Even though many DJs have an insatiable desire for new music, the Internet is so awash with listening and downloading options that without direction, you could fritter away many hours of screening music without netting anything to use in your sets. While everyone has favorite recording artists, there are many online tools that will help you keep up with those artists and find new music in similar styles that you’re likely to enjoy. We pulled together the music discovery habits of several DJ Tech Tools contributors to compile a list of sites and tips that is sure to keep you flush with usable new tracks. You may already know and use at least some of these, but a more well-rounded and complete routine will definitely keep you covered with all the new tunes you can handle.

INTERNET STREAMING

A lot of traditional Internet radio sites, such as KCRW.com, simply mirror or archive their companion terrestrial radio shows, but can still be a reliable source for quality new music. However, more innovative and dynamic Internet music streaming services are out there.

Pandora is a free Internet radio service that will customize an ongoing playlist according to whatever artist or song title you feed it. So if you type in the Bloody Beetroots, for example, you’ll get their songs and others that are determined to be good for fans of the Bloody Beetroots, such as Boys Noize, The Toxic Avenger, Justice, etc. Pandora uses the Music Genome Project — an ambitious effort started 10 years ago — to analyze up to 400 musical attributes and find songs compatible with each other. Give chosen songs the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to further personalize your station. You can access the service at Pandora.com or on their popular iPhone/iPod Touch app. However, Pandora is not available in every country.

Spotify.com, although currently only available in select European countries, is a downloadable app that lets you stream just about any music you want over the Internet for free. You create your own playlist or browse by genre. Listening to the music offline requires a membership with a monthly fee.

THE BLOGOSPHERE

This might be a little bit of nepotism, since DJ Tech Tools is itself a blog, but let’s face it: blogs have really taken over the mantle of influence when it comes to electronic music over the last few years. Because there are many thousands of music blogs, we won’t recommend single ones, but rather the aggregators and search engines.

For searching DRM-free MP3s that have been posted to blogs, we love Skreemr.com. The simple, Google-inspired homepage lets you search for music by song title, artist or album. Type in an artist name and hit the Similar Artists search button for a very comprehensive and accurate list. As an example, a search for artists similar to Joakim brought up a list of 100 other artists, many of whom we already knew, but also many other quality producers who were knew to us. Clicking any of those artist links takes you to a ranked list of MP3s available from blogs. You can play and download tracks straight from Skreemr, or link to the blog that posted it. Use the Advanced Search from Skreemr’s homepage to search for music by genre.

Perhaps the most commonly used site across all the Tech Tools peeps is The Hype Machine, or HypeM.com. This MP3 blog aggregator lists songs as they appear in associated blog posts, and you can listen to the tracks right there, link to the original blog post, or search for music by keyword. If you want to cut straight to what’s poppin’ off in the blog-o-verse, you can listen to the Hype Machine’s monthly radio show of hot tracks, hit the Popular tab for the most listened to tracks over the last three days, or check the most tweeted music on it’s Twitter charts. One tip for the Hype Machine is to save your favorite searches as an RSS feed. Say you discover a new remixer and search for him on the Hype Machine. In the Search Results bar, click the RSS button, which will lead you to an option to save that search in an RSS reader, such as Google Reader. Any new search results for your saved searches will then show up on your Google Reader page.

RETAIL DOWNLOAD SITES

Most digital download stores include genre charts, recommendation engines, DJ top 10s or other ways to help you sift through the infinite supply of music and find what you actually want. Sites such as Emusic and Amazon give you recommendations based on your past purchases that are remarkably useful. It’s almost spooky how well they can match up your musical tastes to new music you’ll like after only a few purchases.

In many stores, you don’t have to purchase anything to get useful recommendations. Electronic dance music stores such as Traxsource, Dancetracksdigital and Beatport offer bestseller charts for very specific genres, DJ charts so you can see what familiar DJs are playing, and lists of other tracks that people also bought in addition to the track you’re looking at on the site.

Many DJs organize their music collections within iTunes, which makes the iTunes Genius feature very convenient. Once you turn on the Genius feature, you can open the Genius sidebar, which will pull up the top albums and songs on the iTunes Store by the artist you’re listening to, as well give you Genius Recommendations: suggested songs by similar artists available in the iTunes Store. It’s a very handy feature in a ubiquitous piece of software. However, I do have a complaint that Genius Recommendations aren’t always available. For many electronic artists, some of them as well-known as Crookers and Authechre, the Genius  sidebar only suggested top albums and songs by that artist, but no other similar artists.

