Ukraine Resistance Radio is a new project for amplifying experimental sounds and music of Ukrainian artists and their allies. An open call is up now, with the first broadcast with partner Radio Vilnius on the 19th of March.
Music
RIP Dax Pierson, Árni Grétar Jóhannesson aka Futuregrapher
Music January 6, 2025
Lists aside, these 2024 albums are personal must-listens
Music Reviews Stories December 31, 2024
Saying goodbye to 2024 with music and reflections: David’s picks
Music Reviews Stories December 31, 2024
Free tool dumps KORG minilogue xd patches into images – plus patch sheets for volca modular
Korg sound design fans, you’ll want this: a user has made a free tool that automatically generates images from program presets. (Sounds like a great idea for other synths, too – and we get into other geeky scripts here, as well.) And now is a good time to revisit free patch sheets for volca modular, though for that you’ll need drawing software … or a pen.
Here’s what happens when you let ChatGPT make Eurorack patches for you
Human modular patches may at times involve randomly patching into jacks and seeing what happens – that’s surely part of the fun. But what happens if you let an assistive AI chatbot do the patching? One Gert Braakman decided to find out.
As crisis continues, albums bring Turkey and Syria earthquake relief
The scale of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria is hard to conceive, atop ongoing crises in the region and world. Tens of thousands have died, more continue to die, and millions are now homeless across the territories of the two countries. With music scenes intertwined with those places, responding is essential in any way we can.
Watch legendary Octave One live in action, with tables full of gear
Few people can power through a live set quite like Detroit icons Lenny and Lawrence Burden – and few can plaster a table with quite this many synths and drum machines. Behold the joy of Octave One live.
Minimal Audio delivers Cluster Delay, a multi-tap with sound sculpting extras
Yes, there are too many plug-ins, but I’ve been looking for something like this for a while – especially to replace some aging options. Cluster Delay, a combination of multi-tap delay and multi-effects, could fit the bill.
Sample machines in Elektron Digitakt 1.50: Repitch, Werp, Slice, Oneshot
Elektron has a major update for Digitakt in 1.50 — now with Machines, as Octatrack, Model:Cycles, and Syntakt. Those bring sample warping, slicing, chopping, looping, repitching, and forward/reverse playback. Plus you get fixed-step recording and the ability to insert sample rate reduction pre- or post-filter.
From a Neapolitan hard techno master, a beautiful, nasty waveshaping distortion plug-in
If we can connect to artists through albums, especially as producers ourselves, why not through instruments and effects, too? A new release from Bari, Italy hard core/hard techno artist Carbone comes in the form of a software collaboration. And the results are suitably grimy and fantastic.
Mensla’s MS-2 is a great-sounding FM synth with the safety protocols switched off
Over 60 years after its invention, FM synthesis is still full of surprises. And that’s what makes the free MS-2 synth plug-in fun.
Meng Qi’s new Wingie2 firmware is inspired by the late Rob Hordijk’s Blippoo Box
Dutch designer Rob Hordijk inspired many instrument creators before his death last fall. Meng Qi is one of those moved by his work. He has just released an alternative firmware for his Wingie2 that allows it to behave like Hordijk’s beloved Blippoo Box.