Man, I wish I hadn't just snapped the mic off my pocket voice recorder. Today I got a hilarious call from a robotic telemarketer. Apparently hoping to add impact, the programmer set its speech synth to use a British accent. The greeting went something like this: Hello David. This is Ian from the university. If there's one thing holding you...

We were impressed with Edirol's R-09 handheld digital recorder when we reviewed it, and thanks to a free firmware update, it just got better. OS 1.30 adds support for 8GB SDHC memory cards, which by my quick calculation should boost the recording capacity to eight hours in 24-bit, 44.1kHz WAV format or more than 132 hours in 128kbps MP3. The...

There are two things that are really exciting me today. One: Game Development as an academic pursuit is finally being taken seriously. That means Game Audio is going to get a big boost in the halls of music departments and post-production programs across the campuses of the world. The vast amounts of dialogue recording sessions, multiple versions of music cues,...

At last week's Apple Expo Paris, music technology was pushed into a corner, and quite literally so! In the West corner of the expo hall, French music technology reseller, univers-sons.com, presented the "Music Performance" booth. Demoed by competent and friendly staff, visitors could take a close look at the latest products from major players in the industry like Steinberg, Mark...

Just a quick message to capture my enthusiasm for this new version of the Vocalist Live stomp box. I got mine today, and I feel like I've been given a gift that I've been longing for my whole musical life......

Darwin Chamber, whose "3D" soundscapes I recommended last year (see interview), is back with a new Halloween underscore. I just received his new album 3D Halloween Sound FX (Collectors' Edition) via iTunes gift certificate, which is a cool way to do promotion. (Now if only the e-mail were accompanied by the sound of the mail cart that used to set...

When I recently reviewed Sequel, Steinberg's entry-level music production software, I was seriously impressed by the quality of the musical content that ships with it. If you wish to try out Sequel yourself, you can do so now, as Steinberg is offering a downloadable trial version of the software. For obvious reasons, the trial version offers only a limited subset...

I'd like to officially announce my newest podcasting endeavor: The Puzzle Podcast. I'm co-hosting this short weekly show of brainteasers with David Leschinsky, the owner of Eureka Puzzles, a popular puzzle and game store in Brookline, Massachusetts. David is the show's "Puzzle Guy," while I'm the rube that has to answer the questions. The premise is simple: we pick a...

Here's the best argument I've seen for (and against) legalizing digital mashups. YouTube contributor StSanders took concert video clips of guitar heroes like Clapton, Santana, and Van Halen and replaced the guitar solos with hilariously bad plunking. (Plus other noises, as you can hear here): The sync is amazing. But what's especially funny is that StSanders's soundtrack manipulation is so...

I just got a call from a blind man who liked the sound of my podcast. He asked how he could get started podcasting. Would it require expensive equipment? I told him that all I used was a USB mic and some software. (In my case, Ableton Live, BIAS Peak, and Izotope Ozone, but there are plenty of free options...