Composer Scott Wilson has made available some UGens that decode Teabox signals in SuperCollider.

This is very cool! In addition to the decoders we’ve released for Max/MSP, that means others have made decoders for both Pd and SuperCollider.

To find the UGens, turn your web browser here: http://www.scottwilson.ca/site/Software.html

Jamoma has been building up momentum fairly steadily ever since I began working on it in 2001 (at the time it was Jade). This year is definitively the most active year for work with Jamoma.

• Last December we held a intensive development workshop hosted by iMAL in Brussels, Belgium.
• We will be presenting a paper (poster) at the upcoming NIME this June in Genoa, Italy (Authored by myself together with Trond Lossius, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Pascal Baltazar, and Nils Peters).
• There will be a Jamoma workshop as a part of NIME in Genoa, Italy.
• June will also feature an intensive development/testing workshop in Albi, France hosted by GMEA.
• In August, Jamoma will be represented in several places at the ICMC in Belfast, Ireland. This includes a paper focusing on Jamoma by Trond Lossius, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Nils Peters, and myself. There will also be a panel discussion focusing on SpatDIF, which is an initiative that is affiliated with Jamoma.
• In November, there are plans for a Jamoma workshop in Oslo, Norway.

Wow. Exciting stuff!

A new beta has been released for the Mac. No new beta is needed for Windows, as it was spared by these Mac-only problems (just like yesterday’s beta 3).

The changes fix problems with instantiation on different combinations of OS version and CPU architecture. The tap.svn object in this beta will not instantiate in OS 10.4, but that has already been fixed for whenever the next beta will be. Probably in about a week.

Beta 2 of Tap.Tools 3 is now available on the registered users pages. Here are the highlights…

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• tap.jit.kernel can be instantiated correctly
• fixed the broken backwards-compatibility alias for tap.lp-comb -> tap.comb
• installing Tap.Tools 3 no longer uninstalls Tap.Tools 2, and vice-versa on the Mac
• installer properly places supporting libraries in /Library/Application Support on the Mac instead of in /opt
• tap.dcblock~ and tap.overdrive~ now work properly on Windows (fixed crashes)
• fixed outlet assistance for tap.sieve
• tap.gang can now be instantiated successfully
• miscellaneous fixes to tap.applescript
• some improvements to documentation
• fixed software update and tap.svn problems reported by several people
• minor permissions fix on the Mac
• updated tap.plug.multiparam for Max 5
• various stability and efficiency improvements
• fixed bogus font errors when using the included JSUI widgets

Remaining Known Issues

• tap.limi~ does not process audio correctly
• tap.windowdrag does not instantiate
• tap.filter~ does not instantiate
• reference pages and help patchers still need work
• software update does not work on Windows Vista due to permissions problems
• registration numbers must be entered manually (copying and pasting does not work from an email client in Max’s textedit object as of Max 5.0.1)

Tap.Tools 3 is going to be download-only. No more shipping physical CDs.

Tap.Tools has been available on CD for an extra charge for 8 years. The extra charge was to try and justify all of the extra time and energy it took to make and ship CDs—time that was diverted away from improving the software.

It was also frustrating because by the time a CD would be received in the mail, the software would have a newer update on the website—so users would just have to download the update anyway.

More recently we’ve been thinking about what happens to those CDs. They get thrown out eventually. And the cases too. The ink that’s on them. The petroleum that is used to make them. The electricity. The fuel to ship them. It seems more and more environmentally irresponsible to offer physical CDs.

So they are gone. Tap.Tools 3 is going to be download only. Please enjoy the cleaner air…

The Tap.Tools 3 beta is coming along. We should have a second beta installer ready this coming weekend to resolve a number of problems reported in the first beta.

Within the next week we will starting to update the electrotap.com website.

All users who purchased the registration for their copies of Tap.Tools after October 1, 2007 will receive a free update to Tap.Tools 3. Emails to this effect, complete with updated registration info will be going out in the next few days.

