OctoCell is a new Max for Live synth co-developed by Michel Geiss, studio technician for synth legend Jean-Michel Jarre. On paper, it resembles Ableton’s own Operator synth with a combination of Additive, FM and subtractive synthesis, but after spending a few minutes with OctoCell it
Kurzweil have come to the table this NAMM 2021 season, with the new K2700, featuring 88 fully weighted hammer-action keys, revamped sound engine and a myriad of control surfaces including 16 pads, a ribbon controller, programmable sliders and knobs, this is a fully fledged workstation.
With the announcement of the Korg’s opsix FM synthesiser came the inevitable question from synth nuts all over the internet, how does it stack up against the Elektron Digitone? The Digitone is arguably the most successful FM synth of recent times, so it’s a very
FM synthesis is a wildly powerful method of synthesising sounds with a different approach to the more common subtractive synthesis found in analogue and analogue-style synthesisers. It is inherently more complex and less predictable, but rewarding to learn. Many of the timbres achievable with FM
Roland’s popular TR-8S drum machine has just received quite a significant update, V2.0 adds a simplified FM synth under the hood that enables users to synthesize drum, percussion and melodic sounds rather than use samples or the inbuilt classic TR-style sounds. Obviously the TR-8S doesn’t
Nord have been quiet on the synthesiser front of late, their last synth, the Lead A1, appeared in 2014. But the Swedish manufacturer has never been one to rush new products out unnecessarily and the quality of their products makes failure or obsolescence unlikely. However,
4ms Company have just released info on their new latest eurorack module, dubbed the Ensemble Oscillator or ENOSC – a collaboration with Matthias Puech, with whom they’ve worked with previously on the Tapographic Delay module. The ENOSC is a digital module consisting of 16-sine based
Korg’s Volca line of little musical boxes have been tremendously popular for a variety of reasons. On one level they appeal to beginners and hobbyists by offering great sounding products at an entry level price point, but they’re also capable and downright interesting enough to
If titles like Altered Beast, Alex Kidd, Streets of Rage and Golden Axe smack you right in the nostalgia gland and make you say silly things like ‘those were simpler times,’ or ‘they don’t make games like they used to,’ then maybe Inphonik’s new RYM
The Synclavier, produced by New England Digital in various incarnations from the ’70s through to the early ’90s, was a synthesiser with incredibly vast ambitions. Alongside the Aussie designed CMI Fairlight Sampler, it channeled developments in the earliest computers into digital sound design. Initially starting
