Recording In The Cloud

The latest hi-tech phrase leaking into our every day language is "cloud computing." Cloud computing means that instead of using applications or storing data on your personal computer, you upload everything to an online server via the Internet. The beauty is that you never have to worry about upgrading applications or worry about backups because someone else is doing that for you "in the cloud."

On a corporate level cloud computing makes sense and has been somewhat common for the past few years, but except for a few online backup services like Mozy and Carbonite, most consumers haven't gotten into it yet. They will soon enough as Microsoft has just announced that it's Office suite is now available for free as long as you use it in the cloud.

Now a company called Indaba has developed a way of recording multitrack audio and collaborating with other users in the cloud using their application. This wouldn't have been possible a few years ago due to the speed of just about all areas involved in the process, but Indaba says it's made breakthroughs in several key areas (improved audio quality, real-time effects, offline mode, and non-destructive editing) by switching from running on Flash, which hampered some audio features, to Sun’s new JavaFX platform.

I'm still not sure that it's fast enough for professional use (although I've not tried it yet), but if there's an idea that's capable of destroying the Pro Tools stranglehold on the music industry, this is it.

Indaba follows the "freemium" model, in that its basic version is free, a $5 per month fee gives you more control over effects, access to additional loop libraries, and more room to store songs and tracks, and a $25 per month fee offers unlimited session storage, unlimited private sessions, and other features required by full-time session musicians and other heavy collaborators.

Here's a video that explains Indaba's features.