OHYUNG’s IOWA on Trans Music Archive is as powerful as a glacier

Take a moment for the arresting stillness of “all dolls go to heaven.” IOWA, the full-length opus by film composer Lia Ouyang Rusli (“OHYUNG”), hits you deep in the gut. The first 2026 release by must-follow label Trans Music Archive is both an essential meditation and a call to arms.

Expressive playing with MPE, demystified

MPE, MIDI Polyphonic Expression, can make playing digital instruments expressive in ways we’ve desired for decades. It’s just down to understanding everything you can do – and composer Josh Madoff has a fantastic tutorial and Osmose demos that make this technology more accessible to anyone.

Peter Kirn - February 20, 2025

Inside the Dune 2 score with Osmose and Hans Zimmer

A sequel is only worth its weight in spice if it can best the original. For Dune 2, Hans Zimmer and his team went further with their electronic instrumentation to immerse us even deeper in otherworldly sounds. Now we get some insights into how they did it, and why the Expressive E Osmose was a starring player.

Peter Kirn - December 11, 2024

User interface for Creature From the ID, featuring dials, VU meters, and a hexagonal organization with oscillators on the two sides and mixing and send controls at the center.

Creature from the ID lets you live your 50s sci-fi soundtrack fantasies

Peter Kirn - June 9, 2024