The Lemur multi-touch touchscreen controller is the rare kind of product that breaks entirely from convention, raising fundamental questions about how we make music. It’s comforting in a way, then, to see disagreement about just how well the finished product works. After over a year of buzz, detailed in-practice reviews of the Lemur are emerging, […]

I have to point this one out in case you missed it: none other than George Massenburg chimes in on CDM’s comments on the new Focusrite Liquid Channel (click through to comments on that story for context): Not sure everyone knows that although digital emulators are quite competent at some chores, others, such as comprehensive […]

The Novation Remote SL keyboard has been intriguing since it was first announced way back in October: imagine a keyboard/control surface that automatically displayed what you were doing on LCDs, and assigned its copious knobs and faders to useful functions. Now, it finally seems to be shipping, and while CDM broke the story that it […]

Cakewalk’s been busy: a free update to SONAR with 64-bit audio and 64-bit CPU support for VST plug-ins, among other features, and plenty of other goodness from Messe. And yes, you’ll be running 64-bit VST plug-ins — and/or taking advantage of your 64-bit CPU and Windows OS — on Cakewalk’s DAW before Steinberg’s. Details after […]

Windows Vista has been delayed to early 2007, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find Windows pro audio users who care. For me, the delays in Vista send a pretty clear message to PC audio users: go ahead and upgrade your machine now, rather than waiting for Microsoft. Get the PC you want, and take advantage […]

If you’re like me, your head is about to explode from iPod overload. Can you still find something about a new iPod DJ mixer to love? Maybe: this one lets you connect other players and USB storage and scratch, change pitch, and loop. It might even appeal as a portable scratcher/sampler. And you can use […]

Native Instruments KORE is a new product a lot of us can’t wait to get our hands on. By providing a unified interface for working with soft synths and effects, KORE promises to create a whole new product category: it’s a universal catalog for all your sounds, a universal host, a universal control mechanism for […]

DJ Eldorado and Liz Dreisacker are sending dispatches from the massive dance music festival WMC in Miami. With expanding use of live visuals and laptop music, this mainstream music party is surprisingly in tune with the CDM wavelength. I’m sorry I missed Richie Hawtin tearing into Ableton Live. Here’s Liz. -Ed. Pictured: the Hot Hot […]

“This is all going to be software,” said a Focusrite rep at an AES show in 2004, as he gestured at racks of Focusrite’s beloved racks of audio gear. (Needless to say, that was not on the record.) While not everything can be digital — you’ll still need to get sound into the digital realm, […]

Think you know everything about Moog’s new synth? Think again: surprises like a version that could sell for as little as US$1000 are just the kind of surprises we like to hear. CDM’s Lee Sherman has known some of these details for a while but couldn’t tell any of us (even here at CDM); now […]