…AND ALL THE REST

Don’t sleep on these other avenues toward fresh music.

Podcasts

There are a ton of free EDM mix shows available as podcasts online. A little searching on iTunes or Google will have you swimming in them, or check up on your favorite DJs, magazines and music sites to see if they offer podcasts. Many of them offer tracklistings, so you can take note when a track really catches your attention.

Reference Sites

Discogs.com has a watchlist feature for registered users, which gives you automatic updates on releases from your favorite artists and labels. The Discogs overall database is quite extensive, and a quick browsing of user reviews/comments often yields cool tips on similar artists.

Anyone who’s anyone has a Wikipedia page, right? Chances are you can look up your favorite artists on the online encyclopedia, and if you don’t find a list of similar and associated artists, you should at least get a discography of remixes, singles and albums.

Email

Want fresh tracks right off the cutting room floor? Hook up with other burgeoning producers and become part of their “feedback pool.” One DJTT staff writer shares his tracks with friends and receives a bunch of tracks in return, offers feedback on them, and plays them out if they’re good enough. Exclusive tracks aren’t just for Oakenfold or Cox anymore. Anyone can make a quality track in their bedroom and then email it out to their network, so get in on it.

Pay Services/Pools

One Tech Tools contributor recommends Direct Music Service (DMS) a paid download site just for DJs that covers all types of genres, including hip hop, R&B, rock, 80s, pop, reggae, mashups, and others. DMS offers only DJ-friendly mixes with intro and outros, many of them exclusive edits. There are three tiers of subscription rates ranging from $29.95 a month (or $269.95 a year) for 40 downloads a month or $64.95 a month ($449.95 a year) for unlimited downloads.

Also, check out our recent Digital Record Pool Round-Up.

Torrent Sites

Using torrent sites is definitely a vice that way more people partake in than admit to. Even in a time when many artists will boast about how popular they are on blogs, which also give music away for free, torrent sites can still elicit feelings of shame even in diehard downloaders. But if you are going to get music from torrents, you may want to specialize. There are private torrent trackers out there that focus on certain types of music, and you can gauge the quality of the music by how many people in the community have downloaded and commented on it.

Huge props go out to BentoSan, Cam, Deraadt, DJ Solomon, Ilya and mikecharles for their input on this article.

Most smaller Midi controllers are low profile, allowing them to slip easily into your bag but are too low to use with turntables and mixers. This makes using small controllers along with standard dj gear slightly awkward. Those of us that are on the taller side also suffer from controllers that are too far away and not at playing height. The solution for both problems? A few pieces of gear that are already in your bag + a very simple 25 cent investment that will raise up most small midi controllers to a playable height without adding any weight to your bag.

4 CORNER SOLUTION

DVS users of Serato Scratch and Traktor Scratch suffer from this problem more than anyone. They need to have their control surfaces at the same height as the turntable/mixer or its very hard to access in a pinch. The Solution? Use something that is already in your bag- a Needle box- to raise up the controller. The only thing you need? 4 Sticky feet, placed on the 4 corners of both top and bottom of your box.  This will keep everything firmly in place and at the perfect playing height. The box sticks to the booth and your controller stays glued to the box, allowing some fierce button banging without any slippage.

WONT IT SLIP?

We thought you might ask- so I shot a little video of our good friend Solomon trying out his new 25 cent stand using the Midi-Fighter and Serato Scratch. Download the Midi-Mapping he uses if your interested in trying it out.

WORKS WITH SOUND CARDS TOO!

Dont have a Needle box in your bag? Chances are you also have a sound card or serato box in there. Just add some rubber feet to the top and your set.

Larger Controllers work too. Just use a slightly larger sound card or needle box and they will stay put as well.

Every so often, I’m reminded of a simple fact: the greatest machine on the planet remains the human machine. So, yes, it may seem strange to one of the uninitiated to imagine strapping an iPhone to your wrist. And yes, musicianship in the digital age is partly about triggering, not just playing (though Onyx can really blow on his Akai wind controller.) But the bottom line is, the precision of movement and the genius of human musical creativity wins out. However unusual the technological solution, it can still tap into that power.

