With ‘This Exquisite Forest,’ Animations That Evolve, Collaboratively

With all this talk about the future of art being in browser windows and such, you might forget to ask the question – why? What will it actually look like? Artist Aaron Koblin has been, perhaps more than any one artist, someone who has pondered what form art made by online crowds might take. His […]

Music in the Browser: A Soundtrack from a Crowd, A Keyboard for a Mouse

Slowly but surely, the web audio API creeps toward being something that’s usable in more than one browser at a time. In the meantime, we get a glimpse of how generative music could be a part of what’s to come. It’s a long way from those horrid, looping audio files that plagued the Web in […]

The 150-Button, 4-Deck, Obsessive-Compulsive Traktor Controller: 4TrackTrigger [Gallery]

Oh, sure, other controllers may be sleek and compact. They may have spacious, easy-to-hit controls. But if “pushing buttons” has been controversial, well… some DJs want more buttons to push. Some want something a little over the top. Meet the 4MidiLoop 4TrackTrigger. It’s nothing if not a maximalist DJ controller. And with a build from […]

Touching Beams of Light: An Otherworldly Laser Interaction Prototype

Laser interaction prototype from jayson on Vimeo. Interaction design isn’t just input. Output can transform a simple demo into something that seems to bend reality. Melbourne-based artist Jayson Haebich sends over a laser interaction prototype he’s creating. The results seem like science fiction, as though he’s opening jump gates with his fingers. It’s almost exclusively […]

Pixels, Sublime, as Side-Scrolling Gaming Meets Tabla Music

BARABARIBALL TRAILER from noah on Vimeo. Aesthetics can collide, just like a sprite against a wall – to coin a game phrase. Glitchy digital can live alongside traditional South Asian music. Just watch this oddly-soothing, moving footage of a wonderful-looking side-scrolling game for a window into the creative energy of yet another indie game wonder. […]

Music Performance as Real-Time Special Effect: Kinect Jamming Gets More Futuristic

The V Motion Project from Assembly on Vimeo. It’s all real – in a manner of speaking. And it’s all real-time. But just what is a live performance made with cameras, gestures, and projection? It’s worth watching The V Motion Project and pondering those possibilities, amidst the flashy visual eye candy. It’s certainly optically impressive. […]

Circuit-Modeled Dynamics, Plus One Free Plug-in, From FXpansion

Quietly, FXpansion have been making some well-loved, circuit-modeling instruments in the DCAM series. They may not be a household name, but just ask around artists – producers I know consistently bring up the DCAM name and just talk about it sounding damned good. Now, DCAM turns to processing and not just synths. DCAM Dynamics is […]

Networked Video: With a Sweet Arsenal of Tools, One VJ Telecommutes

The open source Syphon has liberated textures and video streams from individual apps. No longer is the app a silo. The next frontier: liberate video from the whole computer. There’s a suggestive post from our friend Jason Scott Furr on his blog: Telecommuting the mix: VDMX, Syphon, CamTwist, and Skype The “telecommuting” bit? He was […]

Audulus is Simple, Elegant Mac Modular App for $15, Now With Plugin Support

Audulus Briefing from Taylor Holliday on Vimeo. In a physical studio – heck, even with some guitar stompboxes – it’s customary to get the rig you want by connecting different modules. So, it makes absolute sense that software might work this way, too. But many popular modular options, while insanely powerful, can overwhelm simple tasks. […]

Recording on One Screen: Upcoming Tools From Steinberg, M-Audio Do DAW with Less

Tracks, channels, begone! Ignite focuses instead on recording for musicians – and takes some cues from recent iPad apps, in the process. You’ll be able to get it later this year, but initially only if you buy a bundled keyboard. Image courtesy inMusic. If you’re a musician just looking to record some ideas, desktop computer […]