Me-too 49-key controllers have been mind-numbingly dull for the most part. The new Akai MPK49, revealed in Frankfurt at Messe, easily qualifies as different. Not only does it add trigger pads as found on the MPC line, but there’s an onboard arpeggiator, functionality borrowed from the MPC, and additional MIDI control options, as well. It’s […]

We looked at the VMX controller from Codanova last month on Create Digital Motion, because it instantly looked like a terrific VJ controller. It’s not cheap at EUR500, but it certainly doesn’t want for controls. Now the creators have shot some video of the VMX running FL Studio 6. Look how lovingly he tweaks those […]

And we thought we’d have to wait for 10.5 to get Boot Camp improvements. Apple today released Boot Camp 1.2. Still beta, but lots of improvements including 32-bit Vista support and Apple Remote support in iTunes and Windows Media Player. (Wonder if you could hack in other Windows apps?) We’ll have more on Vista for […]

We usually skip over minor version upgrades, but Z3TA+ from Cakewalk is a very special synth, and 1.5 is a very nice (free) update. New in the version bump: x64 and Vista support, a low-CPU arpeggiator (assuming it’s handling voicing/oscillator resource allocation more efficiently?), different CPU-optimized quality modes (also added to rival NI Massive recently), […]

Chiptune musicians rejoice! Though the original, grey Game Boy has long been a favorite, Herbert Weixelbaum has recently posted what may be the most thorough sonic comparison of Gameboy models. In his comparison he uses LSDJ to analyze the sonic qualities, as well as list the pros, cons and quirks of each model with and […]

“Collaboration” I think is the key word in the upcoming, unknown Ableton-Cycling ’74 product. It’s difficult to avoid confusion when talking about a product you can’t talk about, but Cycling ’74 founder David Zicarelli does that today. The highlight for me is this passage on the next version of Max/MSP/Jitter, which is independent from the […]

It’s a 12 x 12 FireWire audio interface. It’s a customizable mixer, with curves, filter styles, and ranges editable via a color LCD screen. It’s a MIDI controller. It’s an Italian sports car, molded by design house Giugiaro Italdesign. And it has password-protected audio output limiting, so those sleazeball DJs don’t blow your club’s speakers. […]

Okay, safety first. Casio says: Due to a manufacturing defect, certain CTK-710 keyboards may present a smoke and/or fire hazard, which could result in serious injury or property damage. No reports of injuries have been received by Casio to date. Casio is aware of five incidents of overheating, including two incidents that resulted in a […]

KORE2’s new face reveals its second generation is already looking much closer to our original desire for the tool: give us a powerful, accessible environment for treating plug-ins like modular building blocks. The first KORE may be hanging out in my closet at the moment. But the new KORE2 makes it look like someone got […]