First, there was the hardware keyboard. Then, MiniFreak owners got the MiniFreak V plug-in as an exclusive software companion. Now, anyone can buy the plug-in a la carte – so let’s take a look under the hood and see how the virtual version performs and what it can do.

Today as the United States celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is another opportunity worldwide to reflect on Black identity in music and BIPOC and marginalized roles in music generally. Here’s some reading, including the sometimes challenging relationship between Hip Hop and King.

You’ll need the latest iOS and macOS to run it, but the next-generation Audulus 4 continues to impress as a deep, accessible soft modular. And it gets more and more West Coast by the day – as we catch a first glimpse of the next “Buchaudulus” system.

Nothing defies trends quite like the Teenage Engineering OP-1. It’s small and lean, but priced alongside pro instruments. It’s a compact luxury synth. We bring back our resident expert on mobile production, Swedish gear, and multifunction compact goodness Andreas Roman to give us a review – or not. Swede anti-reviews Swede. Go. -Ed.

Sweden’s Teenage Engineering keeps adding to the OP-1 field, successor to the original OP-1 candybar multi-function synth / micro workstation. The latest surprise – a vocoder – following up on November’s addition of velocity sensitivity.

Vocalists wanting to get deeper into production – producers wanting to improve vocals – there’s always more to learn. So we consulted the multi-faceted music technologist and artist Claire Marie Lim. From Berklee teacher to her artistic project dolltr!ck, there are few people with more knowledge in more contexts. Let’s dive in. Tackling vocals in […]

From Friday January 27 – Thursday February 2, the excellent Saffron music tech programming is offering seven days of online workshops, ranging from running a label to vocal production to mastering. It’s pay-what-you-will, exclusively for women, non-binary, and trans folks worldwide. And with this faculty, if you identify with one of those groups, you might want to check your calendar.

How do you know analog and patch cords are really back? It’s the return of the patch book. The beloved SOMA PULSAR•23 just got an 80-odd-page tome full of patches for this unique “organismic” instrument, from community members and friends of SOMA.

You’ve got piano keyboards, you’ve got various grids. But whole new worlds of melodic playing and rapid-fire melodies become possible when you go relative. ReBoard does just that, and it makes even playing from your QWERTY keyboard “awesomely simple” — and enjoyable.

Calling Bandcamp addicts who DJ: this clever browser extension adds a DJ-style tempo slider to Bandcamp’s Web interface. It’s already feature-packed, with more coming, and a great way to preview tempo changes before you buy.