Lucky timing on my part! A day after my write-up on him, Leon himself writes us to say he's playing a "rare" gig with the Samchillian keyboard, mentioned yesterday, and a Plugzilla computer effects box. Details: "Plugzilla Sponge" w/Leon Gruenbaum, Samchillian, keys and Yukari, processed flute 8:30-10:30 pm Wednesday, Dec 1, 2004 Theeee Coffee Chamber, […]

There are two new computer keyboards coming out in the next two months, each costing about $600. One I can't wait for. One makes me yawn. Guess which one. In this corner, from America: the FireWire M-Audio Ozonic, announced today. (full specs) Controller: 37 keys, 8 knobs, 9 faders, 14 buttons, pitch & mod wheel, […]

Last night at APT, a cosy upscale lounge in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, Wired.com threw a bash for Leander Kahney's new book The Cult of Mac, DJed by the mysterious ultra-geeks Andrew Andrew. "We're the laziest DJs in New York," said Andrew (or was it Andrew?) as he turned over the duo's two fully-loaded iPods and […]

Normally I wouldn't pass this sort of information on, but German site Samplepoolz is CDM's favorite site for news and reviews on samples — so why not subscribe to their newsletter for a chance to win Native Instruments' Battery 2.0 drum sampler for your Mac or PC? (Of course, now if you all do, I've […]

Samchillian, the oddly-named, circuit-bended (and spray painted) ergonomic QWERTY keyboard that New Yorker Leon Gruenbaum invented is more than a wierd name: it could be a chance for keyboardists to finally cure themselves of guitar envy, AND look nerdy while doing it! Since QWERTY keys are mapped to pitch change, not specific pitches (stay with […]

Weren't those touchpad controllers great on Star Trek? Every control was projected from behind, so controls could change flexibly based on what you were doing, and everything could be manipulated by touch. Guess what? Star Trek-like control has arrived for music. Witness Lemur, a digital touchscreen controller for music and VJ applications. Customize your touchscreen […]

The Electronic Music Foundation is celebrating its 10th anniversary by holding a panel on the future of electronic music at New York's Chelsea Art Museum; the guest list reads like a who's who of music. These are the people who literally invented the technologies we now use: Jon Appleton: worked on the team that built […]

I've loved MacInTouch's reader reports since I bought my first Mac in 1996. Today there's a lively discussion going about audio interfaces for mobile recording. It's a natural for the CDM 'fine reading of the week' award. Only problem is: too many interfaces. In fact, you can see why consumers are likely to gravitate to […]

Enough of the speculation: Propellerhead today has formally announced Reason 3 and posted full details. Here's what's new, boiled down: Combinator will let you build combination patches of multiple Reason instruments, as I and others had predicted. MClass mastering suite includes EQ, stereo imaging, compressor, and maximizer.  'Performance' features: better control surface support including motorized […]

You heard it here first. Tony Amendolare of ElektroKraft, creator of the Axe*Synth we covered here on CDM, writes today to tell us about his newest creation: the Space Box combination digital photo-theremin + effects. [Press release] It's a light theremin: Wave your hand above the photocell, and the box will respond to light and […]