As usual, Absynth is deep once you dig in. So here's a detailed explanation of how LFO phase and retriggering works in 6.1 (including a v1 feature come back to life!), what auto trigger is, and how the audio modulator works.

What if DJing could get back to its roots -- like, turntables -- with something that wasn't expensive and proprietary? And you could still show up with just a USB stick:

The entire problem with the current tech scene can be summed up by the question from the interviewer at 5'16", asking Jobs, hey, why did you model the iMac after the computers in the Jetsons and not 2001: A Space Odyssey?? Uh...

This is nicely recession-proof: eight UA plug-ins you can use anywhere, now on top of their free DAW, which is really worth a look if it hasn't been on your radar. Here's a breakdown of what's in there.

Liquid and hypnotic, @sinevibes.bsky.social Duality is a different breed of vibrato. More: cdm.link/sinevibes-du... Some @manifestaudio.bsky.social + minimal + AAS action going here...

Evidence continues to mount. It's tough, too, as a lot of us have forgotten even which of our music is there -- a track on a compilation, that label used a DSP, etc. etc. So part of this is going to wind up being building up that value and independence, not only boycotts. Fighting a firehose.

It's impressive the workflow stuff they've crammed in here -- now with normalization, SD card access, per-pad lock loop position, knob takeover modes, and more. Here's the rundown, plus one of the better video reviews:

"Preserving inner balance and humanity becomes an important task." Kaximia reports from this weekend's Synth Days events in Kyiv -- and reflects on how these community events help during war.

Gonna share the story tomorrow but -- just get ready for Ukrainian alphabet boot camp with puppets!

Nope, still don't understand genAI, when you can just like boot up Reason and just... lose an hour, make a song even when you're completely fried and uninspired. And now that Track Panel can remove a lot of the cognitive friction. It's just stupidly easy to add Players and get something lovely.

Now here's some great inspiration for your weekend.

I really appreciate the clever design here. Via a set of switches and extra jacks, this little module can do more than you think. Also, cats. Smart stuff from our friends in Brno:

There are fresh nightmares from the past 24 hours. But that should not be a sign to stop giving -- least of all when music efforts were translating into real results on the ground. So I'm putting out this call again. What we need is more international support, including media.

Okay, some *good* news from Sweden. Reason 14 scratches some items off the wish list, at last -- plus adds an intriguing new reverb. More on this one in detail soon.

And this happened.

Today if you're in Berlin, stop by Riwaq (Schlesisches Tor) for an intimate screening and discussion of Buffer Zone by Farrah Berrou, virtually hosted with the artist and filmmaker. Internationally, we're working to support Egna Legna Besidet እኛለኛ, migrant-led relief in Lebanon.

Anyone who publishes a feature with that same stupid robot art, I want you to stare long at this poster, reduced to tears, questioning every decision you've made in life. This is absolutely beautiful.

Objeq Delay 2 hands-on: AAS acoustic resonator modeling in a multi-effect, with model type morphing and a gorgeous expanded stereo delay. This is just all kinds of wonderful... if you've caught Ableton's Corpus, imagine expanded versions of that in any host. cdm.link/aas-objeq-de...

Crispy claps on demand, human and machine, so you never have to go hunting for a clap. Plus a bunch of Device Racks and samples in the package, too. Hands-on review:

Haven't seen this yet, but now is obviously the week. And it's good that the family was involved, as well.

Here's my Easter Egg for today... Echo in Incline is brilliant. Details: cdm.link/nel-incline-...

Okay, this is nuts. I'm running TurboSynth on an emulated PPC inside Mac OS 9.2.2 on Tahoe on an M1 Max?! All with UTM/qemu. And, honestly, TurboSynth is ... kind of still great. (Yes, yes, for aesthetics I need to make a separate all B&W instance of UTM, but this works!)

This was just the break from doomscrolling I needed. Tons of heartwarming #404day videos from our friends in Japan (here in the West, of course, the day's not over...) All that and a detailed breakdown of 5.50 and side chain compression on the SP-404MKII.

Huh, I'm a bit curious why CDM's traffic today is about 15x normal. :D don't see anything obvious from my side...

Mood.

The free and open-source video editor is worth another look. And it has some unique tricks, including animation, running on the cloud(!), and even AI. 3.5 they say is one of their biggest milestones ever.

