Life was so much easier for bands in the 20th Century. Now, record sales are slumping, and the music video bar has been raised to near-absurd levels. Of course, against these immense pressures, people make incredible stuff. For Austin, Texas’ David Crowder Band, it meant getting into Lite-Brite — to the tune of 700,000 pegs. […]

Music software development includes some of the most sophisticated, expressive software out there. But it has long faced serious challenges in sales – audio software still appeals, generally, to a small slice of people, made smaller by factors ranging from piracy to the sheer complexity of available audio tools. As computing’s distribution model for software […]

From Wendy Carlos to the Swingle Singers, artists have proven over and over again that great music is great music, regardless of instrumentation. (Music historians would be just as quick to point out that most Classical performances don’t really match the original instrumentation, anyway.) So, since it’s Monday and we’re due for a distraction, we […]

I was pleased today to happen across the landmark Frank Lloyd Wright Guggenheim Museum building, peering out at me from YouTube’s logo today. See above for some fantastic, inventive projections mapped to the most famous architectural spiral on Earth. YouTube is also doing a live video event. It will, naturally, require darkness here in Manhattan. […]

I was pleased today to happen across the landmark Frank Lloyd Wright Guggenheim Museum building, peering out at me from YouTube’s logo today. See above for some fantastic, inventive projections mapped to the most famous architectural spiral on Earth. YouTube is also doing a live video event. It will, naturally, require darkness here in Manhattan. […]

Apple just killed their implementation of Java on the Mac – which just happens to be the only really usable implementation of Java on the Mac. There’s no other way to say it: Java developers on the Mac have relied on Apple’s implementation, and that implementation is not moving forward with Mac OS, period. I’m […]

What if you could make any device or any software a re-programmable musical instrument, effect, or soundmaker? Your phone could be a touch-controlled effect, your tablet a sketchpad for interactive drum sequencers. Patches assembled on your desk on a computer could be taken with you in your pocket. And what if you could do all […]

I covered the OTO Machines Biscuit early this year, in particular noting the design process of creating new hardware. Hardware today is back with a vengeance, but with the flexibility of software: the gear is contained in a single object and interface, but can be upgraded just as computer code on a desktop can. Sure […]

As part of their iLife ’11 suite – US$49 or free with a new Mac – Apple announced their updated release of GarageBand. Consistent with the relationship of the two products, much of what’s here has been inherited from Apple’s flagship Logic, albeit in a simplified form that’s friendlier to newcomers. That means several of […]

Image Courtesy of Apple. Any time Apple unveils a new product, someone is likely wondering if it’s a viable choice for music. The answer on the new MacBook Air is probably yes – though for music production, even at a $999 price, you may want to sacrifice a little bit of weight for the specs […]