The Octapad gets a welcome update. I loved the guy doing the demo – and yes, this is really seriously cool equipment for people with the chops to use it. (I know a couple of people, not me, who fall into that category. I wish we saw live percussion controllers out in the field more, frankly!)

A conversation on live electronic performance technique, and how to make music tech better

Moderated by Create Digital Musics PETER KIRN, this conversation with some of the artists at the edge of sound and live electronic music provides a glimpse into the ways people are working in 2010, and an open discussion about what we can do this year to extend our technique and make technology work better.

JUSTIN BORETA and edIT (Glitch Mob, etc.)
RICHARD DEVINE (Schematic/Warp), DSP mad scientist and composer
FLIPMU, the duo of Owen Vallis and Jordan Hochenbaum
MOLDOVER, Mojo controller creator, musical supervillian
DERU, composer and musician (Ghostly, etc.), recent Paris Opera Ballet score
BRIAN TRIFON (TRIFONIC), electronic musician and sound designer

I’ve never been much interested in traditional demos. I tend to like to abuse hardware and software when I can rather than use it the way it’s intended. So I actually prefer demos that involve real-life jams.

I was fortunate enough to spend Thursday evening hanging out with the team from Teenage Engineering, geeking out, eating barbecue, and talking about their work and why the winters in Stockholm can improve productivity. It seems the gentlemen of Teenage Engineering have been shooting copious video of themselves playing their instrument – and some they actually went back and deleted or kept to themselves.

So, I managed to smuggle out a video of an extended jam making use of the OP-1′s virtual tape features, sneaking it onto the SD card of my phone.

I hope they don’t find out. This can be just between me and you, all alone on the … Internet.