It‘s a problem that that might affect a few thousand EM readers, concerning a consumer product that no longer works as it should. I‘m talking about a device that many musicians own and love, the Apple iPod, or more specifically, the current software that serves as its computer interface, iTunes 7. If you own an older iPod and you download or subscribe to podcasts, listen up.

As far as I‘ve been able to determine, it’s impossible to view or delete podcasts on your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation iPod using iTunes 7. I thought Apple would certainly address the problem with last week‘s iTunes 7.0.2 update, but no dice. Podcasts simply don’t appear in iTunes when you view your iPod’s Music Library; they’re invisible. You can click on the Podcasts Library to view and delete podcasts that reside on your computer, and you can copy them to your iPod, but you can’t view or delete the Podcasts Library that resides on your iPod unless you have a more recent model.

That means there are only two ways to delete a podcast from your 1G, 2G, or 3G iPod. One is to reformat your iPod, which is unacceptable unless you have a lot of extra time on your hands. The other is to remove iTunes 7 from your computer and reinstall iTunes 6. But what if you like all the new features that were introduced in iTunes 7? Apparently, you‘re out of luck.

Hey, Apple! Early iPod adopters deserve support, too. It‘s been almost two months since iTunes 7 appeared. Could you please hurry up and fix this problem?

Hello, and welcome to the first installment of my corner of the Bus. I‘d like to see this blog become a place to discuss advances in audio technology, to share tips for using the technology that‘s available, and to make comments about what technology works and what technology doesn‘t (and recommendations regarding what can be done about it). Considering that EM authors often get the scoop on new products before our readers do, it will also be a place for news about hardware and software that might not be on your radar.

Let‘s begin with a tip for Mac users. Anyone who knows me knows that although I use Windows XP when no alternative is available (for example, when I want to run Sony Cinescore or Cakewalk Z3TA+), I am an enthusiastic Mac user and have been since I bought my first Macintosh (the original 128K model) a few weeks after its introduction in 1984.

Computer operating systems do so much in 2006, you might not realize your OS has certain capabilities unless someone points it out. Did you know that Mac OS X can handle as many simultaneous audio channels as you have audio interfaces to provide them? Using Core Audio‘s capability to recognize Aggregate Audio Devices, your Mac will work with two or more audio interfaces as if they were a single device.

If you have more than one audio interface and want to combine their inputs and outputs, begin by installing any appropriate drivers and either connecting or installing the interfaces (if they are class-compliant, no drivers will be necessary). Power them up and then open the application Audio MIDI Setup. Click on the Audio Devices tab and pull down the Properties menu for each interface to specify its Audio Input and Audio Output Format (the sampling rate and bit depth). If you‘re going to use more than one device, make sure they have the same bit depth and sampling rate.

Now select Open Aggregate Device Editor from the Audio menu. When you click on the Add (+) button, you‘ll see a list of available audio devices. (Note that one of the listed devices is Built-in Audio, which means that you can add your Mac‘s built-in S/PDIF ports to the mix, if it has them.) Click on the checkboxes next to the devices you want to include, and select one as the master clock source (note that all interfaces must have a selectable clock source). If you hear anything that might indicate clocking problems, you can click on the Resample checkbox; otherwise, leave it alone. In the System Settings near the top of the window, specify your new Aggregate Device as your Default Input and Default Input, and finally, close Audio MIDI Setup. Open your multitrack audio program and specify the Aggregate Device as your audio system, if necessary. When you go to assign audio channels, you‘ll see that you have more choices than you did before.

While mixing a recent CD project, I found myself running into the problem of endlessly tweaking the mixes without ever finishing them. I would work on one song, tweak it for a while, figure I’d go back to it later, and then move on to another. It became kind of an endless cycle, and nothing ever got completed. Part of the problem was that it was my own music, and I’m a total perfectionist. But what I was experiencing underscores one of the pitfalls of a sequencer’s ability to completely recall a mix: you can endlessly postpone finishing it, hoping to make it better with further adjustments.

So I decided to force myself to make some progress. At the end of every mix session (when I was out of time, or had “lost my ears”), I started printing the mix to disk, rather than just saving and closing the sequencer file. I would then burn it onto an audio CD or transfer it onto my iPod, and the next day, I’d check the mix (usually in another location, such as my car) and make notes about any problems I heard. I’d then go back into my studio at the first chance I had, refer to the notes, and immediately fix the problems (e.g. the crashes were too loud on the choruses or the kick was too boomy). Next, I’d bounce another version of the mix, and hopefully would then have a finished or near-finished mix.

By getting into a routine of printing a mix at the end of each session, then listening for and correcting any problems shortly thereafter, I’ve been able to finish a number of the songs and am now on the way towards completing the project.

