We usually skip over minor version upgrades, but Z3TA+ from Cakewalk is a very special synth, and 1.5 is a very nice (free) update. New in the version bump: x64 and Vista support, a low-CPU arpeggiator (assuming it’s handling voicing/oscillator resource allocation more efficiently?), different CPU-optimized quality modes (also added to rival NI Massive recently), […]

Chiptune musicians rejoice! Though the original, grey Game Boy has long been a favorite, Herbert Weixelbaum has recently posted what may be the most thorough sonic comparison of Gameboy models. In his comparison he uses LSDJ to analyze the sonic qualities, as well as list the pros, cons and quirks of each model with and […]

“Collaboration” I think is the key word in the upcoming, unknown Ableton-Cycling ’74 product. It’s difficult to avoid confusion when talking about a product you can’t talk about, but Cycling ’74 founder David Zicarelli does that today. The highlight for me is this passage on the next version of Max/MSP/Jitter, which is independent from the […]

It’s a 12 x 12 FireWire audio interface. It’s a customizable mixer, with curves, filter styles, and ranges editable via a color LCD screen. It’s a MIDI controller. It’s an Italian sports car, molded by design house Giugiaro Italdesign. And it has password-protected audio output limiting, so those sleazeball DJs don’t blow your club’s speakers. […]

Okay, safety first. Casio says: Due to a manufacturing defect, certain CTK-710 keyboards may present a smoke and/or fire hazard, which could result in serious injury or property damage. No reports of injuries have been received by Casio to date. Casio is aware of five incidents of overheating, including two incidents that resulted in a […]

KORE2’s new face reveals its second generation is already looking much closer to our original desire for the tool: give us a powerful, accessible environment for treating plug-ins like modular building blocks. The first KORE may be hanging out in my closet at the moment. But the new KORE2 makes it look like someone got […]

Moog keys as your best band made: a (non-sampled) instrument, as photographed by A. Mart (via Flickr). Just in from the Messe trade show in Frankfurt: a massive Moog sample library with 22 of “Moog’s Greatest Hits” of yesterday and today, plus sampler and guitar processing updates from IK. But will it all be a […]

Ribbons are back! Arturia already announced it was making hardware instead of just software, and only two months later it’s added a ribbon and keyboard in this bad-ass form factor. No room for hardware? Their Jupiter-8V continues their soft synth tradition. After conquering the world of software emulations, Arturia is finally thinking inside the box […]

The trend of gelatinous music interfaces continues. Last week, it was Eric Singer’s Slime-o-Tron, as seen at the Etsy/MAKE/CDM evening. Now, via the increasingly-hopping CDM flickr pool, A*A*R*O*N sends us his Jell-O sound sculpture, looking a bit like an alien brain with wires coming out of it. Jello Sound Sculpture [flickr] There’s always room for […]