Dark Days
Dark Days is the result of a seemingly simple community challenge from Free Beat — use a provided sample and create a song. Beyond that, there were no real rules or limitations imposed.
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Suzanne Ciani — Electronic Musician, Composer, Sound Designer
I find it interesting that, while her instruments are newer and she has embraced a workflow that incorporates both Buchla modular synths and computer and iPad apps, her core approach to creation remains as it was nearly 50 years ago.
A Little Synth History – Tom Oberheim
This is post 1 of 14 in the series “Synth Pioneers” This series highlights pioneers in electronic music. It is not intended to be a deep dive, but rather a jumping off point for further exploration. I welcome your comments and insights on any of… Read More »A Little Synth History – Tom Oberheim
Discovering Electronic Music
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 Gives More Freakiness!
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’!
Some [Over]simplified Science of Sound Synthesis – Ring Modulation
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
Korgs I’ve Owned Part 6 — Kronos 2
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.
NAMM Believe In Music Week — Selected Videos, Announcements, and Livestreams
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
Korgs I’ve Owned Part 5 — Kross 2
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.
Birthday “Gifts” from NAMM 2021
Korg There was some interesting after chatter and a few reactions on the net to Korg’s modwave announcement yesterday, one of which was that some folks don’t want 37-key keyboards. They want a full 61-key keybed for things like the modwave, the wavestate, and the… Read More »Birthday “Gifts” from NAMM 2021
Korg Winter NAMM 2021 Announcements … So Far …
I thought I’d take a moment, for those who may have missed these live streams, and share some of what Korg announced over the past day or two. These streams from earlier today have been publicly posted to YouTube, so I’m not exactly giving away… Read More »Korg Winter NAMM 2021 Announcements … So Far …
Korgs I’ve Owned Part 4 — PS60
Of all the keyboards I’ve owned, Korg or otherwise, the PS60 is probably the most uniquely performance-oriented keyboard I’ve ever owned.
MUSIC NEWSFLASHES
A couple of really exciting (to me, anyway) items in the synth world this week! Uno! Well, IK, really, have announced two new versions of their Uno Synth, called the Uno Synth Pro and the Uno Synth Pro Desktop. I thought the original model was… Read More »MUSIC NEWSFLASHES
Korgs I’ve Owned Part 3 — X50
Anyway, I’d promised myself that I’d never own another Korg after the disappointment of the X2, and it was with some trepidation that I considered the X50. But, my friend Steve Rosch of the band The Janglebachs had one, and he loved it.
Korgs I’ve Owned Part 2 — X2
The X2 was the big brother to the X3, and in addition to another 15 keys, it had an expanded sample ROM featuring a nicely multi-sampled grand piano, and it also had two independent audio outputs in addition to the standard left and right main outputs. Many of the sounds were derived from Korg’s T3 and O1/W synths.