Compose Any Song With Twelve Buttons

Limitations placed on any creative process often paradoxically create an environment in which creativity flourishes. A simple overview of modern pop, rock, or country music illustrates this principle quite readily. …read more Continue reading Compose Any Song With Twelve Buttons

A More Expressive Synth via Flexure

A man sits in front of a wooden table. There is a black box with a number of knobs hand-labeled on blue painter's tape. A white breadboard with a number of wires protruding from it is visible on the box's left side. An oscilliscope is behind the black box and has a yellow waveform displaying on its screen.

Synthesizers can make some great music, but sometimes they feel a bit robotic in comparison to their analog counterparts. [Sound Werkshop] built a “minimum viable” expressive synth to overcome this …read more Continue reading A More Expressive Synth via Flexure

Roland makes flagship sound engine portable with FP-E50 digital piano

Roland has announced the launch of the FP-E50, a portable piano and creativity workstation that’s designed as an easy intro for beginners while including enough advanced features to keep the pros happy, including Roland’s flagship synthesis engine.Cont… Continue reading Roland makes flagship sound engine portable with FP-E50 digital piano

Backpack-friendly synthesizer takes music creation portable

Synth wizards Critter & Guitari have launched a successor to the company’s first product – the Pocket Piano – in the shape of a portable music box called the 201, which sports six sound engines, a built-in speaker and a bunch of funky wooden keys.Conti… Continue reading Backpack-friendly synthesizer takes music creation portable

Teenage Engineering gets choral with ensemble of singing wooden dolls

The first project from Sweden’s Teenage Engineering was an art installation in 2007 comprising 22 wooden dolls that formed a singing ensemble. The absolut choir has now inspired the creation of a smaller collection that can voice a bunch of classic son… Continue reading Teenage Engineering gets choral with ensemble of singing wooden dolls

MIDI controller lights up music expression with the wave of a hand

Canada’s this.is.Noise – the folks behind the Kickstarter-funded Noise Machine from 2020 – has launched an interesting MIDI controller on Indiegogo called the MIDI Blaster, which brings a new level of gesture control to music creation while also adding… Continue reading MIDI controller lights up music expression with the wave of a hand