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Create Digital Music


 

 Friday July 4, 2008. 03:57 PM 
Journal: The Mind Meld Audiovisual Retreat in New England Journal: The Mind Meld Audiovisual Retreat in New England
03:57 PM 
Last month, I was lucky enough to head to a gathering of music and visual artists at the studio of artist Duncan Laurie in Jamestown, Rhode Island, accompanied by performances in Providence and Boston. Among the cast: Richard Devine, Josh Kay (Phoenicia/Schematic), Steve Nalepa, Todd Thille (Synesthete), Vidvox?s David Lublin, Josh Randall (Robotkid/Harmonix), Aerostatic, Brian [...]
A Dreamy Prototype for Ableton Live Control Finally Mimics UI A Dreamy Prototype for Ableton Live Control Finally Mimics UI
03:06 PM 
Ableton Live controllers are suddenly everywhere, in commercial products and DIY creations. But an in-progress prototype being designed by Serbia-based creator Sasa Djuric, found on the CDM Flickr pool, goes the extra distance to integrate more effectively with the software. The hardware looks more like the on-screen UI, for starters ? an elusive objective [...]

 

 Thursday July 3, 2008 
Project C-90: Insanely Huge Cassette Tape Collection Site Expands Project C-90: Insanely Huge Cassette Tape Collection Site Expands
11:38 PM 
The middle child of audio technology, neither as hip as vinyl or as modern as the MP3, the cassette lives on in a massive online shrine called the C-90 Project. Odds are, if you?ve ever seen a blank cassette, it?s stored in here or soon will be. We saw its colorful compact novelties back [...]
kore@noisepages: Free DIY Grain Delay Reaktor Tutorial, plus Mak... kore@noisepages: Free DIY Grain Delay Reaktor Tutorial, plus Mak...
10:57 PM 
Building and Using a Reaktor Grain Delay in Kore 2 from Create Digital Media on Vimeo. Let?s cut straight to the reason we use this stuff: we want crazy-sounding delays we can play with. Reaktor guru Peter Dines shows just how you?d build such a thing in Reaktor from the ground up for CDM?s [...]
MachineCollective: Open, DIY Modular Controller Platform Coming Soon MachineCollective: Open, DIY Modular Controller Platform Coming Soon
06:28 PM 
Something very funny has happened in the world of music controllers. It started with the rising popularity of Ableton Live, along with the likes of Reaktor and Max/MSP, as musicians started creating more dynamic, rich live performances with computers. Supposedly, this shift should have created new controller designs. If Live was the killer app, [...]
Dave Smith/Linn LinnDrum II Pre-order List Now; Specs Dave Smith/Linn LinnDrum II Pre-order List Now; Specs
05:37 PM 
We?ve been eagerly awaiting the LinnDrum II since it was called the BoomChik. We called the non-functional prototype one of the best products of this January?s NAMM ? reasoning being that, based on what we heard from showgoers, a silent LinnDrum still beat more evolutionary blandness from the rest of the industry. But I?d [...]

 

 Wednesday July 2, 2008 
Keyboard + Monome = One Crazy DIY Instrument Hybrid by STS9?s Da... Keyboard + Monome = One Crazy DIY Instrument Hybrid by STS9?s Da...
10:34 PM 
The Monome is small and elegant, but there’s something to be said for traditional instrumental controllers like a keyboard. So why not combine them? David Phipps of the electronic jam band Sound Tribe Sector 9 did just that, and sends CDM this photo of the project in process. He’s off on a five week [...]
Monitor Your Audio Drives for Trouble via SMART, Free (Windows/M... Monitor Your Audio Drives for Trouble via SMART, Free (Windows/M...
08:31 PM 
We live and die by hard drives for music. There?s no substitute for redundancy and backups (hey, you could be Matthew Dear and have a drive stolen during your set). But it is helpful to know whether a drive is healthy or not. S.M.A.R.T. monitoring features built into drives can help. Lifehacker today points to [...]