In the video above, our friend Onyx Ashanti shows off his proof-of-concept work-in-progress as he assembles a new musical rig. Open source patching software Pure Data (Mac/Windows/Linux) is the sound source, proof that you can substitute free software at the center. The controller is an iPhone running TouchOSC (though this makes me want to revisit ultra-portable, open, embedded hardware with sensors). And yes, that’s a Yamaha WX5 wind controller, a digital input tool of choice for those with a wind background. Onyx says this is only to be one of two iPhones.

Expect craziness to come, but I like watching things in progress, too – so I couldn’t resist sharing.

http://onyx-ashanti.ning.com/

Correction: Instead of looking closely at what Onyx was playing, I relied on my memory, and egregiously called the WX5 an Akai EWI. Thanks to commenters for spotting that.

Music games Rock Band and Guitar Hero are simple enough in terms of gameplay, but testifying to the power of people’s passion for music, their impact has been staggering. At a time when purchasing recorded music has waned from a 90s peak, downloads for games are proving surprising growth, despite pundits predicting the segment would cool off. The talents of the Harmonix team attracted the collaboration of the download-averse surviving Beatles and family members. But most importantly, the popularity of these games has translated into renewed interest in learning to play real instruments. It’s no accident popular music chart sales are surging, or that you will now find a new selection of digital and acoustic (but serious) instruments at your local Best Buy, often located right next to the games section. (Even as a witness to this trend, I was surprised recently to pick up an extra KORG nanoKONTROL in the aisle next to Rock Band.) Heck, even sales of music notation software are growing.

I’m uncertain of the extent to which a game like Rock Band can be identified as the cause of these trends, but there’s no question that popular music making is on the rise, and games are part of the shift. Perhaps it’s a matter of games changing the way people feel about making music. After all, a lot of early music training is very much like a game: to learn a new instrument, you simplify the playing of that instrument into more basic exercises. Obviously, that helps develop chops, but it also boosts confidence, giving a music student a feel for what it’s like to play successfully. (And, let’s face it, even experienced pro players sometimes need to defeat anxiety.)

The dark side of all of this has been that the music itself has been limited to a narrow selection of top-of-the-charts hits and popular classic tracks. Rock Band Network doesn’t yet address the limited instrumentation (guitar, bass, drums, voice), but it does open production to a new range of artists – and that, in turn, could be the beginning of much more to come. By allowing anyone to author and distribute tracks for a nominal subscription fee on Microsoft’s Xbox creation community, Rock Band Network is all about opening floodgates.

Having followed the story here on CDM since last year, I’m thrilled that the Rock Band Network store itself is now live. The results run the gamut from relatively big-name artists to more obscure contributions. (Phone giant T-Mobile will pony up some cash to highlight an “Artist of the Month” from the community, in the interest of shining a spotlight on lesser-known acts.) The only bad news is, while the store is international, the Rock Band Network isn’t immune from the music industry’s trouble crossing national borders; as our own Jaymis discovered to his dismay, countries like Australia are left out. I hope to talk to Harmonix and Microsoft about how they plan to make these kinds of efforts more global with time.

For those countries covered, though, you can now enjoy the store as both an artist and listener (or make that “player”). Starting on launch day last week, of Montreal, The Shins, The Hold Steady, Steven Vai, and geek God Jonathan Coulton were onboard. (“The Future Soon,” anyone?) I’m pleased that among other artists, we have Flight of the Conchords to look forward to.

But I will say, whether you appreciate these games or not, there are promising signs for the music business here, without question. Harmonix’s founders began work with experimental musical interface research, as with many of the readers of this site. Oddly enough, though, what they found was by some measure an entirely new industry.

By the numbers:

• Rock Band Network launches with over 100 songs, out of a private beta; expect far more.
• Artists choose pricing tiers and get a 30% royalty (high for this kind of royalty, at least for a typical indie artist).
• 1,100 tracks are currently available on Rock Band, prior to the many, many more expected on RBN.
• Some 4,300 users have registered on RBN to contribute tracks and/or perform peer review. That’s significant growth for Microsoft’s XNA community, and it’s prior to a wider launch that will be an order of magnitude bigger.

Harmonix info:
How to Submit a Song; scroll down to “Adding a song to the pipeline.”

How to Become a Peer Reviewer (aka playtester)

I’ll see the Harmonix team this week at GDC; I’m looking forward to it. Let me know if you have questions for them. It is a reminder, though, of why I’m glad to spend my travel time in March at the Game Developer Conference even in place of South by Southwest. I think a lot of our future may be at the former as much as the latter. (Well, and if not, I still get to geek out with discussions of adaptive music engines.)

