As 2013 begins to come to a close, the latest This Week in Music Tech takes a peek into the studios of Ghostly affiliate Dauwd and prolific Brooklyn producer Willie Burns, sees how Ableton’s Push can be used with hardware synths, and checks out Cakewalk’s new iPad app and the umidi series of custom MIDI controllers.

In an effort to continue showing the versatility of its Push controller, Ableton caught up with London producer and Ghostly affiliate Dauwd to see how the budding producer uses Push in conjunction with the various hardware synths in his studio.

Furthermore, Ableton has rolled out a quick and informative video series which breezes through how to utilize the Push cotroller to play and control one’s various hardware synths.

In a new ciip from FACT TV, Unknown to the Unknown boss DJ Haus catches up with prolific NYC producer Willie Burns. After first visiting the drool-worthy record store Burns works at, the two head to the man’s basement studio in Brooklyn, where Burns shows how he uses the E-MU SP12 sampler to build his tracks.

The makers of the Cakewalk DAW have developed ScratchPad, a new iPad app that allows users to manipulate a series of loops and clips directly from one’s iPad. Users can chop, stutter, filter, and otherwise mangle audio which they have loaded into the app as well as live audio recorded directly into ScratchPad. The app is on sale now in the iTunes App Store.

And lastly, it seems like there is a Kickstarter campaign for a new controller idea every other week now, but maybe that is because some of the best ideas are better taken straight to those who will use it. Case in point, the umidi controller concept, which is offering DJs and producers the chance to design their own custom MIDI controller, which the Australian company will then build from hi-quality parts in its own shop. The video above explains the concept behind umidi’s custom controllers, and more information can be read over on the company’s Kickstarter page.