Of course, had I been mixing somebody else’s material, I would have probably had a deadline and would have been forced to move more quickly. But for those projects where you don’t have time constraints, it’s good to develop a system to force yourself to make progress. Otherwise, there‘s always another plug-in you can try.

I had an interesting day today, starting off with a visit to the NYC office of Ableton for a demo of Live 6. I hadn‘t yet seen the new version, and I was duly impressed. Live continues to get better, and more fully featured, yet never loses its cutting-edge vibe. I was glad to see that Ableton has added video support. Now, it will be usable as a standalone app on a scoring project. The Instrument and Effects Rack features are way cool, allowing you to chain together combinations of either. Live 6 also debuts a new soft sampler, and the Deep Freeze feature that lets you freeze a track but still edit it. Overall, lots of good stuff.

After the Live demo, it was off to a Barnes and Noble location just a little north of Columbus Circle, where I was moderating a panel discussion for the CMJ Music Marathon, a music festival and conference for independent musicians held every year in New York (kind of like the New York equivalent of South-by-Southwest ).

Sitting outside the Barnes and Noble on Broadway was one of Gibson Guitar‘s tour busses, which was being used as a “green room” for the panelists. The bus was filled with guitar-shaped tables, photos of guitar stars, guitars, lamps made from Slingerland toms (Gibson owns Slingerland), and lots of cool stuff.

Anyway, the panel was titled, “Gearheads Unite,” and was focused on new gear for musicians. Panelists included Yamaha product specialist Phil Clendennin, Ableton general manager Dave Hill, Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, M-Audio Northeast Sales Manager Gary Karlsrud, and Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) VP Michael Petricone. The CMJ schedule gave us only 45 minutes for the discussion, which is really brief, as these things go. So after I gave a quick intro, each of the panelists took the floor for a short presentation.

Clendennin talked about Yamaha‘s digital mixer line, and their Motif keyboards. Hill discussed the new version of Live. Juszkiewicz brought up Gibson‘s new digital guitar, which outputs to an Ethernet cable and offers individual outputs for each string (it currently comes with a breakout box that converts the signal to ¼-inch outputs for each string because there are no input devices designed for the guitar as of yet).

Karlsrud brought in some of the new M-Audio devices including the new NRV10, an analog/digital mixer hybrid that features a 10×10 FireWire interface. He says the mixer should be shipping within a few weeks. I look forward to checking it out.

Petricone was the only member of the panel (other than myself), who didn‘t represent a specific musical instrument manufacturer. The Consumer Electronics Association is an industry group that represents 2,000 companies related to the consumer electronics business–including the major manufacturers. The group is fighting against such trade groups as the RIAA, which the CEA says is inhibiting the business growth of its membership with lawsuits over piracy and copyright infringement. I wish there had been more time to really get into the whole issue, because it‘s a fascinating one.

After the presentations, we took questions from the audience–many of whom said they had home studios–and then the discussion wrapped up. All in all an interesting and productive day.

Hey everyone! Welcome to our new EM editorial blog, The Bus. Four EM editors will share the blogging duties: Geary Yelton, Gino Robair, Mike Levine, and yours truly. Each post will be marked so you will know which of us wrote it.

We chose the name The Bus because it’s about the flow of information, and we want to include both sends and returns. The editors will write about things that interest us in the music-tech world, what’s happening behind the scenes at EM, and what’s going on in the music industry in general. If people are interested, we may also occasionally post stuff about our interests outside of EM so you can get a better sense of who the EM editors are. (I promise not to post a lot of stuff about dogs, which are a huge part of my life. That said, be warned that the subject will come up if you ask what I do when I’m not involved in music and EM! )

We want your input in return, so please comment when you want to respond our remarks , whether you agree with us, disagree, or want to ask a relevant question.

I have a few points before we get rolling. They are probably obvious, but please bear with me.

First of all, our purpose in The Bus is to let you see the industry, the recording scene, and EM itself through our eyes — and to respond to that. This is not an open forum, it’s a blog with comments, so please keep your comments brief and relevant to the topics at hand. We may launch forums in the future but we’re not ready to do that now.

Second, just so you know, all comments have to be approved by the editors before they go live. We are not doing this to edit dissenting opinions — we expect you will take issue with us sometimes. The approval process is intended to keep us on topic and to eliminate flaming. I think that’s reasonable, and at any rate, that’s how we’re going to do it.

I’ll jump in soon with some comments about some things we’re doing at EM. This afternoon (Monday, 10/30), I will train Geary, Mike, and Gino to use the blogging software so they can start posting things.

More to come soon!

Steve O