If this stuff does interest you, don’t miss our previous, exhaustive Q&A’s with Harmonix (thanks to the folks there for being so forthcoming):
Inside the Rock Band Network, as Harmonix Gives Interactive Music its Game-Changer
Your Band in Rock Band: Rock Band Network Beta Opens, Q&A with Harmonix

Why should Create Digital Music and Create Digital Motion (and, well, their editor) go to a game conference? This year, in particular, the annual gathering of game developers in San Francisco means a real convergence of gaming culture and digital music and motion, of ideas about how interactivity can work (and the challenges of making interaction design creative), of generative and adaptive music and new cultures of digital media. Aside from that, of course, there’s no particular reason.

A quick look at some event highlights with which I’m involved:
Tonight (Wednesday) is the debut gala for Gamma IV, the creative game design challenge by the Kokoromi Collective. You can check out the winning games on the show floor, as well.
http://www.kokoromi.org/gamma4/

The games themselves offer plenty of inspiration for live visualists and people exploring new interfaces for music. But there’s also a music lineup alongside, with Starpause, Phil Fish, Moldover, Baiyon, Class Prez, and Future Boy. A big thanks to my mate Starpause for putting that lineup together; I’ll also be doing a short live set.

Unrelated to GDC (but working out nicely since I’m in town), Thursday night is a meeting of the illustrious Bay Area Computer Music Technology Group (BArCMuT), with a big, all-female lineup of creative artists finding expressive new interfaces for musical performance. I’ll be giving a lightning talk before the full program, so say hi if you’re around.
http://www.meetup.com/barcmut/calendar/12702241/

Friday night is the free evening of One Button Objects, a set of interactive art pieces that explore what can be done with a single button. I’ll be talking more about that later this week; it really wound up being a great exercise, and even if you believe in rich, expressive control for music, forcing yourself to work with a single button is nothing if not enlightening. I co-curated the show with Heather Kelley of Kokoromi.
Event details: One Button Objects: Kokoromi + Gray Area Foundation for the Arts

Has this ever happened to you? You’re ready to drop the set of your life to an eager audience when a technical issue threatens spoil the evening. Panic stricken, your eyes dart around the room for a sound guy, who of course is absent or non existent. At this very pivotal moment- the night could be saved by your “Mix Master Macgyver” skills. Most of us have been Jerry-rigging turntables and the like since we first popped a penny atop the cartridge of mom’s home stereo and cut up “Sesame Street” records after school. Thusly I’m sure some of these tips you’ll already know but if the following information saves just one party then my job is done. After all the show must go on.

SLIP NAPKINS

The number one crucial piece of gear that seems to be missing or forgotten has to be slip mats. This one is a simple fix. Push paper bar napkins over the nipple of the turntable and voila!! I’ve heard of everything from doilies to whiskey bags used. Record sleeves or paper of almost any kind can be used in a pinch.

TONE HARM

Bad control signal or mono analog signal is often caused by poor contact between the tone arm and cartridge. Licking and sticking, although sometimes effective, can exacerbate the problem in the long run by causing extra corrosion to accure. Instead of licking, try using a #2 pencil eraser. Remove the cartridge, insert the eraser end of the pencil in the tonearm and twist it back and forth to clean the contacts. Do the same with the contact points on the cartridge. Don’t forget to blow the erasures away. Reattach the cartridge to the tone arm and throw down.

ZIP IT

Its a fact. Accidents happen in dark clubs, especially when alcohol is involved. If the tone arm is fastened and you attempt a bit to vigorously to place it on the record the handle and the cartridge may part ways making extremely difficult to cue records. Paper clips work well as a fix but better is a small zip tie. Affix the zip tie around the cartridge body and trim to length.

TISSUE ISSUE

A loose fader can be deadly in a set. Flying faders are the #2 cause of blindness in the club, right after alcohol and stilletos. If a fader easilly slides off.  take a small piece of napkin and fold it over the top of the fader post then wedge the fader on top. Make sure the piece of napkin is long enough to be pulled out rather than packed inside, which will add to your problems. Also take care not to tweek the fader by pressing too hard.

STARBURST X-FADERS

Largely due to the problem mentioned above, I cant count the number of missing faders Ive encountered. Some nicked, some no doubt shot across the room during vigorous mixing. You then spend the rest of your set trying not to bloody your fingers. Instead try this.. Starburst candies can be pressed over the bare metal fader tab providing a comfortable and delicious solution. Just dont let groupies eat them after words no matter how tempted they may be.

