Facing a health crisis, whether your own or a loved one’s, can be a serious challenge. It can make music making seem a remote activity. But here’s a case in which music production talent, the power to put together loops and tools, can help fight for someone’s health. What’s unique about this is that just […]

It may be hard to recall, but back in its heyday, MTV was a champion of experimental audiovisuals, one that pushed the artwork further and spread new ideas, virally, to hungry creative masses. But no need to be nostalgic. We have seen the new MTV, and it’s the Internet. Pulling from YouTube, Network Awesome’s latest […]

Steven Sinofsky showing Windows 8 last year. Photo (CC-BY) BUILDWindows. There’s good news and bad news on Windows 8 for music making. If you’re using Windows on a conventional, Intel PC, running conventional, desktop Windows apps, the news is really all good – really good. It’s still early days, but Windows 8 promises to be […]

A Golden Clock from Red Paper Heart on Vimeo. The Company, Bring To Light NYC from Andrea Cuius on Vimeo. Creative coding has blossomed into a full-fledged movement for getting expressive with screens, sound, and media. While much software remains a commercial, proprietary activity, these tools have demonstrated what a collective, free model can do. […]

A paper cover is one option if you’re looking for ways of making music releases physical and tangible. But Steven Cowley went to something a bit more unusual. A release of his one-man project Camp America comes with a bag containing 125 LEGO pieces, and instructions for building the case. Steven writes us as he […]

How to Train Your Dragon – Live Projections from Matt Lock on Vimeo. The thread is not-so-subtly woven into what we cover on this site: 3D projection has ushered in a new age of illusion and spectacle. With brighter, higher-definition imagery and perfectly-aligned three-dimensional forced-perspective, the results can be immersive fantasy. After years of low-fidelity […]

Quick! You need to send music to someone! You need to make it count! I love SoundCloud and whatnot, but with everyone so overwhelmed by music, there’s something about making something physical. We’ve covered this topic before, but: 1. I think we can all use a break from 2,000 word posts with 150 comments and […]

DM1 The Drum Machine for iPad from Fingerlab on Vimeo. In a studio, very often it isn’t about endless racks of gear so much as the handful of items you most love. So, amidst a sometimes overwhelming flood of iOS apps – and, frankly, some of them quite disposable – a few stand out. The […]

When it comes to live performance, this might be the year of living dangerously. There’s not one answer to the question of how to play live, but as we consider the possibilities – and the risks of playing live – Mouse on Mars is one terrific case study. Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma are […]

Pay no attention to the mouse behind the curtain; just look at all the pretty lights. Seriously, that’s what he’s telling us to do, and on that, more power to him. Photo by Denise Truscello/WireImage (CC-BY-ND) The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Deadmau5 might want to take off that mouse head and look around a bit […]