Drumming for Katrina Victims: $25 “New Orleans Strut” Loops for Habitat

Musicians continue to band together for the victims of Katrina in the New Orleans area and Mississippi. For just $25, you can get 100% of your money to Habitat for Humanity for rebuilding homes, and get an amazing library of drum loop samples from some of America’s drumming masters to lift your musical spirits: Spectrasonics […]

CD Baby: Independent Artists for Red Cross

Another fundraiser for victims of Katrina, by way of our friend David Battino at O’Reilly Digital Media: CD Baby: 100% of Profits to Red Cross Thousands of artists are participating, and CD Baby is certainly an outfit I trust. We at CDM always advocate supporting independent music, so I certainly can’t resist pointing this one […]

Ars Electronica Roundup: Futuristic Tech in Linz

Ars Electronica is one the premiere events of the interactive tech world, and this year was apparently no exception. Good luck deciphering the stream-of-consciousness blog entries on the festival, though; I sure can’t. I’ve tried to pull some of the best references here (via a wiki of weblog action: Ars Electronica Review [pieceofplastic.com] Ars Electronica […]

ICMC: Photos from Computer Music Conference

Chris O’Shea is back from the ICMC . (That’s the International Computer Music Conference in Barcelona, not to be confused with the International Catholic Migration Commision.) It’s a huge summit for computer music gurus, with an emphasis this year on “free sound,” open source, and plenty of new experimental interfaces. Hope to have more from […]

Gameboy Music with LSDJ: Workshops, Tips, Photos, MP3s

Gameboy guru Gijs Geikes rocks LSDJ with workshop participants, and even the mysterious interface of this tracker-style instrument for Nintendo systems can capture audiences’ imagination. Gijs has just posted some photos of his workshops in action, complete with sample MP3s and (best of all) some great tips for making sounds with LSDJ. Click the “Instruments” […]

ROKR, Nano, and Why Apple Will Rule the Music Industry

By now, I’m sure you’ve read enough about Apple’s new iPod Nano, Motorola’s iTunes-based ROKR phone, and the new iTunes. If not, my colleagues over at Macworld have some of the most in-depth coverage around. But consider this: over the last few months, we’ve seen pundits predict that the public will cool to iPod while […]

Korg’s Digital Legacy: Wavestation, M1 in Software Form

Korg’s previous Legacy Collection unearthed some of the music electronics giant’s back catalog in analog synths. But for many of us, Korg nostalgia means the M1 and Wavestation synths. The new Korg Legacy Collection Digital Edition brings back those very synths, at a price that’s more than competitive with buying the original off eBay. US$199 […]

iPod Nano Still Not a Recorder; Portable Recording Alternatives [Updated]

Yet another iPod . . . yet another iPod without real recording capability. (And no, adding a piece of hardware and then having to deal with low-resolution recording does not count.) So while Nano is certainly deeply drool-worthy for listening, wouldn’t it be great to have an iPod-like device for recording? Here are some of […]

Podcast Roundup: Interviews, Tutorials, Music Online

Want something to put on your sexy new iPod other than Madonna tunes? Podcasting continues to grow into a rich, independent channel of music, and a useful source of information for digital musicians. Here are a few recent favorites: Auxar is a netlabel cum blog cum podcast, filled with dark, digital electronic music. And while […]

SONAR 5: Windows Audio App Adds Synths, Reverb, Features

Hear that? It’s the first shots fired in yet another round of Mega DAW Upgrades, this time from our friends at Cakewalk. The banner headline is lots of new synths — not quite on the level of Logic Pro, but still nice to have. And there are plenty of time-saving little features in there, too, […]