 

 Tuesday July 1, 2008 
Handmade Music Returns: DIY Music Tech in Brooklyn 7/8, Video Handmade Music Returns: DIY Music Tech in Brooklyn 7/8, Video
07:51 PM 
Create Digital Music Night at ETSY LABS from Etsy on Vimeo. Handmade marketplace Etsy.com, DIY "mook"/blog Make, and createdigitalmusic.com again team up for another Handmade Music Night at Brooklyn’s Etsy Labs! For an idea of what it’s about (or perhaps inspiration for starting something similar in your corner of the world), see the video [...]
Exclusive: Free (Cardstock) Minimoog Model Offer Extended Exclusive: Free (Cardstock) Minimoog Model Offer Extended
07:36 PM 
If you missed getting a free Minimoog model with the purchase of landmark ambient album Gas0095 from label Microscopics and still want it, we’ve got good news for you. Microscopics have extended the offer, exclusively for Create Digital Music readers. Paul writes: "If they enter the code CreateDigitalMusic.com in the ‘Add special instructions for the Merchant‘ [...]
Music Tech and Music Education: Blogs and CDM on the ME Podcast Music Tech and Music Education: Blogs and CDM on the ME Podcast
07:20 PM 
The connection between music education and technology has always been really significant to me. Aside from (sometimes) being a teacher myself and having spent a few years doing training for notation package Sibelius, to me learning and teaching are fundamental to musical activity even outside schools. I got to sit in as a guest on [...]
Adieu, XP; How Vista SP1 is Doing, and Why This OS Generation Ha... Adieu, XP; How Vista SP1 is Doing, and Why This OS Generation Ha...
04:24 PM 
XP passed into the shadows yesterday, officially — so how’s Vista for music? Some of the answers may surprise you. Photo: coda. Yesterday marked the official phase-out of Windows XP. That in itself isn?t terribly big news; it?s easy enough to get XP systems for the foreseeable future, and custom builders can even put together [...]
Mac OS X 10.5.4 Fixes AirPort Issues with Logic (And Other Audio... Mac OS X 10.5.4 Fixes AirPort Issues with Logic (And Other Audio...
07:36 AM 
Apple has released another update to Leopard. So far, we hear some of you are blissfully happy, while others are still grumbling. (Ah, technology. So what else is new?) We suspected AirPort issues with both Leopard and Tiger; many of you reported the simple fix was to turn AirPort off. The latest update: “Addresses AirPort issues that [...]

 

 Monday June 30, 2008 
Wii Rock Band Controllers + Mac: Use junXion, Game-to-MIDI Contr... Wii Rock Band Controllers + Mac: Use junXion, Game-to-MIDI Contr...
04:42 AM 
A new version of Rock Band (for Wii) means still more ways to turn these game controllers into musical or visual performance instruments. Jordan Balagot writes with some hands-on experience using junXion, a wonderful tool for adapting game controllers to MIDI or OpenSoundControl. (junXion also works with Wiimotes and nunchucks, audio inputs and pitch sensors, [...]

 

 Friday June 27, 2008 
AirPiano: Touch-Free, Sensing Gestural Music Controller AirPiano: Touch-Free, Sensing Gestural Music Controller
09:05 PM 
Omer Yosha has created a beautiful, elegant interface that uses infrared sensors to control music applications. Touch-free interfaces, of course, date back to the Theremin, but Omer is trying some new things here, creating an invisible matrix of controls in the air. And I love the way the physical object looks. He writes to [...]
10 Free Non-Musical Windows Software Every Musician Should Use 10 Free Non-Musical Windows Software Every Musician Should Use
08:30 PM 
  Process Explorer is the essential portal to seeing what?s going on with CPU and memory activity on Windows. It was good enough that Microsoft bought the tool. Any computer ? Mac, Windows, and Linux ? can experience degraded audio experience pretty fast if a background task starts stealing CPU or a driver is misbehaving. In [...]
Video: The Trons, All-Robot, Self-Playing Band Video: The Trons, All-Robot, Self-Playing Band
06:48 PM 
Perhaps fueled by YouTube comepetition, robotic instruments are looking more and more impressive. What I’d most like to see: a robotic battle of the bands. The latest creation comes to us from the all-robot band The Trons, based in New Zealand. They have cute names, and I bet the ‘bots are more fun to date [...]

