Now you pro audio folks can record audio in the highest quality, and drag your tapes straight from TapeDeck into GarageBand with no loss in fidelity. And, if you’re really nutty about your audio quality (and have the hardware to back it up), you can unlock TapeDeck’s recording quality in the preferences so you can record beyond 44.1kHz!

Check out http://tapedeckapp.com to grab the latest release, and see the updated site design (inside the drawer). I also put some nice little touches into the UI for this release, because it needed some love. :)

If this really interests you, or you just want to try the newest TapeDeck betas before anyone else, please apply for membership at http://groups.google.com/group/tapedeck-beta.

Oh, and if you’re interested in UI design, we’ve added some little UI tweaks that we’d love to get feedback on. You’re welcome to apply as well, so you can get a sneak peak (and gripe about pixels).

I highly recommend upgrading to Snow Leopard, as there are improvements across the board that will be apparent in all your applications—especially when it comes to performance. I’ve been running Snow Leopard for months as part of Apple’s Developer Connection program, and it has been solid for a long time.

For FuzzMeasure users on Snow Leopard, I encourage you to check out version 3.2 at the latest build page. You’ll be treated to some speed increases as a result of the 64-bit binary that’s available only to Snow Leopard users. (If you’re stuck on Leopard—don’t worry! FuzzMeasure 3.2 will remain compatible with Mac OS 10.5.)

It took a few takes to get this, but that’s the fun of TapeDeck! You hit record, play the guitar, and be prepared to repeat yourself until you get a take you’re pleased with. Once you’re happy, use the ‘Send to YouTube’ feature to share what you’ve done!

If you want to participate, grab a copy of Capo and TapeDeck. If you don’t already have it, get your hands on “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits, and see if you can figure out the riff using Capo. If you already know how to play it, that’s fine too…

Finally, record yourself in TapeDeck, and send your recording to YouTube. Post it as a response to my video, and they’ll all be gathered together for all to see. It doesn’t have to be an accurate rendition like the one I did, either. Pull out your acoustic guitar and make a cover, perform the whole song on a piano, or even sing! Pick your poison…

The trial versions of both applications will allow you to join in on the fun, so anyone can participate! I’ll be sure to post my favorite responses after the weekend.

(I’m going to try and do these ‘challenges’ fairly often, because it’s a lot of fun, and I need to learn new stuff almost every week for my guitar lessons anyway. Also, it’ll hopefully keep Capo users on their toes, learning new material by ear regularly.)

The day after Thanksgiving, November 28, has been declared National Day of Listening by the StoryCorps oral history project and NPR (among others).
The idea: With family in town, bellies full, and (hopefully) a little time off work, we might all take an hour to sit down and tell each other stories.
An essential part of the NDoL is to record those stories, because they probably don’t already exist on blogs or email or Twitter—particularly if the storyteller isn’t of the Internet generation.

We realized this is a perfect use for TapeDeck, our fast, fun, and foolproof audio recording software for Mac OS X. So this week we’re taking 20% off the price of TapeDeck with the hope that you’ll use it to capture your family’s stories this Friday.

Just download TapeDeck and press the big red REC button to get started.
By purchasing a registration you’ll remove TapeDeck’s time limits (so you can record for as long as you like); do so before Sunday, November 30 to get the discounted price.

We sincerely hope this helps you and your family start and preserve your own oral traditions. Happy Thanksgiving!   —Chris & Dan