New Online Magazine, Synth & Software, Builds On Legacy Of Keyboard, EM Magazines

Electronic music media veteran Geary Yelton let us know about his latest project, Synth And Software – a new online magazine described as ‘the most authoritative voice you’ll find on synthesizers, software instruments, soundware, effects, DAWs, and other gear you rely on every day.’

Yelton brings decades of experience as an editor and contributor to Electronic Musician, Keyboard, Mix and other magazines. Yelton has teamed up with former NewBay Media group publisher Joe Perry and Web publisher Venus Imaging Education to create Synth And Software – a free web-based monthly magazine, designed to inspire electronic music producers and performers.

Here’s what they have to say about the concept for the new online magazine:

SYNTH AND SOFTWARE is a lot like traditional magazines for musicians, but without any paper, printing, postal costs, or subscription fees.

Best of all, we don’t answer to corporate overlords.

Monthly features and reviews go live on the first of every month, with additional content posted frequently until the next issue. SYNTH AND SOFTWARE delivers engaging feature stories, artist interviews, manufacturer profiles, product reviews from experts you trust, and much more.

The contents of the inaugural issue include:

  • A virtual tour of the new Moogseum in Asheville, North Carolina, spotlighting an interview with the Bob Moog Foundation’s Michelle Moog-Koussa and details about the museum’s informative exhibits
  • Electronic instrument designer Roger Linn’s perspective on controllers that leverage MIDI Polyphonic Expression, including the ROLI Seaboard, LinnStrument, and Haken Continuum
  • Geary Yelton’s review of Arturia’s comprehensive bundle of classic synth emulations, V Collection 7
  • Former EM editor-in-chief Gino Robair’s monthly series, “This Month’s Module,” in which he reviews Eurorack and other modular synth gear
  • A tutorial section called “Synth Academy,” this month featuring Larry the O’s tips on making your synth patches as subtle as acoustic instruments
  • “Modular Connections,” featuring excerpts from Kim Bjørn and Chris Meyer’s comprehensive book on modular synthesis, Patch & Tweak

Expect to see the inaugural issue on August 1 at the Synth And Software site.

16 thoughts on “New Online Magazine, Synth & Software, Builds On Legacy Of Keyboard, EM Magazines

  1. I’d like to subscribe, but its an insulting throwback to use very blurry CAPTCHA robots against us to do it. That crap is as recidivist as JAVA. I’d love to have back the time I wasted clicking on this stone-aged utility in the past. C’mon! No sale, so to speak.

    1. You’re deciding not to sign up because you didn’t want to click a box? Would it be so bad to fill out a real captcha if there was one? I guess you don’t want to read their magazine. That’s okay.

  2. Shouldn’t a “real” captcha series *not* be Vaseline-lens blurry? Is that a bus or a caterpillar on a windshield? No way to be sure at that res, leading to a roulette wheel of clicking and resets. WAVEFORM is a quality, free online synth magazine and I actually click on the ads out of appreciation. (Especially recommended for modular players.) Of course free is enough and this looks wholly worthwhile. I just wondered why I was offered a nice cheeseburger and then told “but you have to eat this moth first.” Honestly, I’d pay to get this minus the >captcha<! 😀

      1. We think there’s room for lots of approaches to covering synths and the world of electronic music. There’s especially a need for in-depth original content, and Geary Yelton brings decades of experience to this. We hope that Geary, and Synth and Software, can help fill that gap.

  3. I welcome more music/synth magazines!! I also think “synth and software” is cool since it recognizes the transformative effects of soft synths, music apps, DAWs, sequencers, score editors, and other great music-making software. We are really spoiled these days with amazing tech like DAWs that can output CV to a modular rig, hardware synths sporting FPGAs so you can add new oscillator types, etc..

    And I don’t think it will damage Synthtopia at all; given the popularity of electronic music, the explosion of awesome synth hardware (and software), and with the many ways that musicians all over the world can interact via the internet, there is almost certainly room for growth in this space.

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