Why iPhone 3.0 SDK is Almost, But Not Quite, Great News for Creative Musicians

The tech press stopped today to keep up with Apple’s new SDK, version 3.0. It is a huge overhaul, and let’s give Apple credit where it’s due: they’re relentless in improving their mobile software, and they do listen to complaints and respond. I don’t think you can classify copy and paste as news, given Apple […]

Plogue Bidule Modular Music App: Get Started, Meet the Creators

PEMF Lessons: Bidule – Direct Cabling & Your Default Layout from Primus Luta on Vimeo. Ed.: Music creation is all about the special relationship we have with certain, powerful tools. And one app that gets very little attention is unquestionably the deep but elegant modular patching environment Plogue Bidule. CDM turns to power user Primus […]

Plogue Releases Bidule Version 0.9685: OSC, Wave Monitor in “The Other Patcher”

The Latest Version of Bidule features an OSC Monitor and WaveViewer. Ed.: Plogue Bidule is an unusual animal: this affordable patching tool resists conventional ways of doing things, down to its hatred of the number “1.0.” But Plogue has an underground following inside the already-underground world of modular patching tools for creative music. I’ve invited […]

Handmade Music: Creative Hardware + Software, Plus Make Your Own Noise Toy

Wall•E Loves Noise Toys (part 1) from Gian Pablo Villamil on Vimeo. This Thursday night, if you’re in NYC, you’ll want to be in Brooklyn – and around the world, stay tuned as always to CDM. Handmade Music projects will again explode into the nerdster party in Brooklyn, with more ways to get involved worldwide. […]

Apple Rejects Free iPhone Tool For Artists Because of “Minimal User Functionality”

MSA Remote for iPhone from Memo Akten on Vimeo. Since the dawn of computing, developers have been free to create whatever software they can imagine for computers. Windows, Mac, UNIX, Linux, Atari, Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64 – it doesn’t matter. Come up with an idea, and short of doing something destructive on the system, […]

Want Free iPhone Multitouch Communication? Join the Crusade!

MSA Remote for iPhone from Memo Akten on Vimeo. Apple, apparently unclear on what multitouch clients actually are, have chosen to reject Memo Akten’s brilliant-looking MSA Remote client for the iPhone/iPod touch. The free(!) app could empower installations and performances with the standard multi-touch protocol TUIO, as used on the Reactable (and, thus, by Bjork, […]

ofxMSAPhysics: Open Source C++ 3D Physics Library for OpenFrameWorks, Java Choices?

ofxMSAPhysics v2 from Memo Akten on Vimeo. In a word: yummy. Or maybe that’s “bouncy.” Memo Akten’s brilliant ofxMSAPhysics brings open-source physics programming to the C++-based OpenFrameWorks environment, an artist-friendly combination with an elegant API. Coding physics doesn’t require an advanced degree. See today’s post on the beautiful My Secret Heart to watch this library […]

My Secret Heart: Mira Calix's Music, Wrapped in a Tank of Digital Tendrils by Flat-e, Memo Akten

Perhaps it’s the church setting for the installation, or the strains of 17th-Century choral composition by Allegri. But Streetwise Opera’s My Secret Heart, binding together reactive visuals and post-Minimalist musical strains, has the feeling of a 21st Century passion play, a digital devotional piece. My Secret Heart is a commission by Streetwise Opera, which develops […]

My Secret Heart: Mira Calix’s Music, Wrapped in a Tank of Digital Tendrils by Flat-e, Memo Akten

Perhaps it’s the church setting for the installation, or the strains of 17th-Century choral composition by Allegri. But Streetwise Opera’s My Secret Heart, binding together reactive visuals and post-Minimalist musical strains, has the feeling of a 21st Century passion play, a digital devotional piece. My Secret Heart is a commission by Streetwise Opera, which develops […]

Arturia Origin, Guest Review: From Soft Synth to Hard Synth, at a Price

Ever wished you could pack the sonic goodness and programming power of a soft synth into a hardware box? Dreamed of software that lived in a road case and had the stability and power-on capability of your outboard gear? You’re certainly not alone. That meant many of us were intrigued when soft synth emulator house […]