Has that DAW grid got you down? Do you feel like you’re caught in the 1980s looking at a multitrack editor? Have your friends stopped talking to you because they want more breaks and intelligent rhythms so they can put those new sneakers to proper dancing use? Renoise is back with features like a phrase scripting engine powered by the new open-source pattrns (with Tidal notation support), full tuning support, sub-signal effects splitting, and more. $88 new. Holy mother of God, it’s nerd Christmas in July.
Music
Tom Oberheim turns 89 today; a conversation with Tom
Tom Oberheim may be in retirement, but the instruments and his legacy are just getting started. Artists are rediscovering vintage classics, and instruments like the new TEO-5 are taking off. So to celebrate his 89th birthday, here’s a recent conversation with the man behind that famous synth name.
Way more than acid: pay-if-you-can Sting 2 is instant inspiration
Sting 2, Iftah’s follow-up to the acid-generating Max for Live device, is packed with new features like accessibility and Push support. But that’s not the best way to describe it. It works on acid. It works on melodies. It works on percussion. You may wind up smiling as much as its UI is. Imagine a one-click source of pure joy.
In Poland, activists call out a film festival’s financial ties to genocide
The uneasy relationship between cultural spaces, states, private funding, and artists has spawned widespread outcry and boycotts this year. That’s a good reason to turn your eyes to Wrocław, Poland, where activists have criticized a festival with a financial giant right in its name. BNP Paribas Nowe Horyzonty, an international film festival that also features musical acts like Kangding Ray, Mo Ayoub, and soft, stands accused of ties to genocide through its lead sponsor.
Cool down with Taz Waves, Sudanese electronic music via Amman
Heat waves are crossing Europe; stress is rising planetwide. Sudanese artist Zaher Nasr, aka Taz Waves, has an alternative. Inspired by time in Amman, Jannah Al Yasmeen (Jasmine Heaven) is as sweet and calming as its namesake.
How to make the most of Drum Trigs in Fugue Machine Rubato (macOS, iOS)
Fugue Machine Rubato is an advanced sequencer capable of spawning elaborate, shifting patterns. Drum Trigs are a new addition to Fugue Machine that allows you to weave drum hits into your melodies. Here’s your guide to getting started.
Oberheim TEO-5: Tom’s legacy, now on desktop, $1399
They’re built on the same platform, the development of which was overseen by the late Dave Smith. They cost roughly the same price and take up the same amount of space. But TEO-5 is not Take 5. Look to the Oberheim desktop instrument for the SEM multimode filter, linear through-zero FM, and its own unique effects. Here’s the synth Tom and team built.
Sequential Take 5: Dave Smith’s legacy, now on desktop, $1299
One of Dave Smith’s last projects was overseeing the tech platform that would become Take 5. And that was a breakthrough: everything great about the Prophet-5 meets fresh modulation and effects and an accessible price. Now, you can bring Take 5 home for $1299 as a compact desktop unit. Oberheim’s TEO-5 desktop is also out today at that price, thanks to that underlying tech, but let’s talk Sequential first.
Public Enemy returns with an album and message right when it’s needed
Cmon, get down: Chuck D and Flavor Flav have resurfaced to deliver an all-Public Enemy album again, following the all-star guest appearances of their last outings. And they deliver a fiery critique of society, racist government, Big Tech, AI and chatbot love affairs, ageism, and the (CBS-owned) 1973 Yankees. But hip hop, OG hip hop, is here to save us, just like it saved those damned Yankees and the Bronx. This summer needed this release, and it’s right now pay-what-you-will on Bandcamp.
“Deep calm”: Roland Mood Pan is a digital handpan
Sometimes, Roland gives us predictable things. Sometimes, the company decides to digitize the handpan for an electronic hand percussion instrument that can also make gamelan and singing bowl sounds, pretty environmental noises, and function as a Bluetooth speaker.