Holy S*** Visualization: Earth, Surrounded by Asteroids, and the 500k Kilometer Pixel

Watch this one in HD – because at 1080p, each pixel represents some 500,000 kilometers. And sit down: you may suddenly feel … exposed. (Duck!) The latest version of a popular visualization of asteroid discovery now brings high definition. And that’s important, because we’re talking about distances and data on the scale of the solar […]

Serato Video 1.1 Adds Media and Effect Handling, Delay Compensation Features [Videos]

Serato Video seems poised to be a leader in introducing visuals to the DJ world. It’s maturing fast, and while there are a lot of options for these kind of visuals, few could boast this sort of friendly, minimal, familiar Serato-style interface. It’s also eminently controllable for turntablists and controllerists – at least if they’re […]

Shine: An LED Wall Looks Great, Tours Easily, And You Can Build It [Open Source Hardware]

Brilliant in more ways than one, this LED wall is affordable, practical, beautiful, and completely open source, from physical design to software. Hans Lindauer of Portland, Oregon sends us his project, constructed with collaborator Alex Norman for the band STRFKR, on tour with it now. Check it out in action: It defies the idea that […]

Not Just Sampling, Studying: Frente Cumbiero and Maschine, 1.8 and Human Upgrades

Yes, the tools are better and shinier – but there is a method to what musicians are doing with them. Maschine 1.8 arrives today, a bit early, a free update. I looked at this release when we went hands-on with the updated software and new color hardware. Whether or not you get the new controller, […]

Mystery Artist Solvoid Delights Ears, Dodges Questions [Listening, Interview]

Solvoid is a mystery shrouded in a riddle. Three brilliant EPs have appeared from this artist online in the last several months, each one a tricky mixture of two-step, electro, breaks, and 8-bit arpeggios, with hints of the mystic, the playful, and the divine. As with Athena, they seem sprung fully-formed from the head of […]

The Harder Side of St. Vincent’s Live Rig: Custom Rack, Eventide Stompboxes, MIDI

St. Vincent is doing some amazing live shows, so it’s little wonder that a look inside the software rig and approach to computer-enhanced performance got some attention Friday. Eagle-eyed readers, though, weren’t only satisfied hearing from the band about the role of Ableton Live and Reason. That expansive rack of stompboxes, including some of my […]

Dreamy Graphical Granular Greatness: Borderlands is Coming to iPad Soon

Borderlands Granular from Christopher Carlson on Vimeo. If the tablet has a strength, it’s in re-imagining software as something truly immersive – no knobs, no switches, just a futuristic wash of visuals and sound, like touching noise with your fingertip. Borderlands (soon to have a slightly different name) hints at that promise. We took a […]

How St. Vincent Plays Live, ‘Through the Looking Glass’ [Video Behind-the-Scenes]

At the end of the day, what motivates extra technical preparation is the same thing that drives musicians to practice scales or work long hours in the studio: that extra discipline can pay off in real freedom of expression. So, it’s moving to hear St. Vincent talk about musicality as the end point for onstage […]

See Like a Bug on Acid: Visual Smash Ups, From Cameras, Simpsons + Family Guy, YouTube

Visual Smash Up from Parag K Mital on Vimeo. What happens when you distort a video with a video? It’s what artist and coder Parag K Mital calls a “visual smash up,” which he says “takes existing content and mashes it up to create new content.” Huh? Well, have a look above for an example […]

The Thunderbolt Age Dawns: UA Ships Thunderbolt on Apollo; More to Come – Where it Makes Sense

Universal Audio is first out of the gate with an audio interface add-on that uses Intel’s Thunderbolt bus, the high-performance, low-latency connectivity option on current iMacs, MacBook Pros and Airs, and Mac minis (though, conspicuously, not the ever-more-outdated Mac Pro). The solution isn’t the most elegant – you need to add in an option card […]