Adding Dimension to Cinema's Future: A Hypercubist Manifesto, and 3D Aesthetics

The futurists are on the side of 3D, even with silly-looking glasses and 19th-century stereoscopy, while luddites rail against it just because they don’t know any better? Think again. A good, long look at Super Mario Brothers might just change the way you think about time in media – seriously. The advent of photography and […]

Adding Dimension to Cinema’s Future: A Hypercubist Manifesto, and 3D Aesthetics

The futurists are on the side of 3D, even with silly-looking glasses and 19th-century stereoscopy, while luddites rail against it just because they don’t know any better? Think again. A good, long look at Super Mario Brothers might just change the way you think about time in media – seriously. The advent of photography and […]

Artist Interview: Direwires on Memory and Making the Hypnotic, Textured ‘Hearts in Stasis’

Looking to recollection for inspiration, the artist Adam Young, aka Direwires, has a new LP for Moodgadget. Photo by Melissa Upfold; used by permission of the artist. Somewhere at the boundaries of “ambient” and “experimental,” there’s a great deal of wonderful music being made these days. Even with great labels behind them, it’s the sonic […]

Meet the Music and Sound Oscar Nominees, and Learn from Hours of Info from Sonic Masters

Shared dreams, indeed: welcome to Hollywood. And in 2011, the music and soundscapes of blockbuster films suddenly seem very much like the future of our dreams, from ground-breaking surround sound to interactive music to scores combining low-fidelity and high – and one breaktakingly-terrific score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that stands on its own. […]

Great First Arduino MIDI Step Sequencer + MeeBlip, More Arduino Sequencing

In our monster MeeBlip round-up the other day, I mentioned the stunning enclosure Michael Roebbeling made for his DIY synth kit. But that’s not all Michael has built. He’s also created a lovely, simple step sequencer with Arduino. It’s a beautiful combination of all open-source hardware, MeeBlip and Arduino. Surprisingly, it’s his first try at […]

MacBook Pro Revision Updates GPU, adds Thunderbolt, but No New Display Dongles (Phew)

Photo (CC-BY) DeclanTM. Let’s cut right to the chase on the “speed bump” revision of the MacBook Pro line today: The 13″ model still gets the short end of the stick as far as graphics; it’s actually a small step backward in raw pipeline performance from the previous model. The payoff is in overall system […]

FireWire800, ExpressCard Survive MacBook Pro Revision, So You Can Relax; Thunderbolt Audio Hardware Coming

Photo courtesy of Apple. Those of you in the market for a new MacBook Pro are no doubt already tuned into the product news. So let’s talk about what isn’t changed on the new MacBook line, because it’s a good thing. You still get FireWire 800 ports on all models, including the entry-level 13″ machine. […]

FL Studio is Coming to Fruity Mobiles iPhone, iPad – Well, Sort Of

Image-Line has long promised it’d never make a version of its popular FL Studio – aka Fruity Loops – for Mac desktops. Blame the Windows-centered development tools in which this cult-hit all-in-one production studio is built. But it has found its way to a fruit-themed platform of a different sort, with FL Studio Mobile for […]

Amazing MeeBlip Users, Making MeeBlips, Playing MeeBlips, and Other News From Our $140 Synth

What happens when you unleash a $140 or less, open source, monophonic, hackable synth with a funny name into the world? We’ve found out, and thanks to inventive users, it’s quite nice. Photo by Iain Browne, who also has a hilarious Tumblr. We introduced the MeeBlip, an open source, hackable synthesizer, back in early November. […]

Reaktor Sampler Pack Gives you Granular Power Over Sound; Tips for Maschine, Ableton

Producer/composer and Reaktor super-guru Peter Dines is back with a new concoction for Native Instruments’ graphical development environment for sound. Entitled the Reaktor Sample Pack, it’s a collection of three granular sampling instruments. Updated with new download links (no more divshare!) Frame is a looping sampler with smooth/crossfading, envelope controls, and built-in saturation, plus graphical […]