How Elizabeth Parker wove the score of 1984’s The Living Planet

Electronic scores can evoke the dramatic wonder of nature, as composer Elizabeth Parker demonstrated in her score for the 1984 BBC David Attenborough classic The Living Planet. Here’s a look behind the scenes, as Parker imagines that soundscape with everything from a PPG Wave to a ketchup bottle. If you need a little extra imaginative inspiration back to the Earth, you’ll love listening to her talk about how she works.

A little-known Nintendo DS piano peripheral meets homebrew sound

Switch 2, sure, but — have you plugged a tiny piano into a Nintendo DS and used some powerful homebrew software and custom scripts to make a handheld experimental music instrument?

Peter Kirn - July 31, 2025

The best of Universal Audio’s native plug-ins, in Spark or standalone

Universal Audio’s Spark subscription (native plug-ins) is on sale for 99 cents for 3 months for new customers through the end of the day Monday the 31st. That seems a good time to check in on the subscription offering, which is on my short list of subscriptions I’d consider. (If you prefer perpetual licenses, though, I’ve got some quick picks on their sale there, too.)

Peter Kirn - March 30, 2025

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