ANI at the first annual SoCal Loopfest

I thought the audio from my set was completely lost because I forgot to hit the “record” button on my field recorder. But the GoPro’s mic was able to pick up the sound even from INSIDE the waterproof case! It took a little EQing to get the bass and mid-mids back, but it is exceptionally clear for being in a tiny plastic resonance chamber.

Learn more about the Southern California Loopfest and diPiazza in Long Beach, CA.

Mac live webcam overhead presentation software setup

photo

I’m still working on a way for people to see what I’m doing with the iPads while I’m performing because that’s part of the fun of live looping: seeing the process of how a song is made as you experience it. With the help of some friends I finally have a setup that seems to work:

  • Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920: It’s quite expensive at $100, but other people have confirmed that if you want HD 1080p output at 30 fps this is the camera to get. It autofocuses and has a camera tripod mount. (Cheaper webcams can’t deliver 1080p at this frame rate.)
  • A solid Macbook or Mac Pro: You’re going to be pushing a lot of pixels and you’ll need to be hooked up to power anyways, so get a fast computer.
  • Logitech Camera Settings desktop app: Controls autofocusing, brightness/contrast, color.
  • CamTwist Studio: This is the best thing out there for this use.

If you just do the first point above, you’ll be OK. But Photo Booth flips the image horizontally, iGlasses is expensive, and other options not great. CamTwist does exactly what you need, and more:

  • Start up the program
  • Go to Preferences
  • Click General
  • Change the video size to 1280×720 (or set 1920×1080)
  • Quit CamTwist
  • Restart the program
  • Choose “Webcam” from Step 1, click the Select button
  • Click Webcam in Step 3, then choose the “HD Pro Webcam C920” from the dropdown
  • Click on the Tools menu, then Preview

Now, what you can also do is add an image overlay like your artist name! Also, you can have more than one camera source if someone is manning your computer: CamTwist is actually more of a live video studio app. You can also do things like flip the video left-to-right or upside down if you need to.

MonoPhoniC: a quick contest entry

This isn’t looping, but was done for a challenge on the iOS Musician Facebook group. The rules were you could only use 2 synthesizers and they had to be monophonic. Also, they needed to make use of arpeggiation.

ANI live looping performance at Y2K13 Looping Festival at Treasures Roadhouse

Taken at the Y2K International Live Looping Festival at Treasures Roadhouse in Corralitos, CA! As always, it is 100% improvised looping with no pre-made loops or beats.

The new trick on this performance is call-and-response melody lines. This was made possible with two iPads running NanoStudio each. No, they are not synced—that would be awesome. The left hand is looping while the right is doing leads and pads.