I have been interested in VSTs and other synthesized sound tools since I started using Ableton Live about 6 years ago. They have helped bring a richness to my songs. The very best VSTs use processes like “acoustic modelling,” and  are expressive and complex, mimicking Rhodes electric pianos, Hammond Organs, string sections, guitars, brass, woodwinds, [...]

I was surfing the web and came across this interesting and innovative project called “Beyond Digital: Morocco.” It turns out the guys who are traveling to Morocco have a really high concept purpose behind their trip, planned for June 2011, and they are fundraising using a novel online tool called “Kickstarter.” I don’t think I [...]

I have been using Ableton Live since I got version 4 about six years ago on a little shopping spree at Toronto’s Long and McQuade. It’s fantastic software. It allows for incredible flexibility, whether in recording or playing midi, or in live performance. I just got an email promoting a unique contest, targeted toward youthful [...]

Oi! Tudo bem? It’s been a long time since I said/wrote that, but I think it’s time for me to publish/release “Mikooshka’s Best of Brazilian Music” collection via a podcast. It could be more a of a “mixtape” flavor as I intend to include all kinds of classics, and make it a selector or collectors [...]

RiP: Remix Manifesto is a really cool project by a filmmaker named Brett Gaylor.  It looks at issues of intellectual property in the age of rampant piracy and a digital culture obsessed with notions like remixing and mashups. Brett talks with musical icons from the present/past (Girl Talk and Gilberto Gil). Watch a 6 minute [...]

Radio Coco–Featuring Ulysses Castellanos by mikooshka It would seem I can’t resist trying out some new kind of collaborative / social networking music sites and one that I joined a year ago but haven’t used much is Sound Cloud.  SC has a very simple tagline: “We Move Music”. Some of the cool features they have [...]