Roland’s TR-8S and the pint-sized repackage TR-6S just keep getting better. The latest update expands on the TR’s unique FM sound set and adds probability and step looping, with an updated software editor to match.
Music
In Tbilisi, music is on pause because democracy is on the line
Music Stories October 25, 2024
In music video, Lebanese duo Rust captures emotions of “Diaspora”
Music October 11, 2024
Arturia Dist COLDFIRE review: a red-hot coloration, overdrive, distortion multi-effect
Distortion? Already interested. But Dist COLDFIRE goes further, even compared to other recent tools with dual-distortion and modulation. Deep inside, you get a multi-effects toybox with tools for a range of coloration.
Here’s a DIY plate reverb, hacked out of IKEA parts for under $100
Can’t afford a pricey plate reverb? Use some IKEA shelving and piezos and get something that sounds amazingly good in this simple DIY tutorial. Best of all – you can do it for under $100 in parts, and it’s not a complex build.
Mouth Play is a vocal tract filter for Ableton Live with loads of extras, by Dillon Bastan
From the prolific, inventive Max for Live developer Dillon Bastan comes a new instrument that can shape, sing, roar, breathe, drone, glitch, and more. Use one of its internal sound source or external input.
How the Open Music Lab creates safe space for refugees, marginalized artists [Hacklab Inputs]
This is an easy one to relate to: you want space to be creative, to grow in your practice, and to express emotions We got to hear from a volunteer-led effort that makes that kind of space, for refugees and for people who have often lacked access.
Chantlings, an app where animated forest creatures sing along with you, is a marvel of design
Just when you think software has lost its wonder, you’re singing into your iPhone with some cute animated blobs. Chantlings is a joy – and a demonstration of how even existing vocal technologies can be employed in fanciful new ways.
Linux gets native analog modeled plug-ins, Pultec emulations, with VST, VST3, and now – CLAP
Linux has the hosts – Bitwig, Ardour, Reaper, Renoise, Tracktion. And now, it’s got the high-quality analog models, too, including some of the first to support the new, open CLAP format.
Stable Diffusion, generative AI tool, now available in public release
The “hot s***”, open, purportedly ethical generative text-to-image AI generator has now moved from invite-only contexts and Discord to full public availability.
Tracktion Waveform Free gets updates for 2022 – and it’s a solid no-cost starter DAW
Free matters – for beginners, for cash-strapped musicians, for teaching, for exchange with other folks, and as a way to test out a new way of working. So it’s very good news that Tracktion’s free-of-cost entry-level DAW keeps getting better.
Shazam is 20 years old: history, trivia, and tips
It was 20 years ago today – Shazam, now an Apple subsidiary, first launched and changed how the world identifies tunes. Here’s a look back, including some obscure history.