Apple Refreshes MacBook Pro Line; Models Compared

Apple today refreshed its MacBook Pro line in a long-awaited update, moving the Apple laptops in line with recent advancements in Intel CPUs and NVIDIA GPUs. There are some caveats when you pull apart the line, however – the 13″ models miss out on the new CPUs in this lineup, at least – and you’ll […]

Low-Budget, High-Creativity Tribute: Star Wars Uncut From 15-Second Fan-Made Clips

If it’s not already “viral”, I’m sure it will be soon. Less than a year ago, Casey Pugh – then a developer at Vimeo – invited people to join him in remaking Star Wars, 15 seconds at a time. The final scene was completed on the 25th of February, and they’ve just released “The Escape”, […]

NitroTracker, DS Music Tool, Now Open Source

One of the most beloved tools in Nintendo DS homebrew has become free software, under the GPL v3. Talk about restrictive platforms – the DS requires special hardware just to get this app to run. But even with a couple of people involved in development, that could mean better, more frequent updates. I also wonder […]

Don’t Over-Interpret Apple: Cross-Platform Development Isn’t a Sin

Pictured: Looks native, but this app is built with a cross-platform library. And really, for music making – or great, immersive development, in general – does it matter? The iPad has inflamed plenty of passions online. On this site, I’ve gotten a little flak from iPad lovers and haters alike. It goes something like this: […]

AV Inspiration + Interview: CSTNG-SHDWS & Nonagon Live Promo

A beautifully assembled live promo for visualists CSTNG-SHDWS collaborating with Nonagon. CSTNG-SHDWS x Nonagon Live Video/Audio from Colin Sebestyen on Vimeo. I found this totally spellbinding, so I asked Colin Sebestyen of CSTNG-SHDWS for some more detail about the project, and he replied with some great information on preparing visuals, performing live with sound-makers, cutting […]

iPad, iPhone + Music Weekend Update: Logic, Live Control, or All-in-one Music

LiveControl for the iPad/iPod from ST8 on Vimeo. It’s fun watching projects progress. Since we covered control of Ableton Live with the iPad – noting a few of the early wrinkles in the setup – we’ve gotten new reports as people work out more efficient systems. And incidentally, if you don’t own an iPad, or […]

Turntable-Based, Kinetic Sound Sculptures and Instruments

Works For Turntable from Stephen Cornford on Vimeo. Digital sound, and electronic sound in general, can become abstract. In fact, sound itself can be abstract. So there’s something beautiful about rendering sound as something kinetic, mechanical, and physical. Watch the hypnotic works by Stephen Cornford, top; as the video progresses, the pieces deepen in subtlety. […]

Want a DAW that Supports OSC? In a World of Doesn’t, Ardour Does – Free

And yes, there’s even built-in control surface support for the Wiimote. I have to give that a try to figure out how the heck that works. Why wait for The Future, when you can have a full-featured DAW that supports OSC (OpenSoundControl), right now, today? That DAW turns out to be Ardour, the open source […]

Ohm Teases Collaborative Music Host; How Should Collaboration Work?

Surprise! Plug-in developer Ohm Force, known for their plug-ins (like effects Ohm Boys and Frohmage), today tease an upcoming collaborative host. It looks like the sort of thing Apple could have done, but hasn’t. There’s a GarageBand-style MIDI and audio editing pane, plus semi-modular routing of plug-ins on a pretty, graphical surface that resembles the […]

Projection Mapping at The Edge Launch: Kyle McLean Augmenting Public Art

It’s been six weeks since The Edge launch. People are starting to discover the building and its lab of free-access, kitted out computers. We had an iteration of Plug N Play Brisbane , and a bunch of great events and workshops passed & future. The one thing The Edge doesn’t have so far is people […]