This looks great, out later this year, the illustrated story of electronic sound, from WWI to the AI-enabled future

HELLO. YES, THIS IS DOG. WOULD YOU LIKE MORE BASS? (What? Little Labs Voice of Dog, the cheat code for everybody's mixes...) VOG and EHX in one week, hello plug-in folder! Reviewed:

So much of what we do in music production is solitary. So for this series, I wanted to bring together what you'd want to know to play together. How to tune gear and instruments, adjust to scales/modes or tuning systems, explore pitch and harmony, and more:

Surprise -- vintage EFX, now as (quite affordable) plug-ins for Mac and Windows:

Boycotts should not be the default answer to everything. But here, @theverge.com lays out a specific case -- the wealth of this franchise being weaponized to directly harm trans people. This is the kind of brightline approach we need on trans rights. But it's not all a downer, because -- (1/2)

A guide to @neverenginelabs.com Incline, "a toposonic corpus explorer" and transformative new take on granular synthesis. cdm.link/nel-incline-... Seriously ground-breaking stuff from Cristián Vogel. Deep into new ideas with this one...

Updated with various FAQ (see bottom) -- most interesting, the mechanism is "based on a Japanese Sony-derived architecture and uses an electromagnetic AC erase head." And they detail shipping & customs, too, for us:

Despite everything, these folks are still getting aid into the south of Lebanon at enormous risk. I didn't focus on this in the most recent write-up, but this is a good project to follow, support, and share.

Intrigued by the discussions of Pretext, the current shiny new "CSS killer." But will wait until I see some folks working with the actual code. (from all the genAI art on the dev's site, was this all a big AI project? I'm doubly suspicious because X is where the hype is happening - ahem.)

Well this looks hot! In my alternate reality, the entire university experience is like this.

This is a story about music, but also a story about food and care. So let's do both. If I make you hungry *and* I get you to get active, job done. I would really love to see this shared. If Western music outlets don't pick this up, we can doo it ourselves.

See, I wish I had a music library so I could buy this for the music library...

You say you want physical media, a return to radio, social music again? Welp... here's that idea taken to extremes. Inspired by the Sharp GF-777/GF-909, 2x cassette decks + radio + CD + USB + Bluetooth. Runs on rechargeable TSA-approved Li-Ion, not "20 D batteries."

Mood... @reasonstudios.com + @noiseeng.bsky.social !

Oh yes, having done this continuously for the past decades! PS, see the original post -- the idea that we weren't earning revenue (or selling merch?!) in 2006 is just wrong. In fact, we have the discontinuity described now because Meta, Google et al extracted all the revenue from the media.

MIDI Polyphonic Expression on iOS and Android support ... this take on Plaits' algorithms as a playable instrument gets deeper (on top of recent LFO additions).

Music can bring people together -- and sound the alarm. That's the traditional role of the kentongan in Java, reinterpreted by musician and instrument inventor Wukir Suryadi. I hope this message spreads, too.

Is it too late for me to switch careers and get to drive the antimatter truck? Wait, I can shoehorn this into the site. CERN Driving Machinations, CDM! home.cern/news/press-r...

Live now @cycling74.bsky.social is talking RNBO on Move. Tons of open and Linux powered techs make this work — which also means more is possible on devices generally! www.youtube.com/live/hVKURV7...

Okay, checking this one!

Try sonifying data free, with the @manifestaudio.bsky.social Datafree MIDI Generative Tool for Ableton Live. I did a step-by-step walkthrough on how to use freely accessible temperature data. Here's the last week or so in Berlin. More: cdm.link/sonify-data-...

Okay, the final numbers are in. The MPC Sample weighs less than 9% of the MPC60 and costs under 3% of the original's (inflation-adjusted cost) -- with over 10,000 times the original sample storage. This concludes your pointless statistics for today. Updated:

MPC Sample is here. How does it stack up to the original MPC60, asked no one? Here are your answers, including that it saves you over $13,000 new (inflation-adjusted USD) -- plus Roger Linn musing on how the original landed.

Spread the word. Our friends from Beirut Synthesizer Center and Tunefork Studios are joining urgent fundraising efforts with extraordinary music from Lebanese artists and around the world. What this is, why it matters, what to do (plus a handy QR code you can print to share this IRL).