A recent Gizmodo article looked at some entries in the “Museum of Failure” including the Juicero, We-Vibe 4, Lawn Darts and Google Glass. Perhaps more surprisingly was the inclusion of the Roland TB-303. They write that “musicians quickly hated the gadget, mainly because it sounds nothing like a bass guitar. Despite this, […]
What is a hammer action keyboard? A hammer action keyboard is a type of keyboard found on certain types of electronic musical instruments, such as digital pianos and synthesizers. It is designed to replicate the feel and touch of a traditional acoustic piano keyboard. The term “hammer action” refers to […]
Anyone with an interest in mathematics as well as music may take look at the two time signatures — 3/4 and 6/8 — and initially think they are equivalent. After all, 3/4 is the simplified fraction of 6/8, right? Well, yes, partly, but in music these are not simple fractions. […]
We’ve already discussed different types of keyboard, so here we take a closer look at what exactly is meant by “semi-weighted” keys on a digital piano or other keyboard instrument, and whether they are a good fit for the kind of musician you are and the styles of music you’d […]
AJHSynth has launched the MiniMod Keyz synth as a modular mono synth featuring much acclaimed MiniMod modules, recreating the vintage circuitry and sound of the early Moog Model D in a Eurorack modular format. It can be used as a standalone keyboard synth or expanded further by patching it to […]
Plenty of musicians want to capture real-world and ‘in the field’ audio for creating atmospheric sonic backgrounds, samples, soundbites, vocals and the like, but I’d wager that not many would want to spend as much as Teenage Engineering will be asking for their latest high end piece of kit. One […]
Arturia has announced the imminent availability of a limited edition of its MicroFreak experimental synth: the MicroFreak Stellar. “Discover a synth that looks as weird and wonderful as it sounds with a slick all-black exterior, decorated with detailed space-age graphics reflecting its controls,” is the opening gambit from Arturia, and […]
Google announced its MusicLM artificial intelligence music generator back in January and now it is beginning to open it up to a select number of the public for additional testing, rating and to help it learn more quickly. We didn’t pay much attention to it in the post-Christmas malaise, but […]
British synth company UDO has been showing off its latest binaural synth, the Super Gemini, at this year’s Superbooth exhibition. It features a 61-key semi-weighted keyboard, a unique ribbon controller, 20 nice, dual layer, binaural synth technology and polyphonic aftertouch. This is an analog/digital hybrid instrument, which means that digital […]
Roland has announced an addition to its AIRA Compact line of pocket-sized instruments with the S-1 Tweak Synth micro polysynth, inspired by the SH-101 from the ’80s. It features Roland’s latest generation of Analog Circuit Behaviour (ACB) technology to deliver the authentic tone and response of the SH-101, and extends […]
They’re at it again, you can at least admire their persistence… love them or hate them, Behringer is back with a new Eurorack module which claims to authentically reproduce the classic Solina String Ensemble analog synth. The Solina is a classic string ensemble synthesizer that was first introduced by the […]
Yes, we mentioned the guitar word, and no doubt we’ll be inundated with more requests to write about that particular instrument (private joke, sorry), but the Behringer Perfect Pitch PP1, in bright red, offers more than that. Accepting any audio signal you can throw at it, meaning you can route […]
Behringer has announced its ABACUS Analog Music Computer for Eurorack, modelling it on the Buchla 257 and 281 analog synths, and featuring am array of linear, logarithmic and exponential triggered or continuous functions. It offers a range of creative possibilities for manipulating control voltages and generating modulations. It can generate […]
As if we needed another reminder as to how powerful Apple’s iPad has become, even outclassing some lower end laptop and desktop machines, Apple has announced that Logic Pro for iPad will be launching this month. Mac musicians and producers with Logic Pro have had access to arguably the best […]
KORG is celebrating 20 years of the classic microKORG with the launch of the special edition microKORG Crystal. As the name suggests, this reincarnation of the classic microKORG features a ‘skeleton’ type semi-translucent chassis with matching knobs and controls, meaning you can see right into and through the instrument to […]
Korg has announced that a very limited re-issue of the ARP 2600 Full Size synthesiser will be available in the US only via the Reverb Direct shop. The ARP 2600 FS is a replica of the 1970s original and saw overwhelming demand when it was relaunched in 2020, selling out […]
A collection of music performances discovered in May 2023. Christos Kalkanis — White Song A haunting yet relaxing piece of synthesised music featuring human-generated percussive effects, piano, textured synths and more. I will definitely be checking out more of Christos’s work, and if it’s as good as this, it’s a […]
Thirty-five years ago Akai launched the first MPC (Music Production Center), and now after a run of incredible, game-changing devices, the company is celebrating its triple-and-a-half-decade with the launch of the MPC X Special Edition (SE). More than just a snazzy update to celebrate a milestone, this is Akai’s most […]
Reason Studios has announced that its long-standing Reason DAW, now up to version 12.6, is finally able to support Apple’s M1 and M2 Silicon processors natively, rather than running in emulation mode. This is purported to offer a 50% performance boost and improve reliability on Apple’s latest generation of machines. […]
The council in the Japanese city of Kakogawa has removed a street piano located in a busy railway station after just six months due to ‘rule breaking’ by members of the public. There has been a global rise in the number of locations accommodating publicly playable pianos, and with it […]
