Play together with Ableton Live: how Circle of Live sets up for improvisation

“It’s okay to not have a plan — it’s okay to just jump and see what happens”: Circle of Live is an event that brings together artists for spontaneous improvised performance. Ableton filmed Clark, Rival Consoles, Sebastian Mullaert, and the organizers at a recent event. Here’s what we can learn from how they work (plus some more Circle of Live selections).

New, playful arpeggiator features for Sequential Take 5, Oberheim TEO-5

The 5-voice Sequential and Oberheim hybrid analog/digital synths each got an OS update last week, and their playful new arpeggiator features are a reminder of why we love both brands. Think ten new arp modes and a dizzying new feature called “whiplash,” plus other new firmware features.

Peter Kirn - November 10, 2025

The making of Sequential’s all-analog, polyphonic, expressive Fourm

Sequential’s new Fourm is a 4-voice polysynth with an all-analog signal path and polyphonic aftertouch and a price under a grand. To pull it off, Sequential designed an all-new expressive keybed and adapted their signature analog circuitry from the Prophet-5 (and Prophet-10). I spoke to Sequential about their instrument and the engineering that made it all happen.

Peter Kirn - September 23, 2025

Here are the best Labor Day Weekend deals right now, shipped in USA

Peter Kirn - August 30, 2025

These are the best summer deals on gear you can get right now

Peter Kirn - August 4, 2025

Oberheim TEO-5: Tom’s legacy, now on desktop, $1399

Peter Kirn - July 1, 2025

Sequential Take 5: Dave Smith’s legacy, now on desktop, $1299

Peter Kirn - July 1, 2025

Dub techno original Fluxion on atmospheres and narratives in Haze

David Abravanel - May 6, 2025

That time Jem and The Holograms went synthesizer shopping

Peter Kirn - January 30, 2025