Sometimes, it can be quicker and more expressive to simply patch together what you want from basic building blocks, rather than wrangle with something built for a specific purpose. And that explains the ongoing appeal of modular software environments. Audulus is an elegant, efficient modular environment on the Mac. It’s not as deep or broad […]

In this corner, the computer: dynamic, networked. In this corner, the trained human musician: still, in fact, very much able to read scores. Combining those two technologies – human and machine – has been surprisingly limited. That’s why OSCNotation, while a very simple app, is an intriguing glimpse into the future of the score. Normally, […]

So, we can’t talk more about Ableton Live 9 at the moment, and it seems Ableton has worked out how to use their YouTube settings. But at least one intrepid Live fan has shared the identity of the beautiful mixing desk you saw in the leaked Live 9 video from the weekend. This mixer also […]

As various readers have pointed out to CDM, a video entitled “Live 9 Device Master” has leaked online. (One user posted screen grabs while it was up, embedded above.) It seems fairly obvious what this video implies. Ahem. Oddly, whereas these kind of leaks often come from distributors or other third parties, it appears in […]

For just a moment, take your mind somewhere a bit different. First, imagine the computer as part of nature, not something separate from nature. And then, put your head inside the mind of a bee. (You might not want to operate heavy machinery, just in case you start to imagine you’re seeing things through a […]

How do you prefer to compose? Pen and manuscript paper? Recording ideas from a piano? Firing up your favorite music software? How about … coding in 65c816 Assembly language? The trio behind this video prefers the latter, more intensive approach, to get close to the chip hardware by communicating directly with the Super NES. It’s […]

Now that DJ tools do a lot of the same things, part of what would prompt you to use one is what you see. And what you see is a lot of what a DJ tool offers. Serato announced earlier this month that it was overhauling its somewhat fragmented offerings and replacing them with one […]

Monokle (aka Vlad, of St. Petersburg) gets a mesmerizing new video for his track “Swan.” It’s the work of Bucharest-born, 23-year-old artist Alina Anca, spinning the glitchy goodness of Monokle’s music into a magical study of pattern and outer space. Anca’s own work delves into the esoteric and surreal, never without some youthful fancy – […]

Monokle (aka Vlad, of St. Petersburg) gets a mesmerizing new video for his track “Swan.” It’s the work of Bucharest-born, 23-year-old artist Alina Anca, spinning the glitchy goodness of Monokle’s music into a magical study of pattern and outer space. Anca’s own work delves into the esoteric and surreal, never without some youthful fancy – […]

Designer Roger Linn is beloved by producers for drum machines like the MPC, beloved by guitarists for AdrenaLinn, and now newly respected for the Tempest with Dave Smith. But for anyone who imagines design is a direct line from idea to product, it’s not. Whether Roger Linn or Apple, the process leaves the way littered […]