A USB-powered ukulele: strange, you say? Believe it, thanks to the technology from the Brian Moore iGuitar. The iUke ukulele built by Brian Moore for Mac maven Andy Ihnatko is making its rounds on the Web (Boing Boing), but here are some details, just to clarify: It’s audio-only. USB on this device only carries audio […]
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Not-Ready-For-Primetime Music Interfaces: Episode 11,987
Thanks to readers asger, Fer, and Joel/Warpedeye, who send us the latest experimentation in musical instrument controllers. They don’t quite look like the Next Big Thing — but sometimes oddities are just as interesting. First up is The (Untitled) Box which “should theoretically eliminate the keyboard and mouse dance party” for running audio and video. […]
Wusikstation 2.0 Windows Super Soft Synth: I Love the 80s
Soft synth overload: it’s a debilitating syndrome where people wander around, unable to recognize loved ones, glazed eyes, muttering incoherently “VST . . . Native Kontraktimpakgutoek. . . polyphony . . . sampledgigabee…..” etc. So, let’s cut to the chase: big sample-playback synth, user skinnable and customizable, and (B3 organ aside) lots of great 80s-digital […]
DITNB: Ambiencello, Gamelan, Electronica, and More Great Online Music
We welcome back Cris atariboy Pearson, the Melbourne-based musician and plasq developer/artist, for another installment of Dithered is The New Black. He’ll be checking in weekly with great independent music, much of it free, for taking your playlists to new places: Hey all. Welcome back to the second edition for this new column. Thanks for […]
Music + Activism: African Artists Team Up for Sudan
Online music not only offers new opportunities for spreading new independent music, but new music activism as well. I’m really excited to have the chance to pass along this email; some of my favorite Afrobeat artists involved here. Politics aside, it’s music I personally enjoy more than a lot of the Live8 stuff. And getting […]
CDM on the Road in Boston!
Now off on my whirlwind travels, including a day in Boston at Macworld Expo. For a glimpse of bloggers complaining about how boring the show is, see TUAW. But say hi if you’re at my session! More on the iUke and other things if I can post . . . then boatloads of content stacked […]
Thereminy Game Scores: Destroy All Humans!
Composer Gary Schyman has a rich, tongue-in-cheek score for the Xbox/PS2 game Destroy All Monsters; his homage to classic scores like The Day The Earth Stood Still earns him an interview on NPR: Schyman on Weekend Edition Plenty of tracks to download; via Theremin World, where you can find reviews, more links, and more sounds […]
Plug in Your Turntable: USB and Preamp from ART
Who doesn’t have a kink for vinyl? If you’re plugging in a turntable, you’re going to want to amplify it properly. Unless you want a $500 tube amp, something like the US$60 ART DJ Pre II should fit the bill. Aside from the new name (its predecessor was called the “Phono MicroPRE” but I guess […]
Music From Flashlights: RGB
Could that Maxlite at your side be a musical instrument in disguise? With up to 9 audience participants, viewers of the RGB project can control sound and visuals using colored flashlights, in a performance installation by Tomas Dvorak (CZ), Alessandro Capozzo (IT) and Matous Godik (CZ). The team used the free PC-only software EyesWeb, passing […]
Cubase SX/SL 3.1: Hardware Integration, Dolby, Pro Features
Want proof that you can’t keep on top of which DAW is best? Updates are now nearly round-the-clock, and point-one updates can bring serious features. Hot on the heels of MOTU’s free 4.6 upgrade to DP, Steinberg has over 50 new features in Cubase SL/SX 3.1, coming as a free download in August. Some of […]