Piastrone is a perfect, playable reverb for Ableton Live – even when other reverbs fail

Plenty of reverbs will flood you with sound or bathe you in shimmering tails. Fewer are controllable in multiple situations, or manage to balance lushness and precision. For that, we head to Rome and Isotonik Studio’s new Piastrone. We get not only an Ableton Max for Live gem, but a master class in reverb design […]

GlitchScaper instrument and rhythm machine comes to macOS, iOS, from SoundScaper dev

The creator of SoundScaper and FieldScaper is back with another deep and esoteric instrument – and this might be one of the most immediate (and glitchy) yet. GlitchScaper combines six sound generators, a two-layer cycle sequencer, and rhythmic and glitching magic.

Suzuki is re-releasing the electronic autoharp Omnichord to celebrate its 70th anniversary

Here’s an unexpected reissue: Japanese music maker Suzuki is celebrating the company’s 70th anniversary by bringing back the Omnichord, a unique 1981 electronic answer to the autoharp.

Synplant, mutation-based synth, to get alien-level cool Genopatch update

Sonic Charge’s Synplant, a plant-breeding instrument with a alien lab UI, remains one of the coolest soft synths of all time. And this year its developer promises an update with even more ways to grow your own patches. Meet Genopatch 1.0.

Waves goes subscription-only; upgrade plan renewals to end

Plug-in behemoth Waves has switched overnight to a subscription-only model. It’s also terminating its existing upgrade plans once they expire.

Today is the last day to get KORG M01D and DSN-12 for Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo is sunsetting its online shops for DS, 3DS, and WiiU today – which means it’s the last chance ever to grab two handheld synth gems from KORG and Detune.

Combining TouchDesigner and Ableton Live: free online workshop from Music Hackspace

What happens when you put the modular and generative visual powers of TouchDesigner together with the ubiquitous Ableton Live? Looks like you’ll have a chance to find out in a free workshop Saturday from London’s Music Hackspace, available online anywhere via Zoom.

Brahmaputra to AI: debashis sinha on practice, body, humanness, and his double release

Composer, producer, and percussionist debashis sinha delved into spiritual spaces of his ancestral India in a double-release from late last year. These projects interweave rhythm, mythology, decolonization, and artificial intelligence. We talk to Deb about his take on machine learning – uniquely humble and human just when we need it – and the significance of the sonic imagery on this album. He reflects on the process of making and meaning for these gorgeous releases.

Speldosa is a virtual music box from Klevgrand and Marble Machine creator Wintergatan

Production tool or stress relief? Maybe it’s both. Swedish artist Wintergatan, best known for the physical Marble Machine instrument, has worked with Klevgrand to create a software music box in plug-in and app format, and it’s just $6 during the intro.

Georgian-made Ambient audio is bringing home-grown modular to the Caucasus

Buy local: the world of gear for musicians is opening up to independent makers in more places. That includes Tbilisi-based Ambient audio, who are making everything from glowing and recycled patch cables to modular kits.