Overheard on Craigslist San Francisco: Hi, and thanks to all you rituos brothers for reading my post. Yes, it is true, I am selling my DJ gear as I need the cash. First up is a set of turntables (1200s) played on by myself and with my own genuine autograph. I will autograph them again […]

Window is a lovely arts blog — across “writers, academics, engineers — anyone with a good idea” — out of Aukland, New Zealand. They have a good overview of Monolake, aka Robert Henke, electronic composer and musician and co-founder of Ableton. Monolake/Robert Henke 2008 And you know what that means. Time for some video action. […]

Commercial music development on Linux is at a trickle, but a real gem as far as music production is now available: Renoise, the modern tracker tool. Not only is Renoise a cult favorite for its unique approach to composition, but the Linux version looks to fully embrace Linux technologies. And that’s a big deal, because […]

Allmusic.com’s blog is doing vintage music-related ads. A true classic: this ad for Casio keyboards. Grab an MT-100 and some hair product, hit the NYC subway, crank your volume, and pick up trashy 80s women! The NYPD will nod in approval. Wow, now I know how to supplement my income. Retro Ad of the Week […]

Photo: WadeB. Caution: piracy can make you … queasy / vomit-y. Discussions about music distribution, sales, and piracy often return to that time-worn theme of “supporting artists.” Of course, what usually gets left out is what actually supports the artists. Sure, it’s lovely that the industry likes this theme — maybe you imagine an ingenious, […]

Squarely in the “things Ableton Live was not necessarily built to do”: animating visuals, one frame at a time. Cousin Throckmorton whipped up a retro visual feast of Space Invaders, Pong, and other games classics, using MIDI to step through frames individually. You can MIDI sequence Live’s locators to jump between frames, thereby giving the […]

Luigi Felici and the folks over at Nusofting have put the finishing touches on Broken Drum Machine– a VST synth that emulates quite well the sounds and function of a circuit-bent or otherwise broken drum machine. As they describe it, “To the fact that the broken sound is desirable. Yes! Knobs turn for satisfaction defective!”

What is the sound of an invisible hand playing a MIDI controller? Yes, in the latest evidence that the Interwebs really are Douglas Adams’ imagined Infinite Improbability Drive, a conversation from CDM’s humble forums about the economics of Radio Shack and MIDI jacks has led to a blog response from a non-musician defending the true […]