One notable no-show at this year’s Summer NAMM in Nashville was Roland. Normally they fill a space the size of a good-sized house with a feast of new products and a cacophony of product demos (somebody please – release Johnny Rabb from his drum cage!). But that doesn’t mean that there’s no new gear to talk about. The just-released JUNO-Di, a scaled-down, battery-powered version of the JUNO-D, is now shipping. …

Logic 9 has been out for a few weeks now, but some previous-generation users have been hesitant about upgrading. Does Apple’s claim that the new Logic includes “over 200 new features” pass the sniff test? And if it does, do we really need all 200?
The answer to the first question might depend on what your interpretation of “feature” is. The second answer is probably “No,” but there are some significant …

The longevity of Cakewalk software, first appearing as Cakewalk and (since 2001) now SONAR, is an indication of the near-universal acceptance of the programs. But while SONAR steams ahead and is now in its 8th version, the buzz among SONAR users these days is not the software.
Instead, for the past few months Cakewalk has been making big noise about its V-Studio 700 control surface/interface, which Cakewalk touts as “The ultimate …