Sequencing – the collection of techniques that actually assemble events in our music – seems to get far less attention than it deserves. After all, there are fairly accepted ways of synthesizing sound, but as many ways of thinking about musical events as there are ways of thinking about composition. Among the big DAWs, you’ll […]

Here’s something I’d very much like to see: a hackable, kit step sequencer. nostromo tips us off to a blog item on his site on the project. The creation of Monowave maker Paul Maddox, the 8-step sequencer is based on an Atmel Mega16 micro chip. The whole thing is looking very compact, which could make […]

All is quiet as this week folks celebrate Christmas and Hanukah. But this is a quick note to say that we won’t be waiting until the ball drops to jump start one New Year’s Resolution a lot of readers have: learning Processing, the artist-friendly, multimedia-savvy, open-source coding platform. We’ll be kicking off a series of […]

Oh, yeah. It’s deep. To keep a cool head, perhaps put on "Music for Airports" on loop while you read through the tutorials. Musicians and composers have long dreamt of computers and mobiles playing music that changes on its own, rather than playing static, pre-determined scores. But to actually pull it off, you need a […]

There’s a special love among certain Ableton Live users for the Korg KAOSS Pad KP3, Korg’s lovely and capable sampling/effects box. Al, aka DJ Chinkial (see his trippy MySpace page) has a free VST for free as a holiday gift to us all (Windows-only). The basic idea: make a beatbox plug-in for your computer, using […]

This isn’t your average oscilloscope. This is that buttoned-down lab equipment with the tie off, gone psychedelic. The Derraindrop is the latest strange hardware creation from the wizards at Critter and Guitari, the folks who brought us the brilliant DIY Video Critter custom video synth and other wonderful video creations. In an age when hardware […]

So, the guitar with the Korg KAOSS Pad KP3 built-in wasn’t enough for you, huh? Here’s an axe with two iPod touch units attached. The sounds that result, with Ableton Live, the Eno/Chilvers app Bloom, and bowed guitar, are quite lovely. That shows some of the power of these apps: playing along with the generative/interactive […]

Artist and electronic media prof Fernando Orellana has created a treasure trove of whimsical and ingenious media art. So, give him a tool like coding-for-artists environment Processing, and you know he’ll do something unusual. So far, we have the game Chef’s Special. With lo-fi graphics that would make Videlectrix proud, a pirate ship sinks slowly […]

For the best of 8-bit/chip music extravaganza Blip Festival 08 without leaving your computer screen, video editors have completed their dark craft and gotten some documentation online. Our friends over at 2 Player Productions are working on more long-form documentary, but they already have this cover of “Atomic” by Glomag and stealthopera for your enjoyment. […]

Joshue Ott, creator of the gorgeous abstract performance tool superDraw (built in Java and Processing) has a seasonal toy for your playing enjoyment, built in Flash. SnowDraw is a fun little falling snowflake toy which can create messages like the one I spoiled above. It’s naturally far more fun in motion, so go give it […]