DIY hardware is all the rage these days (see the Make:blog), but how about DIY software for music? An increasing number of free and commercial tools on every platform makes it possible to create wild, custom software configurations for real-time music and video without code — or cash. OS X Tiger users have access to […]

Sure, you may be a big fan of All Things Considered — but have you considered getting audio advice from pro NPR and PRI vets? That’s exactly the idea behind the superb site Transom, which brings in public radio experts and celebrities to talk about sound, radio production, and how you can create your own […]

The Art Interface Device (AID) is a microprocessor platform for interfacing with sensors, motors, and electronic devices. If installation art doesn't turn you on, this could work just as well for building interactive electronic instruments. Best of all, the hardware design itself is open source / GPL, so you can just download the plans and […]

No, not a USB interface to MTV's Real World. The Muio is a new interface to real-world sensors and devices (motors, robotics, etc.). It works via USB, and sends and receives MIDI, OSC, and a socket/UDP stream using XML, accessed via Windows DLL or Mac OS X Framework. (CDM issues an 'if you have to […]

Video has come to blogging / media sharing, via vimeo — think flickr for photos. (The name embeds the word 'me' in the word 'video' for word geeks.) The most interesting feature is the service's ability to combine video clips into a single stream. It's blog TV. You can't upload yet as the site is […]

Once commercial software, a powerful audio/video editor is now still supported, but at a new price of — nada. Our friends at Samplepoolz report that Arboretum has turned HyperEngine-AV into a free download. Better yet, the code is open source, so we could see some exciting developments with this program. (Programmers out there?) HyperEngine-AV is […]

The Commodore 64 computer is no longer legendary for, er, performance and power, but it is legendary for its built-in synthesizer chip, the SID. Lovers of this phat-sounding analog chip will go to great lengths to feed their nostalgia: Butcher an actual C64 and build your own MIDI-capable SID synthesizer (via hack-a-day) Add a real […]

As part of CDM's ongoing construction of the "Completely Free Studio," I'm working on assembling good freeware hosts for Windows and Mac. (Linux, of course, being a no-brainer!) Here's what's on my recommend list at the moment: Audio editor: Audacity (open source), Win/Mac/Linux, with the addition of the VST Enabler / LADSPA bridge for Linux […]

Today I'm speaking to an audience at the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology of Connecticut College about finding a meeting place between visual expression and sound. For attendees (and you readers at home), here are some helpful links: Physical Modeling and Sound Creation: Apple's Logic (Mac-only) is deep as it is, but its Sculpture […]

Open source Linux drum machine Hydrogen has made its way to Mac OS X; Johnathan Dempsey has created binaries for easy installation (10.3 required). Hydrogen is still in development, but this is worth trying, and you can bet you'll see many more Linux audio tools on the Mac. Install Jack first if you haven't already, […]