As I await further comment from Apple, here's what I'm able to tell about GarageBand 2: Multitrack: If you have a multichannel audio interface, you can now record eight tracks at once, plus one virtual instrument track. Notation view: Display and edit your music as real-time notation; essentially a score view you can have on […]

Steve Jobs, with some help from John Mayer, hits the stage on the first day of Macworld. CDM's NAMM/Macworld reporter Lee Sherman was in the audience to give us the scoop. (Update: originally the article said GarageBand 2 lacks MIDI import. The article should have said MIDI export. MIDI import has been added, but export […]

OS X users intrigued by the possibility of controlling sound with a Wacom graphics tablet, here are more resources for you, helpfully offered by a guest comment: Music Unfolding's µMIDI Controller, US$15 shareware (which also works with your mouse, if you prefer) works with the Wacom tablet, though looks like it hasn't been updated since […]

Ripe for circuit bending or just running through brutal effects, it's the new Beat Blenders toys: US$15 groove boxes for "ages 8 and up." Typical ad copy: Kick those guitar lessons to the curb! Just grab this mixer and jam! The guitar riffs will rock, bass lines will thud, drums will rumble and walls will […]

It's difficult providing snappy commentary on the latest bizarre audio hardware people have created. Witness the Jesusonic CrusFX (har, har) 1000. It's a custom-programmed computer effects system, controllable by footswitches, in a homemade wooden case that's shaped like a crucifix. In the words of its creators, it answers the question "What effects processor would Jesus […]

Our friends at IK Multimedia are now shipping SonikSynth 2, their comprehensive sampled-synthesis instrument based on the SampleTank engine. The full version includes 8 GB(!) of sampled vintage and modern instruments, for 5,000 sounds of everything from Arps and Moogs to acoustic guitars and vocal textures. Good news if your budget or hard drive is […]

This week brings a number of new free effects for both Mac and Windows: Mac OS X / Now in VST (previously AU-only): Expert Sleepers has a Multitap Delay with filter and saturation, Phaser, Ping-Pong delay, and a delay called Meringue that runs both forwards and backwards. Simple, straightforward controls, but handy tools and you'll […]

As I'm at the Yaddo Colony working on a collaborative project with choreographer Christopher Williams, updates will be more sporadic in the month of January. I have a lineup of guest writers, particularly for the weeks of Macworld and NAMM (including writers at the show), and will write when I can. February 1 CDM will […]

Times have changed: some of the Macworld Expo rumor mill's hottest buzz is all about audio. Think Secret reports that the Mac shindig this month will be host to a new version of Apple GarageBand as well as a new orchestral loop and instrument library, Jam Pack 4. (What will orchestral loops sound like, though, […]

Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police and leading film composer (Wall Street, Pecker, many others) as well composer for ballet and opera, talks to Inside Mac Radio's Scott Shepard in an interview posted today. [ Show notes and downloadable MP3 ] Copeland was a keynote speaker at the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, an appearance […]