Archive for the ‘Feature Announcements’ Category

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Now available: Record your Salsa Beat Machine !

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

A long-waited feature is finally available: The ability to record the Salsa Beat Machine output to a WAVE file so that you can edit it, mix it in another software, or just take it with you anywhere on your iPod. The possibilities of this new feature are endless, are I am sure we are going to see interesting uses for this in the following months from many of the users.

This new feature is available on the Salsa Rhythm Software for PC, which is a version of the Salsa Beat Machine designed to run directly from your desktop (as opposed to the online version, which runs from your web browser). In order to use this feature, you need a relatively strong CPU. While we have not tested the exact performance of recording to Wave files, we can certainly say using it requires a considerable amount of computer resources. In my tests, however, it ran smoothly on my Intel core i5 workstation.

Screenshot of the new "Record to Wave" feature

"Record to Wave" feature

The Salsa Rhythm Software is available for download to all past and present users who have donated to the Salsa Beat Machine. All donors are registered users and can download the latest version here:
http://www.salsabeatmachine.org/download.html

For more information about donating, please visit our donation page here:
http://www.salsabeatmachine.org/donate.html

We are currently working very hard to deliver you additional cool features soon, stay tuned… And if you have some specific feature you’d like to request, you can do it on our Feature Request Page.

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Posted in Feature Announcements, New releases, salsa rhythm software | No Comments »

Saxophone is coming to the Merengue Machine

Friday, June 11th, 2010

We are currently experimenting with adding a Saxophone instrument to the Merengue Beat Machine.

The saxophone is one of the exotic instruments which gives the Merengue music its taste, and it’s the first brass instrument to be included in the Beat Machine.

Preview releases will be available for all donors, as a part of the Salsa Rhythm Software (the standalone version of the beat machine) starting from next week, feel free to request your copy by mailing to beatmachine@salsa4fun.co.il.

We are also looking forward to replacing the maracas with a Güira instrument – If any of the readers has a good sound samples of a güira, please contact us as we really want to include this instrument along with the Merengue Beat Machine.

Finally, we are about to release the first RC version (Release Candidate) of the Salsa Rhythm for iPhone. all users who have applied to our beta program will get a copy to play with.

More great news to come, stay tuned !

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Posted in Feature Announcements, General News, iphone, salsa rhythm software | No Comments »

Coming soon: Record your Beat Machine to File

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

A new release of the Salsa Rhythm Software is coming soon, and a long-desired feature is finally going to be in: You will now be able to record the Salsa Beat Machine’s output directly to a wave file, from within the software, both for the Salsa Machine and the Merengue Machine.

The new recording feature will only be available of the desktop version of the program, named “The Salsa Rhythm Software”, an is expected to come out during the next week.

Stay tuned !

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Posted in Feature Announcements, salsa rhythm software | 1 Comment »

Salsa Rhythm Software for 64-bit windows systems

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

The “Salsa Rhythm Software”, which is the standalone version of the online Salsa Beat Machine, is now available for systems running the 64-bit version of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Up to now, there was a problem in the Adobe Flash Player release that caused the program not to function under 64-bit systems. The new release works this problem around by lunching the Flash Player in 32-bit compatibility mode, thus allowing all users to enjoy the standalone Salsa Beat Machine version.

All past and current donors (listed at our http://www.SalsaBeatMachine.org/donate) are eligible for downloading the new version. Send us an email to beatmachine@salsa4fun.co.il with your request, and we will email you your personal download link for this new version.

If you do not own a copy of the standalone “Salsa Rhythm Software”, you may wish to consider donating – all donors are eligible for a copy. Starting from the next month, the software will also be available for purchasing online. You can find all the information needed to make your donations here:

Donate to the Salsa Beat Machine and get a free copy of the Salsa Rhythm Software

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New bass pattern: Ain’t Nobody by Alex Wilson

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Amongst many others, the Salsa Beat Machine features a piano pattern from the song “Ain’t Nobody” by Alex Wilson.
Tonight we have uploaded a new version with the corresponding bass pattern from the same song.

Alex Wilson is a very talented pianist and composer, and he has generously donated us some excepts from his popular salsa hit “Ain’t Nobody”.
He also publishes a book called “Find the rhythm” in which he breaks down the salsa rhythm and explains each of the components from a dancers perspective. So if you ever wondered what are all the fancy instruments in the salsa beat machine, what is a Montuno section and what is a Mambo section, which instruments play together and how the music is composed – you are invited to check out his book:

http://www.FindTheRhythm.com/

To get the bass and the piano playing like in the original song, tune the machine as the following:
1. Set the BPM to 98
2. Set the Key to E, be sure to disable auto changing of the key
3. Switch to the Instruments tab.
3. Click on the piano and select the ‘Montuno from “Ain’t Nobody” by Alex Wilson’ pattern.
4. Click on the bass and select the ‘Bass from “Aint Nobody” by Alex Wilson’ pattern.

Enjoy the music !

