Cloud Vision
Once upon a time people recorded and listened to music using tapes and vinyl. Until this day audiophiles still believe this delivers the best quality in recorded music. In the past 50 years a lot has changed, but these methods are still valid and widely used.
New technology did arrive. The production process is changing. With a laptop and a variety of software, bedroom producers became a valuable source for audio production.
Meanwhile listeners followed a fascinating path along new forms and mediums. From vinyl we went to walkmans. From walkmans we arrived at iPods. With a disrupting decade of illegal downloads, finally, the streaming services arrived. The music industry is recovering and it is cloud-based. What will be next?
Today
Today the listening experience is focused on cloud services. It provides an easy-to-use, low-entry, sponsored or subscription form of music consumption. We see this in many shapes in the entertainment industry with a leading role for the gaming industry (Steam), closely followed by films and series (Netflix) and music (Spotify, Apple Music)
On the production side the immense development of technology has been a real game-changer. The fast evolution of hard- & software pushed the production process forward. New styles of music emerged along the way. It made music production easy accessible and today more and more people engage with the creation of music.
At the same time we see that few techniques survive the ravages of time. That is evolution. Survival of the fittest. A cross-breed of the old and the new, delivering improved forms, carried out by creators and consumers. That is why we say: "Let’s go hybrid!"
We create the future. Change is happening all the time. Streaming as a consumer of audio and video is the new norm. The internet of things (IoT) and 5G mobile networks (5G) are just a next step. The cost of chipsets and cloud space are getting cheaper and cheaper rapidly. We believe that the future of recording audio is cloud-based, and it is already happening.
Your Daily Life In The Cloud
Currently there are already many cloud-based services that are part of your daily routine. For instance with Google Drive you can store files, share documents and collaborate online. Google Docs transformed the well-known Microsoft Office into a virtual office in the cloud. Today it has become a regular thing in any business or industry to collaborate in documents (Word), spreadsheets (Excel) and presentations (Powerpoint).
Dropbox is another company that is taking its cloud service to the next level. With dropbox you can save files online and synchronise those files on different devices. It is easy to share them or add them to your email and so on. With additional services as Dropbox Paper task management, creative briefing and time management are taken into an online environment in the cloud.
Last but not least we like to point out the versatile solution by Apple: iCloud. With iCloud you can synchronise contacts, calendars and documents. iCloud stores music, apps, photos, notes and even diaries to secure your data as a back-up system and synchronises them among your (Apple) devices. If something changes on one device, all other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.
Of course there are many other cloud services available. We would like to investigate them specifically in the audio industry.
What about creative clouds?
For consumers of music and video there are already many cloud solutions available. Actually it delivered an extreme change in consumption of digital entertainment. Services like Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube need no further discussion. We have seen online collaboration initiatives like Bandlab, Soundtrap, Jamkazam, and many others using cloud-based software tools in many different forms. Also there are specific cloud services for audio processing and online documentation. Let us walk through a few of them to get a better understanding.
Avid Cloud Solutions offers several cloud-based solutions for creative individuals and media teams attached to their hardware products. With their cloud services they improve the workflow for collaboration and simplify logistics, management, distribution and storage of media files such as audio and video.
Roland Cloud is a cloud-based suite of software synthesizers, drum machines, and sampled instruments. The idea is that any subscriber always has access to the latest updated versions of Roland’s software instruments. Besides being always up-to-date, Roland Cloud also aims to be a worldwide community of music enthusiasts, creators and producers developing and sharing new sounds and ideas.
How does this fit Reclouder?
The basic idea behind Reclouder is to upgrade the quality of your creative work and benefit from the latest trends and technology. With the arrival of 5G and IoT, Reclouder takes you into the next decade of recording audio. Reclouder offers a future ready solution for recording audio with cloud-based services and solutions.
