A look at the keys of a new instrument, now embraced as such by a community of players. Alpha image (CC-BY) Ross Elliott. Amidst the general-purpose computing platforms (laptop, iPad), and latest iterations of the conventional synthesizer (keyboard, knobs), the quest to build something genuinely specific, self-contained, and unique drives on. These creations are strange […]

The MadMapper blog this week looks at a brilliant Space Invader-themed project from this Bogota, Colombia-based artist: One of my favorite and iconic projects done with MadMapper to date is the Space Invader project directed by the Bogota based A/V Director and VJ, Laura Ramirez Leal l (aka Optika VJ). The simple concept of the […]

Soundtracks for Everyday Adventures by Lullatone Soundtracks for Everyday Adventures [Bandcamp Album Page] Lullatone – duo Shawn James and Yoshimi Seymour – have a way of wiring directly into some wonder-filled, joyful place. And we know as artists that requires not just an impulse, but a way of connecting emotionally with ideas. With their release […]

People still find heroes – imperfect as they may be, people who provide inspiration. I’ve been talking a lot this year about the impact of Max Mathews; more on that soon. But in the aftermath of Steve Jobs’ death, it’s touching to see some of the reactions. French Rock band Bravery in Battle write CDM […]

In a spectacular, sculptural work, forms built from paper become organic backdrops for undulating pixels in an audiovisual work by Daniel Schwarz. I like that he describes this as partially “non-mapped.” That is, if projection mapping is the use of software to create calculated virtual geometries on which to project, you can also just point […]

“Augmented dancing” is a phrase we’ve gradually been slipping in, describing projection mapping directly onto dancers. It’s always been easy enough to do, but now, if you want to simultaneously mask your projection so it doesn’t also spill behind the dancer – or even go nuts and generate your visuals from intelligent tracking – it’s […]

Videodog wants you. Photo (CC-BY) Abode of Chaos. (Not to be confused with Adobe of Chaos.) The Mapping Festival is one of the real hubs of live visual activity, hosted by the creators of Modul8 and MadMapper but dedicated to everything that’s happening with visualism and mapping projections beyond the generic rectangle. For a glimpse […]

Rocking it old skool… sort of. The iPod Classic, the true successor, ten years on. Photo (CC-BY-ND) Mac User’s Guide. The tenth anniversary of the iPod debut means you’ll find plenty of commentaries on Apple’s iPod and how it has changed music. It’s an issue that’s been talked to death enough, continuously, in the past […]

Something I always appreciated about classical music training was learning to appreciate the particulars of each instrument, whether or not you played them yourself. A French Horn, for instance, is not an instrument without challenges: everything from tuning to balancing dynamic range to how you look when you add and remove muting can be demanding. […]

The man who gave harmonicas a boldly futuristic vision is lost to us. We’ve learned that Walter Müller, inventor of the MIDI wind controller Millioniser, died this month. Rock Erickson of Millioniser writes with the news, and updates us on plans to carry on with the Millioniser as well as to honor Müller’s memory. (See […]