The Bleep Labs 198X, a mini analog synth co-designed with the band Neon Indian, is now here. It’s a pocketable three-oscillator synth – all triangle oscillators – that in addition to three knobs and light sensors lets you plug in control voltage or other devices and sensors in order to modulate its sound. That makes […]

Video synthesis hardware is suddenly on fire – and you don’t need a fortune to get into it. From two legendary makers of audio electronics, we have two fantastic new designs for video synths, available on the cheap for your psychedelic optic nerve-massaging fun.

Ableton this week has released 8.2.5; it’s worth mentioning here primarily as it adds Lion support on Mac OS. I still strongly recommend against upgrading to 10.7 for the time being, until you’ve verified that your particular mix of plug-ins and hardware is also compatible, but it’s a promising sign. Other improvements are also worth […]

Journalist, techno organizer, lecturer, and creative director Dan Sicko has sadly passed away this weekend, the victim of the rare but devastating condition of ocular melanoma. Sicko is best known to electronic music fans as the author of the terrific Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk (Billboard: 1999). A uniquely techno-focused story, that book […]

The folks at Resolume have been posting some terrific tutorials on their blog, but this one deserves special mention. Resolume’s audiovisual tool Avenue has sonic and even plug-in hosting capabilities, meaning you could use it as a go-to, all-in-one live music and visual performance tool. But musicians and producers and DJs are naturally familiar with […]

You may have already seen FaceOSC, free software that eases the use of facial tracking from a computer camera for use as a controller, here with music software (top). Synthtopia picked up the story in July, featuring artist and engineer Kyle McDonald. But one FreeKa Tet has done his own implementation (second from top), and […]

Walk into a club, and it seems far too often you’ll find a DJ operating Serato or Traktor with their laptop touchpad. At best, you might get a digital vinyl system that’s mostly spinning around and looking pretty. (Some people do amazing things with scratching; some love the feel of cueing on vinyl. Some don’t […]

3D stereoscopy may be the next big thing. Or… a really old thing that keeps coming back. Or a fun excuse to hand out glasses with your music video / performance. Or something. Whatever it is, I’m enjoying the homebrewed video “Videodrome” for Great Tiger. This is no big-budget production, and that has me thinking. […]

Photo of Steve Jobs portrait (CC-BY) Adobe of Chaos / Organ Museum. Steve Jobs’ abrupt resignation from Apple is of course plastered all over the news and social network feeds, so let’s consider instead the legacy Jobs has left over the decades for creative technology. The highlights for artists and musicians begin far before the […]

Synthesists Tara Busch dares you to remix her album. Photo courtesy the artist. It barely seems as though it’s been that long, but synthesis pioneer Robert Moog died six years ago this week. That has brought a whole new wave of remembrances, including a great new EP you can remix. And if you still don’t […]