We love computers. But the idea of a piece of hardware capable of triggering clips has been tantalizing from the beginning. Grab a piece of gear that’s not big and pricey like a Pioneer DVJ, plug it in, and play some clips into your mixer and effects — sign me up! The only problem has […]

Patches serve as the glue for performing with open controllers like the monome. With proper version control, you can manage their evolution – and share your creative process more easily. Photo by me. If you’ve worked at all with patching your own creations for music, visuals, and control, this has probably happened to you: you’ve […]

Now, why would anyone imagine this wouldn’t have widespread commercial appeal? If you enjoy real analog insanity – crazy noises that challenge the ears – you’ll like these videos sent to us by Hans Tammen, the composer, “endangered guitar” artist, and director of NYC’s Harvestworks. He writes: you like analog stuff, as I know. Here […]

Hacker extraorindaire Gijs Gieskes has turned your local web browser into an insane, glitched-out audiovisual instrument. He writes: Here is a new project, it involves using webcrawlers to make live visuals with music. <http://gieskes.nl/browserjockey/>. works quite o.k. The music is some of my old recordings on mini disc’s i still had.. mostly 2000 till 2003 […]

“Evacuate City-17 at once — if not sooner.” It’s started. Once the domain of big-budget productions, cheap computers (and even open-source tools) now offer more than enough power to enable indie productions to imagine special effects. The remaining gaps: talent and skill. That’s why people actually shouldn’t be surprised that it’s possible to make a […]

Open and DIY doesn’t have to mean you don’t get a finished product. It just means the product can continue to change once you’ve got it – which is the beauty of three new tools coming to the music tech world. Photo: Bug Labs. You buy a box. You unwrap the box. You plug it […]

Plushy soft replicas of beloved synths have become something of a meme. Via our friend atariboy of Plasq fame, here’s the latest addition to the cuddly vintage instrument category on Etsy. Think about what this means, if you will: it’s a synthesizer you can curl up with while you sleep. Now that’s love. (I know […]

As your options multiply, I think there are few excuses in 2009 not to develop using portable, free and open source, multi-platform, mobile-ready platforms — period. We talk a lot about the Java side of the pond, or even C/C++, but the other reality is you have options for just about any job using just […]

David Merrill, working with Jeevan Kalanithi and (for the audio engine) Josh Kopin, wowed audiences at the TED conference with his Siftables interactive blocks. These strike me as what the Audiocubes have tried, sometimes unsuccessfully, to be — physical objects that react to the proximity of other objects, allowing you to manipulate music and media […]

Jesse Terry of Ableton has some detailed answers to questions about the upcoming APC40. It’s a good chance to clear up some confusion (even some confusion of my own). I actually have some other pretty specific questions – how Max for Live will work with the APC and how it integrates with other hardware and […]