Sequential Prophet-5 gets an official software remake by GForce — tested

Following GForce’s official renditions of Oberheim instruments, now we’re treated to an official Sequential synth in plug-in form. This Prophet-5 combines painstaking recreations of the various revisions with new features like MPE, a dual-layer architecture, and lush effects. I’ve been testing it and got some behind-the-scenes details from the devs. It’s such a total pleasure to bring that Sequential sound into the box.

Turn Ableton Push 3 into a single expressive percussive surface, free

The most exciting add-on for Ableton Live this spring for me is actually not an Ableton Extension. It’s warpradius, a Max for Live device by Jon Doe One that transforms the entire grid into a single expressive percussion surface. It employs a Bessel membrane resonator model, a modal synthesis method that produces realistic, varied percussion sounds. And it’s free.

Peter Kirn - June 15, 2026

Expressive E Osmose meets Elastic OSC; playing with MPE

There’s something magical about playing sounds with polyphonic expression. It means translating sound ideas directly to your hands and improvising live, rather than having to go back and edit those ideas in later or take your hands off the keyboard to turn a knob. Here’s a look at playing the presets I made for Elastic OSC using Expressive E’s excellent Osmose keyboard.

Peter Kirn - May 22, 2026

Elastic OSC, Plaits-derived poly, is now a macOS and Windows plug-in, too

Peter Kirn - May 6, 2026

Next-gen MPE: Expressive E adds smarter control, $999 MIDI keyboard

Peter Kirn - April 29, 2026

Play together with Ableton Live, pt. 1: playing in tune

Peter Kirn - March 31, 2026

Elastic OSC, Plaits as an instrument app, now supports Android, MPE

Peter Kirn - March 26, 2026

Bitwig Studio 6 is out of beta, and the “workflow update” is worth the wait

Peter Kirn - March 11, 2026

Absynth creator Brian Clevinger on synths, emotions, and “weird-ass ideas”

Peter Kirn - December 9, 2025