iZotope and BT Unveil BreakTweaker at NAMM

iZotope_BreakTweaker_Generator_MicroEdit

Brian “BT” Transeau has been consistently producing thoughtful and compelling electronic music since the ’90s. He’s also quite the audiophile and technologist, developing apps and regularly working on tech projects over the years. Currently touring in support of his ninth album, A Song Across Wires, the Grammy-nominated Transeau hits twice yearly music instrument trade show NAMM this week in Anaheim, CA, to unveil his latest endeavor, BreakTweaker, an application which allows producers to make “beats you’ve never heard before with the beat machine of the future.”

Following the joint release of the live re-mixing plug-in Stutter Edit created in partnership with Cambridge, MA-based audio technology firm iZotope, the two entities unite again to present BreakTweaker, a “drum sculpting and beat sequencing environment that blurs the line between rhythm and melody.”

Obligatory press release gush from BT: “I’ve always been intrigued by the way humans perceive rhythm, particularly the threshold point of where the ear perceives rhythm as pitch. The idea of exploring and exploiting this threshold inspired BreakTweaker, a tool where I could finally realize rhythmic possibilities that I once imagined but had never before been able to hear.”

Check out the specs below and watch an interesting video demo of the product in action.

Key Features

Manipulate audio at a molecular level: control pitch, rhythm, and texture at the finest resolution available
Escape traditional drum grids: create complex polyrhythmic beats with unique isorhythm and playback speed settings
Get over 2 GB of professional, royalty-free content: explore presets, drum samples, and wavetables designed by today’s top musicians and DJs, including BT
Craft your own drum sounds: blend drum samples with robust synthesis features to generate compelling hybrid sounds
Take control of your beats: Easily trigger and sequence complex patterns and samples using any MIDI controller

DJs React to DJ Mag Poll on Twitter [Updated]

The results of DJ Mag’s annual Top 100 poll was announced last night in Amsterdam (see the full list of winners here). Armin van Buuren took the top spot for the fifth time, edging out 2011 winner David Guetta, who fell to the fourth position. Since last night DJs have been on Twitter, some expressing their gratitude for making the list and others having a less positive view. Winner Armin van Buuren tweeted that his victory was “overwhelming”; Hardwell proclaimed he has “the best fans in the world” and Nervo tweeted that they too were “overwhelmed.” But not everyone was feeling the love: Diplo, who landed at 102 on the poll, tweeted “Seriously I don’t even know what dj mag is is it actually a magazine? Like people?” Sasha offered “Oh no dj Angerfist beat me in the DJ mag poll. My career is over.” Feed Me suggested that the poll is “a corrupt and an outdated model.” But perhaps the most curious tweet was from Kaskade who wondered, “Is a DJ Mag Poll Relevant?” Have a look below at the chatter on Twitter and tell us who you agree or disagree with.

Oct. 22 update: See new tweets from BT, Alesso, Sébastian Léger and others at the bottom of the story.