The iRocker is a set of tools for guitarists you can load on your iPod. For beginners, iRocker includes a virtual chordbook with 200 chords and fingerings, plus a guide to scales. 5 different chord progressions / riffs are provided for playing along. More useful to most of the readers here, though: iRocker includes a […]

From the Share Skype site comes an interesting application of voice conferencing: getting your band together. As a background, our band Liquid Playground is reuniting and performing for our 10 year college reunion at Princeton in May, but the problem is we haven’t seen or played with each other for 7 years. time heals most […]

That time of year is upon us: two wonderful things, shopping, and receiving toys. So, while I normally start thinking about Christmas after Thanksgiving, I now come to you. Why should you submit your own ideas to CDM’s upcoming holiday gift guide? You’ve seen something cool, and you want to evangelize it to your fellow […]

MIDI Optional, Glowing Green Bars Standard I know what you were thinking during the silent news week as I was on vacation: “if only . . .” If only someone would release a synth based entirely on vacuum and gas-filled tubes. No pretty sine waves, mind you: only saw, square, and square with suboctave. And […]

Work in digital, but dream of tubes? You’re the target audience for the Vacuum Tube Valley Audiophile and Music Expo. Apparently, the fall show just took place in Arcadia, CA, but the spring will bring the tubes to my neck of the woods: North Brunswick, NJ, just outside of New York City. This retro-looking show […]

Sorry, couldn’t resist running that headline. Michael sends us (via Eric at Metasonix) a shot of Robert Rich’s incredible modular synth setup. That’s one eclectic rig, complete with a Butt Probe TX-1 stomp box squeezed in among other gear. And yes, that’s an M-Audio Ozonic keyboard and a PowerBook running Ableton Live, proving that in […]

Nearly 1000 stories and one year after creation, we’re rolling along here at CDM. I’m on a weeklong vacation from major editing duties, though I hope to share an occasional dispatch in the meantime. After I get back November 18, some big developments will be coming here at CDM as we begin work on a […]

Dan Phillips with Korg Research & Development is one of the designers behind Korg’s ultra-premium Korg OASYS keyboard, among many other projects. In addition to getting to design electronic musical instruments for a living, Dan is an electronic singer-songwriter, writer, composer (Fox TV, As the World Turns), consultant (Santana, Emily Bazar), producer, remixer, and even […]

Scoop: CDM has learned that this week Korg will announce a major upgrade to its luxurious flagship musical instrument, the Korg OASYS. The free software upgrade, to be available in December, will enhance the OASYS with support for up to 2 GB of RAM, plus enhanced modulation and navigation. That’s nifty, but here’s the big […]

Electronic musicians can be forgiven for dismissing the Korg OASYS for its sticker price. But this is a keyboard that’s worth a look even if you’re not in the market to buy. Why? It’s a model of sound design, representing the specs Korg’s best had dreamed of for a decade and a half, it’s a […]