Call it full-body percussion. Kasumi’s “soundboard” short film centers on sliced footage of dancers, composed into an audiovisual rhythm. It’s brief but nicely focused. I can almost feel the weight of the movement. More notes from the work’s creator: This piece is as much about the sound as is it the image. Using only the […]

Artists Leisure-B and Usselino collaborated on this Autechre-inspired audiovisual short, filled with pulsing geometric primitives. The work is a kind of A/V composition, the music arranged with abrupt, video-style edits. For fans of Native Instruments’ thick-sounding Massive synth, you also get some free preset downloads in the deal. With Native Instruments’ software providing the sound […]

FireWire may be getting rare these days, but new hardware proves that doesn’t mean serious external audio interfaces are in any danger. In the latest iteration of its tried-and-true 828 line, MOTU combines both Firewire and USB 2.0 for Mac or PC, and a wide range of features. The MOTU 828mk3 “Hybrid” in a nutshell: […]

Pete Edwards of casperelectronics making some noise at Manhattan’s Culturefix in October. Handmade Music is our party for people who make things that make music. If you create your own musical tools – whether acoustic instruments and soundmakers, hacks, circuit bends, custom Pd and Max patches, electronics, or code – we want to hear from […]

Photo (CC-BY-SA) bdu. Electronic music has always had a funny relationship with musicianship. It isn’t playing a traditional instrument; instead, it lies somewhere between instrumentalism and composition, between playing and conducting. Sometimes, that scale is tipped away from virtuosity of any kind. But lately, I’ve had an increasing number of conversations with people who make […]

Mobile devices are finally starting to look more like desktop devices in terms of GPU 3D capabilities, thanks to new chipsets – in this case, NVIDIA’s Tegra. In non-technical terms, think eye candy. In technical terms – well, heck, let’s use this handy copy-paste feature I have on my (ahem, desktop) computer:

Look – normal ports! Asus’ EeePad isn’t exactly beautiful, but having HDMI and USB could be a sight for sore eyes. Photo courtesy Asustek. We’ve been talking about this so long, you’d be forgiven for missing the moment when it actually happens. But the time is now: the promised future of inexpensive, HD-capable tablets has […]

I think the App Store will be a big hit – just not necessarily for music, at least not away. The problem: demand and economics. Photo (CC-BY) Rob Boudon. App stores these days seem to have become a magical panacea that creates new businesses, solves long-standing problems, makes you enormous profits, and cures hair loss. […]

Speaking of tablets, can the flat surface of a touchscreen really emulate guitar expression? One developer thinks so. Toyo Bunko of Amidio, makers of soft synths for iOS, writes to share their latest project. OMGuitar is a “guitar synth.” While it’s entirely touch-based, they’ve found ways of adjusting the tone, including using the speed of […]

Motorola’s new flagship tablet. Photo courtesy Motorola. The iPad has a massive head start in software and a clear lead in design elegance, but in the tablet market, it’s no longer alone. As expected, this week’s Consumer Electronics Show brings a slew of tablets. Don’t call them iPad rip-offs, either. Given product development cycles, many […]