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New user interface for the Salsa Beat Machine

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

It’s been a while since my last post and a lot of stuff has been going behind the scenes… I will keep posting in the following days to keep you on the loop with the latest news and updates of the Salsa Beat Machine.

I have decided to redesign the user interface of the Salsa Beat Machine to make it easier to navigate and a newer look. The new design is already live and you can see it in our website: http://www.SalsaBeatMachine.org/.

This is just one of many incremental updates that I have planned. In a few days a newer version with additional changes will be up for you to see such as this preview for example displaying an upcoming version with a different look:
Introducing the new user interface for the Salsa Beat Machine

The previous user interface is still available, and you can easily switch between the two. I am waiting to hear your feedback, and I hope you will find this new version more useful and attractive.

Until the next post…

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Posted in Feature Announcements, General News | 3 Comments »

Tambora – A new topping for the Merengue Beat Machine

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Hi everyone,

This week comes with a few additions to the Salsa and the Merengue Beat Machines:

The Salsa Beat Machine has just gained a new Piano pattern called “Montuno I-IV-V-I Triads”.

If you ever wanted to start playing Salsa on your piano, this is a great pattern to start with. You can start practicing first with your right hand and then later add the left hand when you are ready. Watch out for the interactive Piano keyboard which displays when you choose the Piano in the Salsa Beat Machine.

The Merengue Beat Machine has gained a new feature – The Tambora instrument. This traditional percussion Caribbean instrument is very common in Merengue music. Musician Alex Wilson was very kind in providing the notation of this instrument (attached image) where it demonstrates the basic pattern followed during musical pieces.
You can find more information about the Tambora drum in wikipedia.

Typical Tambora rhythm, Provided by Alex Wilson

Typical Tambora rhythm, Provided by Alex Wilson

I hope you enjoy these new additions, let me know what you think!

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Guaguanco patterns for Congas

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Inspired by an old time Salsa classic song from Joe Arroyo, “En Barranquilla Me Quedo”, I have decided to add Guaguanco pattern to the Congas instrument of the Salsa Beat Machine.

Discovering the Guaguancó

The Guaguancó rhythm, a part of the afrocuban “Rumba” family, was developed back in the middle 1800′s, and can be still found today in many Salsa songs. The best is to listen to a few Guaguanco tunes to get familiar with it. Some of my favorite examples:

  1. Hector Lavoe – Aguanile : The congas playing the guaguanco pattern can be easily heard during the big break in the middle of the song
  2. Joey Pastrana – Rumbón Melón : The bass and the piano can be heard playing the Guaguanco pattern very clearly at 2:45
  3. Joe Arroyo – En Barranquilla Me Quedo : Piano playing guaguanco at 0:30, 1:10

Make your Guaguancó Machine

Note that in order to play the guaguanco correctly, you have to tune the Beat Machine as the following:

  1. Click on the Clave instrument, choose the “Rumba Clave” program, and 3-2 clave orientation
  2. Click on the Congas instrument, and select one of the Guaguancó programs there.
  3. Click on the Bass instrument, and select the Guaguancó 8-8-1-5 program

Conga drums

I like it in when it plays in the A# key, around 110BPM.

Once you have created a machine you are happy with, please click on the blue diskette icon and save it on our server. Then will get a link you can share, post it as a comment to this blog.

I’d love to see some of your creations…

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New Piano pattern from “Ain’t Nobody” by Alex Wilson

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Following the last post, we have added a new Piano pattern to the Salsa Beat Machine: The montuno section from the song “Ain’t Nobody” by Alex Wilson.

If you want this pattern to sound like the original song, you should play it in the “E” key, and in the speed of 98 BPM. Also make sure that “Play both hands” and “Tonic + 8″ options are enabled under the Piano instrument configuration tab.

You can see an example in the following screenshot:

Screenshot: Playing "Ain't Nobody" montuno section on the Salsa Beat Machine

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Musician Alex Wilson helps the Salsa Beat Machine

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Today I’ve got a letter from the musician and producer Alex Wilson, who was very excited about discovering the Salsa Beat Machine.

After a short discussion, Mr. Wilson has pinpointed a few places where the Salsa Beat Machine could improve to attain superior quality of Latin sound.

Respecting the authority that he has gained in the world of music, I am going to implement all of his suggestions forward to bring the Salsa Beat Machine to the next level of Latin music playing.

In the following days you will see some of the new features. I will start with a remake of the Conga drums followed by a revised version of the Bass and the Maracas instruments. These changes will help the Salsa Beat Machine reach a higher level of sound accuracy and quality.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Wilson for kindly donating a new Piano “Montuno” pattern taken from his song “Ain’t nobody”. I will upload the pattern shortly for all of you to enjoy.

You can visit Alex Wilson site here: http://www.alexwilson.net

Also, check out his “Find The Rhythm” book:
http://www.findtherhythm.com (you can download the first chapter for free!)

Stay tuned,
The Salsa Beat Machine is just getting better and better…

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