Your Favorite Instrument: Only One Can Win

Well, it's another gripping poll going here at CDM headquarters. Here are the stats so far: Guitars are beating keyboards, 46% to 35%. None of you plays the kazoo as your primary instrument. This site has 26 readers. (meaning, based on our server logs, a sampler error margin of about 5,000%) Now, obviously, none of […]

Finger-Puppet DJing

One thing you probably didn't see last weekend at Miami's WMC: this DJ. (via audioserve) Call it world's cutest scratching. Netherlands-based Lejo specializes in this unique hand + props marionette theater. And the show tours — if you happen to be passing through, say, Segovia or Mechelen. What, you say? You don't think DJs are […]

Fre(a)koscope: Free Spectrum Analysis

Sit down on the spectrum analysis couch, and let's explain the subtext of this plug-in's name: Frequency: The Fre(a)koscope is a real-time spectral analyzer now in beta, a mod of Bram's S(m)exOscope designed to show the spectrum of a sound in real-time — so you can dig what's going down in your sound, you know, […]

ThinAmp Portable Amp Fits in Laptop Bag

The ThinAmp from AXL, introduced in January at NAMM, is a portable amp packed into the size of a laptop: only 2" thick and just 5 lbs. (!) You can literally fit it into a laptop bag — in fact, you can probably fit it and your laptop into a laptop bag. The amp is […]

WMC: Remix Hotel Rocks the Eden Roc

Miami — The Remix Hotel event here this week during Winter Music Conference provides "hands-on access to the technology and equipment used to create today's electronic and urban music via artist presentations and demonstrations, workshops, clinics and discussion." Held at the Eden Roc Hotel in South beach and sponsored by Apple and Guitar Center the […]

Moog, Vogel (Fairlight), Smith in New Scientist

Lyndsay Williams (an electronic pioneer herself, with early PC audio and gigs with Pioneer and the company that became Evolution) writes us to point out that New Scientist has a three-way interview with Bob Moog, Peter Vogel (of Fairlight fame) and Dave Smith. Much of this you've heard before, though you may not know: Bob […]

Doctor Who Theme, Remixed and Roasted

Difficult as it may be for Americans to 'get', the Doctor Who theme is one of the most significant electronic music pieces of all time and a cultural icon to the Brits. So, why not mess with it? whomix is a site entirely devoted to remixing the theme The composer for the new show says […]

Doctor Who Theme: Behind the Scenes, Hear the Themes

Behind the scenes: Before the Moog analog synth allowed patching together music with knobs and telephone switchboard cables, Delia Derbyshire (shown) and assistant Dick Mills started with a simple score by Ron Grainer and pieced together one of the most recognizable TV tunes of all time using individual sound modules, razor blades, an enormous amount […]

WMC: Miami Heats Up as DJs Go Digital; Tips for Converting from Vinyl

We start our live coverage from Miami's WMC (Winter Music Conference) — more reports through the weekend and into next week! CDM's Eldorado is on the scene. -Ed. Miami — One of the most interesting parts of the electronic music revolution is the digital convergence. An industry once steeped in vinyl is gradually turning to […]

AID: DIY Installation Art Circuits

The Art Interface Device (AID) is a microprocessor platform for interfacing with sensors, motors, and electronic devices. If installation art doesn't turn you on, this could work just as well for building interactive electronic instruments. Best of all, the hardware design itself is open source / GPL, so you can just download the plans and […]