 

 Wednesday June 25, 2008 
Nintendo DS Goodies: glitchDS Update, repeaterDS, Wireless MIDI,... Nintendo DS Goodies: glitchDS Update, repeaterDS, Wireless MIDI,...
02:06 PM 
Can $130 buy you more versatile digital musical studio hardware than (bizarrely) a Nintendo DS loaded with homebrew software? The software keeps rolling in. The wonderful cellular automation synth glitchDS has just gotten its 1.3 update, with per-sound volume, a tap-able “pad play” page for triggering samples, quick snapshot saving, and other improvements. Better still, the author [...]
Laser Cello Played by Musician and Animator Helene Berg Laser Cello Played by Musician and Animator Helene Berg
01:47 PM 
Helene Berg is a cellist. She’s also an animator, video artist/filmmaker, and does yoga and water-aerobics. So when she plays cello, it’s fitting she might play more than just any old cello. Enter the lasercello, an augmented rendition of the traditional instrument designed by Jonas Ericsson of the Stockholm design agency No Picnic. Documentation is scant, [...]

 

 Tuesday June 24, 2008 
Chicago This Week: Andy Vaz Plus CDM?s Liz and Peter, Audiovisua... Chicago This Week: Andy Vaz Plus CDM?s Liz and Peter, Audiovisua...
06:21 PM 
Andy Vaz. I’m Chicago-bound this week, and really excited about the events I’m part of, in case you’re in the area: Wednesday - Re:vivify audiovisual social: Eco-conscious setting and cocktails, all live audiovisual sets. I don’t know these folks, but looking forward to meeting them! “Alexander Bassett going away party, plus live sets by Release, Lokua, Radius, [...]
whitelabel: Free VST Plug-ins for PC, with Cool Granular, Delay,... whitelabel: Free VST Plug-ins for PC, with Cool Granular, Delay,...
05:26 PM 
Plug-in crafter daz disley writes to alert us to his Windows VST plug-in collection. The beta-grade plug-ins are all available as donationware. There are various warnings about “try at your own risk,” which reads to me as an invitation. Three effects have been polished into finished versions; you can get all three for EUR25 if [...]
Metallica Attempts to Be Beloved Trent Reznor, Fails Metallica Attempts to Be Beloved Trent Reznor, Fails
04:13 PM 
Eliot Van Buskirk has, as always, terrific music coverage for Wired. The story this time: how Metallica’s Radiohead/Nine Inch Nails-style Internet release, free of DRM, seems only to make people angry. It gives a glimpse into how the Internet release could evolve over time, outside the aura of joy in which the latter two bands [...]

 

 Monday June 23, 2008 
Wrist Synths: Whisper-Quiet Wearable Wristband FM; Solar-Powered... Wrist Synths: Whisper-Quiet Wearable Wristband FM; Solar-Powered...
06:32 PM 
Tired of all those DIY electronics projects making an awful racket? This one is whisper-quiet. You may have to turn up your volume to hear it at all. Project creator Andrew Benson (maker of many wonderful things for Cycling ‘74) writes: I just finished sewing together an FM synthesizer that lives on a wristband and is controlled [...]
Mobile Recording: Alesis Hooks XLR Mics to iPod; Edirol R-09 Add... Mobile Recording: Alesis Hooks XLR Mics to iPod; Edirol R-09 Add...
06:14 PM 
The mobile recording space keeps rolling along. Alesis is the latest company to try to turn the iPod into a usable digital recorder. With up to 160 GB of storage, the fact that the iPod is a mobile hard drive you may already own certainly has some appeal. But what about quality? The Alesis ProTrack attempts [...]

