asioWavPlay for Matlab released
If you use Matlab for audio research / development, you’ll be familiar with the pretty poor native support for audio playback. As part of my research, I wanted to play multichannel (>2) files at a variety of sampling rates and bit depths. In addition, I also wanted to use a low-latency audio layer, such as ASIO, to take direct advantange of my audio hardware.
So, with a bit of coding I managed to put together a Matlab extension which allows for the playback of multichannel sound files using any soundcard with an ASIO driver. The plugin uses ASIO, PortAudio, and libsndfile. Samples are read from the audio file as needed, so playback start time is not dependant on the length of the file - useful in time-critical applications. Memory usage is also low because the whole file doesn’t need to be loaded into memory, only enough to fill the audio buffer.
You can download it over at the Matlab file exchange and the source is included under the GPL. Comments and suggestions welcome!
NYOI: 1970-2007. R.I.P.
At the last meeting of the Board of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, a decision was made to amalgamate their two main orchestras: the NYOI (for players between 14-18) and the NYSOI (for players between 18-24). The full announcement can be found on the organisation’s website.
This move has come as a complete shock to many people, especially those who have had the opportunity to perform as a member of one of the orchestras. The NYOI has a proud history of providing young Irish classical musicians with the chance to perform repertoire of the highest standard on world-class stages with international conductors. I have been fortunate enough to be one of those people who have benefited from this organisation, and it is critical to the future of classical music in Ireland for this organisation to continue into the future. I believe that a decision which cuts the number of places for young musicians in the orchestra in half, from 200 to 100, is a huge mistake, and many up and coming young musicians in Ireland will have to pay the price for it.
Since the decision, four board members have resigned and an online petition against the amalgamation has received over 1,100 signatures. They include some renowned musicians and important figures in Irish cultural life. Despite this, it would seem that the Board of the NYOI are utterly convinced that this is the only course of action that will resolve the current recruitment problems they refer to in their announcement. This was made clear in a discussion on today’s Liveline show on RTE Radio 1, involving Gerard Kelly, a Board member of NYOI, and Donagh Collins, who resigned from the Board in protest at this decision. You can listen to a recording of the broadcast here. (Please note that the recording begins shortly after the start of the NYOI feature, and contains a cut after a minute or so due to a problem connecting to RTE’s streaming server. I’ll put a complete version online as soon as the show archive is available. Updated to include the full interview.)
I feel really angry about the way in which the Board of the NYOI has made this decision, with no open consultation with anyone outside the organisation. This move to join the two orchestras will not only halve the number of places available to young musicians, but it will also impair the ability of the NYOI to provide an environment in which young and inexperienced players can develop over time into experienced orchestral musicians. Perhaps at this difficult time for the organisation, the Board of the NYOI should consider focusing their efforts on finding a new Chief Executive instead of making rash decisions which will have a strong detrimental effect on classical music in Ireland. This is a tremendous mistake and if you agree, please sign the petition now!
AAC vs. MP3 vs. minisformation
After the recent announcement that EMI will distribute DRM-free tracks on iTunes, John Gruber has some interesting commentary about the role of formats in the future of digital music ‘accessibility’. In contrast to some amazingly blatant misinformation, particularly over the AAC format, it’s nice to see some well-informed writing over at the Guardian website.
iPod Shuffle woes
Recently, I picked up the new 1Gb iPod Shuffle. The thing is so small it is almost unbelievable. After syncing and charging it for the first time I took it for a test drive, and 2 days later I was still enjoying the tiny device without any problems. When the time came to plug it back into my PC I was greeted by an error message from iTunes. (more…)
Considering a Zune?
Microsoft is resorting to some questionable ways of promoting its new portable media player, the Zune. Not exactly subtle! (via Daring Fireball).
A bit of advice to Microsoft… ‘Welcome to the social’ isn’t a sentence, even if your marketing department says otherwise.
Credible iTunes Alternative?
The BBC is running a story about a new music download service for us Europeans, eMusic. eMusic has been around for a while, but downloads were restricted to US customers. Their subscription rates seem reasonable, with the cheapest being £8.99/month for 40 tracks. The major selling point is that the tracks are in MP3 format and are encoded at 192kbps VBR. They are also DRM free - a nice change from iTunes restrictive policies, not mention their lower bitrate. Apparently they aim to make money from the fact that not everyone will download all their allocated tracks each month. They do have a download manager and I’ve yet to work out if it is required to use the service. However, it seems that once downloaded the music is in plain-old MP3 format.
Update: It seems that the eMusic experience is not as good as it appears (thanks Vicky). I’ve also been dismayed at the choice of tracks on offer after checking out the site a bit further. The catalog is restricted mainly due to the fact that they don’t have deals with record labels who demand DRM. A noble effort but the end experience is far from ideal.
Jazz on 4 from 74
Tonight, BBC4 aired a recording of Oscar Peterson along with Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and Joe Pass, performing at Ronnie Scott’s back in 1974. I’ve been an Oscar Peterson fan a long time, but I must admit that I’m only really familiar with his stuff from the 60s with Ed Thigpen and Ray Brown. For me he represents one of the finest jazz pianists of all time and the live session from Ronnie Scott’s was truely astonishing. If you’re not familiar with his music, I highly recommend you take a look.
