High schoolers can learn production at Eastman this summer: interview

If you’re in high school, take note — and if you’re not, this may make you wish you were. Electronic music production gurus Dennis DeSantis and Erin Barra are hosting a week-long intensive at the storied Eastman School of Music. I wanted to know how Erin and Dennis would approach the program, so they’ve shared their ideas about music tools, creativity, and pedagogy with us.

Finding lost intimacy and freedom, in the collaborative hacklab at CTM Festival

In tenuous times of war, disease, and uncertainty, our MusicMakers Hacklab program in May at CTM Festival held a special energy. Here’s a look back at this open performance lab for music, just as the deadline for the 2023 edition approaches Sunday.

Peter Kirn - November 4, 2022

A five-story pyramid is backdrop for Kyiv’s music artists and queer performers

Inspired by crystalline geometries, Christopher Bauder’s STALACTITE towers nearly five stories over a Berlin backlot. On Sunday, it’s the setting for a dynamic exchange between DJs, queer performance artists, and interactive light – a performance that makes a statement of resistance from unstoppable Ukrainians. The event runs this Sunday, July 31, from 20:00 – 23:59; […]

Peter Kirn - July 29, 2022

Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor updates deliver on performance promise – with extras

Peter Kirn - April 14, 2022

Alvin Lucier, who saw sonic poetry in pencils and soundscapes everywhere, has died

Peter Kirn - December 1, 2021

Reason 10.3 delivers on VST performance promises

Peter Kirn - April 16, 2019

Reason 10.3 will improve VST performance – here’s how

Peter Kirn - December 14, 2018

What culture, ritual will be like in the age of AI, as imagined by a Hacklab

Peter Kirn - July 26, 2018

MusicMakers Hacklab Berlin to take on artificial minds as theme

Peter Kirn - December 1, 2017