Can minimalist controller design make even two knobs into a digital instrument? We’ll soon see. The arc, the new controller from monome designer Brian Crabtree, contains just two high-resolution encoders (known to us in everyday usage as “knobs”). It makes no sound; every minute rotation and a push-button action are telegraphed to a computer. Everything […]

Just push a little harder, each of you, and I’m sure this will work out. Photo (CC-BY) Michael Fraley. Three and two browsers / H.264, VP8 / Two sides can’t agree. Video, playing… / My Flash plugin slows, crashes. / Circular debate You could stop reading there, but by way of further explanation: Have you […]

Spend seasons with great listening. Photo (CC-BY-SA) hell*yeah. Given the vastness of music available today online, “best of…” lists, while nice to have, can be disappointingly predictable. Not so with music selected by readers of this site. We asked for your favorite albums of last year, and you responded with extraordinary variety. I’ve selected entries […]

TC Electronic’s PowerCore, a hardware DSP platform for audio processing is officially discontinued. You could easily continue working with PowerCore for some time, however. A recently-released 4.0 update provides full support for current OSes and hosts, even 64-bit ones, says the manufacturer. Nor is TC going anywhere: the company says it will continue to pursue […]

(Note – please see update at the end of this story regarding controversy over this device in the Live community.) Ableton Live users have wanted an LFO for a long time. Using basic wave shapes, you’d be able to modulate anything in a set, from clip parameters to instruments and effects, producing shifting timbres or […]

Hardware greatly eclipsed software among music tech announcements and last week’s NAMM trade show. But the one software release that has been generating buzz amongst producers may be iZotope’s Stutter Edit. BT told me in an interview some years ago about how he was using software in beta that he said would change the world, […]

Christian Sander’s Synse is an iPhone app that contains three audiovisual sets, a sort of self-contained “VDJ” VJ/DJ/visualist/music experience. As such, it represents a small slice of what may be coming in this scene.

Users of Cubase seem to be a kind of silent majority. Web data suggests this may be the most popular DAW on the planet, thanks to Windows and Mac support, over 25 years in the business, and the absence of any particular hardware requirements. But the Cubase users I know, while fiercely loyal, just aren’t […]

I remember seeing Roland’s guitar-to-computer connectivity for the first time. It seemed almost magical. Guitarists could pick up their main instrument and enter lines into notation software, or replace the sound of an instrument with a synthesized one, or track into a sequencer. It didn’t distract from their musicianship, because it showcased that skill. It […]

In what is proving to be a NAMM week bonanza for lovers of hardware effects, Korg’s Kaoss Pad Quad may be the best bang-for-the-buck. You can control up to four effects simultaneously, all via the trademark KAOSS-style touchpad, triggering effects you want via single-button toggles. (In fact, this device reminds me in a good way […]