One open source DVD with an operating system and all the free tools you need for creative work, ready to run on any PC or Mac — it’s an interesting vision. That’s the idea behind Ubuntu Studio. Details are sketchy on development so far, but the basic idea is bundling together the tools you need […]

While we’re talking DRM, bless those progressive Vikings. Norway’s Consumer Ombudsman (whom I imagine wears a long, ornate robe and a thick beard — or something archaic and cool, since us Americans don’t get any ombudspeople, just a lot of corporate lobbyists) has pronounced iTunes/iPod FairPlay DRM illegal. Apple DRM is illegal in Norway, says […]

Good things about Microsoft: they’re the rich kid next door who can book Jefferson Starship for their Vista launch tour. Good news for PC users: DRM probably isn’t going to keep you from getting a shiny new OS after all. Whether you choose Mac OS X, Linux, Windows XP, or Windows Vista — or some […]

Moose has taken a fantastic gallery of images from NAMM, found at MIDIZoo.com, and clearly is attracted to a lot of the same stuff as Team CDM. Now, here’s a tantalizing banner for fans of analog synths and early MPCs. If you had to pick a dream team to build an analog/digital hybrid drum machine, […]

The new Vestax VCI-100 is “a highly professional MIDI controller” that was on display at the NAMM show. While many of us delight in exposing highly cheesy marketing verbiage, I do have to say that in the process of trying to nudge it to get a better photo, I discovered that the VCI-100 is much […]

Tim Clark writes to point out the Magical 8bit Plugin from the awesome Japanese game console virtuosos YMCK is now Intel Mac-ready: YMCK Plug-in Download Page What wonders does YMCK offer? 5 waveforms (square, pulse (2 kinds), pseudo-triangle, low-resolution noise) ADSR envelope assignment for volume Supports pitch bending, bend range variable Frequency sweep function Sure, […]

I spend most of my performance time with electronic musicians, and suppose most CDMo readers would be in a similar situation. I don’t think it’s necessarily that live electronica requires a VJ to be visually stimulating (Ponyloaf prove this gig after gig), but those whose music making time is centred around synths, samplers and laptops […]

Josh Jancourtz took some great photos for us from the floor of the Anaheim Convention Center at the NAMM show, because you can never see drool-inspiring gear from too many angles. We’ll be catching up with new NAMM announcements all week and will do our full CDM wrap-up in the next few days, but in […]

The Clavia booth showcased the new Nord C1 combo organ (the product says C3, but they’re changing it to C1), featuring two sets of digital drawbars for the keys and a third one for bass pedals—in this case a Roland PK-7A connected via MIDI. Emulations include the B3, Vox Continental, and Farfisa, which are based […]

Tascam showed a FireWire interface developed with Frontier Design Group that combines a 24/192 stereo audio interface with MIDI I/O in a streamlined design that also features transport buttons and 8 short cut keys (plus a shift key). In the crowded field of stereo interfaces, the FireOne’s added control and ergonomics may provide a welcome […]