Pacemaker Mobile DJ Thing, Live in Miami

We’ve seen lots of gadget lust around the tiny Pacemaker mobile DJ device, but could you, say, show up in Miami with one and DJ? Alfred Nerstu, who’s actually an Assistant Art Director for Pacemaker’s maker Tonium (not a PR person), sends along this video they made. Answer: yes, you can be taken seriously with […]

Monome as Visual Controller

video mlr clone demo from themoves on Vimeo. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of using the Monome, the popular open-source, button-bestrewn controller device, for visuals and not just sound. But I haven’t seen any examples in person. Via comments on Monday’s Live + Isadora story, here’s one example by Joshua Nugent. The software […]

Free Music Mixes from Amon Tobin, Deru in Celebration of Space

We had a blast (ahem) Saturday night at the Yuri’s Night party at NASA Ames Research Center; stay tuned for video and more, including the results of the Futuristic Musical Design Challenge. But that’s no reason the party has to end. If you’ve listened through all 55 songs on the 45 Tribute and want still […]

Free OpenSoundControl VST on Windows; Map Sound to Visuals with OSC

Everywhere I go, people bug me about when they’ll see better support for OpenSoundControl (OSC) in applications. Why use fancy-schmancy OSC when MIDI does the job? Well, OSC supports higher resolutions of data when needed, maps variables elegantly (when you’re controlling something like visuals and descriptions like musical pitch or filter cutoff make no sense), […]

MilkyTracker Pan-Platform Tracker Now Open Source, with New Features

Here’s a phrase you won’t hear often on, say, Download Squad: "PS The AmigaOS port will be up in a few days." Welcome to the wacky world of trackers, the music production tools time forgot. While the rest of the world frets over the environmental impact of computing and the cost of digital tools, the […]

Chibitracker on DS; Favorite Trackers on the Road?

While we’re having a Nintendo DS-laden week, I thought I might mention that I got tipped off (thanks, Laurence) that the popular, multi-platform tracker Chibitracker has made its way to the DS. Consider this a rumor posted in the hopes of prodding the developer to release the ROM file. That said, readers, what’s your favorite […]

Nintendo DS as Hardware Step Sequencer

Hardware sequencers were a fantastic idea: you had a box that did nothing but sequence other gear. Then along came the computer, then the idea of trying to make the computer do absolutely everything all the time, and the standalone MIDI sequencer disappeared. In a bizarre twist of fate, it’s back — on Nintendo DS. […]

WiiWhorld Released: Generative Visuals with Wiimote and Windows

Aforementioned visual synthsizer slash exercise tool WiiWhorld has been released for public consumption. Jeff Mission has tied together GlovePIE (for Bluetooth/Wiimote input (previously on CDMo)), Whorld, and his own secret sauce (a GlovePIE script to control Whorld). Put them all together with a dash of virtual midi port, and you get this: Or as Jeff […]