For lovers of the simplicity and fun of the Casio VL series, a successor seems is finally here. The Operator-1 (OP-1), even in prototype form, has us hot and bothered more than anything we’ve seen recently. We’ve been able to snag some additional details. MusicRadar got a video with the creators, though you won’t learn […]

Scenes from the Live 8 launch event in Berlin other Live 8. Actually, Live 8 will totally make you feel like eight men. Ableton, you can quote me on that on your press clippings page if you like. (Pictured: Live 8, the relief event, no relation to Live 8, the software.) Live 8 is now […]

Should sounds be part of a closed format that may not last? What happens if the format and platform that once were trusted by musicians and sound designers ceased to be? That’s the hard lesson learned by users of a popular sampling “standard” – but for once, the news is good. GigaSampler has been a […]

Novation has unveiled their revised SL line of controllers, dubbed the SL Mk II. The changes are subtle, but significant. Looks awesome: Fatar semi-weight “fast touch” keyboard action Touch-sensitive controls for immediate feedback on the LED screen Buttons are now backlit Encoders are ringed with red LEDs Dedicated buttons for enabling Automap and switching modes […]

Add Max patch effects to DNA. from Livid Instruments on Vimeo. Yesterday, we saw some splashy video distortion techniques applied to real-time video. You know what that means: it’s time to use these in live performance. Liquidify Video, Live: Optical Flow GLSL Datamosh Technique Here’s one start.Peter Nyboer, Max whiz and Livid developer, has run […]

Sometimes, audio products come in sexy, exciting packages. But sometimes, they simply solve a set of problems. And the products that fit into the latter category can be as beloved (dare I say sexy), if not more so. Since I first saw a prototype in the fall, I’ve been eagerly awaiting trying out Cakewalk’s V-Studio […]

April Fool’s, San Francisco style – with a parade. Now that’s more fun than sitting in front of blogs. Photo: Patrick Boury. Here’s a cruel joke for you: the first day of Frankfurt’s Musikmesse trade show? The date on which all the music tech press releases for the show have dated their embargo? April First. […]

motion distortion 2 from andrew benson on Vimeo. Datamosh? (The “forbidden” but harmlessly meaningless word?) Video squishification? Mushy data? Call it what you will, but applying real-time distortion and displacement to video so that video textures become flowing layers of pixels looks absolutely beautiful. Andrew Benson of Cycling ‘74 has only just begun playing with […]

Music lovers now have Max for Live coming later this year. But how about running custom visual patches inside your VJ app? That’s now possible using your own Jitter patches inside Cell DNA, Livid’s new, lightweight live visual tool. Livid has released a “DevKit” with some example patches and documentation to get you rolling if […]