 

 Sunday June 22, 2008 
MIDIFY, Shipping Now, Adds MIDI to Nintendo Handhelds, Microwave... MIDIFY, Shipping Now, Adds MIDI to Nintendo Handhelds, Microwave...
11:55 PM 
Here?s the one you?ve been waiting for. MIDIFY is a DIY board that lets you add MIDI to any Nintendo handheld game console ? DS, DS Lite, GBA, GBA-SP, and (with some extra parts) other devices ? even microwave ovens. US$34.99, a scant 2 oz, and you even get a MIDI cable. Wire that sucker [...]

 

 Saturday June 21, 2008 
MOTU Digital Performer 6 Released, With Tasty Sound Tools MOTU Digital Performer 6 Released, With Tasty Sound Tools
06:37 PM 
DP6 is here (or will be here soon, say commenters), with a badly-needed UI update and a number of new features. The results still look like DP ? in the way that should appeal to current users, that is ? but enhancements demonstrate that the ongoing DAW battles carry on. DP6 New Features In the usability [...]

 

 Friday June 20, 2008 
Download Free Reaktor-Powered Step Sequencer; Reaktor, Kore Perf... Download Free Reaktor-Powered Step Sequencer; Reaktor, Kore Perf...
11:29 PM 
We?ve been busy at kore.noisepages.com hacking away on Native Instruments? software to share more playable tools and tips. Peter Dines has built a really fantastic tool called Frankenloop. It’s a "step sequencer with a twist" — probability settings for each step so that it sounds different each time. Peter has released it under a ShareAlike [...]
Guitar Pedals Go DIY, Open Source Guitar Pedals Go DIY, Open Source
11:05 PM 
Ever wished you could open up guitar pedals and make them work the way you like? This week brought good news for you, whether your flavor is hardware or software. Prefer to wire up a simple DIY project and learn about circuitry without soldering? Or want a mad eight-core food pedal with video output [...]
Obituary: STEIM Founder, Cracklebox Inventor, Musician Michel Wa... Obituary: STEIM Founder, Cracklebox Inventor, Musician Michel Wa...
10:38 PM 
Sad news has arrived via Scott Looney: I have the sad news to report that STEIM’s founder Michel Waisvisz died peacefully in his home last night "after fighting the mean cells in his body for eight months" - which i assume is a reference to the cancer he had been battling. Michel developed one of [...]
Pro Tools 7.4.2 Officially Leopard Compatible, But Check Your Pl... Pro Tools 7.4.2 Officially Leopard Compatible, But Check Your Pl...
05:06 PM 
Pro Tools 7.4.2 is now fully tuned, qualified, and tested for Mac OS X Leopard. It?s a free download for users of Pro Tools 7.4 HD, LE, and M-Powered. (If you?re not yet on 7.4, you will need to purchase an upgrade to 7.4 first.) According to Digidesign, the update results from collaboration with [...]

 

 Thursday June 19, 2008 
Tenori-On is Shipping in US; Tenori-On Meets Kyma Synth Tenori-On is Shipping in US; Tenori-On Meets Kyma Synth
08:39 PM 
Tenori-on Meets Kyma from Nomad Cinema on Vimeo. US distributor Keyfax NewMedia reports that it has Yamaha’s Tenori-On in stock and shipping out now. (Pre-orders began at the beginning of May, but this is apparently the first the US unit has made it to our shows — unless you happened to win one from createdigitalmusic.com, that [...]
Interview: Geeking Out with Fennesz on Sound and Performance Interview: Geeking Out with Fennesz on Sound and Performance
05:54 PM 
Fennesz at Mutek? ?2008 Fennesz and Lillevan at Mutek 2008 from Create Digital Media on Vimeo. I met with Christian Fennesz and video artist Lillevan in the green room of the Theatre de Nouveau Monde, where they would be performing together at A/Visions 3. Fennesz had no idea what visuals Lillevan would be using that evening, but [...]
Microscopic Plays with Scale on Gas0095, Gives You Tiny Moog Model Microscopic Plays with Scale on Gas0095, Gives You Tiny Moog Model
03:23 PM 
Gas0095, the landmark 90s ambient release, is back in a remastered version. If you know the music, you’re probably already thrilled by the return of this epic sonic world; if not, even non-ambient fans are likely to get a kick out of the spacey, synthy goodness. (Best press quote: ?the ideal soundtrack to an [...]
Wii Balance Board Surfs Through AudioSurf Music Game; Music Apps... Wii Balance Board Surfs Through AudioSurf Music Game; Music Apps...
02:51 PM 
BodySurf :: AudioSurf + Wii Balance Board :: Vegas Demonstration from Chardish on Vimeo. Never that impressed by people waggling the Wii Remote? Time for some full body-weight control. Enter the Wii Balance Board, the force-sensing hardware bundled with Nintendo?s Wii Fit. Evan Jones, aka Chardish, has hooked up the balance board to the fantastic [...]
DRM Lessons: MSN Music Restores Authorizations Through 2011 DRM Lessons: MSN Music Restores Authorizations Through 2011
12:06 AM 
Let this be a lesson to you, purveyors of online music. If you do DRM-lock digital music, be prepared to continue to support it well into the future, lest users rebel. Microsoft announced earlier this year that its MSN Music service, defunct now for some time and never terribly popular, would cease to function [...]

