Okay, I’m behind on Steinberg. But the summer lineup from them is just making me yawn, I’m afraid: Steinberg Studio Case II: Status: just announced. US$299, Windows/Mac September, watered-down versions of everything Steinberg makes. For entry level users, this could be a decent deal: Reason, by comparison, costs $450 and has a lousy sequencer and […]

The music blogosphere is starting to really pick up here, so I’m going to have to start to just link instead of ramble about every single item. (Anyone got a suggestion for a better name? Wait, maybe significant others?) Here’s what’s hot: Many cool and bizarre circuit-bent creations on eBay, including a whacked-out video synth […]

Ah, the cowbell skit / Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult parody from Saturday Night Live. (see also text transcript) Like other viral Internet phenomena (see also: All Your Base Are Belong to Us), it’s funny and it spread. If you’ve had your head in a hole since the year 2000 (that’s where I keep […]

One audio app at once? Never enough, right? I’m working on a new tutorial with tips for setting up some typical ReWire scenarios. (For the unitiated, ReWire is a technology developed by Propellerhead for connecting multiple audio apps. Run a master app first, then launch the slave app, and the master should control transports while […]

Got EUR2499 burning a whole in your pocket, eh? Maybe you’re an eccentric hardware synth lover, who made your unspendable fortune on . . . oh, I don’t know . . . genetic engineering or artificial intelligence. Maybe you can both appreciate and afford Jürgen Michaelis’ new synth, the Resonator Neuronium. There are certainly things […]

“The dream of a violin that can play itself has tantalized inventors for over a century.” Well . . . mad scientist inventors, maybe, along with dreams of self-cleaning carrots and ironing boards that can go into battle. Nonetheless, here it is: I give you the Gulbransen Virtuoso Violin, a QRS Pianomation Player Violin. Put […]

There are times when I can say something wittier than the manufacturer’s ad copy. This is NOT one of those times: The Bottle Organ is a real showstopper! It plays by blowing across the tops of real beer bottles, which are permanently tuned. And the music is so lovable! Driven by contemporary MIDI technology, the […]

I’m pleased to announce a new feature here on CDM, linking the site to the UK-based print publication Computer Music. Create Digital Music Downsampled will be a new monthly feature in the print version of Computer Music, each month featuring a major theme I’ve covered here on createdigitalmusic.com. The topics come straight out of CDM, […]

Introducing Downsampled: in conjunction with Computer Music Magazine (UK), CDM will look monthly at an overview of a hot topic on the site. First up: next-generation gaming and music. Here’s a roundup of just some of the relevant stories on CDM. Nintendo markets music-making as game: Start your own Wi-Fi Nintendo Band with the Nintendo […]

Legendary game developer Jeff Minter, the Llamasoft founder behind vintage classics like Tempest 2k, has had musical visualizers on the brain for some time. Now, he wants to take “retina-searing” visuals with music to the next left with Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 console. His latest light synth, Neon, will even be bundled with the machine. […]