plasq and Granted Software Join Forces

One of our favorite developers, Granted Software, has joined up with another of our favorite developers, plasq. Granted is the developer of apps like Rax, a terrific AU host, Still Life, a cool program for creating custom moving slide shows, Midiclock MIDI synchronizer, an experimental LAN-based MIDI app called iMIDI, and ReVision, a ReWire QuickTime […]

Musikmesse: Underground Software Developers

Big conferences like Musikmesse mean all of us get pummeled with press releases from big music developers. But this year, some of the smaller (but no less beloved) audio developers got together a "Sound of the Underground" booth at Musikmesse to show off their own unique gems (thanks to Atariboy for the tip!). In the […]

P5 Data Glove and Music

Friday we looked at a big roundup of game controllers for music, courtesy Chris O'Shea. Ready to look like a cyborg when making music? Want to keep your entire budget under US$20? Here's where to get started (thanks to atariboy for some link pointers here): Get the hardware: Pick up a P5 virtual reality gaming […]

Musikmesse: IK Goes Oldskool with High-end Reverbs

New-fangled convolution reverbs may be capable of perfectly reproducing real audio spaces, but what if you want a classic reverb sound? IK has launched Classik Studio Reverb (CSR-1) with just that need in mind. Four models cover hall/room, ambience, plate, and inverse reverbs. And if you're the kind of person who gets uneasy when "90s […]

Musikmesse: Doepfer’s DIY Controllers, Analog Synths, and Future Organs

Why we wish we were in Frankfurt right now? One word: Doepfer. This company is simply amazing. They manufacture keyboards, modular software-based digital organ systems (!), DIY kits for building your own MIDI controllers, and their own modular analog synthesizer. Buy pre-built stuff, or create your own perfect gear out of individual components. How many […]

George Massenburg on Beatles Producer Emerick

Sometimes it's worth pulling something out of comments to make sure you don't miss it. Here, legendary innovator and engineer George Massenburg weighs in on Beatles producer Geoff Emerick (in response to Rian's extended piece on Massenburg, Emerick, and Scheiner last week): Thanks……to Rian Souleles for taking the time to show up and listen to […]

LED-Clad Sample Interface

Chris O'Shea of Pixelsumo also points us to Brian Crabtree's untitled box / mlr. The interface uses a grid of LCDs to display samples. (see video) At first, it looks like he's triggering a zillion different samples, but in fact there are only as many samples as there are rows: the LEDs advance along the […]

Vintage Audio Gear Porn

Sleek, touch-able lines. Beautiful curves. Heartrate-pumping images. Oh, yeah, and the woman's not bad, either. (gallery) Yes, I can't say exactly why this photographer chose to photograph his vintage audio mixers and reel-to-reel decks with a scantily-clad tall blonde model (8 track cassette tapes lined up between her legs?), but I suppose it takes all […]

Cybersongosse: Digital Supersynth for Toddlers and Pros

I wish my inbox were more like Tom's at Music Thing. The latest news from France via MT: a super-digital-modular synth control surface virtual instrument. As if that weren't weird enough, the thing looks like Don Buchla teamed with Playskool Toys, and this may be the only device on the planet that claims to be […]

Before Radar: Acoustic Locators

Before the invention of radar, you'd need a large dish or horn to track sounds of your enemy. "Acoustic radar" (aka "acoustic locators" or "sound mirrors") captured sound via large dishes or walls, or steerable horns not unlike the cones on early record players. Douglas Self has a reference guide to this curious technology with […]