For fans of vintage synths painstakingly emulated in software, Arturia are rockstars. They're best-known for their Moog emulations, but we've been waiting for Arturia to bring another classic to software, the ARP 2600 synthesizer, since the software was first shown at AES. It's here: the Arturia ARP2600 V. For those of you don't know what […]

Many are disappointed by the announcement of Reason 3.0; it's an evolutionary release that still lacks key features like audio recording in an otherwise fantastic program. But on the upside, Propellerhead is pricing Reason and upgrade low enough that it's a great time to pick up the program or upgrade. According to Propellerhead's 3.0 FAQ, […]

Want holiday cheer? (It is Hannukah, after all.) How about a holiday mash-up/mix that has both a song from the infamous Star Wars Christmas special (C-3PO sings 'Christmas in the stars') AND a 19th-Century music box? (Governor Arnold is just a bonus at that point.) Listen here. Don't miss seven minutes of straight whistling song […]

It's part drum, part guitar, and it definitely wins this week's odd instrument award. It's none other than the Drumitar. Futureman of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones originally had a classic SynthAxe, but with some serious mods has turned it into a guitar drum kit with piezo sensors that triggers drum sounds via MIDI. (SynthAxe […]

Our friends at Samplepoolz today have the scoop on a new version of the mobile music studio Syntrax for Symbian series 60 phones like the Nokia 66xx series and Qd phones. That adds to a number of existing mobile platforms. It's incredible what you can do with this thing: Syntrax is a fully-graphical real-time sequencer […]

Siren Systems fills us in on more details of today's announcement in a CDM interview. Check the press release, but the news boils down to this: US$50 buys you physical and online distribution plus promotion (just hope listeners dig your songs!), via CD Baby and its new flavors page and Soundflavor [see full CDM story] […]

Sure, DJs could opt for products like Final Scratch that provide a traditional turntable interface for the computer, but why not . . . a punching bag? Version 2.0 of Max/MSP-powered SoundSlam lets you punch to trigger audio and even has a virtual trainer that coaches you as you go. Add a floor mat you […]

Have fond memories of Speak & Spells? Wish you could completely warp them, then turn them into a musical instrument? Too circuitry-challenged to circuit bend your own, and already got too many weird gadgets in your mobile music bag? (I know you've been buying everything mentioned on this site, so I understand.) Now you can […]

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 […]