Born and raised in El Paso, TX, now I call Chicago my adopted home. When not unearthing forgotten musical gems, I try to make some time to write my own music using acoustic guitars, MIDI controllers, and electric violin.
The Coming of the Prophet
Editor’s Note: This post covers the origins of Sequential’s Prophet through a historic and technical lens. For more on the video above, please see the section labeled “Notes From Our Sequential Prophet Video.” And learn more about modern Sequential Prophets in our Legends guide on zZounds! How exactly does one travel into space without exiting one’s stratosphere? […]
zZounds Goes Live With Modal Electronics
Since 2013, Bristol, UK-based Modal Electronics has pushed the envelope for what’s possible with a digital and analog synth. From their legendary 00 series dream hybrid synths to their pint-size first-gen wavetable CRAFTsynth, each instrument has that mysterious “it” factor that makes its cutting-edge sound design cut through the mix. In our latest deep dive, […]
IK Multimedia UNO Synth Pro Desktop Video Demo
IK Multimedia is back, reimagining their original pint-sized analog hardware synthesizer, the UNO, as a next-gen evolutionary instrument. The UNO Synth Pro is more than one of everything — it’s the next level of analog synthesis! In our exclusive video we explore the gamut of sounds and features available on this evolutionary IK Multimedia instrument. […]
Serato Studio Review
What exactly is a DJ company doing making a DAW? I wager, just like me, you had this same thought running in your head when word of Serato Studio software came out. It’s the elephant in the room anyone reviewing this software (as we’re wont to do today) must address. The Road to Serato Studio […]
Akai MPC Live II Retro Edition Video Demo
Go back to the future with our exclusive colorway of the Akai MPC Live II groovebox! The MPC Live Retro Edition takes design cues from Roger Linn’s classic cream, “don’t call it early-’90s-PC-beige” finish with gray pads found on their first iconic MPC60 workstation. They’ve extended this aesthetic to their future classic, the MPC Live […]
Sequential Pro 3 SE: Not Just Another Mono Synth
Why would anyone build another mono synth? Thirty years ago, Dave Smith posed that question and answered it with the iconic Pro One synthesizer. And now, in our exclusive video above, we unload the answer to this question once again in its most modern reincarnation: the Pro 3 SE. Packing as much power and flexibility […]
Beat Tools: Multidimensional Control
Here’s a koan for your day: How do you express multiple dimensions when you’re stuck in only one? A few companies like ROLI, Expressive E, Sensel, and stellar designers like Roger Linn, Keith McMillen, and the late Don Buchla (to name precious few) have tried to answer this riddle in the musical realm. With devices […]
Novation Circuit Tracks: A Hands-On Music Production Workstation
Lose yourself to the music (and not your bank account to the moment) with Novation’s Circuit Tracks, a music production workstation designed for hands-on producers. Kitted out with two polyphonic synths and two MIDI tracks, plus four drum tracks, Circuit Tracks takes everything that made their infamous original Circuit groovebox a legit studio mainstay — […]
Polyend Tracker: A Groovebox Like No Other
When was the last time you played on something really special? Poland-based instrument maker Polyend — a favorite of artists like Aphex Twin, Sigur Ros, and The Chemical Brothers — dug deep into video game music history to make the world’s first hardware tracker, the Tracker. In our exclusive video, the Tracker’s innovative features are […]
