Matthew sent me the link to this amazing tabletop synthesizer.

The reactable is a collaborative electronic music instrument with a tabletop tangible multi-touch interface. Several simultaneous performers share complete control over the instrument by moving and rotating physical objects on a luminous round table surface. By moving and relating these objects, representing components of a classic modular synthesizer, users can create complex and dynamic sonic topologies, with generators, filters and modulators, in a kind of tangible modular synthesizer or graspable flow-controlled programming language.

From: http://mtg.upf.edu/reactable

I'm currently checking out Webwag which serves content from the web to my mobile phone, a Motorola V3x. Have a look at the Webwag Blog Read More...

Thanks to a great BT Engineer, half-an-hour ago, my BT line was reconnected after not having a line for 4 days. The local wiring was old and finally fell over on Monday when I lodged a complaint. Then within 40 minutes after the engineer left, I experienced another loss of connection. I was advised to keep a log of disconnections which is here Read More...

For those of you who are involved in Music Education, pupils and teachers, I urge you to visit and use SoundJunction

The SoundJunction website's all about music. You can take music apart and find out how it works, create music yourself, find out how other people make music and how they perform it, you can find out about musical instruments, and look at the backgrounds to different musical styles.

Check out the New Tool for making music.

SoundJunction is an initiative of the ABRSM and has received a BETT award for Digital Content at Secondary Level.

Read More...

I've recently joined the team at Musicate to offer Music Technology and composition sessions to their clients.

The first sessions I've done with Richard have been in a school in Coventry encouraging school children to make music using technology. The school currently has Cubase VST running on Windows, or rather not running. There were problems with the signal routing and drivers, file management and other annoying obstacles to getting on with making music. After 2 lessons of having difficulty getting their Windows computers to work, we switched to using GarageBand - see QuickTime tour here and www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/. Within seconds we were making music with the children particpating as a group composing a song. We resolved then to research the possibility of implementing the use of Apple computers and software in our future sessions.

• More Musicate photos at Flickr here
• Introduction to GarageBand - Wikiversity

As I've been asked to deliver labs, support and lectures to 2nd Year Music Technology students, I made this Swiki search for Sound Sampling, try it!