LEMON FRESH

One of my personal high points djing wasn’t opening for so and so, or headlining such and such club. It was actually at a small bar gig, on a Tuesday night, with a reputation for a jankey sound system and DJ booth. Opon inspection of the gear during set up I was unable to locate one of the turntable’s counterweight. Without this small but critical piece of the tonearm assembly records will not play. It was the only time I’ve ever encountered this particular problem but I’m sure its happened to others so I’ll share my fix. A small lime from the bar with a hole poked in the end can be slid back and forth to achieve the proper weight on the record. Not only did the show go on but, it was lemon fresh!!!

LOW TECH TOOLS

There are a few things that you can include in your bag of tricks that’ll help you out of a fix.  The above is what I carry with me and each item has proven to be well worth carrying along after all even MacGyver would have been shit out of luck without his trusty swiss army knife. Make sure along with the knowledge you have the tools as well and you’ll save many a night and hopefully create a more comfortable DJ experience for yourself.

Connecting stuff is one of the things musicians naturally do with gear. So, there’s really no reason that musical gear shouldn’t network as easily as Web servers. And yet a basic protocol, built largely on existing standards, meets with responses like this:

“We’ll support OSC when there’s hardware out there.” “Name one piece of hardware that supports OSC other than the Lemur.”

OSC has some major advantages as a network protocol, as a way of connecting software with software, software with hardware, and yes, even hardware with hardware. It doesn’t have to “compete” with MIDI – you can even send MIDI message data over OSC, thus taking advantage of features OSC has that MIDI doesn’t (like time stamps, which your tools could use to calculate latency even if you don’t use them directly). Yet I’ve been listening to this argument for years now. “Any computer” counts as an OSC device, but even when tens of millions of iPhones and iPod touch devices hit the market (not to mention other mobiles), software developers were still pointing to a (completely absurd) “lack of hardware.” How tens of millions of gadgets can count as “nothing,” I don’t know, but maybe it’s because a lot of them were phones, not music devices.

Well, here’s a combination that ought to get someone’s attention. With the iPad about to launch next month – likely to be followed by more multitouch devices running Android, Linux, and Windows – we’re not just talking phones any more. And the folks at Symbolic Sound, makers of the insanely-powerful sound generation Kyma environment, are adding a proper OSC implementation. Even if you have no interest in the (wonderful) Kyma, now available in more-affordable Paca(rana) devices, this is one to watch.

What you can do:

Use OSC directly, via a direct connection and even onboard Ethernet on the Paca(rana). That opens up the use of devices like Lemur, and, yes, iPad.

Use MIDI over OSC from your existing MIDI devices and software. Explanation (again, worth reading even if you aren’t in the market for a Kyma):
http://www.symbolicsound.com/Learn/BidirectionalMIDIStreamsOverOSC

In this case, the OSC connection acts as a virtual MIDI devices, with three merged inputs and one output. The same is possible on other devices, too, however, meaning that combining OSC and MIDI doesn’t have to be a chore.

Details on the software update:

OSC-enabled Kyma X.74 is a free software update for registered Kyma X owners. OSC communication requires the Paca or Pacarana sound engine. Kyma X.74 also comes with additional features, including an 11-times speedup in the Virtual Control Surface, support for the MOTU Ultra Lite Hybrid mk3, TC Electronic Impact Twin, and Prism Audio Orpheus converters, track-pad compatible menus, refinements to the Tau resynthesis, and more.

Open Sound Control (OSC) for Kyma: Bidirectional communication between Kyma, iPad, Lemur, and other OSC-enabled devices & software

And if you’re using Max and Max for Live, you can use a custom external for MIDI over OSC in that environment, as well. (That said, control of Live could be more intuitive if Ableton were to evaluate native OSC control support in Live, as currently exists in nearly all mainstream live visual applications. There’s an unofficial method that demonstrates just how powerful this can be — see comments.)

Max and Kyma

Kyma is still a high-end solution, but at least the entry-level Paca – still absurdly powerful – is now down below US$3000. If I had $3 grand handy, I’d certainly consider buying one. I don’t, so I think of it as that Steinway grand I can’t afford or fit in my apartment. That doesn’t mean I can’t pay attention to what it does – and, indeed, OSC implementation like this could apply as well to a $5 or open source app, to mainstream hardware or DIY solutions, as much as the Kyma.

