This wins the comment of the week: velocipede (via AdamJay) points us to a thread benchmarking Ableton Live 5, in which the first Intel Mac benchmarks are coming in: Live 5 Performance Test [Info, downloadable benchmark at Ableton forums] Core Duo iMacs (scroll down and look for the words “Intel” and “Mac OS X” in […]

Apple continues to replace their products’ CPUs with new Intel processors, today unveiling Mac minis powered by the Intel Core Solo and Core Duo. (See product page, full specs from Apple.) Especially given the price, these look like they’ll be great machines for music production, at least once the software catches up. You won’t want […]

Music software is expensive, I know. So I’m not surprised when I talk to lots of people who haven’t upgraded to the latest and greatest version, or are still running light versions of their software. If you’re not running the latest version of Ableton Live — either an old full version prior to Live 5, […]

Digidesign has promised Intel Mac versions of Pro Tools LE and M-Powered by May. Naturally, they’ll be testing that software, and last week sent out a call for testers of the new release. [via]Note that this is LE and M-Powered only, because Apple hasn’t yet shipped Intel Macs with the PCI slots required by TDM/HD […]

Audio developer and blog personality Chris Randall at Analog Industries has acquired a Wayfar MidiNES cartridge. This gem is a genuine 8-bit NES cartridge that converts your Nintendo game system into a MIDI device so you can sequence it, control it with other devices (with some work), etc. Chris is blogging the results: he’s got […]

When the Web isn’t sucking away your time with utter silliness, it could be helping you brush up your musical chops. Here’s a roundup of useful resources, all of them completely free, for a variety of skill levels, whether you’re trying to learn to play with half-diminished chords or build yourself a DIY drum trigger […]

Being an electronic musician is doubly challenging — on top of learning musical skills, the technology is basically an instrument to be learned. Regular CDM tipster Michael Weeks has put together what has to be the most condensed guide to synthesizer programming I’ve ever seen. Beginners, if you aren’t quite ready to dive into a […]

Okay, Ableton lovers, Berlin has been busy again: Live 5.2 is in beta now, with a final version set to ship next month, including bugfixes and Mac Intel support. Around the corner, Live 6 is due in the third quarter of the year, with improvements Windows users will care about, too. Here’s a look at […]

Okay, imagine the simplest possible multitrack audio tool. Drag and drop audio files from an integrated browser, and add envelopes. Now imagine this tool free and open-source: Gungirl Sequencer At version 0.3, so your mileage may vary, but could be a fun tool to have around — or the beginning of your very own audio […]

Stage piano. That usually means one thing: back-breaking pain. If you want 88 keys but don’t want a keyboard that weighs 50 or 65 pounds, your choices are generally limited. This week, you have one more choice: M-Audio’s new ProKeys 88sx keyboard. It’s semi-weighted, since full hammer action would add weight, but it still feels […]