Remember Farm Aid and the many other “Aid” events of the 80s? It was a more innocent time, a time in which rockers thought they could influence events. Or is that spirit really dead, after all? Musicians hoping to change the direction of the G8 conference of world leaders have a new tool: the Web, […]

Rope and Sound is an installation that uses rope tension to control sound. Pull on a cord, and the change in tension triggers electronic thuds and mellow chimes. The trick is conductive fibers braided into the rope; as the tension changes, the conduction of the rope changes, as well. I got a chance to try […]

There’s plenty of homebrew music software for the Game Boy and GBA (check out LSDJ and Nanoloop), but what about next-gen portables? MusicThing gets the scoop on PSP Kick, a sampled drum machine for PSP. PSP Kick is very simple — it’s just a 12-slot drum sampler with AIFF output — but it sounds like […]

Ed: Brent’s back, not only with a review of the massive EastWest Stormdrum sample library, but some ideas on how you might use it as a composer of game or film scores. Read on . . . -PK Where Art Thou, Boomy Percussion? If you’ve watched any of the more epic-styled Hollywood films lately, no […]

You think you know 80s flashbacks? Not unless you’ve met Jemgirl. This Australian-based DJ/digital musician is hardcore enough to be recreating tunes from the rock cartoon Jem. (Still not ringing any bells? You know, truly, truly outrageous? Yeah — that Jem, my fellow late-20-somethings.) Jemgirl isn’t alone, either: she’ll be spinning Jem tunes, 80s music, […]

Imagine Bush as Lennon . . . you’ve entered the world of the mash-up, a world where songs collide and U.S. Presidents’ words get mixed around into whatever you want. (Well, I hope — I wouldn’t entirely put it past our President to spontaneously break into Lennon lyrics way out of context.) Take a walk […]

G’day, pleased to meet you – This is the first installation of ‘dithered is the new black’, a weekly column about all the great music one can find online – usually for free. I’m atariboy. (Cris Pearson in ‘real life’) I make music (see atariboy.com) and design software (see plasq.com). Lets get to it . […]

Okay, CDM readers. We’ve got a dual challenge this week: what headphones are perfect for gigging, perfect for DJing, and make a perfect birthday present? Reader-turned-CDM columnist atariboy writes: I am looking for some good headphones for my girlfriends (jemgirl) birthday later this week. Around the $100 mark. Will be used for DJing/gigging. The Sony […]

Back in April, we reported on an M-Audio Palm-Sized Recorder, which the company was showing at the German MusikMesse conference. Think CompactFlash-based device, 24-bit/96 KHz WAV/MP3, mic / line / digital ins, USB 2.0 connection. (Specs subject to clarification/change.) Now, M-Audio has shown the portable recorder again, at the Barcelona AES Conference (which CDM ranks […]

Here’s your typical PR hype: “because guitarists deserve, and WANT, some anus-stretching.” (We know computer musicians, remix artists, drummers, keyboardists, etc. do, too.) The Metasonix Butt Probe — sorry, the “TX-2” — is a $549, hand-made, hand-painted tube-based distortion effect, complete with fist, ream, and scre parameters. Tube-based so that it has a lovely, warm, […]