NAMM was called the “Just Put an iPad in it Show” by a friend of mine. True enough, many audio companies have iPad-related stuff on the way. Fact is, we have iWhatever functionality NOW, and it’s running with tried-and-true StudioLive Mixers, not Johnny-come-lately weird FrankenMixers that require an iPad to process audio.

Sooooooooo, if you’d like to know how to get QMix and StudioLive Remote all working, look no further than to our forum ace, JoeBigDaddy, and the rad video he made.  Not that it’s hard. It’s just that it ain’t two cans and a string.

StudioLive Remote and QMix are revolutionary for their ease-of-use and the flexibility and mobility that they offer engineers and musicians. The best way to maintain that ease-of-use? Stay current. Our wireless family plays best together when everyone is up-to-date and well fed. This requires the occasional firmware or software update.

PreSonus forum regular BigJoeDaddy (jhinkens on YouTube) has gone to the trouble to produce a video illustrating the process for updating all your firmware and software, and getting your iWhatevers communicating clearly with your StudioLive system. He also offers some additional insights regarding permissions, so you can make sure no one pranks the bass player by sending nothing but his ex-girlfriend’s vocals into his monitor. Worth a watch, high props to BigJoeDaddy!

Our good friends over at Obedia recently completed ANOTHER in their tremendous Studio One series, this time focusing on EXCHANGE, Studio One’s robust new resource sharing functionality. EXCHANGE is free in the latest update, check it out below!

Cheggitout! All the QMix vids in one convenient post!

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

PreSonus Artist Dr. Scardo just wrapped the video for their new single, “END OF THE WORLD!” This track was recorded, mixed, and mastered  entirely in Studio One. We hope it’s not really The End of The World, despite Mayan prophecy, because we’d like to see and hear more Studio One productions. And also because apocalypses are a total bummer.

I think I got up this morning at something like 3.45 am. That’s 3.45 am. Otherwise known as “Holy ****, it’s what time in the morning?” Ah, the wonder of jet-lag…

Got to the booth reasonably early, but Jonathan and a few of the others still beat me to it, since I’d been spending some time working on stuff for Exchange. Yep, if you’ve already updated to Studio One 2.0.4 you already have this, and damn it is mighty fine. We originally wanted this in the 2.0 release but it’s a pretty complex ecosystem, so in the end we held it back until it was ready. Am very happy it’s finally here, because I’ve been dying to tell you guys all about it. I think this thing is going to be a monster, it means the software now has basically unlimited content available.

If you’ve looked in Exchange already you’ll see a couple of things I put together in my studio a while back and that I’ve been dying to release. Hopefully you guys will like them – if so, please do rate & review them on the Exchange web page, that’s going to become really important when there are thousands of things up there.

Not sure if I’ll manage to do a Freebie Friday this week, considering I will be on stage something like five times a day every day for the rest of this week. That’s rock & role… But if not, at least you guys will have your entire S1 browser full of free new soundsets and presets, and that should keep you going for a while. 🙂

I’ve noticed that during the week I often pick up a very cool new plugin or impulse response and end up playing with it all week, and then blogging about it on Friday (see several previous posts) so I think I may make this a regular “Freebie Friday” slot…

This week it’s the turn of VST Classics. Some of you may know that myself and several other members of the Studio One team used to work at Steinberg back in the day, and helped develop and define the original shape of digital audio recording. I still remember being on stage at Frankfurt MusikMesse 15 years ago showing off the very first VST plugins – the Neon and Model-E synths, VB-1 virtual bass guitar, and the Karlette tape delay (named after Karl “Charlie” Steinberg). These plugins were pretty bleeding edge back then, and I still look back at them fondly. So imagine my surprise when Steinberg announced they were re-releasing new versions of them as free downloads! Yeah, they won’t win any awards for innovation now, but they still have a unique sound, so if you fancy a trip back to the dawn of digital audio to hear what we had to play with back then, now is your chance.

