Modor DR-2 – a delicious, overlooked drum machine – adds trig conditions

Massive sound, lots of unique tricks, hard-hitting personality, onboard basslines — more people should be talking about the Modor DR-2. And amidst the blizzard of news last month, you might have missed that it now does trig conditions. OS014 landed at the end of December, so we may have missed it while we were all […]

Best of show: walk NAMM with us in a gear-mas gallery

Who stood out at this year’s NAMM show, that festivus of gear that brightens our winters from Anaheim? We’ve given you some idea with NAMM and LA’s Buchla & Friends. Here, in images, are our favorites from NAMM, as captured by LA photographer Mehdi Hassine and veteran Berlin hardware guru Gösta Wellmer.

Peter Kirn - February 3, 2026

Soundbites: the music inventions of NAMM, Buchla and Friends

Gear-mas comes but once a year. But with swirling doom and gloom, just how is the world of making musical instruments? We sent Nadia Says, along with Burak Yerebakan, Portrait XO, Franck Martin, and Mehdi Hassine to find out, at the mighty NAMM show in Anaheim — and the indie Buchla & Friends in LA, too. Here’s the show viewed through artists and makers alike, one portrait at a time.

Nadia Says - January 30, 2026