The waves of synth modules never stop coming, as obsessed engineers keep making them and sound tinkerers keep buying them. So let’s catch up with what’s out there, in the wake of the NAMM show in California late last month.
Music
In Tbilisi, music is on pause because democracy is on the line
Music Stories October 25, 2024
In music video, Lebanese duo Rust captures emotions of “Diaspora”
Music October 11, 2024
Go support these Lebanese releases on Bandcamp
Music October 4, 2024
DP10 adds clip launching, improved audio editing to MOTU’s DAW
DP10 might just grant two big wishes to DAW power users. One: pull off Ableton Live-style clip launching. Two: give us serious, integrated waveform editing. Here’s why DP10 might get your attention.
Magical 3D visuals, patched together with wires in browser: Cables.gl
The latest visual tool to use dataflow patching with virtual wires is here. Cables.gl is free for now, with an accelerated 3D engine powered by Web standards, and some unique tricks up its sleeve. Resident visual expert Ted Pallas gives us a first look.
Synth One is a free, no-strings-attached, iPad and iPhone synthesizer
Call it the people’s iOS synth: Synth One is free – without ads or registration or anything like that – and loved. And now it’s reached 1.0, with iPad and iPhone support and some expert-designed sounds.
Free download: A 400-page guide to experimental Eastern Europe sounds
If experimental music and Europe make you think only of cities like Paris and London, you’re missing a big part of the story. Now you can grab a huge reference on fringe and weird electronic music from the east – and it’s free. (At least that would please Marx.)
Behringer Crave synth: vintage bits, all the extras, $199
Behringer left its big gear salvo for the year for last – Crave is a compact, patchable synth with arp and sequencer for US$199.
Arturia’s new experimental synth – and Mutable Instruments’ role
It was only a matter of time before some of the craziness of the modular world came to desktop synths, too. Arturia’s new MicroFreak is a budget keyboard with a weird streak.
Moog’s Sirin is a limited Taurus-based synth that sings high, too
They’re calling it the “analog messenger of joy.” Moog Music’s latest synth is an extremely limited run – and it turns the Taurus bass engine into an instrument you can play in any range. Meet Sirin:
A DIY machine imagines 808 kicks if they were made of actual fire
Anyone can clone an 808. Not anyone can make a machine inspired by the 808 out of repurposed lighter springs, motors, and … oh yeah, flaming butane gas. Koka Nikoladze’s beat machines are going viral, and their demented, quirky sound tells you why.
Roland just made syncing Serato and TR drum machines automatic
The hybrid DJ set keeps getting fresh nudges. Now, Roland and Serato have added easy, automatic sync over USB for the TR-8, TR-8S, and the Boutique Series TR-08 and TR-09 drum machines.