Oliver Greschke’s Elastic OSC continues to blossom as a mobile instrument. Packed with open-source algorithms from Mutable Instruments’ Plaits as oscillators, Elastic OSC has added powerful modulation and now supports Android and MIDI Polyphonic Expression.
Music
In the sound of Wukir Suryadi’s kentongan, a world warning
From Indonesia to the planet, Wukir Suryadi sends a distress call in insistent strikes against his hand-built kentongan instrument. If you want an answer to what music we should be making in this moment, perhaps what you need is Titir — a warning.
Sonify data in Ableton Live with a free MIDI Tool; weather data walkthrough
Now, raw data can be a musical source in Ableton Live 12 Clips — for free. Manifest Audio’s Datafree shows the potential of Live’s Generators, transforming any pasted numbers into music and sound. There’s a deeper rabbit hole to go down, but here’s a great way to start. Let’s try it with freely accessible climate data and make some weather-based melodies.
Akai’s MPC Sample is compact, $399 — let’s compare it to an original MPC60!
It’s real, it’s adorable, it’s an MPC you can hold in your hand, and it costs just $399. Tiny desks now accommodate whole studios. But now that Akai has shared the full specs for MPC Sample — why not compare it to the original 1988 MPC60, spec-for-spec?
Music for the displaced from Tunefork Studios and Beirut Synthesizer Center
In Lebanon, over one million people, about a fifth of the population, have now been forcibly displaced by Israel. From inside the country and uniting an artist community around the world, Tunefork Studios and Beirut Synthesizer Center have issued a powerful protest in two musical compilations — and an urgent cry to support those displaced […]
Visuals in Ableton Live: Unreal-powered SenSei update, EboSuite sale on now
EboSuite and its 3D, Unreal Engine-powered companion, SenSei, put video and visuals into your Ableton Live set, plus integrate easily with other live visual tools and workflows. And now both are on a special Spring Sale — plus SenSei gets another update with more tools. (No, not the one I just mentioned — even another […]
Stillness and radical presence: Mercurial Cycles mix from Hüma Utku
Hüma Utku’s mixes and productions both delve into marginalia and mysteries of the unknown, the fragile gestures in the shadows. And it seems that’s what we need right now.
Hands-on sound: IRCAM’s ASAP apps transform audio, free on iPad
Reach out and draw and manipulate sounds, directly from the spectrum. IRCAM Forum’s Pierre Guillot lets us know three ASAP apps are now available on iPad, free of charge. It’s what it feels like the iPad was made to do.
Native Instruments issues a statement; likely closer to acquisition
Native Instruments this morning issued a statement that its restructuring is moving along, including advancing insolvency proceedings and “an active M&A [mergers and acquisitions] process that is progressing well.” Translation for humans: there’s a good chance we’ll see NI acquired soon, and by some company or companies in the audio tech space.
1010music shares live setup ideas for Bento
We’re in an unexpected golden age for compact sample, synthesis, granular, and sequence gadgets. So let’s give some extra love to 1010music’s awesome Bento — which, because it doubles as a mixer and recorder, goes well with any other bits of gear you may have collected. 1010music has this excellent video showing how you might […]













