Visuals for Shigeto Full Circle, and Reflections on Drawing by Hand

Shigeto – “Escape from the Incubator” from Ghostly International on Vimeo. As I noted in the opening for my recent Processing for Android tutorial, there’s no substitute for the immediacy of drawing with pen and paper. Even as digital artists, it can be a necessary first step to wiring up the visual parts of our […]

Enter Calico: Cracking Good Listening in Compilation Album, App, Videos

tricil – The Emancipation from Clear Notice on Vimeo. stretta – Calculus from Clear Notice on Vimeo. Forget the iPad app or cross-media visual interpretation for a moment. “Enter Calico,” the compilation debut of new electronic label Clear Notice Recordings, begins with some damned fine music listening. In a world after shallow labels like “IDM,” […]

Customization-Friendly Renoise 2.6 Arrives; Duplex Controllerism Explained

The tracker for the rest of us – now more customizable. Click for full-sized version. Ever wish your music software could do something your way, something it can’t do now? Wish you could just get in there and change it yourself? That’s some of the ambition of Renoise 2.6, the multi-platform music creation tool. By […]

MIDI Mobilizer for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Why You’d Choose It, Which Apps Work

Earlier this week, I took a quick overview of what options you can choose for connecting MIDI to the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad. Make no mistake: the coming of iOS 4.2 will broaden your options for mobile MIDI on Apple gadgets. But I realized a somewhat glib comment in my story made some folks […]

A More Open Pro Tools 9 Works with Your Hardware, Workflow

To many users, it’s been a long time coming, but using Pro Tools software no longer means working exclusively with Pro Tools hardware. Pro Tools 9, announced today, is a “software-only” version. That is, you can use it with your hardware – your audio interface, your DSP tools of choice, even the built-in audio hardware […]

Live Stream of Avid Press Conference; Pro Tools News, Anyone?

For anyone waiting to hear some news, Avid is live-streaming their press conference from the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in San Francisco, at 4PM California time (7 PM Eastern). Okay, they’re not quite Apple – I’ll be seriously freaked out if CEO Gary Greenfield showed up in a black turtleneck – but it’s an […]

Removing the Walls Between Mac Visual Apps: Syphon Beta, Projects, VDMX, Mad Mapping

Syphon VDMX 5 Beta 8 integration Demo from vade on Vimeo. Once upon a time, we imagined a future in which computer applications shared content, media, and data effortlessly, where different tools all coexisted. The reality we got was, in almost every category, far more monolithic. By exploiting a little-known feature of the Mac’s graphics […]

Audiovisual Remix: Tron Legacy Lightcycles

Tron Legacy – Miguex & EshOne – Light Cycles [Unofficial] from Accent Creative on Vimeo. Our friends at Accent Creative indulge themselves in some Tron love, cutting up the new Lightcycle sequence and composing their own, original music score. (Take that, Daft Punk!) It’s like the audiovisual equivalent of those fabulous blue slushies you get […]

On iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone, New MIDI Support, via Wires, Wireless

Over 25 years later, portions of MIDI introduced early on in the spec remain relevant. And if you want to connect your MIDI-equipped gear to Apple’s iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad mobiles, you will soon have an array of choices. In iOS 4.2, best known for leveling the playing field between Apple’s handhelds and tablet, […]

Tim Exile’s “The Mouth,” Reaktor-Built Creation for Your Voice

Tim Exile is a mad, Reaktor-patching genius. What I love about his instruments is the emphasis on performance. THE FINGER put you at the helm of wild, keyboard-based effects. THE MOUTH continues the MIDI keyboard triggering, but focuses, as the name implies, on using your voice and microphone as the main input. See some of […]