Breaking: Gibson to Acquire Cakewalk, Creating R&D Division, Tascam Pro Audio Software

Gibson’s buying spree through the music and sound industry continues, creating a giant serving audio creators, pros, and musicians. And while the acquisition of a DAW manufacturer is likely to bring up the specter of Gibson’s ultimately-fruitless acquisition of a failing Opcode and Studio Vision in the 90s, this seems different. It ends years of […]

Orchestra, Plugged: Heritage Orchestra and Scanner Rework Joy Division

The orchestra might once have seemed the antithesis of rock and electronic and amplified instruments. But now, the lenses of electronic sound and recording can be second nature. Yes, that’s London’s Southbank Royal Festival Hall – and yes, that’s a whole bunch of microphones amidst the music stands, feeding a massively-multichannel mix of the ensemble […]

Stirring Solo Vocal + Ableton Push: Thomas Piper, Live at Webster Hall

If the computer can do one thing, it is to vastly expand what a single musician can do live. Whether you rise to that challenge has everything to do with who you are as an individual musician. It’s about the person as much as the machine. Thomas Piper, Jr. is at his absolute best in […]

Sound of Threads: Music Extended Onto Strands of Icelandic Wool [AV Installations]

Sound of Threads from Bertrand Lanthiez on Vimeo. Satisfying multiple senses at once, Paris-based artist Bertrand Lanthiez shares his “Sound of Threads.” It’s a pair of audiovisual installations – and beautiful music – that combines musical elements with frail beams of light across webs of wool and dangling pieces of cloth. The interaction is simple […]

About iOS 7 and Audio: Patience for Users… Inter-App Code for Developers

You have to hand it to Apple – people do care about what they’re doing. Interest in how iOS 7 impacts audio performance is proving more dynamic than I imagined. As an addendum to the story earlier today, it’s worth adding just two points for users – and highlighting some code for developers. 1. This […]

iOS 7 is Here; Now, Please Don’t Install It Yet

We’ve been waiting for the moment at which a post-PC, mobile operating system has equaled a desktop OS for serious music making. Well, that moment has arrived — — in that we get to release a dire warning about an OS update breaking music-making apps. Yes, now iOS 7 shares that dubious distinction of countless […]

What’s in the Ableton Live 9.1 Public Beta, How to Get It

We broke the news of the headline Live 9.1 features – dual monitor support, melodic sequencing and automation step sequencing on Push, and high-quality sample rate conversion. CDM may have had the exclusive on this, but it was still surprising to see a point release attract so many readers. The lesson seems clear: a targeted […]

An All-Hardware Elektron Set – and Chat – with Experimental Techno Maestro Bill Youngman

With over a decade in experimental techno (working with the likes of Jamie Lidell and Cristian Vogel), and years more in production, Bill Youngman has earned his veteran ribbons. But this isn’t about the past. This is about what happens when you switch on the machines and make music that can only be heard live […]

TouchDesigner 088 Adds Crazy-Awesome Savvy in Mapping, Scripting, Sound and Music, More

Eye Vapor EEG Sonification 1 from Derivative on Vimeo. Smart. Even smart enough to visualize and sonify EEGs. TouchDesigner is not well-known in general circles, even after long-running availability. It’s Windows-only software for specialists. But there’s only one thing you need to know about it: it is consistently used in some of the best work […]

Amplifying Angels and Devils: The Bug on Individualism and Music [Podcast, Videos]

The Bug, indeed. If you could insert Kevin Martin like a data glitch into the music scene and watch the wonderfully-corrupted results, you wouldn’t be too far off. (See the datamoshed music video below for a visual representation.) Under the name The Bug, or as GOD, Techno Animal, Ice, Curse of the Golden Vampire, Pressure, […]