Windows 8 is Microsoft’s most ambitious update in years – intended to create a hybrid OS that can compete with Apple’s OSX + iOS juggernaut, while also maintaining traditional desktop compatibility. There has been a lot of pre-release criticism of Windows 8, focused on two things: Windows 8’s Metro interface strikes many as attractive but… Read More Could Windows 8 Be The Best Windows Ever For Musicians?
Microsoft today introduced Surface, their response to the Apple iPad and Android tablets. And it looks like the world of tablets is going to get a lot more interesting, fast. Microsoft positions Surface as ‘a new family of PCs for Windows’, very different than they way Apple has positioned the iPad as a ‘post-pc’ device.… Read More Microsoft Surface Tablet Takes On iPad, Android
Microsoft is planning radical changes for the next major version of Windows, Windows 8. Microsoft is responding to pressure from Apple’s success with the iPad with a new version of Windows that promises to provide a unified look, across both tablets and desktop computers. Cool idea – but can Microsoft deliver on that promise? And can… Read More Windows 8 – Bad News For Musicians?
Developers have announced the Leap – a new $70 motion sensor that they say is ‘two hundred times more accurate than any product currently on the market.” Like the Microsoft Kinect, the Leap is designed to translate your gestures and movement into computer control. But the developers suggest that the Kinect is a toy, compared to… Read More Can The $70 Leap Motion Controller Succeed Where The Kinect Failed?
Controlling a 4-story pipe organ with the Kinect was uploaded by: synaecide
Duration: 273
Rating: 
… Read More Controlling A 4-Story Pipe Organ WIth The Kinect
There’s been a lot of buzz about Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablets, which will feature a new interface, derived from the Zune portable media player and the promise of more powerful hardware. You can view a high-level comparison of WIndows 8 and the Apple iPad above. While the release of Windows 8 tablets is still far… Read More No MIDI For Windows 8 Tablets?
This video demos a hack that turns the Kinect into an XY controller for music, controlling pitch and gate. I’m fairly skeptical about the value of the Kinect as a music controller, because of its relatively low resolution and high latency. But, there are still lots of people experimenting with the Kinect to explore the possibilities.… Read More Kinect XY Music Controller
Can’t afford to drop $150 on a Kinect so that you can experiment with gestural music control? How about $.99? Dustin O’Connor’s Eye Synth OSC is a $.99 Mac app, available in the App Store, that lets you use an i-sight or web camera to make music based on motion. Eye Synth OSC splits your camera… Read More Who Needs A Kinect? Eye Synth OSC Lets You Make Music With Your Web Cam For $.99
The Microsoft Kinect is the gadget du jour for music hacking. We’ve previously featured several interesting Kinect music hacks on Synthtopia, including a Kinect air guitar, a Kinect virtual piano and a Kinect drawable synthesizer. And these hacks seem to have wowed other sites and the mainstream tech press. Nevertheless, we find ourselves wondering if… Read More Is The Microsoft Kinect Useless As A Musical Tool?
Kinect Drawable Synthesizer was uploaded by: roboczar
Duration: 20
Rating: 
… Read More Kinect ‘Drawable Synthesizer’ – Is There A Future For Tangible Virtual Instruments?
