electronic music
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'Blade Runner' composer and electronic music pioneer Vangelis dies at 79
'Blade Runner' composer Vangelis has died at 79, leaving behind a major legacy in electronic music.
Moog's documentary series recounts the early days of electronic music
Giants, it will tell the story of some of the people who helped shape both synths and electronic music as an art form.
Erica Synths SYNTRX review: A classic reimagined
This modern interpretation of the iconic EMS Synthi A is ripe for exploration and experimentation. It may be expensive but it’s incredibly satisfying and inspiring to play. Its target niche of experimental musicians and hardcore synth nerds will be enthralled.
Moog celebrates 100 years of Theremin with the Claravox Centennial
It was way back in 1920 that Lev Sergeyevich Termen, better known as Leon Theremin in the west, first demonstrated one of the most important electronic musical instruments ever. The instrument is very much ingrained in the DNA of Moog.
Roland brings its classic TR-808 and TB-303 synths to your browser
Roland’s vintage TR-808 drum machine or TB-303 bass synthesizers helped define electronica in the ‘80s, but nowadays they’re nearly impossible to find. Luckily, you can jam with both instruments for free online, thanks to a new site called 808303.studio created by Roland, musician Yuri Suzuki and the London Design Museum.
Pico System III review: A fun and simplified intro to modular synths
The Pico System III is a reasonably priced entry point into the world of modular and west coast synthesis. It has everything you need to get started exploring the nuts and bolts of analog sound design.
Moog Subharmonicon review: An experimental synth with an iconic sound
The Subharmonicon indulges its experimental side more than other Moog synths. It's inspired by the Mixtur-Trautonium and the Rhythmicon a pair of early electronic music instruments. Those avant-garde roots show and can make it a bit daunting if you’re just looking for a quick fix of that iconic bass sound. But patience and persistence reveal that the Subharmonicon, for all of its complexity, is still classic Moog.
Model:Cycles review: An affordable and approachable FM groovebox
Fair or not, Elektron has a reputation for making complex and kinda pricey electronic music gear. Last year though, it made a serious play for the entry level with the Model:Samples ($299), an affordable, sample-based groovebox that simplified Elektron's unique workflow for beginners. In a lot of ways, it's a stripped-down version of the company's Digitakt sampler. If you're familiar with the Digitakt, you've no doubt often seen it paired with the Digitone, a sort of sibling groovebox that relies on FM synthesis instead of samples. So it only makes sense that Elektron would want to give the Model:Samples its own FM-based partner in crime. Physically the Model:Cycles is basically a palette-swapped version of the Model:Samples -- Subzero to the M:S' Scorpion. At its core it's the same six-track monophonic sequencer -- but with a streamlined version of the Digitone's sound engine under the hood. Obviously though sacrifices had to be made to hit that $299 price point. As a result, the Cycles isn't exactly a budget-friendly replacement for the Digitone. It's very much its own instrument.
Arturia’s V Collection 7 plug-in synth suite is $200 off for Black Friday
Arturia creates some of the best plug-in versions of vintage synthesizers; users get authentic new wave and classic rock sounds without filling an entire room with keyboards. Musicians who want to recreate the sounds of decades past can get at least $200 off the standard price of the company's V Collection, which groups all of the individual soft-synths into one package. The Black Friday sale price of the suite is $299, but if you've bought qualifying Arturia products before, the price drops even lower to $199.
A collection of man-made 'music' and the machines behind it
As technology became a part of modern life in the 19th century, an increasing amount of scientific study led to breakthroughs in electronic sound engineering -- often as a byproduct of other research. Humans became enamored with the crystalline clarity of these exotic machine-borne tones and as the technology matured, so did the range of output. Electrically powered machines were recreating the sounds of traditional instruments and even mimicking human speech. Once computers arrived, the possibilities seemed boundless as software for composing and performing electronic music were developed. Below, we've gathered together a few pioneering moments that've helped shaped our electronic soundscape. So listen and learn.
Teenage Engineering will put a synth in your pocket for $59
Teenage Engineering has carved out a niche in the electronic music world. Its OP-1 is a highly adaptable synth that puts industrial design on par with sound quality and features. If there's one thing the OP-1 isn't, it's affordable. The basic synth is priced at a cool $799, pitting it against considerably more-established options from Roland, Korg, Moog and others. With its latest products, however, the Swedish startup is looking to put a whole lot of music-making power in your hands for a very low price. The Pocket Operator (PO) series is a set of three miniature battery-powered synths, all priced at $59. There's the PO-12 "Rhythm" drum machine, the PO-14 "Sub" bass synth, and the PO-16 "Factory" melody unit. All three have 16-step sequencing and a selection of 16 sounds to choose from, and also offer 16 additional effects. There aren't any official videos available just yet (we'll update the article when they become available), but you can check out a clip of musician Cuckoo playing with a prototype PO-12 (which has been known about for some time) after the break.
