GEAR + TECH
Programmer Creates One-of-a-Kind Daft Punk “Word Clock”
It’s incredible to think about how one of the most impactful electronic songs in history, “Harder Better Faster Stronger,” only has 18 unique words. It was a discovery made by Daft Punk fan Ben Combee, who says the realization of the song’s catchy simplicity inspired him to create a one-of-a-kind piece built around the legendary robots’ generational dance anthem. Combee created an art display similar to a word clock, a device capable of playing back the song’s audio while lighting up the appropriate lyrics with perfect timing. Combee explained that all the lyrics were able to be fit in a 12×7 combination matrix after duplicate lyrics were excluded. Then, he programmed a series of cue points tagged to specific timestamps in the track s...
Insomniac Strikes Partnership With Unity to Cultivate Next Generation of Metaverse Concerts
The next evolution of Insomniac Events is on the horizon. The parent company of EDC has inked a new partnership with innovative software developer Unity, a leader in the creation of real-time 3D experiences. The partnership will yield Insomniac’s next wave of offerings in virtual concerts. The prolific events company is renowned for its large-scale electronic dance music festivals, but has recently begun dabbling in an expansion of their model for an increasingly digital audience. Insomniac famously became the first events brand to host a major music festival on the Roblox platform with 2021’s “World Party” event for EDC Las Vegas. The 2021 edition of EDC Las Vegas, one of the largest electronic dance music festivals in the world. Brian Rapopor...
Antarctica packing list: all you need for your polar adventure
A click-and-pick Antarctica packing list with links to specific products that have been personally tested by Atlas & Boots A friend of mine recently asked what three things make me happiest, as part of her research for her forthcoming book. I named family and nature which are fairly standard answers. Less common was my third choice of hygge, the Danish concept of cosiness. We hear a lot about wellness, fitness and mental health but very little about nourishing the body on a tactile level. I explained that I love wrapping up in soft fabrics and fleecy blankets and can’t understand why we use these materials to soothe babies and young children but then swap to jeans and stiff, starchy clothes when we’re older. In short: I love being warm and comfy. With this in mind, you can unders...
LimeWire Returns As NFT Marketplace to Right the Wrongs of Its Troubled Past
12 years after closing shop, LimeWire is back to reckon with its controversial past—and pave a new path forward. For the uninitiated, LimeWire was the go-to peer-to-peer file sharing service that dominated the early 2000s. Predating the all-access model of today’s streaming services, the controversial platform was used as a workaround for music fans who didn’t want to purchase individual songs or albums via iTunes and other digital music stores. It was as simple as downloading and playing, though it did put even the most formidable antivirus software products through the wringer. LimeWire’s reign effectively came to an end when successful lawsuits initiated by major record labels and music rights-holders resulted in a staggering $105 million in fines. LimeWire’...
Google Files Patent for Wearable Devices to Control Music by Drawing on Your Skin
You know that song by Divinyls, “I Touch Myself”? Well, it would be perfect for Google’s recent patent filing, which may allow users to choose music by drawing on their skin. Google has reportedly filed a patent for skin drawing technology for its wearable devices, specifically the Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds. The patent, which was spotted by LetsGoDigital, shows how users can control their music by swiping or tapping on their skin near the device. By simply tapping near the gadget, a mechanical wave is generated and read by the device’s built-in accelerometers and sensors. They interpret the incoming wave as a gesture for various commands, like skipping to the next song or fast-forwarding. Each wearable device will use machine learning technology to understand...
New PC App Turns Your Nintendo Console Into an 8-Bit Synthesizer
An innovative app developer recently managed to unlock some hidden value in the Nintendo Entertainment System, a console discontinued decades ago. For those who’ve managed to hold onto their consoles, or buy a reissued version, Avicr has a new app that empowers players to turn their classic systems into a functioning synthesizer. Titled SynthNes, the app effectively allows users to control the system’s five dedicated audio channels NES’s with a MIDI instrument of your choosing. The reason why this works on the old-school Nintendo specifically is because the NES was part of an era in videogame history where consoles were sold containing dedicated sound chips. In the 1980s, CPU and storage technology was in its most primitive form, and the way music was produced in vi...
