Pro Digital Recorders with SMPTE Sync for Video Production

Portable digital recording is great — import is as simple as dragging files to your hard drive, they’re mobile, they’re non-linear, and they write to increasingly cheap storage formats like CompactFlash. But what about synchronization for video applications? I have found one portable field recorder that’s CompactFlash-based, records up to 192kHz, and optionally can be […]

Korg Kaptivator VJ Video Sampler Unveiled; Hands-on Impressions

Korg has formally unveiled the Korg Kaptivator, as seen here on CDM

Useful Widgets Pt. III: Konfabulator (Mac/Win) Strikes Back

So, your appetite for musically-useful widgets to run on Dashboard (OS X Tiger only) and Konfabulator (Mac/Windows) still isn’t satisfied? Fear not: Adrian Anders writes in with four more, all for Konfabulator — so Windows users aren’t left out of the fun. (All these widgets are cross-platform.) Guitar Tuner: Nice graphics and both standard and […]

Useful Widgets Pt. IV: More Mac Widgets for Musicians

The musical widget madness continues. powermac99 from iCompositions points out his Dashboard Widgets site. Like Apple’s, it’s beautifully organized and easy to navigate — too bad Konfabulator’s site is overwhelming. (Maybe that’ll change with Yahoo.) I’ve been hunting around that site finding still more widgets: CountBPM is my favorite BPM counter yet: click or keyboard […]

Korg D3200 Digital Recording Studio: Enter the Knob Matrix

Thought the hardware recording workstation went out with the 90s, along with the Spice Girls? Think again. Hot on the heels of new hardware workstations from Yamaha, Korg’s got a new workstation of its own: Korg D3200 Digital Recording Studio And I have to admit, this thing is actually pretty hot. (The D3200, not Ginger […]

Working Paper Organ and other Papercraft

Various links to papercraft construction projects: The best so far is a working paper organ, complete with bellows and punch-tape scores. (Description | Purchase Info) MusicThing has a full discussion including links to other paper kit instruments, a number of them free. And Paper Forest is a new blog devoted to construction out of paper. […]

Walkman Sequencer: Tape + Homebrew Sequencer + Nintendo Game Boy

Master chip musician Gijs Gieskes has outdone himself this time: his second Walkman tape sequencer controls the Game Boy music cartridge LSDJ via various knobs and circuitry. His typography is utterly mysterious (in other words, completely illegible), so here’s my translation: It has got LSDJ sync, because it uses gwems lsdj pitch control as master […]

Music with Force Feedback: Tremor Vibrating Sleeve

Régine at WWMNA points to Tremor, a “tactile music sleeve is a piece of clubwear that allows the user to ‘feel’ the music that is being played in the club.” Supposedly helpful to those with hearing difficulties. Hmm . . . not sure which club you’ve been going to, but one generally finds you can […]

Interactive Music Tracks Fish Movement

Here’s a twist on interactive aquatic music: how about letting the fish be the music-makers? BBC News reports that digital artist Julie Freeman has created an installation out of a fish tank, installed in a silo at the Tingrith Fishery in Bedfordshire, southern England. Surgically-implanted radio tags track the movement of the fish, which generates […]

Musical Desks at Work: Lexus Helps Workforce Trip

So you’ve been reading ths site long enough to see lots of interactive tables — alternative musical interfaces that involve moving blocks around a surface. But what practical use would this ever have, you say? Clearly, outfitting the workplace of the future — or at least so says Lexus to its designers, which is equipping […]