fieldwaves

Several years ago I worked for a design studio that took its name from the concept of "Thick" value, coined by Umair Haque in the New Capitalist Manifesto (apologies for politics!).

The concept is that Thick value generates capital by solving problems, whereas Thin value generates capital at economic cost to another party, whether that be an individual, society or the environment.

For instance, Thick value could be an eCommerce site creating a shareable wishlist feature around Christmas, which provides real utility to shoppers whilst encouraging them to spend on their platform.

Thin value on the other hand could be that eCommerce site rede

Hi folks - just got my MPC One and excited to learn how it all works!

I don't believe this is currently possible but I'm wondering if anyone else has managed it - I want to connect a USB MIDI controller to the MPC, then pass the MIDI signal on to my computer over USB. So that way I can control both the MPC and my DAW with one controller, then when I need to go mobile I can just disconnect the computer and I'm away. (NB: I know you can use Controller mode to control the MPC software app, but this doesn't get the MIDI into the DAW, plus entering Controller mode disable any MIDI input into the MPC itself)

I'm thinking I may need to use a USB switch to swap between MPC/computer but it'd be ama

Hi folks. Bit of a practice question here...

Here's a scenario:

1. You have some UI designs fully fleshed out & spec'd in your design tool of choice
2. Over the course of development some small compromise has to be made - let's say a button can't be placed where you want it, so it's left in a different place. Sure, compromises happen.
3. Some months later you need to add another piece of functionality to this page, so you dutifully do so. However, now the button in your designs is in a different place from the live site, so when you hand over the UI work the devs are confused by this "new" button, and you end up having to re-discuss what it is and why it's there.

Obviously a very basi

Hi folks - thought this might be of interest to some!

I'm a "Neoclassical" (whatever that means) musician and for Piano Day my label, Pretty Decent Music, are running a little competition to reinterpret one of my pieces. The piece, "Held" is currently clocking over 125k plays worldwide, and we're hoping to release the best re-interpretation to a similar - or larger! - audience.

To enter, go and download the sheet music or MIDI (if you're that way inclined!) from the Pretty Decent Music website. Then film your idea and post on Instagram, tagging myself (@jonnymartyr) and Pretty Decent (@pretty.decent.music) plus the #PianoDay hashtag on Piano Day (M

Hi all. I've been trying to find a way to hang an acoustic cloud in a rented apartment, where I can't drill into the ceiling or walls. My ceiling is very high (3.2m) and the room is about 3m wide. I've come up with something that I think might work, plus is easy to take down when moving out.

My thought was to buy two T-shaped tripod lighting stands and run a pair of metal trusses across, thus creating a rectangular gantry. Lightweight acoustic panels (1kg each) could then just be laid on the

Hey folks! Got a bit of an esoteric hardware question here...

I'm trying to connect a Juno 6 (recently serviced) and a Prophet Rev2 to a Klark Teknik EQ-KPT Pultec clone and on to my sound card, via a patch bay.

The problem is, when I add the EQ-KPT to the chain I lose about 6db of signal volume, but add about 10dB of noise floor. Once I boost to compensate for the loss of signal that's an extra 16dB of noise! It's full-spectrum noise, so not mains hum or digital interference.

I've experimented with switching between balanced/unbalanced cables at every stage of the chain but I just can't find a combination that doesn't result in a volume drop and noise boost.

When the synth is plugged

Hey folks,

Back in the olden days, before we had design patterns, a lot of UX involved figuring out HCI and UI to find good ways for people to interact with technology.

These days it seems most of our UI and HCI problems have been solved, and so the space for innovation within UX has shifted upstream into service design & strategy. There are undoubtedly lots of problems to solve at this level, but personally I still feel drawn towards the more concrete challenges of creating UI for technology in new settings and contexts.

My question is - what industries are still exploring innovation in UI and HCI? Off the top of my head I can think of:

• Videogames
• AR/VR
• Automotive
• Music Pro