Now that digital technology allows rapid creation of new interfaces for music and sound, the question of how to represent those elements visually has new life. But whether digital or not, practitioners of music have long been interested in applying further descriptions to music, from the Baroque Doctrine of Affectations to the involuntary association of […]

The grooves are fun, but the generated names for the groove are even more so. Need a new band name, anyone? Generative: the rhythmic frontier. These are the voyages of the starship MicroTonic. Its online mission: to explore strange new grooves, to seek out new beats and new musical cultures … Yes, Patternarium, by software […]

Anyone working in visuals is likely to develop a voracious appetite for video footage. So even though a phone will never be the optimal device for capture, having an always-present, lightweight, low-cost gadget is still a good thing. The problem is, with the exception of gadgets like Nokia’s premium N95, most phone’s camera features have […]

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 […]