This huge, antique rhythmicon now fits inside a web-browser. In the beginning, recording studios were overwhelmingly complex institutions; multiple rooms of instruments, wires, tapes, mixers, and knobs. Only a few years ago, it was exciting to imagine producing entire albums on a personal computer. But now, even though the PC is still at the center of modern techno-life, it's beginning to seem a little washed-up. What's next, then? As with music sharing, storage, and promotion, the answer is putting the whole thing online. When I discovered that I could use sites like Jumpcut and Zoho to create, edit, save, and store documents, spreadsheets, and videos entirely within my favorite browser, I had a vision of a braver, newer world in which I wasn't weighted down by my dusty, clunky, and always-obsolete laptop -- all my applications and files would be stored remotely; accessible via a simple web portal. In my vision, I saw myself talking to a monitor on the wall, saying (in my best Jean-Luc Picard voice) things like, "Computer, create a playlist of every MP3 I've ever downloaded and stored on a myriad of different data storage devices," or "Computer, show me my home recording studio workstation interface, even though I'm at my friend's house." When I awoke from my vision, I considered the Virtual Rhythmicon: an online version of Léon Theremin's strange and ungainly 1931 electronic instrument. Nick Didkovsky was able to use the Java Synthesis (JSyn) API to reduce the wood and iron of Theramin's Rhythmicon to a Java app, playable through any browser. In another window, I can pump up the Rhythmicon with some beats, bass, and slick effects through Hobnox's Audiotool, and voila!, I've given birth to a slick experimental electronic dance track that's pretty cool -- and pretty free. You can find these and other gems from the past and present in Online Instruments and Audio Recording Tools -- another category in the Yahoo! Directory made just for you. Suggested Sites... American Mavericks: The Rhythmicon - online version of Leon Theremin's eponymous musical synthesizer, built by Nick Didkovsky. Hobnox: Audiotool - online electronic music studio. Features bass simulators, drum machine, and numerous effects. JSyn Example Applets - collection of web-based musical instruments and effects created with the Java Sythesis API. KVR Audio Plug-in Database - search for free and downloadable audio plug-ins, virtual instruments, effects, and hosts. SourceForge.net: Music Software Search - search for free and open source music synthesizing, sequencing, and processing software and web-based applications.

Directory categories: Online Instruments and Audio Recording Tools, Online Music Mixers, Thereminists, Online Music Storage Lockers, Social Music

Archived under: Computers, Electronics, Entertainment, File Sharing, Internet, Invention, Inventors, Music, Musical Instruments, Musicians, Technology

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