David Battino

Areas of Expertise:

multimedia design
multimedia production
audio production

consulting
speaking
writing

Biography

David Battino is the audio and digital music editor for O’Reilly’s Digital Media site, the co-author of The Art of Digital Music, and on the Steering Committee for the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (IASIG). He plays Mac, PC, and keyboards. With his wife, Hazuki Kataoka, he also writes, publishes, and performs Japanese kamishibai storycards. More at www.batmosphere.com.

Articles

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Three Free & Easy Web Audio Players
Publish Date: Aug. 21, 2008Want to play MP3s on your site (or others')? Here's a super-easy way, an easy yet highly customizable way, and an offbeat experimental way — and each one is free. From one-click page-hacking to automatic e-commerce, these three web audio players point the way to a musical online future. Hi-Res YouTube Hacks
Publish Date: Apr. 17, 2008Don't settle for cruddy looking, dismal sounding YouTube video. Follow our insider tips and you can upload, watch, and share movies that look and sound dramatically better. We even explain how to make the ultimate poster frame or "money shot." Cool Music Technology at NAMM 2008
Publish Date: Jan. 24, 2008America's biggest musical instrument show debuted more high-tech wonders than ever this year. O'Reilly Digital Media prowled NAMM's five massive, noisy halls to bring back these high-tech hits. DIY Surround-Sound DVDs
Publish Date: Oct. 25, 2007Learn how to make 5.1-channel Dolby Digital DVDs at home without pricey pro software. Plus — a sneaky way to hook multiple speakers to a stock Mac. QuickTime Web Movie Secrets
Publish Date: Jul. 16, 2007QuickTime is still the best-looking, most flexible way to present video on the web. Here's how to present multiple movies on a single page, launch a movie in fullscreen mode, and even play a sequence of movies automatically. Web Audio Lab: Three JavaScript Tricks to Spice Up Your Site
Publish Date: Jun. 8, 2007Our simple tutorial on building an online MP3 player inspired hundreds of you to ask for enhanced features. Now you can grab our latest code and experiment yourself. QuickStart: Digital Audio Editing
Publish Date: Oct. 26, 2006Want to clean up your recordings but not sure where to start? We walk you through some essential audio editing skills, from reading a waveform to crafting the perfect fade. Two Slick QuickTime Tricks
Publish Date: Sep. 29, 2006Turn your video on its ear! Our hands-on tutorial shows you how to work with vertical movies and then embed them in a web page with a friendly new kind of trigger. Build a Better Web Audio Player
Publish Date: May. 31, 2006In the popular "Build a Simple MP3 Player for Your Site," you learned how to create a slick pop-up music player with just two lines of JavaScript. Version 3 of the technique now supports MP3 playlists and dances around Windows audio roadblocks. Mac OS X Screenshot Secrets
Publish Date: Feb. 1, 2006With the advent of Tiger, there are more ways than ever to capture pictures of your screen. Picking up where "Screenshot Hacks for Mac OS X" left off, this article explains how to grab the exact pixels you want, add window shadow, and even capture DVD stills. Special Report: New Music Gear from NAMM
Publish Date: Jan. 25, 2006The NAMM show is Mecca for musicians—acres upon acres of sparkling new instruments, pro audio gear, and music software, most of it not even released yet. But the show is not open to the public. Our team spent four days combing the halls and prodding the prototypes to round up this audiovisual gallery of what you'll be playing this year. Build an Enhanced MP3 Player for Your Site
Publish Date: Oct. 5, 2005Last time, we showed you how to build a simple pop-up MP3 player for your website with no complex Flash, redundant windows, or unpredictable plugins. A sneaky bit of JavaScript was all you needed to deliver smart-looking audio playback for your visitors. But what if you want to include a photo and caption with the song as well? A few more lines of JavaScript is all it takes. Review: Olympus DS-2 Stereo Voice Recorder
Publish Date: May. 18, 2005The world is filled with amazing sounds and ideas. Here's a pocket-size gadget that lets you capture them covertly--in full 44.1kHz digital stereo. It's a thumb drive, too. Turn Your Mac into an Audio Transcriber
Publish Date: Mar. 9, 2005With these simple AppleScripts, you can transform the QuickTime Player into a virtual Dictaphone. Control playback of songs and movies from your word processor—or any app. Slow them down, speed them up, bookmark the current location. Here’s how. Build a Simple MP3 Player for Your Site
Publish Date: Feb. 23, 2005You don’t have to monkey with Flash, redundant windows, or unpredictable plugins to deliver smart-looking audio playback for your visitors. With this sneaky bit of JavaScript, you can generate pop-up music players on the fly.