Engadget giveaway: win an AIRA TR-8 Rhythm Performer courtesy of Roland!
Think you have what it takes to be the next hot producer? Who cares? You should explore your musical side, craft some homebrew rhythms and enjoy the ride. This could be the year for you to start building beats, too, because Roland has graciously offered to supply one lucky Engadget reader with an AIRA series TR-8 Rhythm Performer. The classic TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines have been merged to create a more flexible, powerful and colorful addition (or start) to your gear collection. This machine hasn't lost the character of the originals either, providing a faithful recreation of their iconic sounds. With Tap Tempo, continuous Fine and Shuffle adjustments alongside pattern copy and randomization features, your on-the-fly performance can be fluid and fun. If you're a fan of Roland's famous TB-303, which helped define the acid house sound in the '80s, you'll find that it's also been reincarnated as the AIRA TB-3 (more gear for your wishlist). It just takes a few clicks at the Rafflecopter widget below and you get up to three chances at winning this modern music box from one of the most trusted names in the business. Winner: congratulations to Deepak R. of Folsom, CA!
Electronic artist deadmau5 releases subscription music app for iOS
The music business landscape has changed over the last fifteen years from physical media to mostly digital transactions. Be it the iTunes store or streaming online, the way we consume music has radically changed. Accordingly, the way artists profit off their music has changed as well. Electronic music superstar deadmau5 has just debuted a new subscription based app exclusively for iOS. For $5 a month, users get access to new music, live streams, chat boards, and other random bonuses. It's sort of like a fan club, but with more actual content. Subscribers can pay monthly or for a whole year for $4.99 per month or $44.99 per year. Here's what the app promises for your scratch: * Live Video deadmau5 will be able to broadcast live to the horde from anywhere in the world ∗ Audio Player Listen to unreleased music while managing your custom playlist ∗ Chat Room Chat directly with deadmau5 or other members of the horde. ∗ Message Boreds Share and post topics and initiate discussions with the horde or deadmau5 ∗ Photos See exclusive images from backstage, behind the scenes, and much more ∗ Videos With no limit on length, deadmau5 can share raw or edited videos with you from all over the world ∗ WTF? Learn the candid thoughts from deadmau5 ∗ Private Messages Like never before, deadmau5 may be contacting you directly by email, phone or text Given the hunger in the electronic music market for new content this is a brilliant idea, if deadmau5 can keep his "horde" properly fed. Fans may not want to buy an album with songs they don't want to hear a hundred times, but if you're providing a steady stream of brand new music they've got a reason to sign up. I can't count the number of parties I've been to where the DJ was a iPhone hooked up to a speaker. It will be interesting to see if deadmau5 can keep enough content flowing to keep subscribers in the long run. On the video end of things, the clips on the app are equal parts beautifully shot live footage, interviews, behind the scenes content and shaky smartphone shots. The app itself is free to download, with a block of videos and pictures available as a preview of sorts before you buy a subscription. You can find it now in the app store.
Savant Ascent mixes arcade shooting with music album, coming to PS4
The "Savant" in D-Pad Studios' Savant Ascent is drawn from a close friend of the indie developer, electronic musician Savant (Aleksander Vinter). The arcade-style, 2D action shooter's protagonist is even pulled from the cover of Savant's fifth album, Alchemist, designed by D-Pad Studios' art director Simon S. Andersen. Recently announced for PS4, Savant Ascent has players dispatching enemies in tune with Savant's music, which provides varying upgrades as tracks are unlocked. In the game, Savant is cast out of his tower by a "malicious orb," which turns his surroundings into enemies. Players must guide Savant back up the tower, which certainly explains the "Ascent" part of the game's title. Savant Ascent first launched on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam, GamersGate and the Humble Store as well as iOS and Android in December 2013. [Image: D-Pad Studio]
Max Mathews' one-man electronic orchestra
Welcome to Time Machines, where we offer up a selection of mechanical oddities, milestone gadgets and unique inventions to test out your tech-history skills. Conduct an electronic orchestra, right from your living room! It may seem like a fever dream headline from the 1950s, but the physical results of Max Mathews' years of work in computer music wouldn't fully materialize until the '80s. His Radio Drum (aka Radio Baton) -- although a continual work-in-progress -- was a groundbreaking method of controlling computer-synthesized sound through a predominantly wireless three-dimensional interface. Many of its unique abilities were courtesy of technological visionary Bob Boie's capacitance research, creating "a much more participatory way of enjoying music," as Mathews described in Stanford University's Brainstorm. The Radio Drum could track surface hits and even hovering positions, and use that data to control a multitude of audio parameters. It was one of many projects that Mathews worked on during his lifetime and played a part in earning him the honorary title of "Father of Computer Music."
