Pharrell Williams will take a leadership position at ROLI

The maker of futuristic musical interfaces gets new direction, new co-ownership, and of course a sound pack from the pop star.

Here’s what that software for the Pioneer samplers looks like

You can tote a USB stick and plug into CDJ decks, yes. And now, if the club starts buying Pioneer samplers, you can do the same with sample sets.

Getting creative with a different kind of compressor: Zip [Plugin premiere]

By analyzing different sonic qualities of a sound and then modulating the results, Zip has a new take on the familiar compressor/expander..

Ivy is an epic 240-step hardware sequencer as sound installation

16 steps? 32? Phfft. How about 240 steps, with 240 sliders, over a space of 5 meters? That’s the latest vtol installation – and it’s breathtaking.

Ableton and Native Instruments should worry about the DJS-1000

Pioneer’s aspirations for the DJ booth may be bigger than they first appear. And one clue is hidden in the news of the CDJ-shaped DJS-1000 sampler.

Pioneer made a CDJ-shaped sampler – what does that mean for DJs?

Japanese giant Pioneer continue their march to expand from decks and mixers into live tools for DJs. The latest: a sampler in the form of the ubiquitous CDJ.

Celebrate the birthday of an amazing resource with free stuff for Ableton Live

It’s perhaps the most useful Ableton Live-focused resource on the Web. And we’re celebrating its fifth birthday with exclusive freebies for CDM readers.

Let’s talk craft and vision in live audiovisual performance, media art

We’re gathering with top digital media artists this week – and you can tune in. Here’s a preview of their work, on the eve of Lunchmeat Festival, Prague.

A giant 1906 machine, and the Eurorack synth module it inspired

The 200-ton, building-sized Telharmonium original produced some of the first electronic music. But now it’s a compact modern synth module, too.

Jazzari lets you sketch musical ideas in your browser, with JavaScript

Open up a browser tab, use code sketch musical loops and grooves (using trigonometry, even), and play / export – all in this free tool.