 

 Wednesday June 18, 2008 
New Early Computer Music Discovered; What Was the First Digital ... New Early Computer Music Discovered; What Was the First Digital ...
08:04 PM 
Australia’s CSIRAC made the first computer-generated melody, but no recordings remain. For other primitive early computer music, catch new strains from the BBC from 1951. Photo by thefunklab. As several of you noticed, the BBC has discovered 1951 recordings of computer-synthesized music, predating the previous earliest recordings from New Jersey?s Bell Labs in 1957. ‘Oldest’ computer [...]

 

 Tuesday June 17, 2008 

 

 Thursday June 12, 2008 
Korg nanoKEY, nanoKONTROL, nanoPAD: Super Tiny MIDI Keyboard, Co... Korg nanoKEY, nanoKONTROL, nanoPAD: Super Tiny MIDI Keyboard, Co...
06:53 PM 
It was inevitable: eventually, someone would figure out that mobile computer musicians wanted to be able to have a slim-line controller (particularly for MIDI keyboards) that was tiny enough to fit anywhere and take anywhere. I actually heard a rumor at one point that someone would be M-Audio, but Korg has beaten them to [...]

 

 Wednesday June 11, 2008 
Meaningless Fun: Facebook ?Give an Analog Synth? App Meaningless Fun: Facebook ?Give an Analog Synth? App
07:24 PM 
  Here?s the one and only Facebook app you?ll ever hear me get enthusiastic about. You know the Facebook apps, of course ? this overhyped ?platform? generally involves time-wasting, spam-like ?Someone you barely know just sent you a cupcake? emails. But I like this one: Analog Synths Thanks to CDM?s Liz for being so generous: And personally, all [...]
DS-10, Korg Soft Synth for Nintendo DS, Gets Launch Party in Lon... DS-10, Korg Soft Synth for Nintendo DS, Gets Launch Party in Lon...
05:51 PM 
The embarrassment of riches that is music software for the Nintendo DS continues to grow. Alongside the homebrew entries, DS developer AQ Interactive has the one officially-distributed DS soft synth, a loving emulation of vintage Korg goodness in DS form. We?ve gotten word that the DS-10 makes its public debut this Saturday in London, as [...]
Circle Synth is Here: New Instrument Built Around Flow Circle Synth is Here: New Instrument Built Around Flow
03:46 AM 
We?ve been lucky enough to break the story of Circle, a new soft synth with a creative user interface, and to take you behind the scenes of its creators thinking process in creating the software. But maybe you don?t buy into the idea of a synth that focuses on flow and working method, or [...]

