Portable game consoles are fantastic things: do-all media players and mini-computers that are actually fun to use, small enough to carry, with powerful capabilities for just a couple hundred dollars. For computer musicians, they’re versatile devices that fit well into music setups, whether sequencing instruments or feeding videos to a projector. There’s only one problem: […]

I love and use my Mac and Windows setups to death, but maybe it’s time for a three-platform world. Desktop Linux is slowly gaining ground, and it’s particularly strong in the area of music software. There’s a new Linux music blog, and I like the title: Linux Rock Star, by DCZX Highlights: ALSA Modular Synth, […]

I love mice. They’re still a great way to do many things, and while some may think they’re anachronistic, they still do the job for a lot of interface tasks quite nicely. But they’re also painfully awkward for many tasks in 2D and 3D graphics. The folks at 3Dconnexion have been rethinking input devices in […]

I love mice. They’re still a great way to do many things, and while some may think they’re anachronistic, they still do the job for a lot of interface tasks quite nicely. But they’re also painfully awkward for many tasks in 2D and 3D graphics. The folks at 3Dconnexion have been rethinking input devices in […]

As ActionScript has gotten more powerful, some simple animation operations in Flash have gradually required more code, as opposed to the “shorthand” of earlier versions. Meanwhile, the open source Processing project has built a simple, elegant language based on Java that’s powerful, yet surprisingly accessible to non-programmers — and free. Brevity is sort of “Flash […]

(Update: I bought one of these controllers soon after they became available in Australia, and found that it had some compatibility issues with various VJ software. Definitely try before you buy. Jaymis.) Numark launched their NuVJ VJ product, a combination of a DJ-style MIDI controller with software from Arkaos, back at Musikmesse in April. The […]

(Update: I bought one of these controllers soon after they became available in Australia, and found that it had some compatibility issues with various VJ software. Definitely try before you buy. Jaymis.) Numark launched their NuVJ VJ product, a combination of a DJ-style MIDI controller with software from Arkaos, back at Musikmesse in April. The […]

Negroponte’s $100 One Laptop Per Child will include creative music making tools for children. Our friend Nathanael Lecaude writes us: Just wanted to let you know what I was working on during the summer, we’re doing a sequencer/algorithmic music generator for the OLPC project. We did all the protoyping in Max and are now porting […]

GRL and Eyebeam have posted a new instructable on portable projection, with advice on projector output, projection surfaces, car and battery selection, and how not best to overload your inverter, causing it to shoot flame inside your rental van. Outdoor digital projection in urban environments is a great method for getting your content up big […]

Loopers and phrase samplers can be fun tools, but odds are you’ve wished a hardware or software looper would work more musically. Aaron Leese has designed a prototype system, combining a piece of USB hardware, wireless USB pedals, and Windows software, that intends to do just that: Imagine seeing a musician who could play a […]