Pop, glam, death, and definitely not techno: Pop-Kultur Round-up

The problem with festivals isn’t that we’re lacking for choice. But in the fast food court of summer festivities, the offerings tend to be arrayed in hard-edged silos. Here’s the dance music one, and it’ll be a rave. Here’s the rock one, and it’s just going to be about guitars. Here’s the experimental one, and […]

Pads and triggers turn Elastic Drums into a killer performance tool

Here’s a live jam video that shows just how performance-friendly an all-in-one iPad drum machine can be. The pad controller you’ll recognize. But there’s an Audiobus story here, too. It started as a way to route audio between apps on iPads and whatnot – a drum machine app could be processed by a filter app. […]

A powerful version of the Studio One DAW is now free

The very fact that a tool is called a “digital audio workstation” rather than “music making software” tells you something. Historically, these have been tools that do a lot of things in a fairly complex interface. And so a lot of DAWs seem to be counting how many windows and views and tools they can […]

Control MIDI and Ableton from your iPhone, Android for handheld music

Put control over Ableton Live in the palm of your hand – and control MIDI gadgets even without the aid of a computer. That’s the vision of LK (the former Livkontrol), out today for both iOS and Android handhelds. This isn’t the first pocket controller. But it might be the first pocket controller to become […]

Now You Can Get Your Hands on Stems for DJing; Complete Guide

Since the spring, Native Instruments has been eager to talk about Stems every chance they got. And shops and some celebrity DJs have been quick to endorse the new initiative for releasing music in multi-track, DJ-friendly formats. But today, on the occasion of the official Stems launch, you can actually get your hands on Stems […]

Even if this KORG volca mixer is fake, you’ll want it anyway

Let’s be honest: it’s a bit of a mystery why KORG has’t already shipped a mixer. KORG volca series customers seem to snap up every single volca model the Japanese maker can cook up. That leaves them with a bunch of toys with stereo minijacks and no way to mix them together other than buying […]

These mics capture sounds from the edge of human hearing – and beyond

Here’s how much Slovak label LOM loves field recordings and strange sounds: they didn’t just stop with releasing a few wild experimental ambient albums. They’ve gotten into the boutique mic business. They’re creating new hardware that lovingly captures electro-magnetic fields. They’re printing t-shirts with custom designs to show their passion in illustrated form. These are […]

Join Electric Indigo, Inner8 for an Immersion in Aesthetics

By way of follow up to our chat with Daniele Antezza yesterday, his Inner8 live act with sYn will meet up with another audiovisual collaboration – Susanne Kirchmyer (Electric Indigo), with visualist Thomas Wagensommerer. That takes place at Berlin’s Krake Festival next week, which means we get an extensive conversation with the two artists alongside […]

Outside dance music, systems of contemplation with Inner8, sYn

Daniele Antezza and Federico Nitti are seated in a patch of grass in the park, lost in reflection like giddy monks. The conversation turns to archaic geometries from lost civilizations, then to how to let loose unstable configurations of sound, then how to sweep away a party crowd in the whole experience. But, perhaps true […]

Inside hands-on live technique with Blush Response, KOMA, Elektron

The sound world of Joey Blush (aka Blush Response) is far reaching, entering dark clouds of murky industrial, EBM, and techno, all with relentless forward-pushing grooves. But as we talk to him about how he connects his gear, we’re really looking at how he connects his thoughts. At its best, whatever we’re doing with gear […]