Keith Albright [Cakewalk]
Also note that Jamstik sends MIDI over BTLE.  Microsoft had recently announced we were working on Windows 10 support of BTLE.
https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2016/09/21/midi-enhancements-in-windows-10/#fCloY7DwxelBEgPs.97
 
Keith

Breaking news: Noel actually had Bluetooth LE working with Jamstik and SONAR at NAMM. Bear in mind you'll have more latency than with USB, but it's nowhere near the 35-40 ms with Bluetooth audio...more like 15 ms, according to Noel. CME's Bluetooth keyboard does about 7 ms.
 
There is some very interesting momentum with MIDI right now. Because I was elected to the Executive Board of the MIDI Manufacturers Association, I know what's being discussed...but can't comment due to NDA status. FWIW representatives from Microsoft, Apple, and Google were at the MMA sessions. Harmony Central will be covering public MIDI news in the upcoming NAMM show report.

I don't know what can or needs to be done to enhance MIDI any further, except, maybe, a better integration with standard notation, but I have no doubt that when such brilliant and creative people come together to work on this protocol, we are to hear about something excitingly innovative. Really looking forward to some great news on MIDI.

Week 130: The “How Does It Sound in a Car?” Tester
 
I’ve alluded to mixing with noise, but haven’t covered the details...so let’s get into it, and create an FX chain.
 
This tip is for those of you who won’t sign off on a mix until you’ve heard it in a car. I think there may be an actual scientific reason why this is beneficial. Noise tends to mask sounds, so if one instrument gets lost in the noise and another jumps out, it’s time to try a mix that raises and lowers those levels, respectively.
 
The ear doesn’t discriminate level differences as well as pitch differences. So without noise masking a sound, the level may seem okay,. But as soon as you mix in noise, the sound disappears. If you increase the level just a bit so you can hear it, when you remove the noise there’s a very good chance you’ll like the new level setting better. Think of this as doing something similar to compression, but without applying any actual dynamics. You’re just making sure the levels that need parity, have parity.
 
Of course this doesn’t mean you want everything jumping out of the noise—those tambourine and shaker parts are probably just fine as they are. The main sounds to listen to here are vocals, leads, drums, and bass, and their relationship to each other.
 
This also doesn’t mean you should mix consistently with noise, as it will bias your hearing (and besides, it’s truly annoying). I add noise in with a mix as a last diagnostic step. If the mix has sounded fine up until then and passes this final test, I consider it ready to master. And I don’t need to go driving anywhere, either.
 
THE FX CHAIN
 
This is a signal-generating FX chain, not a signal-processing one, so it needs to go into a bus FX Rack. I usually drag it into a bus I don’t need at this late stage of the mixing process, like the Metronome bus. Or you can create a bus and dedicate it to The Car Test FX chain. You might even want to make this bus a part of your normal project template.
 

 
The "Noise On" switch controls the Sonitus Surround processor’s Test Noise button. 0 turns off the noise, 100 turns it on. The other button is called "Noise/Car," and the screen shot shows the control settings. Noise doesn’t include any filtering; Car drops the highs and adds more low end.
 
So, how much noise do you add? It’s kind of like maximizing. Set it 6 dB below the mix’s peaks, and you’ll hear what occupies the upper 6 dB of dynamic range. Set it 12 dB below the mix’s peaks, and you’ll hear what’s in the upper 12 dB of dynamic range. This isn’t an exact spec per se, but it provides a rough standard of comparison.
 
As crazy as this idea sounds, try it sometime and tweak your mix. Then turn off the noise, take a short break so your ears get acclimated back to normal hearing, and check the mix again. You just might find it’s a whole lot better.  

Craig, I love your explanation and find myself saying yes, yes, yes.

I definitely listen in the car. I can only adjust volume, treble, bass and pan. I can make sure everything sits nicely.

When my wife or kid turn it down, I note how far down and what it sounds like to the person trying to listen.

I believe most attentive music listening happens in the car these days.

How about taking a handheld recorder and recording the noise in my truck on the highway for a few mins, then saving the track and then figuring out later a "city" level and a "highway" level?  Then you get around the variable of the player.  I'm gonna try it since I'm currently car testing an album.
 
Edit:  well, i tried to record noise and got basically 'noise'... but I did measure 69db on the highway at 60mph.

Great tip, Craig! Tried on the most recent mix - nothing is masked.  
To enhance "inside a car" experience there is a free monitoring utility by beyerdynamic
http://north-america.beye...om/virtual-studio.html

noynekker
Craig, it's a fascinating idea, a mixing system designed around optimizing a mix with consideration for background / road noise. So, in theory if a mix sounds good while driving, it must be a good mix. I like your scientific approach to this issue, as I always place great importance on the "car mix"  . . . and I'm going to give this a try.

 
I'll be interested to hear what you think. Do bear in mind that the "The Car Test" isn't designed to emulate the environment of a specific car, but provide the same functionality in a more repeatable way. You may want to reduce the amount of bass boost in the car sound to check out how the bass level relates.  
 

this is genius. awesome idea here Craig.

Anderton

Beepster
Is this chain included in one of the Anderton FX Chains collections or is the intent to show us how to create the chain (which of course is also doable).

Sorry, it's a do it yourself project. However you won't need a soldering iron, so that's a plus.

That'll be the next issue to arise here 
Sorry, and all the best

This is close to "mangulator" status!!! 

Anderton
 
Try it sometime and tweak your mix. Then turn off the noise, take a short break so your ears get acclimated back to normal hearing, and check the mix again. You just might find it’s a whole lot better.  

Ill try it but i cant help but ask, in trying to understand the art of mixing,  in trying to make a "mix" sound as good or balanced as possible under a noise induced listening scenario, wouldn't you somehow be compromising or more so over compensating in the mix, particularly with music having a large dynamic range, and which is likely to be mastered in a high quality listening environment? 
Perhaps, Im not understanding the intention here, or confusing mixing and mastering? Or could this also be something you may do for the "master", so the final product sounds good in several listening scenario, like a car?
(or perhaps Ive been doing this already without realizing, mixing with my air purifier running, LOL).
 
Cheers
 
    

Anderton
And it sounds better in a car 
 

 
Thanks,
So for the car thing, do you do a dithered export of mix to MP3, or other means?. (I have USB and Bluetooth in car).
 
Ive been using Neutron, but haven't totally got into using the masking tool yet, but imagine it may allow for identifying these deficiencies in a mix, but one way or another you still have to listen to results.
(Funny I should relate to this as I spent a lot of my former career, setting up sound masking systems in offices)
Cheers        
 

JohnEgan

Anderton
And it sounds better in a car 
 

 
Thanks,
So for the car thing, do you do a dithered export of mix to MP3, or other means?. (I have USB and Bluetooth in car).

 
I actually don't listen to music in cars, I did it just for diagnostic purposes until I came up with the "mixing with noise" replacement. This is for safety reasons...nothing can seize control of my mind faster than a good piece of music, so for me, it can be distraction which I don't want when driving.

Anderton
 
I actually don't listen to music in cars, I did it just for diagnostic purposes until I came up with the "mixing with noise" replacement. This is for safety reasons...nothing can seize control of my mind faster than a good piece of music, so for me, it can be distraction which I don't want when driving.

Sadly, I find myself more listening to news talk radio in the car these days,and wearing a hat, LOL.