Former DJ and Electronic Music Producer Sells “Unicorn” Fintech Company for $1.1 Billion
Royalties, shmoyalties. Miguel Santos, a fintech entrepreneur and former DJ, has cashed out on his innovative company, Technisys. Santos recently sold the banking technology company to SoFi Technologies, a publicly traded digital personal finance giant, for $1.1 billion. Conceived more than 20 years ago, Technisys will now provide cloud-based digital banking solutions for SoFi. Santos may be best known for his role as founder and CEO of Technisys, but he’s also a longtime DJ and house music producer. Santos has an affinity for techno and melodic house music, often attending shows featuring the likes of electronic music legends such as Hernan Cattaneo, Solomun and more. Check out one of his own DJ mixes, which was recorded and uploaded in 2021, below. Recommended Articles Accord...
This Software Lets You Design Trippy Visuals of Your Music—Then Mint Them As NFTs
We know—NFT this, metaverse that. But before you grumble at this umpteenth blockchain tech platform, consider its value for music producers. VOID is a Web3-based platform that allows musicians to generate and customize kaleidoscopic visuals with their own songs. Created by Dutch developer Triptcip, the sequencing software essentially takes your music and spits out a trippy, beat-reactive mosaic. Triptcip’s visual synthesizer, VOID. Triptcip VOID, which Triptcip says is the first of its kind, aims to arm music producers with an easily accessible visual synthesis tool. Visual designers have enjoyed the spoils of the digital art revolution, but many musicians have found themselves stuck in a new kind of limbo. Without a budget to join forces with a capable designer or a trusted partner au cou...
Steve Aoki Says He Made More Money From NFTs In 1 Year Than a Decade of Streaming Royalties
The most fervent purveyors of NFTs have remained adamant in the technology’s ability to spark a paradigm shift in music, whereby the silos of power transfer from centralized companies and labels back to the artists. Now, Steve Aoki, one of the earliest adopters of the Web3 blueprint, has shared some eye-opening comments illuminating how his bets on NFTs are paying off. At a private Gala Music event, Aoki said he’s made more money from NFTs in the past year than he has through streaming royalties over the last decade, Decrypt reports. “But if I was to really break down, okay, in the 10 years I’ve been making music…six albums, and you [combine] all those advances, what I did in one drop last year in NFTs, I made more money,” Aoki explained. Released last year on ...
Inside the Sale of Coachella’s Lifetime Passes and $1.4 Million NFT Collection
Coachella, one of the world’s most illustrious and profitable music festivals, recently announced the launch of three NFT collections: Sights and Sounds, Desert Reflections, and Coachella Keys. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are digital assets—such as photos, visual artwork, or audio—stored on a blockchain. The tokens are immutable and they are purchased, sold, and traded using cryptocurrency. Coachella launched its own native NFT marketplace, which was built by FTX for the Solana blockchain. The festival’s three collections offer a range of digital photos, soundscapes, and posters that can be redeemed for real-world experiences. Perhaps the most significant, however, is the Coachella Keys collection. Each of its 10 collectibles grant their owners lifetime passes to Coachella. Afte...
DJ-Themed DJenerates NFT Collection Partners With Moonwalk to Deliver Premium Dance Music Experiences
Dance music’s famous faces have been immortalized through the immutable power of blockchain technology. DJenerates, an NFT collection supported by many of dance music’s biggest names including Benny Benassi, Carl Cox, Maceo Plex, and Paul Oakenfold, is turning the likenesses of superstar DJs into NFTs. The collection of 10,000 avatars additionally incorporates algorithmically driven concatenations of hundreds of unique potential traits to develop a host of unique, nightlife-inspired characters. Following the collection’s season one release, which completely sold out in just four days, DJenerates is taking major steps to build community and utility around their tokens, starting with a partnership with Moonwalk. Moonwalk provides the digital infrastructure for NFT crea...
New Music Industry Content Moderation Service Helps Take Down Unlicensed Metaverse NFTs
The music industry’s prominent rights-holders are rapidly taking action to protect their assets in the world of Web3. In the wake of an explosive NFT scandal involving the sale of unlicensed musical content, Digital Content Protection, an anti-piracy group, has launched a service to help ensure the rights-holders are protected from copyright abuse in the metaverse. Web 3.0 technology, including NFTs, has the ability to revolutionize the creator economy. However, in its current form, the field remains an unregulated Wild West. As Torrent Freak notes, Digital Content Protection is currently working alongside major labels Sony, Universal, and Warner in order to facilitate takedowns of unlicensed digital content. “DCP uses a pool of experienced professional...