 

 Tuesday June 10, 2008 
Apple Unveils Snow Leopard, But What Does it Mean? Apple Unveils Snow Leopard, But What Does it Mean?
06:22 PM 
Apple?s airtight secrecy has allowed it to do some wonderful things. But what happens when it?s difficult to tell the path of future operating systems? That?s the situation I?m trying to tackle with Mac OS X Leopard and now the upcoming Mac OS X ?Snow Leopard.? The good news is, Apple says they’re focused [...]
Time to Buy Up Generation 1 iPhones for Hacking? Time to Buy Up Generation 1 iPhones for Hacking?
06:20 PM 
Everyone’s been having the same thought, from what I’ve seen on the blogs and on Twitter: as iPhone users dump their current models for the new 3G iPhone, is now the time to snap up old iPhones and hack away? Hackaday picks up the idea: Hackit: What to do with a 1st gen iPhone? Thanks for the [...]
Generative iPod? Deep Modular, Generative Music System Bound for... Generative iPod? Deep Modular, Generative Music System Bound for...
05:32 AM 
Northwest Reef from Umcorps on Vimeo. Aside from being toy-like mini-computers, could mobile devices take on a musical usefulness all their own? At the Electronic Music Foundation?s 10th Anniversary Symposium in 2004, Morton Subotnik and fellow panelists imagined an iPod that, instead of playing canned music from your music library, would actually generate music for [...]

 

 Monday June 9, 2008 
Apple Reality Check: iPhone 3G is Just the Tip of the Mobile and... Apple Reality Check: iPhone 3G is Just the Tip of the Mobile and...
11:01 PM 
Screen grab: John Biehler For those of you who are interested, Apple?s WWDC keynote has focused today on the iPhone 3G and the iPhone SDK. Macworld has a nice live blow-by-blow. Here?s the bottom line for me. First, Apple has done an incredible job of demonstrating the potential of rich media apps in general, mobile and [...]
iPod and iPhone Audio Recording App, Loads of Official Apps Coming iPod and iPhone Audio Recording App, Loads of Official Apps Coming
06:01 AM 
I?m guessing my inbox is just going to be loaded with iPod Touch/iPhone apps this week as Apple unveils its official store, but here?s another one. Plum Amazing is promising an audio recording tool. This looks like a journalist?s dream ? almost. On the upside, you can take notes while audio is recorded. On the [...]
Intua BeatMaker: Music Suite for iPhone and iPod Touch Intua BeatMaker: Music Suite for iPhone and iPod Touch
05:47 AM 
Mobile music suites date back to the first PDAs; the Palm has long been a stand-out platform with apps like Chocopoolp?s wonderful Bhajis Loops. The iPod Touch and iPhone have been a hotbed for development, thanks to sharing development frameworks with the Mac. That led our iPod/iPhone software round-up to be bursting with good [...]

 

 Saturday June 7, 2008 
Sourcing Synths: Resources for x0xb0x Sourcing Synths: Resources for x0xb0x
12:25 AM 
We got a couple of good notes on how to source your own x0xb0x synth kit. In general, I wouldn’t recommend the x0xb0x as a first synth project, but that said, there are some good resources out there if you decide you want to give this synth a try. Likewise, the resources on Lady Ada’s [...]

 

 Friday June 6, 2008 
Inspiration: Vintage Computers Parts Cover Radiohead Inspiration: Vintage Computers Parts Cover Radiohead
11:27 PM 
Big Ideas (Don’t get any) from 1030 on Vimeo. In case you haven’t seen this, James Houston has produced a short film in which an assortment of old computer gear “plays” Radiohead’s “Nude.” We’ve seen various bicycle parts and such performing music around here, but not the actual components of computers in this way. James [...]
Moog Guitar Brings Infinite Sustain, Ladder Filter, But It?s US$6495 Moog Guitar Brings Infinite Sustain, Ladder Filter, But It?s US$6495
09:03 PM 
Infinite sustain, a Moog filter, and — metallurgy? Welcome to the world of the Moog Guitar. It’s not a digital instrument, and it’s not a synth, but I’d say its unique focus on timbral shaping places it squarely within the interests of folks who read this site, and keeps it true to its Moog name. [...]

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Sun July 6, 11:01 PM
  {key13}