Wth the New Year approaching, we make lists and promises for the next trip around the sun.
I recently visited the shop of a major sound company where an entire room of top-shelf rider-friendly analog outboard equipment was collecting dust because most mixing now occurs “inside the box” of digital consoles on tours, in venues and at festivals, eliminating outboard gates, compressors, and, to a lesser degree, EQ and effects.
The digital workflow advantage, based on the console’s file, rather than the hardware itself, dictates that if it’s not part of the digital mixing system, it is cumbersome. All the enhancements to the console must be software-based plugins so they can be incorporated to file-based workflow.
In the back of that sound shop sat a row of Midas analog consoles — a stable of thoroughbreds out to pasture. Come next July 4th (this year it’s a Wednesday) otherwise empty shops will be using a Heritage 3K to prop the door open and get a breeze. If they were all on eBay at once, the price of used analog gear would plummet. Meanwhile the day has arrived when engineers need nothing more to manage their event and its documents and files than an iPhone or iPad.
The new iPhone 4S has users retiring perfectly good older iPhones. It’s easy to toss it in a drawer “just in case,” but actually putting it to use is not only smart, it helps rationalize that new 4S, providing a guilt-free upgrade. With that in mind, below are 40 apps for your old (and new) iPhone. Merry Christmas.
An app bought for one iOS device, by the way, can be loaded to another on the same account for free. Unless noted, the following are free (although some have in-app purchases and others require a paid version to lose the banner ad):
AKG Wireless monitors DMS 700, WMS 4000/4500 and IVM 4 IEMs. Powered By Crown ($4) controls networked Crown I-Tech, I-Tech HD, and Macro Tech I amps.
Remote controls iTunes on Macs over WiFi. AC-7 Core Mini ($5) remote controls most DAWs. Ludwig Metronome has tap tempo.
AccuWeather beat the National Weather Service in Indianapolis by 16 minutes. RTA Lite and Fourier Lite provide handy frequency references. UE SPL checks concert SPL.
White Space shows TV channels for unlicensed wireless. ProAudioCalc calculates amp size, output and speaker SPL. WaveCalc ($2) converts frequency, half-wavelength and time. TiltMeter is a bubble-level and inclinometer.
Touch Mouse provides a WiFi trackpad and keyboard for PCs. System Status Lite monitors iPhone’s CPU. Speedtest tests WiFi speeds. WiFi Finder and Skype for WiFi make great travel companions, as does FlightAware.
Blue FiRe field recorder goes with Blue Mikey. iProRecorder ($1) one-touch recording from BIAS. NightRecorder ($3) stealth records while iPhone is in standby. KASB Sound Player ($2) plays sound files back for SFX, walk-ons or announcements.
Reactable ($10) plays loop-based music, used on Björk’s Volta tour. Soundrop draws lines to make sounds; good earphone fun. Songify turns recorded speech in songs.
Dozens of flashlights, but my favorite is Light. It can be strobed, and it blinks SOS when shaken. Mag Light uses both camera and light to look at small things in the dark, like serial numbers in the back of racks.
Billboard Charts tracks top 10 songs (watch Katy Perry make history). LiveMusic ($3) shows local concerts from Pollstar’s database.
PayPal and eBay are better than on your PC. Invoice2go Lite manages 3 invoices at once. Truck Loader ($1) names load list road cases and sorts them by row and layer.
JotNot uses iPhone’s camera to scan. eFax faxes. Camera Plus upgrades iPhone’s camera. PhotoShop Express tweaks images. Night Camera ($1) takes shake-free low-light venue snapshots.
Don’t forget USA Today, New York Times, and FRONT of HOUSE to catch up on news. Christmas® is a holiday favorite. Resolutions and iResolve organize New Year’s resolutions.
My New Years resolution is to be more “green.” Every day we make choices. Now that there are high-efficiency amplifiers, it’s possible to replace old amps and save enough money on electricity to pay for the new ones. Like buying a Prius, energy savings can pay for the purchase over time. This year will see energy efficient amps begin to pay off on tours as venues start to charge for electricity at settlement, using meters on company switches.
Merry Christmas, friends. May your tree be lit with LEDs. Here’s to 2012.
