Category: author_name|Terrence O'Brien
Cricut’s Explore 3 is the perfect cutting machine for obsessive crafters
I was definitely a little out of my element when I took on this review. I’m not really an arts and crafts kind of guy. Sure, I’ll do the occasional project with my four-year-old. I also like to make things (beer, music, small electronics) and generally have a pretty strong…
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I wish anyone other than Kanye had made the Stem Player
I want to get one thing out of the way at the top. I wish that anyone — anyone — other than Kanye West had released the Stem Player. At this point he’s more than 10 years past the creative zenith of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and five years…
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Roland SP-404MKII hands-on: Dragging an iconic sampler into the modern age
The Boss and Roland line of SP samplers (specifically the SP-303 and SP-404) are some of the most important instruments in hip hop history. Right up there with the MPC and the Technics SL-1200. They’ve been used by the likes of MF Doom, Madlib and J Dilla, and are a…
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Dubler 2 can turn any microphone into a MIDI controller
I’ve admitted before that I am a sucker for strange, and often gimmicky, musical devices. A giant touchpad with swappable silicone playing surfaces? Sign me up. A bisected grapefruit that you tilt and smack? I’ll take two. So, an app that lets you play a synthesizer simply by humming a…
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Uno Synth Pro review: IK Multimedia shows it’s serious about hardware
The original Uno Synth was IK Multimedia’s surprise entry into the world of budget-minded hardware instruments. It wasn’t just a surprise that the company, best known for its iPhone-friendly MIDI controllers and plug-ins, decided to make a synthesizer, but that it also went full analog — an area where it…
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Pērkons is Erica Synths’ thunderous new drum machine
Erica Synths is no stranger to large, niche instruments. Just look at the SYNTRX — it's one of the most amazing and also impractical synths I've ever played. And the company's latest, Pērkons, continues that tradition. It chassis actually appears to be very similar to the SYNTRX, a metal rectangle…
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