For all other users the upgrade price from Tap.Tools 2 will be $21 for Artist licenses and $34 for Pro licenses. The pricing for brand new copies will remain the same: $65 for an artist license and $99 for a Pro license, respectively.

At today’s exchange rate that means an artist upgrade is less than 14€. That’s a pretty good deal for the folks in Europe :-).

A fellow Cycling ‘74 colleague recently referred to This commentary on Wiio’s laws.

If you ever need to communicate with others, especially on the web, and even more especially on a mailing list, then this is essential reading.

If it seems like hyperbole when the author says that communication is much worse, then consider a couple of things:

• The author makes no mention of the effect of typos in electronic communication. I happen to be notoriously bad about this. A misplaced, misspelled, or missing word can be crucial. And it’s common to have this messed up.
• What about the accidentally hitting the button to send when you meant to hit a different button? Oops.

Those are just a couple that come to mind immediately.

Jamoma 0.4.6 has been released at http://jamoma.org/

Jamoma 0.4.6 is quite stable, and represents 5 months of bug fixes and minor tweaks since we released 0.4.5. It works with Max 4.6.3, and is definitely the best release we’ve assembled.

It does not, however, work with Max 5. We have also been working on a Max 5 version of Jamoma over the last number months. Now that Max 5 has been released, we will be putting significant effort into a Max 5-compatible version of Jamoma.

Visual Programming Language Reinvented

San Francisco, CA • April 22, 2008—Cycling ’74 today released Version 5.0 of its Max/MSP media development tools. This version represents a new era of Max programming, with a completely redesigned multi-processing kernel and a streamlined development environment built on a platform-independent foundation. With a new patcher interface, searchable database of objects and examples, integrated documentation and new tutorials, the new Max user will find a smoother learning curve while experienced users will see improved productivity. These improvements to the Max/MSP/Jitter bundle are provided at a more affordable price of MSRP US $699, with academic discounts available.

CEO David Zicarelli remarked: “In almost twenty years of working on this software, there’s never been anything close to the transformation we’re undertaking. This is Max for the next twenty years.”

In addition to a modern infrastructure designed to support today’s multi-core processors and tomorrow’s operating systems, Max 5 features a stylized UI intended to aid in the expression and understanding of complex ideas. Each graphical element has a unique look that informs the user of its function, and the new presentation mode allows performance layouts that do not affect the programmer’s view of the patch. This new system provides a more efficient workflow, and offers a richer experience for both programmer and educator.

Availability

Max 5 is now available for download and purchase from cycling74.com and its worldwide distributors. Max/MSP costs US $495, the Max/MSP/Jitter bundle is US $699, and the Max 5 Upgrade is US $199. Discounts for student and educational institutions are available. Customers who purchased Max/MSP or Max/MSP/Jitter after October 1, 2007 are eligible for a free upgrade.

About Cycling ‘74

Cycling ‘74 creates software for the specialized needs of artists, educators, and researchers working with audio, visual media, and physical computing. Our visual programming tools Max, MSP, and Jitter serve as the creative engine behind thousands of innovative projects.

More information about Cycling ’74 and its entire product line available at http://www.cycling74.com.

Use this link to go to the original copy of this press release.

Max 5 has left the station at Cycling ‘74. It’s definitely worth checking out. I’ve had good time working on the development of the File Browser over the last months. But, I’ve also been working on Tap.Tools 3—and an early beta of that is now available too!

Tap.Tools 2 will not work with Max 5, so Tap.Tools 3 is required. The beta is available to anyone who is a registered user. If you aren’t a registered user, it’s easy to become one by heading on over to the Tap.Tools webpage ;-).

When anyone becomes a registered user of Tap.Tools, they are provided with a link and username/password to get to the extra goodies. Those pages for registered users is where the new Tap.Tools 3 Beta installers can be downloaded.

I also want to thank Jesse Allison (who sometimes writes on this blog) for his assistance, and also Dave Watson who has been a huge help getting us to the point where this beta is ready in time to go out with the Max 5 release. Hooray!