The phrase is overused in the media and culture today, but I think it’s appropriate here:
“Just sayin’.”

Thanks to Lowell Pickett, Martin Wheeler, and others who sent this in.

Designing and building your own hardware was previously restricted to those with huge R&D budgets or extensive technical know-how but its now within the reach of just about everyone.  Development of the Arduino and other low-cost, USB powered MIDI boards have sparked many home brewed MIDI controller projects that are relatively easy to use and fairly powerful.  This article will cover some of the low cost DIY midi kits available on the market and evaluate each of their individual strengths and weaknesses. 

What does it take to make your own controller? Much less than you might think. The image above shows the insides of the custom controller built on the Midibox platform, one of the first and most powerful diy midi communities out there. MidiBox projects, while being very powerful, are unfortunately quite complicated to actually make. As more and more people converge on the topic of hardware modding and hacking, some entrepreneurial spirits have developed much easier kits that do most of the legwork for you. Some of these USB powered MIDI boards can run anywhere from $40-300, depending on its capabilities and are relatively simple to set up. There are a few important factors that you could consider when looking at building your own MIDI controller with a DIY Midi Kit.

• Number/type of inputs – how many direct line or expandable (read below) connections are available on the board? Most boards feature both analog (potentiometers and fader) and digital (buttons, rotary) direct wire connections. For more on types of inputs and components see the Cuban MIDI Crisis article.
• LED Outputs- Having LED feedback can also be very useful, but only if the board accepts MIDI control for the lights
• Size of PCB – most of the kits are small (credit card size) but make sure they are smaller than the controller you plan on building.
• Modular or linear design model – Can you increase the number of inputs like the Midifighter.
• Component connection type – components can be soldered in by wire but some boards use ribbon cables and connectors (remember those massive grey cables coming out of your hard drive?) in place of all direct wire connections to save space.
• Plug-and-play – It is also important to note that some boards require USB drivers to be loaded whereas plug-and-play devices do not. This is because they are USB class compliant, or use system standard drivers
• Power – adding more plugs to your set-up is undesirable. Thankfully, most USB bootloading boards are USB powered.
• Middleware Editor – Some DIY boards require a middle-ware program (software between the hardware and your music program of choice) to configure the inputs and MIDI before they can be used

Most DIY MIDI kits vary in how complicated they are to set up and how many features they support. Hardcore programmers may find the MIDIbox project up their alley but building the projects require extensive experience, testing and patience. On the other hand, more basic kits sacrifice capability in order to reduce the required effort in making your own controller.

Another important aspect to consider is the use of multiplexers and matrices that lower the restrictions of space and power in a circuit board. These extensions allow you to take advantage of the legwork done in simple kits like Builder DIY, and expand them to have capabilities closer to the more intensive projects like the MIDIbox.  A multiplexer takes multiple inputs and sends them down a single channel and are usually chip based. This allows a PCB to be expanded from a static number of direct connections to multiple inputs per connection. The Midifighter, for example, features 16 direct button connections but can be expanded with latch-and-shift chips that multiply the number of possible digital inputs to over 200. While the controller above was originally created with MidiBox, the same design could be duplicated much faster today with a Midifighter DIY kit.

Bliptronome

This modding kit turns a Bliptronic 5000 matrix synth into a small monome. The kit includes a DIY arduino, all the necessary components, and even a port of Monome Serial (monome mapping software) to complete the transformation from cheesy 80’s sounds to scrolling controller mayhem. While this mod is limited the bliptronic’s diminutive design and unsatisfying snappy buttons, it is a good beginner to intermediate project especially if you have a Bliptronic on hand. Built by Stray Technologies the Bliptronic 5000 is $49.99 from Think Geek and the Bliptronome is $69 for the Breadboard kit.

• Analog inputs = 0
• Size = roughly 6″ x 6″
• Digital inputs = 64 buttons, 4 Analog-to-digital pots
• LED outputs = 64
• Plug-and-play= No
• Connection: Ribbon cable, FTDI
• 4 xAA battery powered.
• Middleware Editor: Yes, requires MLR Serial to interface with a DAW

Builder DIY

The folks at Livid, responsible for the Block and Ohm controllers, offer a totally modular approach to building your own controller. The USB “Brain” board is small (3.5″ x 4.5″), offers a large number of inputs and LED outs and is easily programmed with an included firmware editor. The keyword here is expansion; the board can handle a total of 179 buttons and 48 LEDs when coupled the matrix boards. Costs can start adding up quickly , however, as the “brain” board is best suited to the expansion boards sold by Livid and everything else must be sourced yourself. Because the Builder is modular in design, it takes more time to get off the ground, but has very wide potential for modification. Find it at Livid for $189 for the “Brain” and around $12 for matrices and other modules.

