Keith McMillen On The QuNexus And Why New Music Needs New Instruments

Keith McMillen has been exploring new ideas for electronic music instruments for nearly 35 years, starting in 1979 with his company Zeta Music and more recently with Keith McMillen Instruments. His most recent creations are the QuNeo and the just-released QuNexus controllers. Synthtopia’s Elisabeth Lewin talked with McMillen about development of the QuNeo and QuNexus controllers… Read More Keith McMillen On The QuNexus And Why New Music Needs New Instruments

Dave Smith Instruments Tempest Gets OS Update

Dave Smith Instruments has released a new OS for the Tempest analog drum machine. Here’s what’s new in Tempest OS 1.3: New Features: Playlist playback and live recording added MIDI remote pad play and sound/beat/mutes triggers added Undo/Revert sound function added Huge change in sequencer code, improving latency and many timing related features Polyphonic pad… Read More Dave Smith Instruments Tempest Gets OS Update

Are Musicians Getting Too Cheap To Pay For Great Synths?

Composer and sound designer Edmund Eagan has posted an article today at Sonic State, lamenting that electronic instruments are getting cheaper and cheaper, rather than better and better, and that instruments are becoming distractions rather than inspirations. First Eagen discusses how inspiring he found the Schmidt eight-voice polyphonic synth: I attended the recent MusikMesse trade show… and….I… Read More Are Musicians Getting Too Cheap To Pay For Great Synths?

Free Integra-7 Plugin For Mac Integrates With Your DAW

Roland has released a free Integra-7 Editor for Mac. The Roland Integra-7 is the company’s flagship sound module, offering 6,000+ presets, 16 parts and Roland’s latest synthesis technologies. The new Editor provides visual control of the INTEGRA-7 parameters. A VST instrument (VSTi) version and an Audio Units (AU) version are both available, integrating the INTEGRA-7… Read More Free Integra-7 Plugin For Mac Integrates With Your DAW

Step Sequencer For iPad Updated With Direction Control

Developer Matthias Schorer has updated Step Sequencer for iPad, adding the most frequently requested feature – direction control. Step Sequencer 1.2 now lets you select between up, up-down, up single shot and up-down single shot. Step Sequencer is inspired by old-school modular sequencers and can be used to control any background MIDI enabled App on the… Read More Step Sequencer For iPad Updated With Direction Control