C25, from Nonlinear Labs and Stephan Schmitt, is all about performance

It’s not lost on me that the same week InMusic announced its acquisition of Native Instruments, NI’s original founder, Stephan Schmitt was busy showing off new ideas about what a digital instrument can be.

Bastl Instruments Kalimba, acoustic-digital hybrid, is already a megahit

The best of show at Superbooth 2026 is an easy pick. Bastl Kalimba, with its combination of acoustic and physical interaction with fluid digital synthesis and sensing, is a triumph of instrument design.

Peter Kirn - May 14, 2026

Make Noise and Tom Erbe have made a mighty morphing spatial Plexiphon

Soundhack creations endure years and decades, and now we get a new one. Think mighty morphing modeless modulation. Plexiphon is neither reverb or echo. It’s both, simultaneously, for spatial textural sounds you can shift fluidly. And in my quest to avoid being consumed by a sea of modules, this one just rose way up the list.

Peter Kirn - May 7, 2026

Buchla Ziggy: the complex oscillator gets a friendly standalone synth

Peter Kirn - May 5, 2026

Casio’s SXC-1 handheld sampler is packed with fun, coming to Japan

Peter Kirn - April 23, 2026

Zebra 3 is here, a sprawling semi-modular plug-in that runs deep

Peter Kirn - April 21, 2026

Bastl’s new Déjà vu is the 4HP module for when you need to fader stuff

Peter Kirn - April 10, 2026

Reason 14 beta: new Track Panel, reverb, Dark Mode, more

Peter Kirn - April 8, 2026

The developer of Tweakbench wants to remake the DAW without linear time

Peter Kirn - March 4, 2026