WWDC 2010 Predictions

Apple’s Logic software is a powerful and seemingly limitless application for both musicians and producers alike. If you are beginning to feel constrained by the limits of GarageBand, especially in terms of editing sounds and mixing to produce a professional quality recording, Logic is definitely worth looking into.

The biggest question that you’ll be faced with is whether to go with “Logic Express”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74234/ ($199.99) or the full-blown “Logic Studio”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74231/ ($499.99).

Musicians looking to dive further into recording will be more than happy with Logic Express. As a guitarist who loves extreme and bizarre sounds I was pleasantly surprised to see all of the built-in guitar amp and effects pedal models, which offer you seemingly endless combinations of effects, and also sound incredible. There are more than enough virtual instruments to keep you busy for months, and the fact you can edit almost every parameter of every instrument and effect plug-in gives even the most discriminating sonic architect something to tinker with.

Mixing in Logic is much more straightforward and visually pleasing, with a virtual analog mixing board right in front of you. Logic offers full support to almost every MIDI controller or USB interface, so you can control faders and knobs in real time to your hearts content.

All of these features are present in both the Express and Studio packages. However, Logic Studio adds on a ton of additional features.

Here are a few of the highlights:

* MainStage: Brings your studio sound to the stage. This is heaven for guitarists and synth players, as you can access all of the virtual instruments and effects within Logic and use just about any MIDI controller to manipulate every imaginable aspect of your sound (if so desired) in live performance.
* Soundtrack Pro: Apple’s film scoring/mixing/soundtrack application. It is of note that Logic Express does offer some limited film scoring as well
* Includes all of the Apple JamPacks, so you get hundreds and hundreds of additional instruments and sound loops.
* Delay and Space Designer: create your own delay and reverb algorithms (the sound sculpturing possibilities here are mind-blowing).
* Surround Sound mixing.
* WaveBurner: A CD Mastering/Authoring tool.

To sum up, most musicians looking to enhance their recording projects will find more than enough features to keep themselves busy churning out professional quality recordings with Logic Express. Those looking for advanced studio functionality, or looking for more virtual instruments and effects, and the flexibility of live and studio use will be right at home with Logic Studio.

“See all Logic versions, including upgrades, here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=apple+logic&refinecat=Apple|Software

_Dear Friends,_

I was up in Essex, Vermont this week to visit the boys at Classic Bike Experience and I pass the Mazza vegetable stand on the way. They had a sign out advertising fresh strawberries. Now, I pride myself on having early strawberries, but the first of June is unheard of in these parts. I had to stop and buy some and asked how they managed to get berries so early. He just said that it was due to a mild April and May (we had the same weather, but no berries yet!)

The fresh berries were so flavorful and so remarkably different from the berries you get during the winter here in the north. The only thing they have in common is the color and shape. I know summer is here now that Vermont strawberries are available.

Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference starts on Monday and with it, a keynote address from Steve Jobs. I’ll be checking it out from one of the blog-feeds to see what new toys are on the horizon. It was fascinating to watch the extended interview with Steve at the D8 conference. With over 90 minutes of interview and audience questions, there was a lot of insight to learn about how Steve views the market and the future of digital technology. Ben highlights some of the topics below.

I am very pleased to report that the Vermont legislature passed VBSR’s key piece of legislation called the For-Benefit Corporation bill. A For-Benefit Corporation is a new corporate entity offering entrepreneurs and investors the option to build and invest in businesses that meet higher standards of corporate purpose, accountability and transparency. Fiduciary duty is redefined by requiring consideration of interests beyond shareholders, including the corporation’s employees and suppliers, the local and state economy and the environment.

I testified in favor of this legislation and Small Dog Electronics plans to be one of the first companies in the nation to adopt this new corporate charter. Will Patten, VBSR’s Executive Director, and Andrea Cohen, VBSR’s Public Policy Coordinator, deserve a shout-out for their extraordinary work on this landmark legislation. You can learn more about it on “their website here.”:http://vbsr.org/index.php/pages/static/cat/s263/

I figured that I made some mistakes in my first antique motorcycle restoration, so I am very fortunate to have some experts here at “Vermont at Classic Bike Experience.”:http://www.classicbikeexperience.com/ Once I had the Norton all together, I was unable to get it started and took it over to have Welby take a look.

I always wanted him to check it out before I jumped on it and rode at high speeds and I am glad I did. It turns out I made a number of rookie mistakes that they are fixing for me and I hope to have the bike on the road next week. I will be sure to post some photos. It was a great winter stress-relief project. While there are stresses of busted bolts and knuckles, they are quite different than the day-to-day stress of running a small business. I loved the time in the shop solving problems and will have an awesome classic motorcycle when I am all done.

We are like a steam locomotive building up momentum as we start the process of designing and building our new store in Manchester, NH. The landlord is used to companies that have a standard buildout and was surprised when we told him we would be quickly doing the design and have drawings for them shortly. I think I can, I think I can… chugg, chugg.

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes team,
_Don, Kali, Ed & Ben_

Our annual Famous Garage Sale is well underway, and we are not only adding new items every day, but we have dropped prices on current listings as well!

Orders will be taken online only via our website, and there are no phone orders permitted. Get ‘em while they’re hot.

Happy shopping!
Smalldog.com/garagesale

Steve Jobs appeared on stage at the “*D8 Conference*”:http://allthingsd.com/d/ this past Tuesday in Los Angeles. Here, he addressed numerous topics pertaining both to current issues at Apple as well as the company’s future. Job’s offered his stance on several of the most recent big stories surrounding the company. Namely, he mentioned the __Foxconn__ suicides, the missing __4G iPhone__ prototype, Apple’s stance on __Flash__, and their current relationship with __Google__. All of Jobs’ responses seemed honest, and while he chose some of his words carefully, he appeared uncharacteristically open towards many of the issues.

While speaking about __AT&T__, Jobs acknowledged critiques about the carrier’s current service while simultaneously restating Apple’s ongoing support of the company. Jobs made it clear that while it was not his area of expertise, he knew that wireless service typically got worse before it got better during periods of network change.

Jobs also offered a well thought out response towards the “*iPhone 4G Gizmodo*”:http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone fiasco. He issued an update to the current status of the police investigation surrounding the missing prototype, and also addressed concerns of Apple’s handling of the issue. He mentioned that many people had encouraged him to simply “Let it slide” and move on. To this Jobs countered: “I thought deeply about this, and I ended up concluding that the worst thing that could possibly happen as we get big, and get a little more influence in the world is if we change our core values, and start letting it slide. I can’t do that, I’d rather quit.”

A full list of videos featuring excerpts from Job’s talk can be found at “*All Things Digital.*”:http://d8.allthingsd.com/speakers/steve-jobs/