Close-p of vintage TB-303 hardware showing "Computer-Controlled" logo and knobs. "Old Roland TB-303" by Alexandre Dulaunoy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

303 Day: the freaky CDM Megaroundup

It’s 303 Day. Roland is giving away licenses for its TB-303 plug-in if you act fast. The Internet, for its part, will make you feel like you’re actually on acid. Let’s go.

RIP Seiki Kato, KORG President lead 80s product innovations, KORG USA

We’re all deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mr. Seiki Kato, who across multiple decades at KORG lead the teams that helped define what the modern company is today. He was 67.

Moog just posted an all-star art and tech panel; all that and an Oberheim

It’s not every day you get to see this lineup – Moog Music meets the Bob Moog Foundation with Michelle Moog-Koussa, Lisa Bella Donna, Suzanne Ciani, Brian Kehew, Steve Dunnington, King Britt, and Rory Kaplan. Moog just posted the video from NAMM last month. And speaking of the Moog Foundation, they’ve also got a big raffle going – and, surprise, it’s for an Oberheim synth, not a Moog.

In flickering feedback, an audiovisual synth hums and sings

Krzysztof Cybulski’s Kamer/Ton takes everything you love about video feedback loops and combines them with everything you love about zero-input sound feedback loops, in a flickering and vibrating audiovisual instrument.

Noise Surround System makes spatial audio kinetic, mechanical

To tackle the issue of noise pollution, Warszawa’s panGenerator brought immersive, spatial sound to the philharmonic. But they didn’t make that spatial audio virtual: tracks, skateboard motors, and speakers on karts put this installation into physical motion.

Don’t forget the wild sound possibilities of Sculpture in Apple Logic Pro

Over 20 years later, Apple’s Sculpture instrument still vibrates, resonates, and morphs like no other physical modeling synth. It’s crazy, unruly, sometimes delightfully unpredictable – you just need to find your way in. So let’s return to some “vintage” tutorials to do just that, especially as there’s a good chance you’ve got Sculpture just waiting for you inside a copy of Logic Pro.

A multi-city hybrid experimental livestream event for Ukraine is on now

StreamArtStudio, UkrainiaTV, and friends are running a 24-hour experimental hybrid livestream now, together with friends like the Konfluxus Collective in Budapest and Ikalto in Tbilisi, across PeerTube, decentralized networks, and conventional platforms like YouTube. And it’s full of everything from DJs in Vilnius to Ukrainian and Georgian radical poetry to … well someone was doing something in tens. John Object

UkrRack, the all-Ukrainian modular system in action, module details

It’s not just Eurorack. It’s UkRack – the all-Ukrainian module. And while today marks three years of full-scale Russian invasion of their country, it’s a chance to mark the power of Ukrainian resistance in sound. We join our friends at MachineRoom in Kyiv.

Expressive playing with MPE, demystified

MPE, MIDI Polyphonic Expression, can make playing digital instruments expressive in ways we’ve desired for decades. It’s just down to understanding everything you can do – and composer Josh Madoff has a fantastic tutorial and Osmose demos that make this technology more accessible to anyone.

AAS Multiphonics CV-3 modular review: an expressive and sonic landmark

AAS Multiphonics CV-3 realizes the potential of this modular software as a synthesis and physical modeling powerhouse. It’s the biggest update to date, with 3-op FM, new physical modeling components, effects, and sound tools. And it’s polyphonic and expressive, with full support for 8-voice polyphony and glides and expression with MPE.