Down with laptops! Jaymis and I have both taken up SFF PCs as live tools, so we can bring some serious iron to gigs with multiple video outputs. Now, the only problem: laptops have these handy QWERTY keyboards attached. SFF PCs (and Mac minis and such) mean bringing your own keyboard and display. I’ve been […]

As you’ve probably noticed, CDM has had major outages all week. We’re working on resolving the problem. We’ve moved to a new, dedicated server, but while that will make CDM’s performance and reliability much better, in the meantime, it’s made things worse. We’re debugging some issues in the site itself and will be back up […]

The BCD2000 has been somewhat of a contradiction for me since purchase. On one hand the hardware is fantastic; robust and seriously cheap. On the other hand the included software and drivers are absolutely abhorrent, PC only affairs with broken midi implementation. I’ve always hoped that Behringer would update the BCD to have similar (extensive) […]

Once, digital image editing was a fringe medium. Now, almost everyone who uses a computer does basic image editing. So, I’m pleased to get to talk today at Macworld Expo about live visuals and reactive/interactive animation. I chose some relatively simple examples since time was short, just to cover the basics. I think some of […]

Breaking! Native Instruments will be using USB! Got that? Metal DJ hardware goodness also presumably on its way. Music makers think that if they leak some teaser photos of upcoming devices, we’ll write it up. They’re right. Native Instruments has released to CDM a small image of what appears to be an upcoming Traktor hardware […]

I’m here in San Francisco all week at Macworld, a hub not only for the Mac platform but the visualist/VJ scene as well. I’ll be reporting all week (and next, as I catch up) for both CDMotion and CDMusic. This is a huge chance to learn about Flash (Flashforward is hosting a special Macworld edition), […]

How much does circuit bender Gijs Gieskes love circuit boards? Enough to make them into puppets. A little paint, lots and lots of colored lights, and the ability to receive clock signal (MIDI sync) from LSDj, the homebrew music app for Game Boys, and you have a geeky, wonderful animated character who can flash along […]

Ableton has announced it’s opening a new office and handling its own US distribution. Ordinarily, this kind of news would be pretty boring, but this particular announcement is important for several reasons: 1. It means Ableton is going to have a bigger presence in New York, home city of Create Digital Music (just 15 minutes […]

I’m now in San Francisco at Macworld Expo, and will be reporting all week for CDMusic and CDMotion. Sure, word is Steve Jobs is going to be introducing some new gadget, but that’s not even the highlight for me. There’s a terrific lineup of music and visual events and parties, many of which will appeal […]

The perfect computer DJ controller remains elusive. Serious turntablist DJs, of course, will want decks. But what if you’re scratching homebrew Reaktor instruments, or jogging through video for a VJ set (which, sorry, isn’t really subtle enough to require a full deck), or just adding scratch to a laptop set? Our own Adrian Anders notes […]