It’s an FM/sample-based synth, sampler, drum machine, and connected music maker. And most noticeably, it sees Yamaha return to the kinds of fun design we associate with 80s Yamaha and Casio.

Black engineers have made massive contributions to sound and music technology, overcoming systemic discrimination. And yet, they’re too often unsung, even today. One anyone in sound should know is James West, who, as part of a prolific career, revolutionized recording with the electret microphone in research with Gerhard Sessler at Bell Labs.

Add more Black club music to your life with the help of Dweller and Black Techno Matters. This month, Dweller shares a curated series of 13 films streaming on Criterion Channel, plus a massive compilation from Black Techno Matters.

It’s taken until the Pioneer DJ DJM-V10 to get a DJ rig from the company with standard MIDI DIN onboard for sync, but it’s finally here. Lauren Flax shows it off – and here’s the trick to getting it working, in case you want to haul a TR-8S into a DJ booth.

Performance Pack, included with the upcoming Ableton Live 12, is capable of all sorts of feats for using Live as a performance instrument. That includes custom layouts, stored variations, looping in Arrangement, and a way of setting up arrangements on the fly. But it’s easier to see it in action than to explain – so creator Iftah has been laboring on an extensive video manual.

KORG Gadget 3 adds new instrument gadgets, effects, a new browser, and a Play page. But what has everyone most excited is that on iOS, you can now use gadgets as separate AUv3 plug-ins in other hosts. Gadgets are also on a discount at the moment.

Bethlehem/international community radio platform Radio Alhara has set up live outside the International Court of Justice in the Hague, where South Africa is making a case accusing Israel of committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza, and lawyers will respond on behalf of Israel’s government.

“Known Pleasures”: the Biamp MR/140 spring reverb, best known for its use by Joy Division’s Martin Hannett on Unknown Pleasures, is now available as a series of impulse responses for any reverb and a recreation as Ableton Live device. And that’s a great excuse to talk about the production techniques behind this record.

Adventurous composer, musician, filmmaker, and conceptual artist Phil Niblock remained active right through his later life – an embodiment of the potential a life can hold, irrespective of age. With his death at age 90, remembrances are pouring in. And we have an unusual record of events leading up to nearly present day.

It’s about time the glorious low pass gate, that staple of West Coast synthesis, got a stereophonic treatment. Make Noise just added to their stereo range with the DXG Dual Stereo Low Pass Gate and Mixer.