Tokyoplastic’s Flash animations have won them widespread acclaim, including a Sundance Online award for their film drummachine. Their animation is hip, sexy, and centers around fabulous sound design with dramatic musical cues. Don’t miss the drum machine in particular — because nothing can compare with watching someone use their head as a mallet. To find […]

MAKE:blog reports on a build-your-own synth project that could be just advanced enough to be interesting, just simple enough that you’ll get through it without a disaster: Sound Lab Mini-Synth [Music from outer space] Looks perfect — a simple but capable design. And if for some bizarre reason this is too easy for you, you […]

Christopher Scheidel has been hard at work cleaning up his sophisticated Apple Logic Pro Environment template, which he uses to manage his guitar + keyboard + Mac Mini rig while performing. He’s been nice enough to share it with us: Logic template [Download] See Christopher’s site for further information. He promises more soon, including a […]

A USB audio interface these days is about as exciting as a pair of knee socks, and unlike the latter, you don’t really need multiples. But this particular box is actually interesting. Trio USB [Mindprint] First, the Trio delivers all the hardware effects you’d need in a channel strip: mic inputs, low-cut filter, “vintage” 2-band […]

Régine of Near Near Future has some more interactive strings, along the lines of last week’s laser harp: Interactive strings (Cellists out there are probably wondering why the idea of “interactive strings” is new. Well, clearly you don’t und. . . um . . . okay, you’ve got me.) Anyway, this stuff is big business. […]

MusicPlayer Live is coming to NYC, headlined by no less than the inventor of the solidbody electric guitar, Les Paul: Music Player Live Conference [Music Player] The event is quite a convergence: aside from seminars by writers for Music Player publications (like yours truly, on behalf of Keyboard), there will be the usual music tech […]

For some of the most bizarre and unusual music-sound installation art, look no further than Burning Man. Burning, indeed: this desert-based event has in the past featured Eric Singer’s Max/MSP-controlled pyrophone, a propane-powered flaming sound organ. (And, incidentally, that installation is making a repeat appearance this year.) And what better activity when in the middle […]

Tom Wilburn continues to document music-making using a Nintendo DS and Nintendo’s bizarre game, ElectroPlankton. Since we last checked in with him, he’s gotten further content up, plus an evolving table-of-contents. Composing with ElectroPlankton: Table of Contents [Mile Zero] There’s just one hitch: it’d be great to get audio into the Nintendo DS via a […]

Don’t wait for M-Audio to create the controller of your dreams. DIY. Of all places, some railfans (yes, that’s as in railroads, trains, you know, choo-choos) are giving us some great resources: USB train controller ReDAC USB voltage – to – I/O Full-size train control cab Custom, programmable keyboards and other USB inputs Connect a […]

Just received a dispatch from the good folks of Res on last month’s Optronica show in London, which mixed visuals and sound in a blowout featuring visual acts, live A/V, cinema, VJs, and DJs from around the world. Oh yes, and everyone’s favorite large screen — IMAX. (See previous report). Video clips of the artists: […]