One of my buddies, Marc Bauman of House Recording Studios, lent me this device so I could put it through its paces. Marc told me this device was cool but it was not until I had spent some quality time with it did I learn just how COOL it was.  Up until now, I had not worked with a beat sequencer and was not really sure what I would be able to do with this device.

So what does it do?

Once you turn this sucker on the magic immediately follows.  Basically the Electribe contains about 120 pre-programmed patterns covering the gamut of Hip-Hip and Techno style beats.  These patterns serve as a starting point so you can get the feel of what’s its capable of and I gotta say, I have had HOURS of fun just playing with the standard patterns.

After you find a pattern you like you can then start applying effects to each individual sample contained in the pattern.  This is cool because you can change the effects in real time and it actually turns your basic pattern into a performance!  There are lots of effects too which exponentially increases the coolness.

The Electribe is a beat sequencer and you can modify the sequence of the beats and samples to create new patterns.  I have been creating some interesting stuff with minimal effort and for a guy like me, with 800 jobs and limited time, this made the experience all the more enjoyable.

Bottom line, I like this Electrible, alot, I need to make it part of my gear and continue to create fresh beats and samples.

Being a novice, this was a relatively inexpensive way to get into the game without blowing mad duckets on some wheels of steel and a mixer.  While this is not the best device in the world for scratching up your favorite songs, it can be done but I now see that eventually,  I will need something from Serato, with improved platters as opposed to the JOG wheels native to the OMNI to get the control I crave.

In the interim, this solution provides me with a sweet controller that can be used in concert with the included Traktor LE software to provide a very cool out of the box, DJ experience.

Been a few days since my last post and there is a good reason.  I have been hard at work making beats and tracks using a very useful and portable tool from Korg.   My latest purchase was the Korg nanoPAD and it is well worth the 57 bux I paid for it on Amazon.  You never know when inspiration is going to punch you in the grill and this portable little pad allows me to make beats on my lunch break without having to carry a studio with me.

For  such a small device it packs a decent amount of features, including the X-Y pad which allows you to roll the drums or use the flam feature.  The pads themselves are really responsive and I have been able to make some decent beats using them.  I also like the fact that you can map the pads to different clips in Ableton, letting me control what plays when and turn on/off clips.  Sweet!

Additional to the nanoPAD, Korg offers a nanoKEY and nanoKONTROL device which I will be picking up in the very near future to complete my mobile studio. My lunches never sounded so good!

Until next time!

This elliptical has a bunch of Bells and Whistles including, the ability to play your Ipod through the built-in speaker, it has iFit technology which are little SD sticks that can help you with your workouts. Built in gaming with Tetris and Space Invaders, old school classics that you can play while losing weight.

I really do like the way this machine feels after two solid months of usage. The little mini-games help the time pass while I am struggling to burn off some calories. I have hooked up my stereo and I used my Slingbox to set up a laptop so I can watch TV and listen to the audio over the ellipticals speakers.

Not a bad way to shed some weight!

Ever want something for a really long time? Well I did, and it was the Slingbox by Sling Media. If you don’t know what it does, here is the quick version. It let’s you watch your home TV from anywhere.

Anyway, I saved up enough Best Buy gift cards to splurge on a Slingbox Solo and the Slingbox Turbo 1 Port and dammit I was good to go.

After messing with my Cable Box and re-arranging some wires (hardest part of the job for me) I was ready to connect the Slingbox to my network. Not so fast! I needed a quick firmware patch for my OLD router, right after I was connected and watching TV on my PC in HD, Go Me!

Granted, you do need a decent internet connection to get the most out of the Slingbox. Various optimizations exist to help you find the right quality for your connection. I particularly enjoyed how you can set the Slingbox to the top right of the screen letting you work in a really comfortable way.

If you’re a sports fan, no more blacked out games or watching a corny flashcast of the game…Watch the game in all of its glory, from any internet enabled PC.

You need a 50MB software download to install the viewer on each machine you want to access your Slingbox.

Bottom Line – It works! I tested it thoroughly while I was in Germany. In my hotel room I was able to watch a DVR of the Superbowl on my Vaio. I also use my laptop to watch TV when I eat dinner at my kitchen table. I thought I liked TV before!