Music Technology Posts from November, 2008



Kore 2 Review – Native Instruments

Friday, November 28th, 2008

Native Instruments’ Kore 2 is billed as a “super-instrument” – integrating the powerful software engines of their most popular products under a new interface that can be controlled via a dedicated hardware unit. But does it deliver on this lofty moniker?
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Music Streaming Radio Cashes In

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Long-time readers of this blog will know that I’m a supporter of Last.fm, even though I only discovered it when Pandora was shut off from non-US listeners. Although music streaming radio has had a rocky start, it seems that things are looking up now that Last.fm has begun paying out royalties to artists…
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Economy Of Scale – Long Tail Fails For Music

Friday, November 21st, 2008

Chris Anderson’s Long Tail theory is one of the most popular conceptual memes of Web 2.0. Despite its prevalence and obvious appeal, a recent study of digital music sales claims that this model may not be the salvation of the industry after all…
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User Interface Designs For Studios Of The Future

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

When the Apple Macintosh emerged in 1984, it featured a much friendlier user interface than the text-based operating systems preceding it. It also popularised an innovative new interaction device – the mouse. This meant that anyone could learn to use a computer, and revolutionised our vision of what this new tool could become. But are there any similar user interface watersheds on the horizon?
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Audio-Visual Revenue Generation

Friday, November 14th, 2008

Reinforcing the online media distribution revolution, the latest spate of music/video websites includes a promising Irish company that has secured partnerships with Sony BMG, Ninja Tune, Ministry of Sound and more…
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Envelope Filters – Passing The Envelope

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Digital musicians deal with envelopes and filters on a daily basis, but the terminology can seem a bit daunting for newcomers. So, here’s a brief answer to the question – what is a sound envelope anyway?
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Time To Face The Music

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

The area of music visualisation has always produced interesting and creative new applications of technology – from the traditional bathing of a dancefloor in pulsating psychedelia to immersive multimedia art installations. Now, however, a Japanese composer has decided that his face is the ideal visual output platform for his musical creations…
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The Tweetest Thing – Bands On Twitter

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

When Twitter first emerged, I was one of many people who greeted it with significant scepticism. After all, why should anyone want to sift through an endless array of comments about how satisfied a complete stranger was by their breakfast/shower/airbag? However, now that Twitter has gained a larger audience, it seems to be an ideal platform for bands to connect with potential fans…
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