Compact cameras like the Kodak Zi6 (or my shiny, new, optical image-stabilizing HD Zi8) sure are convenient. They also do some weird things with their video and audio encoding. ffmpeg to the rescue. Image (CC-BY) Ofer Deshe. I freaking love ffmpeg. This command-line utility, backed by one of the most versatile video engines anywhere, can […]

Dave’s got a new keyboard, and the headline gives it all away: it’s a Mopho, but adding keys and more control, all for $800. There’s a myth out there that the computer music user and hardware synth lover are two different people. Au contraire, mon ami. Thanks, indeed, to Dave Smith himself, the computer and […]

Photo (CC-BY-ND) Matt McGee. Video editing on Linux can work — I’ve seen some terrific stuff. The trick is figuring out the proper configuration. Before you say, “ah, yes, you’ve just terrified me into never touching Linux again” — this post isn’t for you. For you, the idea is for us to research some of […]

A lot of the music tech industry involves incremental improvements and fairly routine hardware. Amidst the crowd, certain devices are special. They might not even appear so to a general audience, but they have a special place in someone’s music making. For whatever reason, some Roland percussion controllers fit in that category. As electronic musicians […]

Photo by Teenage Engineering. Check out their full photo gallery. Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 is something unique in music hardware. It’s got a form factor inspired by the Casio VL-Tone series – you know, those cute little 80s-vintage synths. It’s a sampler. It’s a synth. It has an FM radio. It will have a variety of […]

Wise words I intend to live by. Photo (CC-BY-ND) Geof Wilson. I’m a blogger. I’m supposed to be all about shiny, about scoops and exclusives, about fast-paced development. But even I’ve begun to wonder about the expectations some developers and users alike have about pace. And that doesn’t just apply to the vendors: it applies […]

The National Association of Music Merchants show isn’t quite so much an orgy of technological excitement for Visualists. However, many of our favorite controllers are designed with musicians in mind, so it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on the NAMM news to get an idea of what interesting gear might appear later this year. Peter’s […]

I’m sorry this is just a home movie of a dog and not something cooler. Yes, I’ll be making some screenshots, too, an with the less-silly-looking GNOME/GTK theme. Open source video editing, after a long, slow start, is starting to mature far more quickly. OpenShot Video Editor , free software for Linux, has just hit […]