Music
In music video, Lebanese duo Rust captures emotions of “Diaspora”
Music October 11, 2024
Go support these Lebanese releases on Bandcamp
Music October 4, 2024
Asheville and southeast USA, we’re thinking of you
Music Music tech September 30, 2024
One-Man Blog Bands, Webcam Tours, and Getting That Big Break on the Interweb
In 2001, everyone wanted to get rich on the Web. In 2006, everyone wants to be a rock star. There’s a musical gold rush now, filled with tales of artists who have made it big through non-traditional, online promotion, like the perpetually-hyped MySpace success story Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The challenge: separate real potential […]
Happy Birthday, Bob Moog: Rudess + Lainhart Space Jam on Moogs New, Old, and Virtual
Dr. Robert Moog would have had his 72nd birthday today, May 23. There are plenty of words you can say about him on this occasion, but why use words when you can use music? Richard Lainhart is kind enough to share one of his Space Jams with Jordan Rudess: I’ve attached an MP3 of the […]
DIY Day: Mac MIDI-Controlled Roombas
To round out this edition of DIY Day, we close with the final proof that MIDI has been used to control absolutely every technology in the known universe: RoombaMIDI: Roomba as MIDI Instrument Scoff, you might. Sure, the Roomba lacks a certain . . . well . . . expressiveness. But that probably means you […]
DIY Day: Coming Soon, MAKE’s Controller Kit
Want a truly powerful device for interfacing with motors, sensors, lights, and more? CDM’s assistant editor and Web ninja Jaymis Loveday and I are both excited about the upcoming MAKE Controller Kit, built by MakingThings (of Teleo fame). MAKE has started taking preorders, and shipping should start in a few weeks. You might want to […]
DIY Day: x0xb0x 303 Clone Chat, and an Open Source Musical Hardware Future
From South by Southwest comes an interesting chat with DIY synth x0xb0x (and MIDIsense) creator Limor Fried: Open Source Physical Objects: Limor Fried and her x0xb0x Synthesizer As someone in comments notes, the idea of selling DIY kits for devices like synthesizers is an old one. But that idea has fallen by the wayside in […]
DIY Day: Create USB Interface, $50 Sensor-to-USB Board
While we’re on the subject of making your own custom musical/visual interfaces, none other than a college friend of mine, Jesse Mejia, has a tip on a great starter board that fills the non-MIDI niche nicely: I’m not sure if you’re working with sensors much these days, or what you may be using to interface […]
DIY Day: Sensors-to-MIDI with the MIDIsense Board
Ready to experiment with sensors for musical (or visual) control, but just want some simple MIDI control so you can use your existing software? An inexpensive, simple, solid option is the MIDIsense board created by Limor Fried (aka Lady Ada), which Limor announced publicly this weekend as a kit. (Some of you already know Limor […]
