Two programs are leading the computer’s charge into the DJ booth. Ableton Live is the non-traditional approach, embraced by electronic musicians and DJs wanting the power to tinker with their beats as they go. Native Instruments’ Traktor DJ remains the choice of traditionalists. Yesterday, Traktor got a major update — it’s all-about beat-synced effects, hardware […]

Those of us reviewing products know that readers aren’t just looking to our reviews for advice. You’re digging through the user forums, too. Usually, we don’t get to talk to each other, readers and writers. Harmony Central is trying a new experimental format that does just that, with one of the hottest releases of the […]

If you missed the evolving Dorkbot event in May, you missed some fantastic flourescent light bulb performance and djing with human bodies as electrical swithces. (The former I’ve heard done by a different artist; beautiful, wild sounds.) You’ve got a second chance: Dorkbot is due again on the 2nd of October with bending circuits apparently […]

The cel-shaded effect hipness from the gang at AudioDamage continues. First, the $39 Dubstation. (See previous coverage.) Now, an update to Fuzz+, a free fuzz box. What’s good here: simple controls (sigh of relief), and a bypass switch you can automate so you can use it stompbox style: FuzzPlus 2 [Audio Damage, VST] Music thing […]

The PSP 608 reduces other multi-tap delays to tears. 24-bit, 192 kHz, of course, but check the specs: feedback, stereo image and position, delay time, multimode filter, modulation, drive/tape saturation, and reverb for each individual tap. There’s a full-featured LFO and envelope follower for modulation, and with MIDI control of each parameter, yes, you could […]

If you have to ask, you probably don’t need it. But if you’re a hardcore audio engineer, odds are you already love SpectraFoo for its insanely powerful metering and analysis options. And you may still be booting an old PowerBook into Mac OS 9 just to run it, because SpectraFoo — until last week — […]

Here’s a truly “retro” device from the folks at Moog — the PianoBar is a device that retrofits your acoustic piano as a MIDI instrument, without the nasty installation process that usually entails. The device is actually the brainchild of synth legend Don Buchla, not Bob Moog as you might assume. The design is relatively […]

Hey kids, know what time it is? It’s Moog time — and that means it’s time to put tacky, geeky wall clocks with glowing blue neon on your wall. Truly kitschy enough that I might be willing to part with US$219. Moog Music Wall Clock Check out the Moogwear section of the site for still […]

Nintendo has done it again with its wireless control for the upcoming Revolution console: it’s a design that’s different, exciting, and, well, potentially confusing at the same time. I’ll steer clear of what this means for gaming, but it does show some clear promise as a glimpse of the future of digital musical instruments: Wireless: […]

Pointing and hand gestures: they’re powerful means of interracting, and make sense for music. The only problem is having to be tied to a desk in a performance, as with a mouse. Nintendo’s upcoming controller shows promise for what interractions could be like in the not-too-distant future (if other tech companies follow their lead). But […]