How would you sell guitar amp and effects software? In the fall, we watched IK Multimedia resort to the usual, sexist approach: hire a supermodel and make some pun on amp “modeling.” Native Instruments is taking a different approach, showing different ways conventional amps can kill you. Not since the Spinal Tap drummers has on-screen […]

Geeky, powerful (if tricky to master), free — it’s Csound 5. This audio program, which can trace its lineage directly to the first ever digital audio synthesis tool, doesn’t get major upgrades that often. So the just-released version 5 upgrade is big news, if nothing else because it makes Csound interoperable with lots of other […]

I’m sad to report that composer and artist Nam June Paik died Sunday evening January 29 at his home in Miami. The funeral will be this Friday here in New York; information at the Nam June Paik Website. Contributions can be sent to Electronic Arts Intermix, the nonprofit arts organization devoted to digital art and […]

Okay, Sony PSP owners: get ready to make still more noise. We’ve just seen another major release for the superb PSP Rhythm 3 drum machine. Now, get ready for a PSP sequencer: PSP Seq Ver 0.00 has begun development with basic sequencing functionality all in place. Features are bare-bones — song and sound design functionality […]

Like many, I’ve been eagerly anticipating trying the ultra-compact Faderfox “micromodul” controllers. They’re small enough to fit over the QWERTY keyboard on a laptop or to be propped atop a music keyboard, and are specially designed for applications like Ableton Live and Traktor DJ. With multi-function triggers, joysticks, and cross-faders on top of the usual […]

. . . well, at least they do thanks to the magical powers of special effects in online videos. Last summer, we saw Spin, a short film in which a DJ had to weigh the power of life and death. Now, in a film that’s less ambitious metaphysically but more so visually, a DJ appears […]

Children and young adults were everywhere at the NAMM show. They ranged from musically-inclined tots like the one shown here to teenage musical stars. And in addition to teaching musicianship and musical creativity, there’s a new emphasis on teaching them technology. Here’s a quick look at the latest efforts to bring music to a new […]

Got too much time on your hands on this lazy Monday? Head over to Nintendo news-site 4 Color Rebellion: Super Mario Bros. Super Synth! And play with the Super Mario Bros. Super Synth! A collection of samples from the classic NES title, this will either make your office-mates laugh, cry, or go completely insane. Enjoy! […]

In the ongoing quest for sounds from the hearts of space for use as digital music sources, I give you NASA’s SuitSat. The crew of the International Space Station has equipped the Russian Orlan spacesuit with batteries, a radio transmitter, and sensors; it’ll transmit power and temperature info Earthward. To pick it up, you just […]

USB has arrived in the sound world. Just ask Neutrik. For those of you not in the know, Neutrik is the major manufacturer of sound connectors. Their brilliant XLR/TRS combination jack, finally allowing you to swap mic and guitar/line cables in a single jack, is so popular that most people call it simply a “Neutrik” […]