Dude, Wanna Hear my GarageBand Loops Song?

Thursday rant time: It’s time to get over loops, stop generalizing about music technology, and find the record button. Poor GarageBand. Loops can be a fantastic tool, a way of sketching out ideas, having virtual instrumentalists with which to practice your chops, or remixed into something truly original, and they’re useful to beginners and pros […]

Messe Winners and Losers: International Press Pick their Fave Gear

I’d like to thank the Academy . . . Yes, it’s that time of year when the entire global music press put their heads together to pick their favorite products. It’s a bit like an Editor’s Choice, only with all the editors. The results sometimes lack nuance, and I wouldn’t take them as product advice, […]

Last Call for CodeWarrior, Max/MSP Externals and Xcode

Max/MSP and Xcode, correction: Okay, while it might be handy to have a copy of CodeWarrior around, I’m happy to say I was wrong about developing externals. Despite what the PDF documentation says in the Max/MSP SDK, you can now develop Mac externals using Xcode. Check out the new documentation, posted by David Zicarelli. I’ll […]

Dual-Boot Windows on Apple Hardware, Run Music Apps?

In a stunning official April Fool’s joke, Apple announced that . . . Wait. Scratch that. Apple actually is running Windows XP on its Intel Macs. Just in case this is the only site on the Interweb you read, Apple’s new Boot Camp technology is available for download as a public beta and will be […]

Will KORE Really Become a Universal Sound Platform?

Native Instruments’ bold claims that KORE is “the worldÃÅ’s first Universal Sound Platform” continue to earn skepticism from some parties online. But even with over a month to go before KORE’s release, there are some indications of how KORE might evolve. Here’s CDM’s current outlook on the situation:

Messe: Hardware vs. Software Instruments, Redux

Oh, boy! It’s my favorite topic: whether hardware or software instruments are “better.” Ugh. Anyway, another month, another trade show, another round of new products that attempt to blur the lines. Let’s see how they’re doing: Shown: Mystery synthesist from Synthfool

Dualing Reviews of Lemur Multi-Touch Control Surface

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, […]

Digital Compressor Emulations: Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing?

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 […]

Messe: Novation’s Automapping Keyboard, Remote SL, Now Available

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 […]

Messe: Cakewalk SONAR Brings 64-bit VST; More Cakewalk Bits

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 […]