Tired of getting sued for sampling? Creative Commons offers licenses for pro musicians that lets them keep their copyright while giving people the right to sample or use their sounds. Artists choose how much control you have, but if they opt for a sampling license, you can get access to sample sources free. I was […]

Synthtopia today interviews NYC multimedia artist Jessica Vale, creator of The Sex Album — recorded sounds of people having sex manipulated into electronica with vocals by Bale on top (pun intended). So how's the album? Well, while some of the found sounds are recognizable, others get mashed into undistinguished digital mush, so with the addition […]

Happiness is a 4×4 grid of buttons. Why should Akai owners have all the fun? Add Ableton Live, and life is good: tap away drum beats with your fingers, trigger samples, and (perfect for Live) trigger audio and MIDI patterns and loops. M-Audio's new Trigger Finger should cost around US$199 and features: (see original story […]

Jeremy from Nashville points out that Apple's Logic Express is now available in a free trial, which I believe is new. (Pro isn't available in trial as it requires hardware copy protection.) So, if you're tired of having to listen to message board arguments about whether Logic is the app to get, give it a […]

Sure, it's fun playing around with convolution reverbs like Apple Logic's Space Designer, but if you really want ultimate flexibility and realistic space modeling, you need Altiverb. It was the first software plugin to feature convolution, and with upcoming version 5, there's no question it's the Rolls Royce of reverb. Check it out: Multichannel IRs […]

Ever routed audio a few feet to an outboard effects processor? How about routing your audio all the way to Oberhausen, Germany? Thanks to the online Tank-FX (link in German), you can. A server feeds your audio sample into the tank and records it with a pair of Rode NT-5s, adding a nice, natural reverb […]

Rogue Amoeba, those virtuosos of routing audio in any Mac OS X app, have released Airfoil, their new application for routing audio from any Mac app to Aiport Express — not just iTunes. (The app was originally going to be called Slipstream, as we reported here.) Finally, you can listen to BBC Radio 6 from […]

We've been saying for ages Apple needs to develop a music player for DJs. Jason O'Grady has been saying it for two years. Well, Apple, HP is likely to beat you to the punch: The owners of the Playlist club in London (which features a night for iPod DJs just like APT here in NYC) […]

Just listening to music? Now that's a little dull. Kevin of prog-Celtic band The Nettles points us to the MadPlayer, a handheld music toy that features an algorithmic music generator – beat/groove generator, a mic/sampler, karaoke, and Internet access for sharing or connecting to your Mac or PC. Some pros have even picked it up […]

What if you took an iPod, a drum pad / controller, and a high-end VJ mixer, and put them together? You'd get something like the new Korg Kaptivator. Here's what it does: 40 GB hard drive for storing video clips Two LCDs for watching what you're doing Manipulate clips with an Akai sampler-style touchpad, cross-fader, […]