Akai’s MPC Sample is compact, $399 — let’s compare it to an original MPC60!

It’s real, it’s adorable, it’s an MPC you can hold in your hand, and it costs just $399. Tiny desks now accommodate whole studios. But now that Akai has shared the full specs for MPC Sample — why not compare it to the original 1988 MPC60, spec-for-spec?

1010music shares live setup ideas for Bento

We’re in an unexpected golden age for compact sample, synthesis, granular, and sequence gadgets. So let’s give some extra love to 1010music’s awesome Bento — which, because it doubles as a mixer and recorder, goes well with any other bits of gear you may have collected. 1010music has this excellent video showing how you might […]

Peter Kirn - March 19, 2026

Lorenzo Colombo in live session, framed by speaker stacks, equipment from Torso and Soma on the table and metal percussive plates suspended behind him and on tables, as he strikes one plate with a hammer.

Dream with this: solenoids, percussion, and circuits in live Torso session

Here’s a perfect way to treat your ears at the start of the week. Sound artist and percussionist Lorenzo Colombo recorded this ethereal, cosmic live set at Torso Electronics in Copenhagen. The dadamachines automat toolkit and its mechanical possibilities get woven together with Torso’s T1 and S4 hardware, and the results are pure magic.

Peter Kirn - February 9, 2026