Ready to get in the holiday mood, but feeling Scrooge-like with your money? Here are some free tunes to get your Yuletide festivities underway: The Garritan Personal Orchestra forum has become more than a place for users of this sampled orchestra library to troubleshoot and ask questions — it really is a community in its […]

I have another 2 days in Hanoi before returning to Australia. I was hoping to find an electronics market to pick up some gear to use in physical computing projects, but so far my asking around and googling hasn’t located anything. Can any Vietnam-based CDM readers help me out? In other news: I’m currently working […]

The music technology blogosophere continues to expand, now with an excellent new site dedicated to film scoring. The site also has a bonus: its name begins with the word “Create”, which means it can join CDM’s unofficial “Create [Stuff]” network! Create Film Scores Jerome Leroy, an L.A.-based music systems technician, is editing the new site. […]

The Wi-Fi link on the Nintendo DS makes it possible to harnass the game unit as a software controller, made more appealing by the DS’ two screens and touchscreen/stylus. In one very cool student project at the University Of Applied Science Hagenberg, a three-person team (Matthias Zauner, Ralph Windischhofer, and Martina Karan) has developed a […]

Circuit bending master and artist Reed Ghazala has some sobering thoughts on the state of surplus supply shops: “My deep connections in surplus tell me the whole thing is dying.” (See comments on Circuit Bending Tips: Resistance Substitution Wheel is Dead; How to Make Your Own. That’s sad, as the trend comes just as the […]

The way it was: Philip LeBash in the early days of modern DJing; see the complete LeBash history, interview, and images at DJ’s Portal. Technology and music have always had dynamic, changing, intertwined histories. It’s easy to forget that we’re in the middle of that history, both in terms of the now ubiquitous practices of […]

My friend Francis Preve, tech author and electronica producer / remix artist, has a new title out on Backbeat Books assembling a broad range of production tips, tutorials, and anecdotes from artists. (He’s pictured here, though that’s not actually his pool.) You may know Fran’s writing from Keyboard; for The Remixer’s Bible, he’s assembled Keyboard’s […]

Novation is hoping you’ll bring their new Xiosynth mini-synth keyboard home, and to help give you an additional push, they’ve got a new online sampler keyboard plus lessons for learning synthesis techniques. Have a listen to the patches on the Xiosynth with the Flash player below; try the z, x, and c keys on your […]

Whether using your home MIDI gear and software or building an elaborate DIY MIDI project, better understanding MIDI is essential to getting the results you want. Many musicians are aware that the applications of MIDI aren’t limited to traditional musical implementations, but a broad range of creative DIY projects. Explaining what MIDI is, how it […]