Arturia’s new MiniFreak 49 synth is tactile, exploration-friendly: tested

It’s not just some extra keys or minor feature tweaks. Arturia’s MiniFreak 49 has evolved the range into a synthesizer you can freely explore just by playing, not programming. It’s a fusion of tactile experience and sound, right when we need that. Here’s a full hands-on test.

Digital sound, but physical: Roger Linn’s LinnStrument in action, 10% off

No, we do not all want to be reduced to brains in a jar. Music has always been about gesture, whether embodied in the breath or touch. So now is the perfect time for the LinnStrument, the human-scaled expressive grid from Roger Linn. Roger writes to point us to some of the latest musical examples […]

Peter Kirn - October 15, 2026

Flexur and Chill, with this Trautonium-inspired DIY synthesizer

I missed this when it dropped earlier this month — Synthtopia was there! But now is a perfect time to chill out to the smoothly gliding sounds of this original Trautonium-inspired synthesizer design in progress. Flexur can cool down an overheated Europe.

Peter Kirn - June 24, 2026

Casio’s expressive guitar strap controller was inspired by a chopstick case

Peter Kirn - January 23, 2026

GForce just made a West Coast, MPE-playable synth playground

Peter Kirn - October 28, 2025

Akai MPC Live III: expressive pads come to the MPC grid; $1699 with new core

Peter Kirn - October 4, 2025

The making of Sequential’s all-analog, polyphonic, expressive Fourm

Peter Kirn - September 23, 2025

Inside the Dune 2 score with Osmose and Hans Zimmer

Peter Kirn - December 11, 2024

Wiggler is a bendy expressive DIY synth – and its creator is sharing their process

Peter Kirn - March 9, 2023