Multimedia

Digital Media Insider Podcast 27: Steve Horowitz and the Code Ensemble
Publish Date: Aug. 29, 2008

Composer Steve Horowitz has written soundtracks for movies, dance, video games, TV, live orchestra, and even computerized piano. Now comes the world premiere of his multimedia extravaganza Invasion from the Chicken Planet, and New York City may never be the same.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 26: One Glorious Note
Publish Date: Jul. 21, 2008

In many ways, music technology has become a numbers game. Today's digital instruments are often sold on specs, not sound. In this episode, the Fat Man goes back to basics, gleefully playing everything from an ancient test-tone generator to a spicy Excaliburrito to demonstrate that one glorious note may be all you need.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 25: Greatest Bits
Publish Date: Jun. 6, 2008

DMI hits 25! Listen in as we explore our favorite moments from the first 24 episodes and unearth some never-before-heard bonus material. From vocoders to space-helmeted cover bands, from the secret sound of Goldfrapp to harmonious fat men, here are Digital Media Insider's greatest hits.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 24: 200 Digital Audio Blogs
Publish Date: Apr. 24, 2008

To celebrate his 200th blog entry, O'Reilly Digital Audio Editor David Battino shares the sounds behind the stories. Hear how a bad pianist inspired the first computer music program, the surprising benefits of high-resolution distortion, and sneaky uses of voice recorders.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 23: Inside Intel Inside
Publish Date: Mar. 28, 2008

Last year, O'Reilly Digital Media's David Battino got an amazing gig: the chance to compose and record the theme music for Intel's internal podcast on Open Source developments. With some slick music software and the freedom to explore endless musical ideas, he wandered into several hilarious dead ends before remembering some great advice and finding his voice.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 22: Synthesizer Sound Design
Publish Date: Feb. 15, 2008

Part of the joy of playing electronic musical instruments is exploring the unique banks of sounds inside. This month, we speak again with Francis Preve, a Top 10 remixer who also works as the principal sound designer for Ableton and a consulting sound designer for Korg. Hear how he creates the sounds behind the hits.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 21: Remixing Tips with Francis Preve
Publish Date: Jan. 4, 2008

Francis Preve produced six Billboard Top 10 remixes last year alone, but he graciously found time to share his insights and techniques. Hear the Preve magic in before-and-after musical examples and learn how he turned a shockingly small pile of gear into a production powerhouse.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 20: Precision vs. Feel
Publish Date: Nov. 8, 2007

One of the fascinating challenges in modern music production is balancing the creative tension between computer precision and human feel. Hear how playing with quantization (timing correction) can make or break a groove.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 19: Inside the New Media Expo
Publish Date: Oct. 4, 2007

In this special guest episode, DIY digital media expert Michael Dean interviews podcasting's rock stars to learn where the format is going and how we all can get involved. Recorded live at the premier podcasting show, the New Media Expo.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 18: Better Arpeggiate Than Never
Publish Date: Sep. 7, 2007

It's about the most fun you can have with one finger. Arpeggiators turn a single note into a spiraling flurry of sound for instant musical fun. Hear how they work and explore some surprising applications.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 17: Secrets of the Demo Gods
Publish Date: Aug. 23, 2007

Top music technology gear reviewers Jim Aikin and Mark Nelson reveal how they create their web audio examples. Listen to some of our favorites.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 16: Cover Yourself (A Radical Approach to Copyright)
Publish Date: Jul. 27, 2007

Open source enthusiast Lucas Gonze wanted to record cover songs and share them online. But copyright law and web spiders crushed that plan. Then he found a mother lode of free music on a government web site.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 15: The Fat Man Sings...Digitally
Publish Date: Jun. 28, 2007

The DigiTech Vocalist Live stompbox listens to your guitar playing and automatically generates vocal harmonies. Listen up as the Fat Man puts it through its paces and predicts where this breakthrough technology will lead.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 14: Doug Wyatt
Publish Date: Jun. 15, 2007

Renowned music software programmer Doug Wyatt deftly fuses vintage electronics, Swedish vocals, and digital technology into remarkable soundscapes on his latest CD. We visit his home studio to learn how.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 13: Seize the Rhythm
Publish Date: May. 24, 2007

There's rhythm all around us, and computers make it easy to capture those sounds and weave them into your own compositions. In this episode, we transform the everyday rhythms of talking, laughing, and even toothbrushing into exciting new grooves.

