Microtonality is the big trend of the 16th century — ask Nicolà Vicentino

Kids today, with their 31 equal divisions of the octave. Yes, it’s the music of Nicolà Vicentino, a Renaissance theorist and composer who built his own microtonal harpsichord to accommodate his experimental tunings. But it’s not just a theoretical experiment: there is some connection to musical practice (even if Vicentino was basically making this up). Food for thought as we mess with digital tuning systems and microonality.”

Cosmolab, open DSP development kit, in final hours of crowdfunding

Italy’s Faselunare have done lots of great stuff over the years, and they’re entering the final hours of crowdfunding for Cosmolab, a powerful modular DSP kit powered by Electrosmith’s Daisy Seed. Let’s have a quick look. There are a number of these ideas, and with good reason — choice is at the heart of why […]

Peter Kirn - January 29, 2026

Generalmusic revives GEM and LEM, legendary Italian music tech brands

GEM and LEM are the lost Italian legends you may not know, but should. Toto, Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, Italian icons — all users. But the moniker was retired, and most of us assumed we’d never see it again. Surprise: Generalmusic (now Finnish-owned) just announced it’s making GEM and LEM gear again with an Italian leadership team, starting early this year. No idea what any of this us? Don’t worry — just 90s the **** out anyway!

Peter Kirn - January 26, 2026

Start your Black History Month in music by traveling back to the 6th century

Peter Kirn - February 4, 2025

In the 90s, this astrophysicist made trippy pop from star sounds

Peter Kirn - April 10, 2024

HoRNet DeeLay vintage digital delay is free today only

Peter Kirn - September 5, 2023

From a Neapolitan hard techno master, a beautiful, nasty waveshaping distortion plug-in

Peter Kirn - March 1, 2023

1977’s Bell Labs Alles synth demo came pre-Crumar, features Laurie Spiegel cameo

Peter Kirn - February 21, 2023

Nonlinear Labs’ C15, the human-centered keyboard instrument, expands sound design features

Peter Kirn - February 1, 2023