Daedelus and Takuma Matsui talk Tinge, a painterly color wheel arpeggiator

There’s no grid, no harsh colors. Tinge swells and sways like a windchime, coming to life in spinning color wheels. It’s probably nothing like any arpeggiator you’ve seen before — or maybe it’s a “note agitator.” Co-creators Daedelus (Alfred Darlington) and Takuma Matsui (Rainbow Circuit) take us inside the process of how they created and thought about this new generative, responsive, playable melodic delight.

Your iPad and iPhone just became a portal to endless DX7 sounds

You may think you know the Yamaha DX7 from those couple of presets that dominated the 80s. But Oliver Greschke’s Elastic OSC for iPhone and iPad is a reminder of just how much potential Yamaha’s breakthrough FM synth can offer. And now Elastic OSC app can easily import those sounds, with a bunch of unique presets to get you started — plus a link to a cool generative tool that works with anything.

Elektron’s Tonverk is a 16-track polyphonic multisampler powerhouse

It’s a multisampler. It’s got 16 tracks. It’s an effects box. It’s got elaborate routing and multiple machines. It’s a modulation monster. Or to look at it another way, The Bride of Octatrack beast is here. Here it is at a glance.

Mute on your Push like it’s an Elektron — Push:Mute Mode

Quick access to mutes is a must-have in any live performance context. Elektron owners have enjoyed that on the Analog Rytm; now it’s Push’s turn.

909 Day: freebies, sales, and celebrations

It’s 909 Day again, and a moment to reflect on the beauty of Tadao Kikumoto’s rhythm composer masterpiece. HAND CLAP. Let’s RIDE.

CDJ-3000X: first CDJ to go online; expanded usability, sound quality

AlphaTheta, the company that DJs will probably never stop calling “Pioneer,” has a major update for their flagship deck. It starts to make the CDJ-3000 seem more like a foundation for this: expanded media access, online connectivity, and some welcome usability, reliability. and sound improvements.

1993’s Music For Toilets re-released, bringing ambient sounds to you

Piers Headley’s Music for Toilets is an unsung masterpiece, a cheeky environmental imaginarium that once played on loop at Berlin’s Fisch Labor. And now, thanks to Tresor Records, it’s coming to you.

Code turns MacBook hinge into a creaking door, Theremin

Apple’s MacBook series has had sensors in the hinge since 2019. One developer, Sam Henri Gold, decided to put that to use, first transforming the hinge into a creaking door, and next a playable Theremin.

No one shreds on keys like Mauritania’s Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla

Ahemdou Ahmed Lowla is on the move. Breaking out across Europe for the first time in 2019, I caught up with the Mauritanian WZN superstar last month. Hearing his music will change how you think about keyboards — and new stuff is on the way.

LOCD is the free phase lock effect you didn’t know you needed

Ewan Bristow, the indie underground developer of free and inexpensive effects, has done it again. LOCD uses phase locking for brain-splitting distortions and spectral sound design. And you can’t put a price on that — so Ewan didn’t.