Reclouder is designed from a decentralized perspective. This is different then all the other recording devices on the market. They all offer a centralised solution operated by one single person. Think about live mixing consoles, multitrack recorders, audio interfaces and laptops. With Reclouder every creator can own a device and this provides digital data for ownership, split sheets and copyrights. We record audio with the end result in mind.
The first Reclouder
We have developed a versatile solution that connects with musicians, videographers, DJs and sound engineers. This is our first model. When we launch this model successfully we will deliver more dedicated models adjusted to the needs of specific cases. Think about drummers and guitar players. Also we are constantly improving our cloud service and firmware. The best is yet to come.
The essence of Reclouder
Reclouder is in essence an SD recorder. It functions as a lossless audio thru-box as well. This means that you can record the same signal that is injected into the live sound. For instance, while musicians play on stage, Reclouder records and the audience enjoys. Whenever Reclouder connects with Wi-Fi, it will automatically upload the recordings in the cloud. From the cloud you can select the best recordings for processing and forward this to your production engineer. Or download it to process in your favourite DAW. You can also link multiple Reclouders with bluetooth, control it with your smartphone and record in multiple sound sources at once.
Reclouder and video production
Reclouder allows videographer to focus on shooting video and at the same time, with a quick setup, you can get premium audio recordings without complicated operations. As a videographer you connect any mic you already own, adjust the gain and start recording. The auto gain feature will make sure you always get the perfect audio file. In addition, especially for multi-camera recording, there is not any wireless solution in the market that allows you to synchronise multitrack audio recording that easily.
Reclouder Cloud Service
If you want to record audio for music or video it is common that you bring an engineer along or compromise on quality. With Reclouder you can easily set up your audio recording system and focus on your music or shooting video. What it essentially does is record audio together with your best microphones, equipment and instruments. It is an additional value to your current setup and workflow.
More recordings, more work, more knowledge
Now every creator can record high quality audio without any expertise or technical knowledge. You record audio, store and sync your recordings in the cloud and document your audio files for post-production. This is important. With Reclouder the creator creates and the engineer processes. You no longer need to ask a live sound engineer to record your audio, you can share your recordings from the cloud and let your studio engineer take care of editing and processing in post-production. This can be done almost instantly. You can also chose to process your recordings yourself when you are ready to do so.
The cloud and beyond
One of the main advantages of using cloud services is that it evolves and develops without you having to update anything. With Reclouder we are looking to streamlining your workflow. We offer a fast and easy solution for recording and sharing audio files. Besides that we are developing dedicated audio processing tools integrated in our cloud service.
If you are a public speaker, musician, videographer, DJ or recording engineer you can use our effective tools to take care of the job. You can think of services as mixing, mastering, equalisation, noise reduction and more. If you do not have any experience with audio processing, our cloud service offers many solutions to upgrade the quality of your audio and take care of a professional outcome. Our cloud service is focused on delivering high quality results that suit the needs of your project.
A special message to sound engineers
Consider this, as an experienced engineer, why not outsource simple audio editing and processing to our cloud service? It might be cost-efficient and faster if our service can cut the entire live recording into separate songs, sync the files, take care of time consuming basics and deliver them back to you.
Consider the amount of extra work you can do and clients you can serve. Think differently. What if we offered an online marketplace, an online platform, where you can offer your skills and get more clients? Think ahead. How can this benefit your business and how can you integrate the skills you've improved over the years?
We consider that live sound and live music recording are two different things. We do not replace the console nor the sound engineer. While you focus on live sound and make sure the audience and the band have the best experience, Reclouder can be set up easily and operated by anyone to record audio. The production engineer, who prefers the studio over a live mixing console, can take care of post-production from the comfort of the studio.
The survey
We do not have the answer for everything. That is why we value your feedback and opinions highly. The more you share your ideas and experiences with us, the better we can improve our product. That is why we want your feedback to deliver and develop the best service you can imagine. Straight from the cloud. We have conducted a simple survey to get a better understanding of your needs. It will take you way less than 2 minutes to fill in the form and help building the future of audio recording.