DIY + Unusual Gear Music Music tech Tech
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.”
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Dorico is quietly working through your Western notation wishlist
Steinberg’s Dorico is slowly realizing a dream of notation that has spanned decades of scoring software. How could you combine engraving precision (think Leland Smith’s SCORE) with graphical ease-of-use? That might sound easy, but it’s been one of the toughest challenges in music software. Dorico 6.2 is a free update that shows how much progress they’re making — before we look to the horizon and Dorico 7.
Peter Kirn - March 10, 2026
Music tech Software Tech
Logic Pro 12’s new harmonic intelligence and Chord ID: hands-on
Logic Pro 12 is available now. Both iPad and Mac versions are included as part of Apple’s new $13/mo Creators Studio, but this is also still a free upgrade for all existing Logic owners, and one-off purchases remain available. So let’s talk about Logic’s banner feature, Chord ID, and the Synth Players and other features that can take advantage of it. They’re deeper than you might think.
10,000 Drum Machines is full of wild, weird, free Web music devices
Peter Kirn - September 22, 2025
Music tech Software Web
Arash Azadi, Universe in Prayer: Bohlen–Pierce “devotional electronics”
Peter Kirn - May 27, 2025
Music
Strange-R modules: navigate generative melodic contours
Peter Kirn - December 23, 2024
Modular-Analog Music tech Tech
