At home or on the gig, it's a problem: where do you put all your toys? Most clubs, from avant-garde to hip, don't seem to know what to do with performers who work with laptops and technology. And, then, at home, if you've managed not to alienate your significant other yet, he or she will […]
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Macworld: Cubase vs. Logic vs. DP
There's nothing quite like a 3-way. I reviewed Steinberg Cubase SX 3.01, Apple Logic Pro 7.01, and MOTU Digital Performer 4.52 for Macworld.com; read the complete review and conclusions. Of course, a really fair comparison of all-purpose DAW software would be more like Cubase vs. Logic vs. DP vs. Cakewalk SONAR vs. Ableton Live vs. […]
Musikmesse: Customizable, Modular Mawzer Control Surface
Want to go Sasha one better and customize your own modular control surface for all of your software? The Mawzer gives new meaning to the term plug and play. You start with a simple backplane and plug in various modules such as faders, buttons, and knobs, assign MIDI controls and you're good to go. Even […]
Musikmesse: CG-8 Video Synth Video Footage
Sure, Edirol's fascinating new CG-8 video synthesizer, due in July, costs a whopping US$5295 — enough to make most of you (and us) to lose interest until we find a higher paying job (see our story and follow-up and more follow-up with sticker shock). That doesn't mean that: this gear isn't really cool to dream […]
Sonic Garden: Music from Giant Blobs
How do you get a group of people in Milan to lounge atop, cuddle with, and hump a bunch of soft cone-shaped blobs? Easy: feed a channel of synthetically-generated music to each blob so, as they rock and move, soothing interactive music fills the air. The result, says visitors, ranges from "very comfortable" to "very […]
Lightspace: Disco Dance Floor for Pros
Sure, at MIT building interactive LED-powered disco dance floors is a good way to decorate your dorm and procrastinate. But, Chris O'Shea of pixelsumo reminds me, for the designers at Lightspace, it's serious business. Clearly, the MIT students' DIY project was directly inspired by the Lightspace team that's . . . wait a minute . […]
PSmaX: Mac/Windows Music with PlayStation Controllers
Following up on yesterday's report on using Dance Dance Revolution pads with your computer for music, we've got more on PSmaX from its creator. PSmaX is an applet developed in Max/MSP that lets you hook any PlayStation controller to your Mac or PC via USB. Here's Mike Chames: The input in PSmaX is handled through […]
Analysis: Prototype Numark iPod DJ Mixer
Details have leaked out about a prototype Numark DJ mixer that can mix two iPods. I know what you're thinking: Wow, what a scoop! Where are the lawyers? Is it a fake? In fact, in a gesture of spectacularly poor industrial secrecy, it seems Numark showed off an early prototype at the Musikmesse show in […]
Numark 5000FX: Tricked-out 5-channel Mixer
Okay, hard-core DJs disappointed by Numark's new iPod DJ prototype: Numark isn't just about Pod-weilding newbies. They've got the tricked-out mixer for the die-hard in you, too. The new 5000FX, also shown at Musikmesse, is an analog-digital hybrid: 5-channel analog mixing meets digital effects and sampling: 35-second sampler Trigger, loop, pitch-bend, crossfade, reverse your sounds […]
What Could You Do With Numark’s iPod Mixer?
What could you do with Numark's prototype iPod mixer, if it were actually built? (photo nabbed by German site WebBeatz) Here are some ideas: Charge and load: With dock connectors, you could power your iPod through the night Sample, scratch: Numark's use of short-length samplers (as on the shipping 5000FX) will demand new chops for […]