Category: Link Post

BBEdit 16

I use BBEdit as my default text editor. I’m using about .00001% what it’s capable of, but it’s still great for the simple stuff. Glad to see it’s getting these new Shortcuts actions.

BBEdit 16 offers speed boosts and Shortcuts and Emoji upgrades – Six Colors:

The latest version of Bare Bones Software’s venerable text editor, BBEdit, arrived on Thursday. Version 16, the first full-version update in more than two years, offers an array of new features including dramatic performance improvements, much greater Shortcuts support via App Intents, and even support for vi keybindings.

Keep reading here…

Introducing the Assessment Library in the MusicFirst Classroom — Dr. James Frankel

This is such a great idea and addresses one of the huge pain points of using learning management software. I’m happy to see MusicFirst doing this.

Introducing the Assessment Library in the MusicFirst Classroom — Dr. James Frankel:

Today I am thrilled to announce that we launched one of the most all-time requested features in the MusicFirst Classroom last week – the Assessment Library. This new feature allows teachers to save and pull questions from a question bank – something we’ve called the Assessment Library. That means that rather than writing new questions from scratch every time OR re-using a previous assessment, you’ll be able to pull any questions from the library into your new assessment – saving you TONS of time. To access this new feature, click on the Grading tab from the left menu, and then select Assessment Library. Once there you can Create a new assessment template and add questions to it. After you’ve saved that assessment, the full assessment and/or the individual questions will be available in the Assessment Library to use in any future assessment you create> Keep reading here…

Apple Creator Studio Is Out

I’ve been playing with Apple’s new Creator Studio bundle. I will have some early reactions to share on an upcoming episode of the podcast. I think Jason Snell over at Six Colors has some insightful takes.

There are also lots of good video first looks out there too.

Hands on with Apple Creator Studio: A bittersweet bundle – Six Colors:

I dislike Apple’s choice to roll its “iWork” suite of apps into this bundle, not just because it turns a set of free products into freemium products with upsell, but because there are plenty of users of Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and Freeform who do not need the powerful features of Final Cut, Logic, and Pixelmator.
Keep reading here…

TI:ME Welcomes Three New Board Members

TI:ME Welcomes Three New Board Members:

TI:ME is pleased to announce the appointment of three outstanding educators to their Board of Directors: Robby Burns, Gillian Kellar, and Kevin Longwill. Each brings unique and complimentary musicianship, instructional experience, and technological leadership that strengthens TI:ME’s mission to support meaningful, forward-thinking integration of technology in music education.

Happy to be working with TI:ME in this capacity.

harmony-cloud-app — Stefon Harris

Edit: I have been informed that this page is very old and that the iOS version of this app has been out since 2015 and has not received updates since. Hard to recommend a 10 dollar app with that in mind.

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A colleague turned me on to Harmony Cloud earlier in the month. It’s a new ear training tool from vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and it seems really neat.

I attended a masterclass featuring Stefon Harris back in the early 2000s, and something I distinctly remember about his teaching was how well he could communicate complex harmonic ideas in jazz through much more musical and emotive language. For example, he described the sound of a dominant chord with a b9 and 13 in it was like “a warm hug” or “rocking a baby to sleep.” He perfectly bridged the complexity of improv with concepts any listener can relate to. I’m really curious to see how his musicianship and teaching skill translate into this app.

harmony-cloud-app — Stefon Harris:

Harmony Cloud™ helps you hear, practice, and create music in ways you never thought possible. Harmony Cloud™ is a revolutionary step forward in the world of ear training, created by world-renowned jazz musician and educator Stefon Harris. The app is designed to help serious musicians at all levels expand their understanding of harmony, feel music on a deeper level, and fearlessly explore the world of improvisation. Its underlying (patent-pending) algorithm stitches together chords you select into an unending source of unpredictable, yet musical, chord progressions. Try our Beta Version today! Be on the lookout for an official iOS release coming soon!
Keep reading here…

Logic Pro amplifies beat making on Mac and iPad with advanced new capabilities – Apple

Logic Pro has some new updates. Some of them are novel and cool, but a new feature that captures performance data before the user presses record is exactly the kind of iterative workflow improvement that I love to see.

Logic Pro amplifies beat making on Mac and iPad with advanced new capabilities – Apple:

Flashback Capture allows artists to recover unforgettable performances, even if they forgot to hit record.2 Users can quickly restore MIDI and audio performances using a key command or a custom control bar button. By enabling Cycle mode, musicians can improvise multiple takes, and Flashback Capture will automatically organize each pass into a take folder.
Keep reading here…

DaVinci Resolve 20 for iPad: Features & AI Enhancements

On the recent episode of Music Ed Tech Talk, Will and I were discussing how rare it is that iPad apps function similarly to their desktop counterparts. DaVinci Resolve is an exception to this standard, and it only seems to get more powerful with every new release.

DaVinci Resolve 20 for iPad: Features & AI Enhancements:

Alongside the release of DaVinci Resolve 20 for Windows and macOS, version 20 of DaVinci Resolve has now been released for iPadOS as well. Similar to the desktop release, this update adds a number of new AI features across the application.
Keep reading here…

Sam and Jony and skepticism – Six Colors

If you haven’t heard, OpenAI is merging with Jony Ive’s company io, and they have announced that they are working on a hardware product. They are very jazzed about it. Probably a past version of myself would be too, but given my mixed feelings about where AI sits in our culture right now, I couldn’t help but throw up in my mouth several times while watching the announcement video.

Still, I admit I am very curious what they are cooking up.

I think Jason Snell over at Six Colors has the take on this news that I most closely identify with.

Sam and Jony and skepticism – Six Colors:

But right now, all we have are words and an awkward video of Sam and Jony drinking espresso. The words are all vague. I’ll believe whatever they’re going to release when I see it. Until then, like so much in the AI world in particular and the tech world in general, it’s meaningless hype, signifying nothing.
Keep reading here…