Various readers have wanted to know more about Ableton Live, the audio workstation / sequencer / looping / live performance software. I use it regularly in production and performance, and reviewed the latest version in the January 2005 issue of Macworld. The free online version of that review is now available, so go check it […]

The folks at Novation, the synth company now owned by Focusrite, have sent along some images of their X-Station keyboards which are finally shipping here in the US. In addition to new keyboards with more keys, the company has now formally announced specially-designed bags for the X-Stations as we first glimpsed at AES in October. […]

Mackie's Tracktion is a newcomer to the Audio/MIDI multitrack DAW scene, but its one-window interface and powerful features have earned it a lot of respect — especially when it comes free with some interfaces and cost well under $100. Tracktion 2 is here now and sweetens the deal without sacrificing the elegance of the interface: […]

Korg's Micro Kontrol was wildly popular, but many shied away because it had tiny keys. The Kontrol49 has the favorite features of the Micro — plus some extras — but gives your digits full-sized black & whites: Pro-feel, full-size keys with the "Korg touch" and 8 velocity curves Traditional pitch and mod wheels plus a […]

The hardware keyboard empire, on the sidelines for the computer music renaissance, is striking back with new hybrid hardware. And Linux is spreading through digital music equipment — fast. Witness the new Linux-powered Korg behemoth: the second-generation OASYS keyboard announced today, as rumors predicted. Linux-powered computer, running entirely-proprietary Korg software on top (expansion appears to […]

Apple has updated Logic Pro to version 7.01; the update is currently only available via Software Update and doesn't appear on apple.com/support. There are numerous bug fixes in there (some resolving serious issues), though no significant feature changes. This would appear to quash reports that a 7.1 update to Logic would introduce some new features […]

Defragmentation is still critical for peak disk performance for digital audio, even under new versions of OS X — even the Apple Logic documentation suggests it. Only problem is: there's not much on the Mac that's any good. Some utilities even require you to boot into OS 9. Which is why today's announcement of Drive […]

Montréal-based Applied Acoustics has announced a new physical modeling synth at NAMM, as expected. String Studio models the interaction of picks, bows, hammers, fingers, frets, dampers and soundboards for more realistic recreations of real instruments like guitars, basses, harps, clavinets, bowed sounds and percussion, as well as to create wild new sounds of imagined instruments […]

Cycling `74 has brought two of their popular Mac products to Windows users: Pluggo is a collection of over 100 effects and instruments developed in the Max/MSP environment. It's an old favorite on the Mac, and Windows users have waited a long five years for a native version. While the collection seems a bit dated […]

CDM has reported on the Star Trek-esque touchscreen interface Lemur before, and developer Jazz Mutant told CDM in the fall they expected to ship the unit this year. They've found a distributor: Cycling `74 will sell Jazz Mutant's Lemur for US$2495 (projected), with the first units expected in April 2005. The Lemur is a touchscreen […]