Computer Music

i3L (pronounced “i thrill”) is a freeware music controller app,  developed using Max/MSP from Cycling74 and is a support application for akaRemote by Masayuki Akamatsu.
And guess what? You can use it to control Ableton Live!
i3L receives pre-defined UDP messages from akaRemote.app running on the iPhone, scales the values to MIDI, and allows you to configure […]

The iPhone seems to becoming the new “because it was there” controller for Ableton Live.

Got a fever for more cowbell?
Dynamite cowbell, a free Windows VST, brings you “more cowbell than even Gene Frenkle can deliver”.
Features :

6 cowbells mapped to midi keys
5 velocity layers
close and room mic levels
damping control
5 bonus digibells
1 cow

Gnaural is a multi-platform programmable binaural-beat generator, implementing the principle of binaural beats as described in the October 1973 Scientific American article Auditory Beats in the Brain (Gerald Oster).
It can be used to synthesize sounds that affect the brain. Here’s a demo. It should be listened to using headphones:

 

 Gnaural [73:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ueberschall has introduced Score FX, a sound library they describe as a comprehensive solution for professional, musical sound design.
Description:
This instrument includes 7 GIGs of brand new sonic stimulants. Featuring a progressive structure and layout made for building tracks from supplied “themes” and construction kits offering ease of injection into projects.
Thanks to the extended possibilities of […]

pfilter is a free Windows VST that creates a steppy, gated effect, but using filter cut-off instead of volume to give a wider range of possibilities. It uses a variable state filter, triggered between 2 adjustable cut-off values by a tempo-sync’d probability-based step sequencer. An LFO can modulate the filter when triggered and trigger pulse […]

The League Of Electronic Musical Urban Robots‘ Eric Singer demonstrates the Slime-o-Tron - a controller that works by moving conductive slime around copper nails.
What do you think? Is this the most disgusting way to create music ever invented?

KarmaFX has released Version 2.0 of the WIndows VST KarmaFX Plugin Pack, which features reverb, delay, EQ and Filter plug-ins.
KarmaFX Plugin Pack 2.0 changes:

Added performance improvements.
Added SSE3 code path and memory optimizations to Reverb plugin.
Plugin dll’s are now compressed for faster load times.
Individual version numbers for the plugins have been removed.
The plugin pack now […]

Nanoloop on a Gameboy (whose audio is coming in on track 2) is synchronized to the drums playing in Ableton Live (track 1).
Says littlescale - “This is to test out a new interface I have been working on that syncs Nanoloop to a MIDI clock.”

PianoTeq, creators of a piano modeling virtual instrument, has announced a contest:
We hereby launch a contest, open for everybody, where there will be 3 winners, each receiving a license of Pianoteq. If you already own a license, you will be offered a free upgrade to a forthcoming product.
In the following audio file, you will hear […]

 

 Pianoteq Medley [8:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The long awaited version 7.5 of Orion is now available.
Key changes include:

New audio engine with support for multicore processors
Improved Workflow
Updated VST implementation to version 2.4
New limiter effect, modelled after the famous 1176LN
Auto-tracking EQs for easier mixing
xtended arpeggiator with new options
Creating presets for container multieffects is now possible
Direct Export to MP3 and OGG formats
Improved compatibility with […]

CNet Asia reports that the Korg DS-10, the software synth for the Nintendo DS, should be available in Japan in July:
The original MS-10 (price 53,500 yen in 1978; US$300 then) was a monophonic, single oscillator job. DS-10 simulator works as two synthesizers (each of them, dual-oscillator affair), since Nintendo DS has dual-screen, upper and lower.
Adding […]

Travel blogger Matt Harding (Where the Hell is Matt) traced a sample around the world to its origin:
I went to the Solomon Islands to research the origins of Rorogwela, a traditional folk song that was sampled in Sweet Lullaby by Deep Forest and reused in my dancing videos.
In the years 1969/1970, the ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp […]

Zero-G has introduced Urban Ammunition, a new sample library designed for urban production.
Description:
Urban Ammunition features beats, keys, basses, guitars, synths, strings, licks, fills, percussion, scratches and other samples guaranteed to create an R&B or Hip Hop track that is bullet-proof. The sample collection features 128 full construction kits with loops and single hits. To allow […]

Nice intro video for the Hobnox Audiotool that offers an introduction to creating beats.
AudioTool is like Reason for your Web browser.