Are you anxiously awaiting the death of the 5-pin DIN MIDI cable? This dinosaur used by standard MIDI equipment was already retro when it was introduced for music in 1985, but there’s nothing quite as powerful as the status quo. (Besides, we’ve seen jitter and other problems on some USB and FireWire MIDI devices, so […]

Regine reports from Cybersonica on a “manual input” method for controlling sound and image — no, really “manual,” as in hands — on Near Near Future. Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman have developed a system that analyzes hand movements above an overhead projector. Projected imagery combines the direct output of the overhead (i.e., they shine […]

Gyms and sports clubs: they stock up on gear so you don’t have to. Pay a membership fee, show up, use their stuff, leave. No wonder the idea is popular in New York, where our apartments barely fit “luxuries” like, you know, beds. Now the idea is coming to music making, says Remix Transmissions. Yes, […]

Cycling 74’sMax/MSP and Jitter offer awesome power for developing interactive multimedia, but building everything from scratch can get time-consuming fast. Part of the draw of reusable objects is the ability to incorporate time-saving pre-built tools rather than reinventing the wheel with each new project. That’s the idea behind the insanely-cool bundle of Max goodies, Electrotap’s […]

We continue our look at studios we wish we had by going to . . . Branson, Missouri?! Yes, Branson is now home of the elegant Citywalk Studios. Here’s the good news: you can find out just about everything you need to learn about acoustic treatment from the Auralex website; Citywalk’s builders made use of […]

If you’re DJing, pray that you’ll wind up gigging at Ministry of Sound London. The place is loaded with Allen & Heath’s Xone DJ gear line. Aside from the rotary Xone:V6 mixer, laptop DJs can opt for the MIDI-enabled Xone:92. Evidence that some DJs need to brush up on their Audio Processing 101: MoS head […]

If you want your fans to be able to remix, mash, and recreate your music, you could adopt new remix-friendly digital distribution formats, or even give people your work as a GarageBand file. Of course, for maximum flexibility there’s a centuries-old technology that’s even better: notation. Using Sibelius, the Pat Metheny Group has put its […]

No, not that kind of playmate. (Sorry.) The killer feature of Alesis’ new PlayMate Guitarist is (really!) a CD player: pop in a CD of music and you can change the tempo without affecting pitch. Throw in 80 guitar effects and a helping of I/O, and this definitely makes a cool gadget bag addition for […]

Guitars may be more portable than, say, a concert harp, but can you fit them under an airplane seat? Sure you can, if you’re lucky enough to own one of the 15 Chrysalis Guitars in the world. The instruments, developed by ex-biologist Tim White starting in the early 80s, actually inflate (as in, you blow […]

I use Lego metaphors all the time here on CDM, but why not make music with Legos? Aside from the cool Lego-created DJ shown at right, there are various DIY projects involving Legos. (Thanks for the pic, Elle!) Most impressive is the Lego-based CD changer, constructed from Mindworks kits to shuffle CDs. Sure, it’s basically […]