Blog

10, 9, 8 . . . iTunes Blastoff!

August 27 2008

I just set up my best-sounding podcast playback system ever, but there was one problem: I missed the first ten seconds during the time it took me to hit Play and then scamper down the stairs to the kitchen. AppleScript and speech synths to the rescue.... read more

Giant Web Audio Shoulders

August 22 2008

Guitarist and programmer Lucas Gonze made an interesting observation about my new experimental Web audio player. Although it's clunky compared to his work, he focused instead on its "cool new ideas" and how they evolved. read more

Scaling Distorted Peaks in BIAS Peak

August 19 2008

While editing a podcast in BIAS Peak 6 recently, I was disturbed to hear the audio distorting even though the peak levels were below 100%. Turns out the culprit was a stealthy slider. read more

Embed an iPod on Your Site

August 15 2008

Mark Isham has composed some terrific music over the years. (His soundtrack for The Beast, featuring David Torn on textural guitar, is one of my favorites.) This year, Isham launched a new website featuring sonic treasures from his vault. He calls it Forward Musik Radio. FMR presents the tracks in… read more

Korg Kaossilator 4-Bar Loop Hack

August 12 2008

My favorite electronic instrument this year is the Korg Kaossilator, a pocket-size synth with built-in loop recorder. I bought one after spending some quality time with it during a magazine review. But what really loosened my credit card was a secret hack I discovered during fact-check. read more

One Voice Recorder per Child

August 11 2008

When half your population can't read, the spoken word becomes crucial. The Literacy Bridge project is designing a portable voice recorder that third-world populations can use to share news, history, and educational texts. In addition to recording and playing back audio, the Talking Book Device (hardware specs PDF) has buttons… read more

iTunes Surround Sound

August 07 2008

Did you know you can enjoy six-channel sound from iTunes? All you need is a decoder, six amplified speakers, and this squirrely software trick. read more

Cakewalk Turns 20, Glimpses the Future

July 18 2008

Late 1980s, deep in the basement of the Oberlin Conservatory: Strolling past the broken-down harp cases, a surprise visitor enters my electronic music class. read more

Last Chance: Sennheiser Sonic Logo Contest

July 14 2008

Sounds like . . . Sennheiser. While updating my business card the other day, I started to think it would be cool to have an audio logo as well as a graphic one. You've certainly heard these "earcons" — the THX Deep Note, the Duracell coppertop clank, the Intel Inside… read more

QuickTime Soundtrack Hacks

July 12 2008

With close to a thousand forest fires fouling the air, it was time for some indoor creativity. Making a digicam spy movie revealed some cool QuickTime tricks and ridiculous workarounds. read more

Widget Checks Your Apps for Updates

June 30 2008

Here's something I've missed since OS 9: a wee program that checks if your other programs are up to date. The App Update widget compares your programs against the listings at Apple, Version Tracker, and MacUpdate, and then offers download links to the programs that are outdated. It generated a… read more

Relaxing in the White Noise Lounge

June 23 2008

What are you doing with your portable recorder? Former O'Reilly producer Justin Watt (aka DJ Justin Somnia) and partner Stephanie Soleil (MC Soleil) capture whispery ambiences and upload them to the White Noise Lounge. They complement each brief aural trip with an artsy black-and-white photo. True field recording at Mt.… read more

Tasty Toast Backup Feature

June 18 2008

A while back, Derrick Story wondered how valuable Roxio Toast still was, given the disc-burning features built in to Mac OS X. Well, Toast hasn't grown moldy; Roxio added a bunch of features right after Derrick's post came out. I've covered two obscure but very cool audio ones: the ability… read more

Portable Audio Recorder Comparison Chart

May 29 2008

Wondering which handheld digital audio recorder to buy? Guitarist and recording engineer Mark Nelson just compiled this helpful comparison chart based on his detailed reviews. Mark is one of the few people on the planet to have used each of the top recorders extensively, recording everything from Hawaiian surf to… read more

Flash! Virtual Instruments Go Mobile

May 13 2008

Todd "Mobile Views" Ogasawara just tipped me off to Hobnox Audiotool, a free electronic music studio that runs online in Flash. My first thought was that it looked like Propellerhead ReBirth reborn in a Web browser. But Audiotool points the way to an interesting musical future. Hobnox Audiotool is an… read more

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