that it is free!

If you’re using Apple’s latest keyboard, released in August, or if you’re fortunate enough to have a MacBook Air, you’re already enjoying the benefits of dedicated iTunes keyboard buttons.

However, not everyone is so lucky, which is probably why iTunes controller applications are so popular and plentiful.

An iTunes controller is a companion to Apple’s jukebox that allows you to play, pause, skip between tracks and adjust volume using either keyboard shortcuts or buttons in the menu bar. As more people listen to music while surfing the web, with a recent survey by Olswang finding about one in five computer users listen to music on their computers daily, there’s a big market for these apps.

I have been an advocate of Aurora since I found it. It works brilliantly to wake you up to either music, or by turning on the TV, when used in combination with EyeTV. But it’s always been free. Today, Aurora 4 makes the leap from Freeware to shareware with the all new (and I really mean that) Aurora 4.

*Editor: if you make it to the end of this review you will find a nice discount just for MacApper readers.

I like to obsess over things. As soon as I find something interesting enough, I’ll invest a good ninety percent of my time just to get the hang of it. Old school Gillette razors, chess, hold ‘em and Jeet Kune Do have all had their share of my attention over the past few years, but this Christmas I avoided a disaster.

If you can feel where I’m going with this click the jump.

I’m Joel Falconer, a musician and writer and of course, Mac user. I was recently signed on at MacApper to provide you with news, up-to-date information and practical tips and tutorials for musicians who use the Mac.

Late last year Apple released Logic Studio 8 and we’re all still getting to know it, from the upgrade of the audio workhorse Logic Pro, to the newest app, MainStage. What better way to start off this column than by discussing Logic Studio’s newest features?

You probably won’t see your favorite band playing with a Nintendo Wii remote at its next concert. After all, what does a game console have in common with making music?

If that previous sentence sounded weird, let me enlighten you. The Wiinstrument is a nifty application that lets you use a Wii remote and a Nunchuck controller to play drums on the Mac.

If you have a Bluetooth-enabled Mac (and all current models are), you could be well on your way to setting up a relatively inexpensive MIDI controller that could give your music career a boost to superstardom. Disclaimer: Wiinstrument may not actually make you a rock god.

Apple announced iTunes 7.6 during Tuesday’s keynote. The biggest addition is support for iTunes movie rentals, a feature long rumored and a potential Netflix Watch Now/Blockbuster/Vudu killer.

Aesthetically, iTunes 7.6 looks almost identical to 7.5, but the real biggies are what it adds support for. Read along to find out what’s going on under the hood.

Have you ever wanted to easily access your Mac’s media on your PS3? Well now you can. Just a couple days back Nullriver Software, the people behind the hugely popular Connect360, released Medialink. Medialink is an easy to use app that allows you to access your videos, movies, and music on your Mac via your PS3.

Similar to Connect360, Medialink lives in System Preferences. When you open Medialink you can choose exactly what sources you want for sourcing media, like your iTunes library or iPhoto library. Then once you have picked your sources you simply click start and you’re up and away. On the Playstation 3 XMB (XrossMediaBar) you can access all of your selected sources by going under the appropriate sections (Photos, Videos, Music) and selecting the Nullriver Medialink server.