• Analog inputs = 64
• Digital inputs = 16 (expandable to 179)
• LED inputs=14 (expandable to 48)
• Plug-and-play= USB class compliant
• Component connection type= Ribbon cable
• USB powered
• Middleware Editor= Yes, Brain Editor

Midifighter

DJ Tech Tools’ entry into the pantheon of DIY MIDI controllers strikes a balance between ease of use and creative potential. The button masher can get started with in about 20 minutes from receiving the Midifighter, as it comes with the all components to get started and does’nt require a middleware editor. Though the board features 4 solder-able analog inputs, an analog multiplexer lets you multiply the possible analog to 16. Those willing to dive even deeper can use switch chips to expand the digital and LED inputs as well. Find it at the store for $125.

• Analog inputs = 4 (expandable to 16)
• Digital inputs = 16 buttons, 4 unassigned (expandable 200+)
• LED outputs = 0 (expandable 200+ with latched serial drivers)
• Plug-and-play= USB class compliant
• Connection type = direct wire
• USB Powered
• Middleware Editor= No, can be reconfigured from hardware

Hale UMC32

In this extremely small board (1.6” x 2.7”) each one of the 32 inputs can be configured for a large assortment of analog, digital and LED components. Hale also make a “linker-board” that, you guessed it, links separate UMC32’s together. The board can send MIDI SysEx commands for controlling other MIDI hardware, but the trade-off is that Windows only software is required to configure the output before you can even get started and it does not feature a MIDI out as standard . Again, components here must be sourced yourself. Find it at Hale Micro for $89.95.

• Analog inputs= 32 (Shared)
• Digital inputs= 32 (Shared)
• LED outputs= 32 (Shared)
• Plug-and-play= USB class compliant
• Connection type= ribbon
• USB powered
• Middleware Editor= Yes

Doepfer USB 64

This board is a rectangular 6.2″ x 1″ monster. This controller board from the German modular synth makers is a bare bones board that, like the Hale Micro UMC32, has cross compatible inputs. It also has 2 MIDI outs, for controlling other MIDI hardware. While offering a lot of I/O, one hangup is that the board does not receive MIDI input for LEDs, like the Midifighter or the bliptronome and all components must be sourced. Find it at Doepfer for around $200, includes ribbon cable and 240v power connector.

• Analog inputs= 64 (Shared)
• Digital inputs= 64 (Shared)
• LED outputs= 64 (Shared)
• Plug and Play= USB Class Compliant
• Connection type= Ribbon
• USB or independently powered
• Middleware Editor= Yes

We already knew that one Next Big Thing for the Lemur – the specialized multimedia multi-touch controller – would be Ableton Live integration. Having teased that coming functionality, JazzMutant has now revealed the name (“Mu”), as well as a video showing what the features look like. What’s funny to me is that the result is a bit like what I’d imagine Live itself might look like if it were designed for multi-touch screens. That’s a real consideration for all music software UIs, given the direction of computer hardware. But in the meantime, with choices in multi-touch laptops scarce (makers like HP and Lenovo make a handful of models) and quality scarce, the Lemur hangs onto its niche. It comes with a solid set of tools for users to make their own layouts, it has the reliability of wires (which the iPad will lack, since it has no Ethernet port), and dedicated OSC functionality. While it may come to a surprise to those eagerly anticipated the iPad’s arrival next month, the Lemur’s fans are largely unswayed.

One reason is that, cool as Mu is, it isn’t alone. Musicians keep making fascinating control layouts for the Lemur, ones worth noting even if you don’t plan to buy a Lemur for yourself. For instance, Mat of music-interface.com sends along tips from his own work and beyond.

Rick Hawkins goes a different direction entirely from Mu, with a sequencer that’s esoteric enough to have “esoteric” in its name:

The EsoWave sequencer is a project for the Jazzmutant Lemur. It is a esoteric/generative midi sequencer that sends midi notes according to the positions of 32 nodes in a 2D plane. The nodes are connected along an elastic string and can be additionally controlled by two waveforms that drive the X and Y coordinates.

