Leaked: New Maschine with RGB Pads, Custom Overlay Colors, New Software Features [Hands-on Coming]

RGB pads, custom hardware colors, and time stretching. Photo: Arvid Jense for CDM. Updated: Maschine is now more colorful (via new hardware), has new accessories including a handy stand, and updated, more usable software. CDM has an exclusive hands-on with the new hardware with impressions, updates on what’s changed in the hardware and software, and […]

Playing Live From a Giant, Toothy Monster Mouth: Behind the Scenes with Feed Me

Spectacular spaceship showmanship, or actually synchronizing live electronic dance music performances? For Feed Me, aka Englishman Jon Gooch, the show had to be both. Software developer Mattijs Kneppers harnessed Ableton Live, Max/MSP, and Max for Live to make it all work. You may have seen the video; Mattijs gives CDM a unique look even further […]

Beyonce at the UN: Behind the Scenes of Epic Projection in the General Assembly Hall [Gallery]

The new world of projection is big – really big. Planet big. It’s not a dinky projector pointing at a ragged, wrinkled piece of cloth. It’s something that can stand up to one of the world’s great divas. When you’ve got BeyoncĂ©, and you’ve got the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations in New […]

Raspberry Pi, Your Next $25 Computer Synth? First Hacks Appearing

Apple may have started the conversation about the “post-PC” age. But part of what this means is that a “computer” doesn’t necessarily have to be something costing hundreds of dollars, in a conventional desktop or laptop form factor. It could look more like the Raspberry Pi, at US$25 and squeezed into a tin of mints. […]

Helix, A Digital Turntable Proposal, in a Visual, Touchable Circle [Kickstarter]

The basic idea of the turntable, its round rendering of sound as a physical object, still attracts fascination. But is there a way to truly make the same metaphor fit digital media? Peter Adany is the latest to try, with a design proposal and mock-up he’s trying to fund for iPad (and Mac and Windows) […]

Lauflicht 2 is One Tricked-Out Step Sequencer for Launchpad, Renoise

Late at night, you may hear them, a distant tapping of fingertips against pads and keys. They are the hackers, geeking away the late hours to make insanely-sophisticated custom musical contraptions, engineering some new forms of dance music or other electronic pattern. Thilo Geertzen is the latest, back with an even more pumped-up edition of […]

Not Just Projection Mapping: MadMapper Maps LED and Lights, Too [Updates; Beta]

You’re going to hear this a lot: “mapping” is more than just “projection mapping.” It’s the liberation of the digital image from screens and cinema-style rectangles, the ability to merge that imagery with any surface or lighting. That’s the idea – then, hand in hand with the idea, there are the tools. Tools both reflect […]

An Amazing Free Touch Controller for Ableton Live; How Touch is Coming Your Way

Ableton Live has a number of robust touch solutions, but a creation from Graham Comerford called Yeco takes things to another level. It’s finally a Live touch controller that provides full views of clips, unlimited parameter controls, and extras like drum pads. There are even undo and redo shortcuts. The cost: free, downloadable now. It’s […]

Tibersynth Makes Crazy Sounds in Your Browser, Free

Lovers of experimental sound are finding a new canvas in the Web Browser, thanks to evolving work on standard audio tools. Cory O’Brien sends us his creation: “a real-time vector synth.” The result: crazy sounds. You’ll need Chrome, Chromium, or Safari 6 to try it out, but it’s quite a lot of fun. I especially […]

In Films on French Pd Event, a Reminder: You Can Always Make Your Own Tools for Music

Pure [creative] Data / Stereolux Nantes (29-30 mars 2012) from stereolux on Vimeo. A personal note from this editor: I like to start my weekend with a bit of inspiration, so it seems good habit to leave you with the same. Looking through my story inbox, I almost posted a studio video of an artist […]