Over the years, I’ve given a lot of thought to my idea of the “perfect synthesizer.” Although some have come close, it has yet to come along. Let’s lay out my criteria for a perfect synth: 3 Digitally Controlled Analog Oscillators Each oscillator has Sine,… Read More »My Perfect Synthesizer
It appears that after 11 years, Korg have decided to discontinue the KRONOS line of music workstations, leaving the Nautilus as their new “top of the heap.”
For the first time in, well, a lot of years, I’ve about finished a new piece of music. I’ll say that again. I’ve almost finished a new piece of music. To say that I’m excited by that would be an understatement. For those who have… Read More »Prelude
Fran Blanche of Frantone posted this fascinating film by Bernard Wilets, which looks at early electronic music, to her YouTube channel, and I just had to share it. The film features several people who went on to make their names in electronic music, including Rory… Read More »Discovering Electronic Music
Arturia have announced another new update to the MicroFreak! Version 4 adds a new User Wavetable engine, enhances the sequencer, makes UI improvements, and more! MicroFreak really is the freak that keeps on freakin’!
Yesterday, YouTuber Free Beat issued a challenge to his viewers to think of their three favorite pieces of synth gear, then find and comment on videos made using these items on small YouTube channels, and then choose one to link from Free Beat’s challenge video.… Read More »Do People Actually Make Music Anymore?
Following a recent Discord discussion of Ring Modulation in sound synthesis, I put together a little video demonstration of the something called “ring modulation.” In synthesizers, this is a method of using one audio source to modify, or modulate, another. It’s also the basis of… Read More »Some [Over]simplified Science of Sound Synthesis – Ring Modulation
The Modal Electronics Skulpt Synth SE did arrive yesterday, but between the day gig and a 7Souls band rehearsal last night, I had just enough time to plug it in and make sure that it beeped and booped. I had a little play with it… Read More »Enter Skulpt
Back when I bought the Microfreak, I was also considering a virtual-analog synth from Modal Electronics called the Skulpt. At the time, the price was the same for both, and my sales rep suggested that I should put off buying the Skulpt, and get the… Read More »Crafty Little Synth
[Here,] in a bag of mixed nuts, are four reasons that I’ve let go of a nearly fifty-year-old dream to own a modular synthesizer.
This is post 8 of 14 in the series “Korgs I've Owned” On numerous occasions, I’ve alluded to having a love/hate relationship with Korg keyboards. With the exception of a few scant hours with a modular Moog in college, and some experimentation designing various circuitry… Read More »Necessity’s Child
This is post 7 of 14 in the series “Korgs I've Owned” On numerous occasions, I’ve alluded to having a love/hate relationship with Korg keyboards. With the exception of a few scant hours with a modular Moog in college, and some experimentation designing various circuitry… Read More »Kronos’ Public Debut
What’s really impressive is that Kronos family has been the top of Korg’s heap since 2011. Again, rightly so. There’s not really much it can’t do. It is quite literally, a complete music workstation and recording studio in a single box.
Updated selected videos from NAMM 2021 Believe In Music Week. There’s no particular order to most of these — just the order that I was able to find and view them. I’ll be adding as I go through the dozens and dozens of related videos,… Read More »NAMM Believe In Music Week — Selected Videos, Announcements, and Livestreams
With the Kross 2, Korg have made a fairly complete workstation for someone on a really tight budget. It relies on Korg’s EDS-i sound engine to produce over 1,000 sounds, and has an additional 128MB of PCM memory dedicated to pianos.