I had this crazy dream where I thought I’d be able to keep track of which software was Universal (native for Intel Macs) and which was not. Boy, was I wrong. What’s made it especially difficult is that lots of tiny developers have been making rapid progress on Intel-native Mac releases, often without releasing press […]

In advance of the launch of Create Digital Music’s sister site for interactive visuals and visual performance / VJing, we proudly present, by popular demand: Create Digital Motion Forums Note that this forum will be shared with the Create Digital Music forum, because we feel strongly that for many people, these two fields are overlapping […]

Want a truly powerful device for interfacing with motors, sensors, lights, and more? CDM’s assistant editor and Web ninja Jaymis Loveday and I are both excited about the upcoming MAKE Controller Kit, built by MakingThings (of Teleo fame). MAKE has started taking preorders, and shipping should start in a few weeks. You might want to […]

While we’re on the subject of making your own custom musical/visual interfaces, none other than a college friend of mine, Jesse Mejia, has a tip on a great starter board that fills the non-MIDI niche nicely: I’m not sure if you’re working with sensors much these days, or what you may be using to interface […]

Apple has come through with Intel-based MacBook laptops (replacing the iBook), and the bottom line is, they’re a terrific bargain. As a portable music machine, unless you prefer bigger screens, it’s hard to go wrong with these computers. The only big downsides: black costs you extra, and like the mini before them, the integrated graphics […]

Tonight here in New York, I’ll be presenting a free workshop on detecting and visualizing motion from camera inputs, which may be of interest not only for those of you eagerly anticipating the new Create Digital Motion site, but also anyone who’d like to use cameras as controllers for music. Full details after the jump. […]

Thomas Dolby’s blog continues to induce rabid gear lust. After drooling over Mr. Dolby’s live rig and repurposed vintage MIDI controller, we now get a glimpse at Johnny DeKam’s live video rig. (Kevin Johnsrude caught this one, and reminds us that “envy is one of the seven deadly sins.” Better keep that in mind.) Actually, […]

Thomas Dolby’s blog continues to induce rabid gear lust. After drooling over Mr. Dolby’s live rig and repurposed vintage MIDI controller, we now get a glimpse at Johnny DeKam’s live video rig. (Kevin Johnsrude caught this one, and reminds us that “envy is one of the seven deadly sins.” Better keep that in mind.) Actually, […]

Jesse Kriss, who created an interactive visualization on the history of sampling, is back with a new project that translates live turntable scratching into computer visuals: Visual Scratch At the heart of the system is the computer turntable control system Ms. Pinky, as seen here previously powering vibrating furniture and hiding out in tree trunks. […]