Create Digital Music

A Blog Focused on Sound Design, Special with Game Sound Veteran Rob Bridgett

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:51:51 +0000

Scarface: The World is Yours got Hollywood-style sound treatment. Photo courtesy Sierra Entertainment. Designing Sound, as the name implies, focuses entirely on the craft of audio from film to games. While there are industry-driven sites devoted to the topic, this blog is entirely the labor of love of composer and sound designer Miguel Isaza, whose [...]

LA, Live, Lasers: Ableton Sessions, and a CDM Party Sunday Night in Hollywood

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:07:12 +0000

Daedelus joins me for a discussion on performance controllers, as part of an artist lineup ranging from dub pioneer Scientist to beatbox legend Kid Beyond and… a lot of other folks, too. Photo (CC) musiclikedirt. It’s music production. It’s … lasers. If you’re in the LA area, you’ll want to be there. If not, let us [...]

Max for Live Beta is Here; Final Version November 23

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:25:48 +0000

Max For Live Sneak Peak from max4live on Vimeo. Suddenly, I have an image of American Ableton hackers patching on their MacBook over Thanksgiving turkey. After a long, long wait, a public beta of Max for Live is available. The software incorporates the full version of Max/MSP/Jitter – complete with visual output, video processing, and 3D capabilities [...]

Able10 Discounts, Artist Packs, Ableton Live Intro Now US$99

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:18:13 +0000

Ableton is 10. Does that make anyone feel old? Live in action; photo: Marco Raaphorst. As the company turns 10, Ableton has introduced a set of discounts and giveaways, the most notable of which is a new entry-level edition of Live. Live Intro smooths out a lot of the wrinkles between different starter versions of Live, [...]

Rant – Congratulations, Apple: “Syncing” Music Now Means “Using iTunes”

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:57:26 +0000

Photo (CC) Tim Douglas. Critics frequently attach the phrase “lock-in” to Apple’s iTunes Store – iTunes – iPod/iPhone combination. But, in the post-DRM age, what does that mean, exactly? First, you have to recall that while for many of us the manual drag-and-drop music management is appealing, it isn’t so for many average consumers. They want [...]

Digital Sales Up, But is Apple Monopoly the Price? NPD, Mint Data, Editorial Analysis

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:25:54 +0000

Data and images courtesy Mint.com. Mint.com, the online financial management tool, has put its numbers together with market researchers NPD Group to analyze music spending. The results: when it comes to consuming recorded music, digital music continues to rise. At the same time, so does Apple’s grip on the music consumption market, a combination that [...]

NI’s Traktor Kontrol X1: High-Res Traktor Controller, MIDI Mode

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:22:07 +0000

The Traktor Kontrol X1 is an exercise in minimalism, reducing the various uses of Traktor to a few encoders and buttons and a compact form factor. But while it supports MIDI for use with any DJ software, its “high-resolution” mode – as with Maschine before it – uses a proprietary protocol. The unit will sell [...]

Arduino Piano Gets an Open Source “Squealer” Synth Engine

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:15:27 +0000

Clean is overrated. If you’re ready for a little digital dirt in your synth life, powered by the open-source Arduino hardware, Marc Nostromo’s Squealer is for you. Built atop the wonderful, Arduino-based Pocket Piano kit by Critter and Guitari, it’s a full-blown, simple, digitally-gritty synthesis engine. You get a monosynth, some fixed waveforms, a resonant filter, [...]

Novation Releases All MIDI Details for Launchpad

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:14:10 +0000

Novation’s Launchpad, its affordable (

Happy Halloween: 8-bit, Creative Commons, Free Holiday Music Mix

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:57:21 +0000

An 8-bit Black Mage graces a very special Jack-o-Lantern. Photo (CC) Kevin Meehan / Coldways. If 16 bits spoil the mood of your All Hallow’s Eve, and you need some chips with your treats, the good peoples of the chip music community are hear to make sure the celebration of the visiting dead are properly accompanied [...]

Comments (0) - Read and Add your own Comments