David Battino

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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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. Sync and Grow Rich
Publish Date: Dec. 15, 2004Tempo sync is an amazingly effective technique for music and video production. Here’s how to get creative with it.

Multimedia

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.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 12: Synth Mania, Part 2
Publish Date: May. 10, 2007

Synthesizer maniac Paolo Di Nicolantonio returns with more stories, sounds, and musical toys.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 11: Synth Mania, Part 1
Publish Date: Apr. 20, 2007

Synthesizer enthusiast Paolo Di Nicolantonio runs a wonderful website of synth sounds and information. In this episode, we listen to famous sounds, infamous sounds, and Paolo's favorite keyboard ever.

Digital Media Insider Podcast 10: Annoying Audio
Publish Date: Mar. 30, 2007

Peter Drescher designed the sounds for everything from After Dark screensavers to the T-Mobile Sidekick. Hear what it takes to annoy (and thrill) this top ringtone composer.

Blog

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

Negativity on the Mac

May 04 2008

Whoa. I typed Command-Option-Control-8 and my Mac's screen inverted. The inverted image didn't persist in the screenshot I took, so I had to invert it manually to produce this image, but this could be a timesaver. What wacky key commands have you discovered?... read more

When Inventors Attack: Maker Faire

May 02 2008

The third annual Bay Area Maker Faire is this weekend, and looks to be a truly inspiring event. Maker Faire combines art, science, recycling, and entertainment in a hands-on setting that celebrates the inventive spirit. I was there last night for a pre-show gathering of exhibitors (my family and I… read more

Petition: MIDI Support in Flash

April 17 2008

Imagine what creative developers could do if Flash could transmit and respond gracefully to MIDI. Now an online petition is urging Adobe to do something about that. read more

Slick AppleScript-Based Installer

April 15 2008

The new TechSmith Jing screen-capture program is mighty slick — almost like Plasq Skitch with video. I've only begun to explore Jing, but even the installer impressed me. You can drag the app directly to an alias of your startup drive or double-click an AppleScript installer that moves the file… read more

Computer Music Haiku

April 04 2008

Art is disruptive. Computers, strong but stubborn. Let's show them who's boss. read more

A Free Virtual Flute Saves the Day...er, Night

March 26 2008

It was late. Too late to record an acoustic flute to kick off a CD I was shipping in the morning. So I downloaded Kong Audio's free flute VSTi, tapped out a few notes, and hit sonic gold. read more

Apple Offers Free Songwriting Workshop

March 21 2008

Everyone has a song inside. On March 22 and 24, Apple Stores around the country will show you how to get it out of your head and into an MP3 you can submit to American Idol. Apple promises, You don't have to know how to play an instrument, write a… read more

Overlapping System Files: Am I Hosed?

March 14 2008

I wonder if my Mac can read my mind. It often crashes late at night when it's time for both of us to go to sleep. Last night, it crashed just as I hit Command-S to save a big project I'd been working on. But this time, it wouldn't reboot.… read more

There’s Always a Workaround

March 05 2008

I got an interesting question from a student recently. She'd read my article about making surround-sound DVDs at home and wondered about one step, which apparently required the high-end BIAS Peak audio editor. I gave her this recipe, which should work in many programs. read more

"Ultra High Quality" Voice Recorder Review Underway

March 03 2008

After several years of daily jostling in my pocket, my Olympus WS-200S stereo voice recorder started distorting in one channel. So I cracked open the case and discovered this scary dust-bunny invasion. Perhaps it was shorting out the mic? Grabbing an old toothbrush, I flicked off most of the linty… read more

Quiz: Good or Bad Background Music?

February 28 2008

As part of today's feature article on making movies out of still photos, Michael W. and Debra Jean Dean whipped up this funny demonstration of good and bad background music. It contains five brief examples. See if you can figure out why each helps or hurts the presentation. Debra Jean… read more

Breaking the Flow

February 19 2008

Normally, flow is a good thing. A lot of my time as an editor is spent trying to make ideas and words connect smoothly to tell a story. But while editing a recent podcast, I had an important realization: Sometimes breaking the flow of one element increases the flow of… read more

The Drop Cap from L

February 12 2008

After three years of tweaking, I finally dropped off the files for my new book, The Moon Princess, at the printer today. One of the last design challenges was creating a drop cap for the opening word, Long. The white space at the L's right edge broke the flow. Googling… read more

Build a $21 Portable Vocal Booth

February 07 2008

One of the hallmarks of amateur podcasts and screencasts is extraneous sound in the voiceover. Here are two DIY solutions for making quality recordings on the go and on the cheap. read more

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