NOVAK 3D DISCO™ EVENT SAMPLER from Novak Collective on Vimeo. It appears Novak have hit on a winning formula for making live audiovisuals more complete and more immersive. The 3D glasses are just one part of that; they’re adding dimension to their parties in more ways than one. Toby Harris sends along this reel of […]

Google’s Android has been a relatively slow starter for mobile music software, but a gem like Adam Smith’s free Ethereal Dialpad proves it’s a viable option, and the app is an inspiring musical toy, to boot. Perhaps more important than that, behind the scenes, Adam is employing a really beautifully audio engine of his own […]

Kaleido Demo from Agnes Chang on Vimeo. Part of the beauty of working with code is that it can refine the way you think, challenging you to make design ideas into systems. But what’s often a challenge for beginners – heck, sometimes even for experienced coders – is thinking through the ways in which component […]

The limited edition version of the album is actually an object you might care about. So, yes, as the digital album evolves from strange plastic jewel cases into ephemeral download form, it’s evolving the other way, too. If anyone had listened to the predictions, albums would be irrelevant by now. Instead, finding a way to […]

The software synthesizer has come full circle. What was once possible only with a mid-range desktop computer is now easily accomplished with a sub-$200 device that rests in your hand and sips power. That transformation, once something people regarded in some vague time in the future, is now one that’s very present. I expect a […]

ReBirth, the Roland groovebox emulation that helped launch the popularity of soft synths, is now on Apple’s mobile devices for US$6.99. (I woke up to a note from Propellerheads’ CEO Ernst left in my inbox overnight, so thanks, Ernst, for the tip!) This is not the native iPad version MusicRadar predicted after an interview with […]

Photo (CC-BY) Steven Depolo. Editorial Misdirection is an art practiced by magicians by which an audience’s attention is diverted from one place to another. What’s brilliant about it is that it’s not a lie. Indeed, the audience has to participate for it to work. We, the audience, watch the right hand instead of the left, […]

Walter Sear addresses the AES convention in 2001. Photo courtesy the Audio Engineering Society, used by permission. It’s the end of an era: pioneering synth guru, engineer, sound designer, instrument importer, composer, producer, and owner of the landmark Sear Sound recording studio in New York has died at age 79. Sear’s career covered almost everything […]

Cymatic ripple from flight404 on Vimeo. It’s a beautiful age emerging for people making art with code. Tools like Processing and OpenFrameworks are as much about a philosophy and way of life as a specific tool. They’re not only about free and open code, but lightweight syntax, pulling together libraries that make media “just work,” […]