nanofunk.net » retro

Apple Wild West UI Design (HaHa)

nanofunk — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:24:22 +0000

hahaha: gizmodo is totally right when stating "Yeee-haw, Apple buckaroos! Whooz ready for some good timin', multitaskin'? Who wants their iPhone served up with a hot bucket'a grits? HOOOOOOOOOOO BOY. Jonny Ive's deep in the hooch pan again? Saddle up, grab yer partner, and let's make some truck-ugly apps!"

What happened to the GUI design guidelines of Apple? Why do we have to use western-style user interfaces - and why can't we change the looks to something uhm less contemporary?

Bliptronic 5000: the $39.90 Monome Rival

nanofunk — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:51:47 +0000

The Bliptronic 5000 is a great and super-cheap rival to the $500 Monome although not with such a great chassis and quality. But: it is chainable and has its own built-in sound engine (chiptunes-style, sound similar to the tenori-on or the casiotone)

createdigitalmusic posted some hacking tips, including information on how to build your own MIDI clocking and how to create a "switchonome". Another post by runagate describes how to Turn A $50 Bliptronic 5000 Into A Monome Controller [update: Bliptronome conversion kit for $68 USD].

Information via ThinkGeek:

Product Features

* Unusual retro synthesizer is played with a grid of glowing buttons
* Create looping patterns and change them dynamically while playing
* Chain multiple units together and create more complex melodies
* One octave range. 8 notes can be played simultaneously
* 8 different old-skool synth sounding instruments to choose from
* Sounds created using FM waveform synthesis
* Set the BPM (beats per minute) from 60 to 180 in 20 BPM increments
* Built in speaker with headphone jack and line-out jack
* Front panel is constructed from brushed aluminum
* Includes, manual and 2 link cables for connecting additional Bliptronic units
* Requires 4 x AA batteries (not included)

8Bitone and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 for iPhone

nanofunk — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:24:57 +0000

via wiretotheear: going 8bit with yudo iphone apps

8Bitone is a combination of a nonlinear audio editor and a chiptunes synthesizer. Vocoder SV-5
8Bitone (iTunes link) and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 (iTunes link) look like very nice and compact audio tools for the go. There so many other junk iPhone apps out there that actually something retro-fresh like those two apps really make my day. Together with the Nintendo DS I can build a minimal space sound studio soon ;)