A friend is having a birthday party in a couple days, and asked if I could play some tunes. I had a few options.

1. just use itunes. [boring, no crossfader! no mixing!]
2. learn how to use Traktor. [way more than i need]
3. pack up turntables and mixer etc. [heavy, probably will get damaged]
4. make a DJ patch that works with my block controller. YEAH!

This is a simple 2 deck DJ device, no preview channel.
I do all my track organizing in iTunes, because it’s great for that, then right click and export the playlist as xml. This patch reads in the XML playlist, turns that into a coll that links to a cell block for viewing. (You’ll need to change the path that the umenu links to to load the XML lists.) No, there is no drag/drop of files or really much concession to using the mouse. The block is where it’s at, man! All audio is handled ungloriously by jit.qt.movie. You could add soc/spigot~ if you want headphone previews on a 4 channel-capable soundcard.
It’s not the cleanest patch – I did this thing in about a day. Look for a cleaner version in the coming months, including standalone versions for those non-maxers out there.
I use the 2 left faders on the block to scroll (coarse/fine) through the file display. The far left 8 vertical buttons on the block load a clip from the cellblock into the left deck, similarly for the right deck and far right 8 vertical btns.

Top left knob (#1) is crossfader.
Top right knob (#8) is master volume.
Knob 6 and 7 are l/r scrub.

The function buttons are:
PlayL PlayR
StopL StopR
[blank] [blank]
Shift

The Shift button is a momentary that turns the sliders into volumes for each deck.

Download it here: http://lividserver.com/dl/block/simpleDJ.zip

The xml parsing was assisted by a nice patch from the dot collection (digital orchestra toolbox – http://www.idmil.org)

Simple, unattractive max patch!

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uncategorized by Peter

When we announced the release of the block controller one of our dealer in Milwakee, Nova Musik who is well know for selling really great custom gear such as the Moog Voyager NE contacted us about creating a limited block NE. Nova Musik has been with us for quite some time and has a regular stock of Ohm64 controllers so we were happy to jump at the opportunity to create something original with them. Their idea was to have an all black enclosure with green LED’s, and the LIVID logo on the side replaced with the Nova Musik logo, so we said “sure”. We decided to go with a black wood dye, black anodized aluminum faceplate, and “bright green” LEDs (that’s what our supplier calls them). The controller came out pretty amazing.

This video show a quick demo I put together using the block NE and Livid Step in Max for Live.

Block NE is $399 and only available from Nova Musik.

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news by Jay

You are probably looking at this post because you contacted us and are still waiting for a response so this is my attempt at justifying that delay. We are a small self-funded company that makes all of our own stuff. That includes our hardware, website, software, marketing materials, advertising, sales, custom projects, cnc machines (Travis builds these) , demo videos, book keeping, blog, support emails, and personally writing back to each inquiry. We are run by only three people, Travis who does all of our hardware development and runs the production at our shop in Austin, Texas, Peter who deals with all software, demo videos, and support, and myself who does everything else. We all take part in product development, software design, marketing materials, support, and actually performing using the products that we make. We currently have about ten people on our assembly line making controllers and a handful of talented freelancers that help us bring our products to life. So with all this going on we are constantly juggling our priorities to make it all fit in. I can honestly say as I am writing this I have no idea how we get it all done. We could easily outsource our hardware production and get everything made for cheaper overseas, but we prefer to make quality hand-assembled products in-house and choose to do what we love and and actually make the products we sell over maximizing profits. With that said we do really appreciate every piece of mail we get and will get back to all inquiries.

The fastest way to get an answer is to use our support forums, or follow our twitter and blog for the latest news and announcements. You can also sign up for our newsletter where we will eventually announce everything. If none of these methods suit you rest assured we will get back to you, it just might take longer then expected. If you really need to send us gifts, free beer, or need to unload a large sum of cash right away you can always mail it straight to our shop.

Thanks,
Jay Smith
Founder

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news by Jay

Jersey Shore Ableton User Group welcomes Max4Live.info’s Michael Chenetz: Dec. 13th, Red Bank, NJ

With Max For Live on everyone’s mind the Jersey Shore User Group is gearing up for its second meeting where Michael Chenetz of max4live.info will be in town to break it all down. In Michael’s presentation you will be introduced to the basic concepts needed to program in Max For Live. What’s more, Chenetz will touch on: hardware interfacing, basic OSC and MIDI concepts, as well as going into the world of Max and MSP itself. Immediately following will be a Q&A session, so be sure to have a text file open ready to type your queries into.

After the skinny is doled out on M4L it will be time to open up the stage for members to strut their stuff. So finish up that Set you’ve been working on, pack the necessary peripherals and show us what you’ve been working on. There will be a kickin’ sound system manned by the house engineer ensuring you all sound your best—so, bring it on!

This second meeting follows a superb kickoff event hosted by Jersey Shore UG founder and Ableton evangelist Chris Buono at The Downtown in the heart of cozy, yet hip Red Bank, NJ where none other than Controllerism pioneer Moldover and his completely cool Octamasher were in the house. Check it out!

Future meeting topics will span the gamut. From Live basics all the way to juicing controllers like the Akai APC40 and Novation Launchpad. In the near future is a presentation from Jay Smith of Livid Instruments in which he will show users how to create a Live Set geared towards performance where his amazing Ohm64 will be featured and explained.

So come out and help continue creating a NJ-based digital community you can excitedly call home.

When:
Sunday, December 13th, 2009, 7:00 PM-10:00 PM

Where:
The Downtown
10 West Front St.
Red Bank, NJ 08753

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news by Jay

Possibly the third most important release of the year for audio and video (frankly, you’ll have to kill me to cede spots one and two for the Ohm64 and block: we work too damn hard on these to give those spaces up on our blog!) is Max For Live.
Max For Live extends the already insanely deep audio environment of Ableton Live with a (somewhat) easy-to-use programming language for making your own music, sound, and even video, plugins. Our first project for M4L integrates our block and Ohm64 controllers into Ableton Live with LiveStep.
LiveStep is an extremely rich (as in “dessert”, not “money” – this download is free) step sequencer. WIth control of up to eight sequences, each sequence can be modified with a huge variety of hands-on control. You can even play synths and drum machines on top of the sequenced insanity, and record loops of improvised melodies to play back.
You can download the devices, some sample Live sets, and of course, a bit of documentation from our downloads page.
Words fail me on the sheer joy of this device, so here’s some videos that will explain all the features. (I apologize in advance to your ears for the horrid “music” of Part 2 – I just had to crank out that extra video and release this sucker, and I wanted it extra apparent what is happening.):

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uncategorized by Peter