Category: author_name|Terrence O'Brien

Eventide Misha review: A playful sequencer that says to hell with tradition

Standalone sequencers are something of a luxury in the modern music-making landscape. These days, even the cheapest synths and samplers have at least rudimentary sequencing capabilities. And while many MIDI controllers have on-board sequencers, they’re usually meant to back up live performance rather than replace it. Of course, there are…

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Bastl Microgranny Monolith review: Vintage sampling grit in a portable package

I almost never leave the house without some device dedicated to exercising the creative part of my brain. Sometimes this is as simple as a camera or a field recorder. Other times I bring my Teenage Engineering PO-33 with me. It’s not that my phone and a few apps couldn’t…

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Roland’s 50th Anniversary Concept Piano has flying speakers for some reason

2022 marked the 50th anniversary of storied instrument maker Roland. But, even though we’ve switched over to our 2023 calendars, the company took the opportunity at CES to take one more victory lap by showing off its 50th Anniversary Concept Piano. It’s an audacious electronic piano built in collaboration with…

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CES 2023 Day 2 recap: Sony, Google and a Ram 1500 concept

Well CES is officially underway. The floor is open and hordes of PR reps, journalists and eager entrepreneurs are coursing through the arteries of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Of course even before the LVCC opened its doors today there’s been plenty of news coming out of CES 2023. Sony…

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Razzmatazz review: A delightful (and delightfully pink) drum machine

Earlier this year 1010music released the Lemondrop and Fireball, two surprisingly full-featured synths in unbelievably tiny packages. The company’s Nanobox lineup covers a lot of ground between those two instruments, but neither was particularly well suited to handling drums. So the company took the same core hardware, put a percussion-focused…

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Arturia’s Pigments 4 adds new effects and a simplified interface

At this point it’s easier to list the features that Arturia’s Pigments doesn’t have than ones it does. The company has been rolling out regular updates for a few years now, and each new version adds something worth getting excited about. New synth engines, new effects, whole new utility sections…

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