Steadicam hardware is a beautiful thing. But what if you’re on a budget and want a quick hack to improve your self-shot footage – a good thing if you, say, have a VJ gig coming up and need to make some new footage? DIY solutions have stepped in. The latest, and it looks quite nice, […]

Ander sends us his creation, “Station,” a brilliant-looking MIDI controller built on the ucapps.de hardware platform. It could easily have qualified for the kinds of designs in the dreams competition – except he went ahead and made it. He filled it in with RGB LEDs, touch pads, and new SMD-based hardware. The impact of the […]

Vestige – Jason Bruges Studio from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo. Responsive and interactive installations often tend to the game-like, but with the growing affordability and ease of technology, the ability to add immersive experiences anywhere calls for more subtlety. Not everything needs to be a game – many responsive architectural surfaces are likely to become […]

With modeled amps and synced effects all in one box for US$400, Roger Linn’s AdrenaLinn III has earned a cult following of dedicated users who appreciate its low-budget, rich sonic satisfaction. That has simultaneously shifted the Linn reputation from fans of drum machines to guitarists, though, naturally, clever players of other instruments, including keys, can […]

LDN24 from FIELD on Vimeo. My experience of London tomorrow will be somewhat “virtual,” as I spend a few hours on a layover at Heathrow. For a more artistic reinterpretation of the data that’s bound up with one of the world’s great cities, though, here’s a terrific installation: LDN24 is a public art installation for […]

The Apple iPad has terrific, responsive multi-touch input, but for many, using it to control music would mean carrying an iPad and a computer. That’s a cheaper combination than using a JazzMutant Lemur with a computer, but it’s still two pieces. With a number of PCs gradually adding touch capabilities, it seems inevitable that integrated […]

SenseWall (preliminary) from Tiago Serra on Vimeo. Multi-touch walls have been a closely-guarded novelty, but they’re evolving into something else: a real, usable platform that focuses on content and not just gimmicks. In the process, a hard-working community is building richer, standards-based, cross-platform, free and open source tools. The result: faster iteration, broader access of […]

As the iPad hits Europe and the world generally gets more time with the tablet, it continues to play host to new music software. I still have to wonder when some of its software design patterns – touch interfaces, big displays, and simplified, task-specific user experiences – will begin to influence other platforms. That is, […]

Nashville’s skyline, ringed in smoke from a fireworks show, in 2008. Photo (CC-BY) Jim Davenport. Nashville is a special place for music, and just as any natural disaster in the world hits musical communities, so, too, has recent flooding taken its toll on this American city. The NAMM summer convention, a top gathering for the […]