Intellijel has shown off its latest synth, the Cascadia, which is an “advanced, performance-oriented semi-modular” instrument with a nice big price tag ($2,149) but dripping with loveliness. Highlights of this ‘modern analog architecture’ unit include: Two Precision Analog VCOs Six Channel Waveform Mixer Liquid-Sounding, Cascaded 4-Pole Multimode Filter Wavefolder Circuit […]
Synth, Electronic & Audio
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ERAE Touch has shown off its newest, fully MIDI 2.0 compatible, highly configurable controller surface. It combines a powerful LED panel, silicone touch surface, polyphonic control, highly customisable drag-and-drop elements, 1000 high quality force sensitive resistors for intricate, subtle, nuanced control, a blazing 1ms response time thanks to five onboard […]
Expressive E used NAMM to show off its incredible Osmose “standalone expressive synthesiser”, which boasts a whole range of controls built right into the keys and keyed itself, for the shaping and manipulation of sounds. Most keyboards don’t offer a lot of expressive possibilities by themselves, even if fitted with […]
Along with the newly announced MyTracks, Blipblox used NAMM to show off the second incarnation of its synth aimed at “up and coming musicians” (kids, basically). Unsurprisingly, the look and feel is very ‘toy-ish’ but don’t be fooled that this translates into a meaningless or substandard product. What we have […]
Behringer is one of the bigger names not to be attending this year’s NAMM but it hasn’t stopped them from launching new products, including the latest additions to their popular XENYX line of analog/USB audio mixers. The XENYX 502S and 802S are five and eight input mixers respectively, and come […]
Sound Particles is wowing NAMM delegates with “the first spatial synthesiser plugin in the world”, SkyDust 3D, offering instant 3D sound simply by playing notes. “Fantastic for stereo and exceptional in 3D” it’s definitely grabbing the increasing demand for immersive and three dimensional soundscapes in music production, cinematography and the […]
One of the quirkier instruments to hit NAMM — along with the TERRA and the Blipbox MyTRACKS — is the current Indiegogo sponsor-seeking InstaChord. At first glance it looks a bit like a cross between a video game music controller, enlarged calculator and a keytar (but, hmm, without the keys) […]
BlackBT has shaken up NAMM and the ’50 years of stagnation’ in the controller pedal market, with the demonstration and launch of its SusEx wireless pedal, suggesting it is no longer an “accessory of afterthought” but “a critical part of your musical creative workflow”. Claiming it to be the world’s […]
SOMA Laboratories has shown off its latest, and as yet unfinished, synth concept: TERRA. This “highly conceptual device” has the “core idea… unity of nature and technology, a perfect balance between simplicity and versatility”. The curvy wooden shell of this prototype unit points to the ethos of a certain uniqueness […]
Blipblox has teased NAMM attendees with a cool new music making ‘toy’ aimed at kids, which will land sometime in 2024. The Blipblox MyTRACKS may look a bit clunky — an interesting hybrid of toddler toy, small spacecraft control panel and controls from a ’90s home computer driving game controller […]
Polyend has used NAMM to showcase the next generation of its Tracker hardware: the Tracker Mini. This portable audio workstation offers eight tracks for stereo audio and MIDI sequencing, audio-over-USB, built-in battery and microphone, gamepad quality buttons, and lots of sampling and sound design tools. The user interface has been […]
Very few electronic instruments are as iconic as the Hammond B-3, and its influence and sound can be felt and heard across many genres and styles of music. Once you hear it, you never forget it, and many musicians (who haven’t been lucky enough to play let alone own one) […]
Today we are blessed with a plethora of software, apps and keyboards with built-in music theory/practice features, but back in the 1980s that wasn’t the case. Yamaha built a range of mini ‘toy’ keyboards, primarily aimed at children but usable by any budding musicians, called the HandySound Yamaha decided to […]
Mention Amstrad to anyone of a certain age in the United Kingdom and they will almost certainly recall the cheeky cockney rags-to-riches (Sir) Alan Sugar and the business empire he built from packaging up cheap electronic components into crappy hi-fis or reasonable-but-strange home computers and word processors. What most people […]
In this article we take a look and compare the features and specifications of the thirteen models of Korg’s Pa*X line of synthesisers. There are thirteen models comprising eight distinct models with various key count variations on some. The Pa1X was launched in 2003 so we are now looking at […]
Our PSR-S/PSR-SX Series Comparison article has proved extremely popular, so with the evolution and advance of Yamaha’s PSR-E and PSR-EW series keyboards, with two new upgraded models launching in Spring 2022, we have done the same with Yamaha’s current eleven models of this series. Models released prior to the PSR-E263 […]
Part of our 101 Colourful, Cool, Weird, Novelty, Vintage Toy Instruments gallery is this bright green mini-keys keyboard from Russia. Seemingly manufactured in at least the 1980s and possible 1990s, the label says “?????” which is a diminutive term for “little boy” or “child”. Before seeing this translation I thought […]
Novation has announced the latest incarnation of its SL series, with the SL MkIII hardware controller, designed to offer deep integration with Ableton Live. Boasting MIDI and CV, this controller features an 8-track polyphonic sequencer, and is designed to be equally at home controlling computer-based DAWs as well as a […]
Keytars have been around since the 1970s, with their popularity in pop music culture peaking in the 1980s. Synth keyboards with a neck and strap, they’re designed to be worn and played like guitars by keyboard players. Perhaps mocked, they remain interesting and popular instruments, which is likely why Roland […]
Yamaha has announced the successor to its MOXF6 and MOXF8 synths, with the introduction of three flagship MODX models. Available as 61 and 76 semi-weighted key models and an 88-key graded and weighted keyboard, these lightweight instruments are designed to appeal to a wide range of musicians, from dedicated synth […]
