A couple years ago, we set out to build a synth. We spent a ton of time focusing on automation, a good high resolution spectrum display, proper portamento, waveform warping, preset sharing, and a bunch of other features that we thought important. What we didn’t focus on? Proper anti-aliasing. The result was a synth that… Read More

Ever get a new DAW you really .. really … liked, only to realize that you can’t get to some of your favorite plugins because it won’t host them? We’re talking to you … Logic Pro (loads AudioUnits but not VSTs) ProTools (loads only it’s own format – AAX) Bitwig (loads VST but not AU)… Read More

The recently released Launchpad Pro has generated a lot of buzz lately. With full RGB-color, velocity-sensitive pads, built-in MIDI support, and Push-like controls for Ableton, it opens up some interesting new possibilities. And at $299 to the Pushs’ $565, its price point might introduce new people to this category of devices. What’s really got us… Read More

The Ring Mod is the dirty little secret of synth enthusiasts and dark hip-hop and dub producers everywhere, but it is little understood, and often overlooked. The Ring Mod has been used in the design on many, many synthesizers, particularly the early modular synths (Moogs, Oberheims, etc). Notably, it was also used as the voice… Read More

The Cloud Browser Plugin allows you to open a portal to SoundCloud.com and Freesound.org from within your DAW or production environment. From long mixes to speeches, samples to beats, hits and stabs, or loops; you can find whatever audio you need with a few quick searches. You can download just as easily – simply drag-n-drop… Read More

A couple weekends ago I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at SF Music Hackday, and SF MusicTech Conference. One company featured heavily in new music technology is EchoNest – a company devoted to a music metadata API for developers. Echonest is one of the frontrunners in this new industry. You can use APIs… Read More