MainStage in Logic 8 Gets Maintenance Update

Logic Pro Studio 8 is barely out of the gate, and it’s already got an update. MainStage 1.0.1 resolves stability and usability fixes, and offers to save parameters when you switch patches. Check out the update if you haven’t already gotten it via Software Update. (There are related application support fixes releases, so in general, […]

Bill Etra's Pioneering Video Processing Work: Retrospective @ Blip.tv

Click To Play Bill Etra, the analog video processing pioneer, has been posting some of his original works from the late 1960s through 2005 on video sharing site Blip.tv. It’s a sort of ongoing retrospective of his work. His techniques are varied, including Rutt-Etra processing (using the hardware he co-designed), hand-controlled oscillator-to-RGB inputs, and laptop-based […]

Bill Etra’s Pioneering Video Processing Work: Retrospective @ Blip.tv

Click To Play Bill Etra, the analog video processing pioneer, has been posting some of his original works from the late 1960s through 2005 on video sharing site Blip.tv. It’s a sort of ongoing retrospective of his work. His techniques are varied, including Rutt-Etra processing (using the hardware he co-designed), hand-controlled oscillator-to-RGB inputs, and laptop-based […]

When Fountains Go Wild: Kangwon Resort, South Korea

Sure, you have fun with your one projector. But don’t you sometimes want to add giant water fountains, with water projection? And more video? And fire? And lasers? And some creepy wizard guy? In South Korea, spending money on such things seems strangely commonplace, as at the multimedia/fountain installation at Kangwon Land / High One […]

NI Gets KOMPLETE Upgrade, But Spektral Delay, Vokator No More

Happily, despite this image, NI is not adding Apple iTunes-inspired CoverFlow to KOMPLETE. But they are refreshing synths and effects, updating to the shiny, new Kontakt 3 sampler, Guitar Rig 3 guitar rack, and Massive synth, and cutting the price. Lost in the shuffle: vocoding and spectral delays. Native Instruments remains the unchallenged heavyweight of […]

Segue and Segway: AU Dance Music Creators Present Future of Transport

Some were disappointed that the Segway was not, as promised, “an invention that will “sweep over the world and change lives, cities, and ways of thinking.’” But there’s hope, in the form of Brisbane, Australia-based electronic duo Segue’s vision for the future. Clearly, the first Segway was just a 1.0 device. What it needs is […]

Video: Handmade Musical Creations, Zany and Practical; See You Thursday

Click To Play Video link [blip.tv / Etsy] The crazy gimmicks are fun, but what drives people to build or customize their own musical creations is ultimately the desire to make music. Etsy.com dispatched a lovely videographer to cover the most recent Handmade Music night, co-organized with us CDMers and Make Magazine. Check out the […]

Visualist Meets Lighting: Projection with Color Scrollers, iCue Automated Mirrors

Working on digital visuals for choreographer Grisha Coleman’s echo::system, I got to try some new techniques for running visuals. These were necessary experiments, so naturally we had some things that worked well, and some that didn’t. (For more on the piece, see the project site; warning: auto-playing audio via Flash!) Two particular pieces of gear […]

Opinion: Life Beyond the Magazine How-To

Jim Aikin remains one of my heroes in music technology journalism. As a magazine writer, book author, and editor (including a long stint on staff at Keyboard), he’s contributed an immeasurable amount of the writing about evolving music tech over the past decades. I’ve also gotten to appreciate his craft and insight as a reader […]

HDV Device Problems? The Culprit Might Just Be Windows

Since picking up my HVR-V1P I haven’t actually spent much time editing or otherwise working with HD video, instead spending my time out on the road shooting and performing. After returning (and taking a holiday) the rest of the band have settled down to recording an album and I, as part of my preproduction schedule, […]