More info on the blog: ILL GOTTEN GAINS: The EsoWave Sequencer

Esoteric Sequencer Prototype – Ambient Session from Rick Hawkins on Vimeo.

For his part, Mat’s own work on the Sequencomat is full of ideas, with track-independent humanization and tempo, a roll pad X/Y marked by rhythmic subdivision, step sequencers, controllers, and more. Mat’s work shows part of the appeal of the Lemur, which has evolved beyond being a simple controller to be a generator of sequencing data. Just like the old days of hooking up a sequencer modular to a bay of analog synths via patch cords, the Lemur becomes the sequencer and software like Ableton Live simply the sound source.

http://www.tonvibration.de/extra/SequencomatV2.html

If you’re wondering why the Lemur fans have remained loyal, this gives you some answers. It proves that a device’s longevity can matter, in an age when (thanks, I’ll admit, to blogs like mine) newness and buzz tends to trump what lasts. While the Lemur may be old news to some, that’s part of the point: it’s taken some time for people to really work out what to do with it. And whether your future is in the Lemur or another device, I always find inspiration in what the Lemur community is doing, thinking more generally about how touch can be used with music. Sometimes my reaction is, honestly “yeah, but jeez, I’d never want to do that” – but then, that’s always why it’s interesting to see other people’s work. And sometimes, it’s just fun to watch.

Side note: if you get fatigued of all this talk of integrating with Ableton Live, fret not. I think we’ll see a lot of ideas around a lot of tools; just to take today’s news as a jumping-off point, note that the Renoise team are still working on their own, friendly API for customization with native OSC control (something Live still lacks). And variety is the spice of life, or at least, of blogs.

Updated – here’s part 1 of an intro by Michael Chenetz to the Mu environment.

max4live.info: Mu-tations: Part 1 – An intro to Mu from Michael Chenetz on Vimeo.

Source:
max4live.info: Mu-tations: Part 1 – An Intro to Mu (Beta) [note the video was uploaded by special permission]

“It looks alien at first, it looks scary … [but] it’s like, here’s your paper; be creative.” “A tracker basically turns your computer an instrument.” -Dac Chartrand, Renoise, trying to explain Renoise to those who haven’t yet gotten religion

Renoise 2.5 is here, for real – not a beta, a nice, golden, final release. The modern take on a tracker now introduces a set of features that takes it to a new level of usability:

• The Pattern Matrix finally combines the inside-out precision of tracker arrangement with a big, birds-eye view of your music – and some people are already hacking it into a live performance instrument.
• Smarter signal routing across tracks and through “meta devices,” along with clever inventions like the “Signal Follower,” give you sidechaining and more.
• Render Plug-ins to instruments, samples – the resource-saving advantages of freezing tracks, but without sacrificing any playability.
• Enhanced MIDI mapping, internal effects, more.

None of these additions is like to make Renoise a mainstream hit, but then, that’s not the point. What it could do is expand Renoise’s already passionately-loyal user base to a new crowd, and encourage users to find expressive new ways of producing music with computers at a time when some of those processes have become stale. Thanks to its recent support for ReWire (plus JACK on Linux), it also doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice what you love about your host of choice; it can be part of your existing workflow.

For more on what’s new, check out Neil Bufkin’s terrific video interview for CDM with Renoise’s Dac from NAMM, seen at top. That interview was popular enough to become an “electric acid jungle test” demo by Hitori Tori, below, sampling Dac’s initial quote before ripping into controlling Renoise with a clever mapping for the Livid Ohm 64. (Check out more Renoise-on-Ohm action on Hitori’s channel.)

Full feature list:
http://www.renoise.com/about/what-s-new-2-5/

Ready to dive in this weekend and start learning Renoise 2.5, for instance, making use of its fully-functioning demo? There’s a full set of revised beginners’ tutorials for 2.5, and they don’t assume any previous knowledge of trackers. (Hey, it’s okay — I sure didn’t own an Amiga.)

http://tutorials.renoise.com/wiki/Main_Page

This isn’t the end of the story with Renoise, however. Dac confirms to CDM that they are working on support for OSC and easy extension of Renoise’s capabilities through Lua scripting — even without any official promises, that’s exciting news. It could make Renoise easier and more powerful for control and customization.

http://www.renoise.com/

Previously: Renoise 2.5: A Matrix for Everything, Modulate Everything; Full Scripting, OSC Coming