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New engines, extra LFOs, six audio channels via USB: Modded Cycles promises a bigger sonic world for the little Elektron. Yet after his experiment, Nu-Trix wants to remove the alternative firmware again. Between CPU peaks and stubborn patterns, a more exciting question arises than just the longest feature list: How open can an instrument become without losing its musical reliability?
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A powerful synthesizer doesn’t always need more features. Sometimes, a better view of what’s already there is enough. In Starsky Carr’s Synthfest segment, Bob Coover demonstrates the free 3rd Wave Terminal: with piano roll, visible modulation connections, and graphical sound editing. Carr’s earlier review and Sam Gutman’s patch ideas show what this extra access can mean in everyday music-making—without making the knobs obsolete.
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Arturia’s MiniFreak 49 lays out its presets as glowing dots beneath your fingers. The new official tutorial shows how page switching and sound type filtering interact. In his own video, Starsky Carr wonders about the color logic. Meanwhile, Noisegate, while building a track, encounters a different limit: Bass, lead, or pad are useful categories—but whether a sound fits the arrangement is only decided when you play.
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A clock provides order, eight random channels provide deviation. Omri Cohen builds a patch with Befaco Random8 and Vult Overon where both work together: accents remain tangible, gate patterns can be locked, and a delay occasionally freezes. Optoproductions controls drum variations via level; Robin from Molten Music Technology asks how such possibilities can remain manageable in everyday use.
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A chord progression is not yet a finished track—and its first sound doesn't have to be its last. TAETRO takes AlphaTheta's Chordcat from a standalone sketchpad to a MIDI hub for samplers and DAWs. Sonicstate shows how much can already be reshaped within the device. Things get exciting where musical decisions are preserved while the timbre changes. However, this transition is not entirely seamless.
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The free firmware 1.50 update gives Roland’s TR-1000 Rhythm Creator new tools for melodic sequencing, effects processing and audio routing. Keyboard Mode joins Reverse Pan Delay, 50 additional FM instruments and settings that preserve effects across kit changes. Several interface refinements also address everyday operation. The emphasis is on more direct note entry, smoother transitions and better separation of analogue connections from USB recording.
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Akai MPC Sample puts recording, chopping, pads and fast beatmaking ahead of a full production environment. We examine what its stripped-down workflow gains, where the sequencer and deeper features fall short, and who benefits from this compact MPC.
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The Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O. II combines sampling, sequencing and performance in an unusually compact format. How far do 128 MB of memory, Song Mode, resampling, Punch-in FX and variable sample rates go in practice? This feature assesses the current firmware, workflow and key limits—from full songs to deliberately used lo-fi sound.
5. May 2026
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PlayArp is a new Android app that treats the smartphone not just as a control surface, but as an expressive MIDI performance instrument. Instead of simply triggering patterns, it lets you play them with touch, movement, pressure, XY gestures and real-time modulation. Arpeggiators have been part of electronic music for decades. In their simplest form, they take a few held notes and turn them into repeating patterns. But in the right context, an arpeggiator can become much more than a utility — it can become the rhythmic and melodic engine of a track. That is where PlayArp comes in. The