Something interesting is happening in software synthesizer design: after years of trying to boast more of ingredient “xx” (whether it’s modulation, eight-zillion-point envelopes or other whiz-bang features), the new challenge is to make the user experience itself different. The challenge: don’t just do more sonically — make it easier to actually make music. I’ve personally […]

They’ve gone about as fer as they can go … Yes, just when you thought you’d seen every conceivable take on mods, customizations, clones, homages, robots, artistic reinterpretations, and other cultural artifacts inspired by Guitar Hero, there’s this — a Guitar Hero clone on Commodore 64. There’s a lot of chatting at the beginning, but […]

Delving into Audiovisual performance, it’s easy to get overwhelming. Mashing up commercials, music videos, sampled footage and more can quickly lead to eyeball meltdown. Here, then – Mike Winkelmann (as Beeple) takes simple and distinct typographic elements, synced to a minimal lo-fi tech soundtrack to create AV that is masterfully compelling and straightforward. Beeple – […]

The old CreamWare Scope DSP platform has been given new life… yet again. Things had been suspiciously quiet since Sonic Core acquired CreamWare’s assets early last year, and many long-time users were worried the end was near. It turns out the team was simply hard at work. The company will unveil powerful new Scope hardware […]

Got some time on your hands? Wine glasses, stuff to knock? Camera? Happen to be deep in the Southern Hemisphere at the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station and your fellow scientists have a winter film festival on? Scientists Rob Webster (music) and Jim Elliot (video) found themselves in that situation, and came up with […]

And the answer is … this real-time music production software is used for instantaneous sound effects and music clips needed in the fast-paced world of two popular game questions. What is … Ableton Live? Veteran sound pro Barbara Hagan describes to Ableton.com how she works with both programs: Now I have two computers with Live; […]

Native Instruments has released their free KORE player software and the first packs of sounds for the KORE platform today. It’s part of their play to get soundware addicts onto KORE, their all-encompassing instruments and effects package. First, here’s a review of what KORE actually is, as it’s expanded from even what it was when […]

There are two phenomena right now on the Interweb. One: access to self-distribution (for artists and small labels) means artmakers can explore new models for the business that supports their work. Two: an open market for ideas (the blogosphere, namely) means if you can come up with some pithy something or other, you can achieve […]