Arturia has a big update for their flagship polysynth, the PolyBrute. V3 adds 7 types of distortion, expanded effects routing and tuning, a new stereo layer mode, and more. Also, I’m sorry, you’ll again be hit with the Arturia drinking game – it’s another Arturia news item that mentions “Germanium.” (Maybe we should play a […]

One of the big features of Ableton Push is its standalone mode and upgradeability, enabled by the Intel-developed NUC platform. Over the summer, Intel discontinued that platform, raising some questions about where NUC was headed. Now, with Asus officially taking over NUC, here’s a look at the platform and what it could mean for Push 3’s future, with Ableton’s head of hardware weighing in.

What if you could take the essence of a melodic 808 kick, a wavetable synth, the thick supersaw from a JP8000, and an edgy percussive synth and mash them all together into one magical lead-kick-synth? And then what if you made that free? Well, that’s just what Toybox has done with the Thump One. It’s the deluxe banana split covered in whipped cream dessert treat of synthesizers – and you deserve it.

In fragmented materials and process-based performance interventions, this year’s Atonal exhibition seems to breathe life into debris, a deconstruction of ruined objects. But most striking of all is the work of sound artist Rabon Aibo. With mechanical constructions, he makes the cavernous Kraftwerk power plant into an instrument – and makes use of gas canisters that resonate with dark moments in Kurdish and European histories.

This month has brought unimaginable suffering atop thousands of deaths in both Morocco and Libya. To readers whose communities and loved ones have been directly impacted, we’re thinking of you. As music makers and instrument makers, I hope we continue to connect to remain tuned in and responsive. News can be overwhelming, but we live in a world where connections – and action – is never far away.

Fresh, unexpected, unreleased music – we’re back with the regular series Post at Refuge Worldwide. This month’s special guest is Donbas, Ukraine native Moe Nagasi, our conduit to the Donbas-Berlin connection. Tune in 1pm local time (UTC+2 ) / 7am NYC time / 8pm Tokyo.

It’s the prototype that ate Chicago’s Knobcon. 4ms showed their new “Meta Module,” which lets you put patches inside a hardware module. The new module can run compatible VCV Rack patches with full hands-on and CV control. An image went viral, but without all the details. So here’s 4ms to get meta with us and explain exactly what’s going on.

It’s the no-mixer no-input-mixer. Developer Igor Vasiliev has created an experimental app that models the feedback effects of mixers and effects – and it’s capable of creating beautiful, ghostly sounds, all entirely in software.

Native Instruments has updated their Kontrol S-Series with a single big glass screen, redesigned buttons, and one big new feature – polyphonic aftertouch, for per-key expression. But those premium features will command a premium price, at $749 up to $1299 for the 88-key hammer action option.

Just when you thought the Roland TR-8S (and its little sibling, the 6S) couldn’t do any more – there’s this. Surprise: Roland’s drum machine for the rest of us just packed in new CR-78 and chromatic 808 bass models, plus a ton of new content, and a compact UI for the TR Editor. I’ve been playing with the release candidate firmware and – yes, indeed. Happy 1209 day, everybody!