The Model-E is still a decent emulation of the classic MiniMoog sound (the filter programming was done by industry veteran Marc Lindahl, who is also now at PreSonus working on some groovy new products as we speak), and it has a ton of great presets, including a bank from Wolfram Franke of Waldorf, one of my favourite synth programmers. Unfortunately in this re-released version for some reason I can only access the Hubertus Maas bank from the Model-E, although I can see all the preset banks listed in the Studio One browser. Not sure what’s happening there. If anyone can figure out a workaround let me know.

Trivia: Kraftwerk were one of the first users of this plugin, after seeing me use it to cover one of their songs at a show. They even came backstage afterwards to say how much they liked my cover version. One of the best compliments I have ever received

The Karlette is also a fun little multi-tap tape delay emulation that has quite a cool old-skool sound to it – worth playing with if that 70’s Zeppelin analog tape delay sound is what you are looking for. As regards Neon and VB-1, they are really showing their age, but somebody somewhere will love them I’m sure 🙂

VST Classics Vol.1

VST Classics Vol. 2

Tone, from Hoboken’s The Loft, sent us this great performance video with some insights on his use of the StudioLive 24.4.2 running into Capture. The Loft releases a video of every party they throw, requiring a pristine audio recording of the performance. The StudioLive 24.4.2 and Capture make it all possible!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks here at PreSonus Central in Baton Rouge. We’ve got some really exciting things to show at NAMM next week, including an extremely cool new Studio One feature that I think people are going to love. I’ve been playing with it all week, working with Jonathan in Colorado and Thomas in Hamburg (Skype conferencing is a wonderful thing) to help scrape off the rough edges in time for release, and it’s been a ton of fun. So today I think I’m going to try to shoot a short video or two introducing it – hopefully we’ll have that edited in time for next week so you guys can check it out yourselves…

It may be sunny California, but fact is we’ll be indoors. Deep inside the belly of the Great Colossus of Anaheimia, AKA The Anaheim Convention Center, AKA 800 West Katella Avenue. It’s NAMM time, see. Thursday to Sunday, 01/19/2012 – 01/22/2012, and we wish you could be there.

While many people endure NAMM’s sonic sturm and drang just to play “spot the aging hair-metallist,” (it’s easy) some folks are sincerely here for gear every year.  Such attendees will  have no trouble finding good ol’ PreSonus.  This year we’ve doubled our floorspace: we’ll be two-fistin’ it with a one-two, double-booth combo at booths 6800 and 6900.

While we can’t bring you with us, we ARE bringing new gear, cameras, and positive attitudes, and we’ll be thankful for you to join us in spirit and by Internet. But how? Well, that’s up to you, buddy, as we’re providing as many avenues of connectivity as possible. Options:

1. LiveStream. Paul’s going to be manning the switcher for the first 3 days of the show, fueled by a potent cocktail of caffeine and powerlust. All presentations, performances, and unrehearsed witticisms from the PreSonus stage will be live broadcast live via our LiveStream connection, which can be viewed live here.

All the while, Cave and I will be scurrying around the booth, camera and mic in tow, collecting artist interviews, new gear scoops, and who knows what else. We’ll get the data served up right to Paul, piping hot, who will add it to the video feed, almost live, keeping the content fresh in-between stage presentations. When the show closes at end-of-day, we will start the day’s feed over again for the nice folks who live on the other side of the planet.

2. Twitter. I’ve advanced-scheduled tweets announcing our booth events, so keep an eye out on our Twitter feed to be reminded of who will be presenting what, when.  Tweet us questions, you’ll get answers.

3. Facebook. We will be using Facebook for photos from the show floor, as well as new product announcements and details. Ask questions! We’ll be monitoring live throughout the show.

4. Vimeo/YouTube. We understand if you have other stuff going on, and can’t partake in the live broadcasts. After the show is over and we’re back home all cozy, footage will be uploaded to Vimeo and YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

5. Blog. You know it, you’re reading it. We’ll have daily post-game wrap-ups right about here. And keep an eye on our news page for important press releases…