A new Bucket Brigade Delay chip just dropped, the first in decades

Wake up! A new BBD just dropped. It’s an analog delay circuit, but a new-generation design — the first such genuinely new chip design in decades. And that means you could argue the biggest announcement of this year in music technology is the smallest. Meet the SSI2100 from Sound Semiconductor, coming soon to music gear new you.

Radio Shack’s TRS-80 now has polyphonic MIDI and a tracker

The Tandy Corporation-manufactured, Radio Shack-sold TRS-80 computer debuted in 1977. But now you can now add full polyphonic MIDI support thanks to George Philipps and Michael Wessel. And it’s already transformed into a serious live instrument and production tool. Assembly cost: about $35. The TRS-80: a tool for the 2020s.

Peter Kirn - June 2, 2025

Inside Vostok’s Atlas, the quad filter module inspired by 80s Roland

Iconic 80s Japanese synths like the SH-101, JUPITER, JUNO, and TR drum machines were defined by both their filters and the engineering around them. We’re fortunate to get to talk about Vostok Instruments about the design of their new four-channel Atlas filter module – what it learns from the 80s classics, and what it adds to the equation.

Peter Kirn - February 1, 2024

chipsynth C64 is an emulation of the SID so good, it can replace hardware

Peter Kirn - December 6, 2023

Mac updates: M3 performance gains, including raytracing, shading

Peter Kirn - October 31, 2023

Dazzle at the soft synths of the Commodore Amiga – including a forgotten 1985 gem

Peter Kirn - June 28, 2023

The late Dave Smith with Tom Oberheim, Marcus Ryle, Tony Karavidas talking OB-X8 design

Peter Kirn - October 26, 2022

Make your own MIDI-to-CV adapter in a skull, with a 3D printer and CircuitPython

Peter Kirn - August 10, 2022

Atari, at 50, leaves a legacy of electronic imagination in visuals and sound

Peter Kirn - June 29, 2022

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