Check out what’s new at Ableton’s site while CDM’s exclusive story gets ready. But here’s the short of it: public beta, July 2005 release, MP3 support, tons of new features for remixing, working, and performing.

Live 5 is here, with a huge list of new features. If MIDI made a big splash with Live 4, Live 5 could be even bigger. Aside from two things you begged them to add (MP3 support and an Arpeggiator, there’s plenty you probably didn’t expect. The short list: pro DAW features like freeze and […]

Here’s the idea: a remix/mash-up artist collects a bunch of MP3s. (Hopefully Creative Commons for legal reasons, but I digress.) An app instantly locates all those files. She types the first few letters to find a file, drops the file into a program, and it instantly beat-matches the song. Only one app really fits that […]

With the Moog movie DVD out (review this week), Moog soundtrack (review this week), Moogfest tonight here in NYC (see you there), Theremin festival later this summer, Moog books, Moog t-shirts, Moog action figures . . . it’s only right that this week be declared Moog week (rhymes with brogue or vogue, NOT the sound […]

What price wireless? Sadly, EUR800. Building custom interfaces with sensors and custom controllers should bring maximum flexibility and freedom — but then come all those nasty wires you’re tethered to. The WiSe Box has the specs interactive artists have dreamed of for years: totally wireless, works via Wi-Fi, ultra-light, ultra-portable, powered by batteries, runs via […]

Macworld Conference & Expo in Boston (July 11-14) is looking like it’ll be a big event for Mac musicians. Here’s the lineup: Three workshops by yours truly: free on the showfloor, an all-inclusive Mac music intro, plus user conference workshops on live performance / DJing and graduating from GarageBand to Logic Users conference track on […]

Cycling ‘74 offered a glimpse into digital music’s future last night at the San Francisco Apple Store, with one of the first public appearances of the JazzMutant Lemur programmable touchscreen controller working in concert with its software editor. Unlike conventional touchscreen tablets, the Lemur can support multiple simultaneous finger taps, making it, at least theoretically, […]

You’ve got them for cell phones, so why not DJ mixers, too? Skratchworx gets the scoop on a new set of custom faceplates created by one of their readers for the tres plain-jane Rane 56. They’re scratch-resistant — that’s the kind of scratches that mar your custom faceplate, not the thing you do to records. […]

How many people’s resumes include both a gig with the Phillip Glass Ensemble and posing nude for Marie Claire? An evening with new music virtuoso Kathleen Supové is not what most people expect from a solo piano recital. Her show this week finds her flanked by laptops, plus three projectors running childhood slides, live digital […]

It’s hard to get solid information, but a storm appears to be brewing on KVR Audio. The developer of Wusikstation is allegedly calling it quits — a combination of business and personal reasons, and sales lost to warez. That’s led to an unprecedented solution for some of the users: band together and try to acquire […]