Stanton has sent CDM some product shots of the new DaScratch touch controller. What we couldn’t see before is evident here: the fit and finish looks like it has some potential, and most of all, this device is really compact. (Well, that or they just shot it using someone with very large hands.) I look […]

Stanton has released the details of its new DaScratch touch controller, and I have to admit, it looks pretty terrific. About as far as anyone has gotten with a smart touch controller is an X/Y pad; this controller, by contrast, defines different areas of the touch surface for different functions and provides LED feedback so […]

Metamorphosis from Glenn Marshall on Vimeo. Glenn Marshall is racking up fans on Vimeo with a new music video. He’s using Processing (site | CDM tag), but he’s built his own animation system and added lovely additive blending (that’s “nebulous” blending, as he puts it). Of course, this is what Processing excels at: you can […]

Out of sync: iTunes integration was a selling point early on. But at what point is Apple’s own innovation upstaged by their desire to control distribution through the iTunes channel? . Last week, Apple rejected a podcast management app because, to paraphrase Apple’s own policy, they want iTunes handling all podcasts for you and not […]

The use of a blurred-out model and the name “DaScratch” will surely put to rest any question of the street cred of this device. Okay … maybe not. Just remember, it’s confidential. Only people on the Internet can see it. Shhhhhh! Stanton is teasing a new DJ controller with touch controls, and particularly a circular […]

Today Neuros announced the availability of developer kits for their new HD recorder, the OSD 2.0, which can record 720p video via HDMI and component input. At 10″ x 10″ x 2″ and $250/each, this box looks to be a promising candidate for a cheap, portable recorder that you could carry to every gig, something […]

Let’s be clear about one thing: building your own Monome from a kit isn’t actually necessarily for everyone. DIY is a wonderful thing, but you want to make sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew — always start simple and grow from there. You can buy a premade Monome, the sustainably-produced, open-source, […]

Renoise, the reawakening: the tracker for the rest of us hits beta 2.0, as seen above. (Screen grabs by Wallace Winfrey.) While better-known software names may get the attention, Renoise, a music making tool in the mold of a tracker, has long had a lot going for it. It runs on every platform you own […]

Another lovely shot by VDMX user przemion. Look over someone’s shoulder at VDMX and prepare to be confused — the modular interface means you can put loads on the screen. But spend a few minutes with the tool and its tutorials, and you’re likely to find it surprisingly intuitive. It’s a big leap from generations […]

What’s in for this season in music software? Cellular automata. You may have been exposed to a cellular automaton in the classic Game of Life; it’s basically a very simple biological simulator exposed as an intuitive, 2-dimensional grid of squares. If tic-tac-toe, Charles Darwin, and a petri dish of bacteria got together in one wild […]