Hi!
I'm a big fan of the concept of freeze/infinite sustain pedals. They can create long tails for "unsustainable" instruments with a quick natural decay - like pianos or guitars, and add polyphonic pads to monophonic or limited polyphony in...
2019-12-10 15:25:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
It has up to 256 voice polyphony; it has virtual analog and PCM/sample-based oscillators; it's multi-timbral; it's portable; but is it usable?
That's the biggest question I address in this review of Roland's Jupiter-Xm 2019-12-05 14:33:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Previous editions of my book have included buyers guides for expressive controllers/instruments and grooveboxes/samplers/sequencers.
I've mentioned before that I think synths shouldn't be bought with a checklist. W...
2019-11-30 19:20:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi there!
I see a lot of questions on-line regarding how Poly D's polyphony/paraphony works: I spend quite some time exploring it in this video, as well as every other aspect I could dig in to...
As usual I'm happy to ...
2019-11-25 18:07:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Well, this one was fun to make... Moog One: here's a full review and tutorial including every noteworthy feature I could find. Is it worth the price and room you need to clear up for it?
Spoiler, it's not flawless,...
2019-11-20 11:43:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
Well, this one almost needs no introduction... Behringer just announced the TD-3 - their clone (with improvements) of Roland's TB-303, and they sent one over a unit for review. As per usual: Behringer...
2019-11-08 17:41:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Yet another classic analog remake from Behringer is shipping - this time, the Pro-1, and yet they added a few interesting twists to this with a duophonic mode and a few additional patch outputs which give it quite a bit ...
2019-10-31 21:31:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Here it is, the new and improved, and yet still In-Complete Book of Electronic Music Ideas Tips and Tricks - October 2019 edition!
Aside from the new stuff, dozens of typos have been hunted down and taken out, thanks to Patron
Hi!
I'm not at all against digital synths, but I just love the raw malleability of analog. If I tried what I did here on a digital synth it would probably just die... or just reply with a puzzled look.
Let's back up a ...
2019-10-28 16:06:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Pittsburgh Modular has gone "West Coast" with Voltage Research Lab - an homage to Buchla synths with complex oscillators, wave folders, low pass gates, function generators, touch plates, 5 step sequencers and more.
Hi!
One of the more interesting things to me about Eurorack is "unconventional" sequencers - sequencers not designed around a 16-step grid.
With four independent tracks (meaning, each track can run at an entirely different tempo, or at...
2019-10-20 14:08:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Novation just announced new versions of their "regular" mid-range Launchpad (now called LaunchPad X) and the new LaunchPad Mini MK3. They sent over review units of both a few weeks ago, so it looks...
2019-10-15 16:24:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
This video came out quite long.... so don't say I didn't warn you!
Even though DeepMind has been out for a while, after a little play with it in a store I was quite intrigued and decided to give it a closer l...
2019-10-08 09:47:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Dear Waveshapers!
Here it is - the September Update to my ever growing book of Electronic Music Ideas Tips and Tricks.
There are a lot of new Waveshapers this month, so I wanted to give a brief reminder of why yo...
2019-09-30 15:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
The question I got asked most frequently following my MC-707 review was - "how does it compare to the MC-101?"
The short answer is - quite well! Despite being about 1/4 of the size, it has the same synth engine, same 4000+ built-in...
2019-09-26 19:14:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Polyend's new modules are now available and they've sent them over for review. The most interesting one is Preset - built around the idea of enabling presets for eurorack modules, but it also functions as a custom LFO, p...
2019-09-22 15:31:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Novation just announced the MK3 version of its Launchkey Mini, and, aside from new features for controlling Ableton Live (many improvements but at points a slower workflow), it also has a built-in ge...
2019-09-17 15:31:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Synthstrom just released Deluge firmware version 3.0, with so many material changes to what Deluge can do that this little groovebox is transformed once again.
I don't think I've ever seen electronic music ha...
2019-09-15 12:14:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
The question I got asked most frequently after my Matriarch review was - what are the differences between Matriarch and Grandmother? I wanted to wait until Matriarchs are actually delivered to customers before I answered...
2019-09-10 18:43:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Roland just released the JU-06A, an update to the '06 which now includes a JUNO-60 model, in addition to the 106.
That's as good an excuse as any in my book to borrow a JUNO-60!
Here's a detailed review and s...
2019-09-05 07:40:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Good morning!
Here's #2 of 4 for this week...
Nutekt is Korg's "simple DIY" brand, and the NTS-1 is a Prologue /Minilogue XD digital voice and effects engine in a little $100 box.
It takes under 30 minutes to bui...
2019-09-04 05:40:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
Several weeks ago a few companies asked if I was interested in reviewing products they were going to release, and I said "yes" to instruments I thought were compelling.
Over time they updated me with their release dates...
2019-09-03 16:23:54 +0000 UTC View PostHello Waveshapers!
Here it is - short and sweet - the August book update:
Hi!
Here it is! Part 3 (or 2 depending on what you count generative...) of my series on generative music making. My first video was about phased loops, inspire...
2019-08-29 12:20:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
This video is a little different from what you might be used to...
It was such a blast being at Native Instruments' event celebrating 10 years of Maschine, but the real treat was meeting the other creators invited and the people be...
2019-08-25 15:56:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
When I first heard of Mimeophon I thought it was just a stereo delay and reverb, but after I got to know it, that's far from what makes it special. Mimeophon has two super interesting features - one quite rare and another the likes of wh...
2019-08-18 13:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
ZOIA by Empress effects is in for review this week. Since you're a supporter on Patreon, it's pretty safe to assume modular patching isn't a total stranger to you.
ZOIA is quite small, and my gut reaction to first ...
2019-08-04 15:13:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
I'll start this month's update with a rant I just added to the book: jargon may be a necessary evil of any domain of expertise, and sound design has its fair share of those, but the use of Sample and Hold probably ...
2019-07-31 19:37:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
The Organelle is "just a shell": based on an open source operating system and patching language (Pure Data, as well as C and Supercollider) it can be practically anything. Most electronic music instruments have linux var...
2019-07-28 15:13:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
About a month ago Moog asked if I wanted to check out a Matriarch prototype – so as a service to the public, I said yes...
By the way, as usual, I never do paid reviews and often (as was ...
2019-07-21 18:08:55 +0000 UTC View Post