Scape, Brian Eno's new ambient music creation app is now available on the iPad (video)
Music making apps for the iPad are ten-a-penny, but when it's the brainchild of a super-producer like Brian Eno, you have to take notice. Scape is the third of his collaborations with Peter Chilvers after Bloom and Trope, an app that lets you generate ambient music with Eno's own sounds on a colorful, conceptual interface. Unlike standard beats'n'loops setups, each sound is tied to a series of rules -- including the time of day -- that ensures the tunes you create never play the same way twice. It's available from iTunes for $5.99 / £3.99, and who knows, maybe in a few years time, Coldplay'll come calling for your professional expertise.
Onyx Ashanti's beatjazz music machine does everything, looks good too (video)
Onyx Ashanti has sent us over a demo of his beatjazz controller, and we have to marvel at the direction he's taken with this custom electronic music machine following more modest efforts. Onyx's 3D-printed interface receives inputs from a voice / breath-operated synth in the headgear, while the two handheld controls incorporate accelerometers, joysticks and pressure-sensitive buttons. Using this kit and his own software, Onyx is able to create live digital music with an amount of control you would only expect from desktop-based production software. We've embedded two videos for your attention after the break -- a demo of his latest flashy build complete with lightsaber-like effects, and an earlier live performance that really shows what the beatjazz controller can do.
Kraftwerk performing 3D-enhanced retrospective concerts over 8 nights at MoMA
New York City isn't Europe and eight straight nights isn't exactly endless (though, it's plenty long if you're talking about lamp oil), but this humble metropolis is good enough for electronic and Krautrock pioneers Kraftwerk. The robo-rockers are heading to MoMa on April 10th and will be playing eight albums in chronological order, starting with Autobahn, over eight nights. The performances will sadly only feature one member of the classic lineup, but it will be augmented with 3D video and other visual media (presumably including neon lights). Tickets for the concert series, Kraftwerk-Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, go on sale at noon on February 22nd for $25.[Image credit: Andréas Hagström, Wikipedia]
London Science Museum undusts Oramics machine, revisits OG electronic music innovation
Practicing its fist pump and channeling its inner Devo, the London Science Museum will be paying homage to electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram by resurrecting her old synthesizer last used in the '70s -- a device that relies on 35mm film to pump out jams. The classic clunker was found in a French barn last month and will be brought out into the open for the first time in forty years at the museum in old Blighty. "Oramics" operators "draw" music on ten strips of clear film to create a mask. The machine then reads the tape as differences in light and turns it into voltage control, which is used to switch oscillators and control the amplitude of the sound. The effect? A creepy vortex of haunting sounds. Fans of glow sticks and synth sounds can check out the exhibit until December, but if a trip to Londontown's not in your future, there's a video you should ogle after the break.
'Kraftwerk Who?' Pioneering '50s Synthesizer unearthed in French Barn
So there Dr. Mick Grierson was, wandering around a French barn, minding his own business when all of a sudden he happened upon an antique: one of the earliest modern synthesizers. Grierson, a professor at Goldsmiths University in London did what any expert in the field of electronic music would do, and whisked it back to the motherland for restoration. The Oram "Oramics" Synthesiser (sic) was built by Daphne Oram in 1957, a year before she co-founded the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to research and develop electronic music. Political wrangling within the corporation forced her to leave in 1959, and she retreated to a farm in nearby Kent to tinker with her invention. After her departure, the Workshop shot to fame for creating the original electronic theme to Doctor Who. In order to create music on the Oram, a composer painted waveforms directly onto 35mm film strips which were fed into the machine. Inside, photo-electronic cells read the light pattern and interpreted it as sound. Check out the video to see the arrival of the machinery back into England where it'll be on display all the way through December 2012. If you're really interested you can tap Dr Grierson's homebrewed Oramics iPhone app (linked below for your downloading pleasure) to create your own futuristic theme songs, '57-style.
