Farewell Prophet 12. Australia hopes to save live music. New Eurorack modules are here. The death of the album. Autechre go large.
Hot ‘n’ spicy. Eventide has released HotSawz, the new synth filter for their H9 platform that combines multiple oscillators, modulation sources, and assignable destinations like filter cutoff, volume and pitch for maximum spiciness combos. Go 8-bit with video game blips, analogue with rumbling synth sounds, big buzz with ‘70s saw leads or use one of the 30-plus presets. Watch the video below and find out more here:
Goodbye Prophet 12. The acclaimed Prophet 12 synth from Sequential will soon be gone, but is saying goodbye in style with the custom Prophet 12 LE, featuring a striking arctic white finish with maple end-caps. The run will be strictly limited to 100 units, after which the Prophet 12 will no longer be available. The 12 LE goes on sale in December for $2,999USD, and the standard Prophet 12 will be available while supplies last. More info here.
Crisis Down Under. An array of recommendations has been made by the The NSW parliamentary committee to curb what it calls a live music “crisis” brought on by unnecessary restrictions on live music venues, including removal of “outdated” booze licence laws, stating the previous restrictions have failed to combat late-night street violence—the original intent of the crackdowns. The lockout laws weren’t specifically addressed, but hopefully this means a brighter future for Sydney clubbers and music fans. Read more here.
Eurotrack. ALM Busy Circuits is bringing two new Eurorack modules to the market. The MCO is a compact wavetable oscillator with “an early ’90s, slightly crunchy digital type sound,” and the Quaid Megaslope is a multi-mode modulator that can operate in three modes: a complex Casio CZ or Roland Juno style envelope, a flexible LFO and a step sequencer. Watch a demo video below.
Death of the album? Album sales are plummeting, down by 25.8% on year in America, on track for a 50% decline since 2015. Streaming shares most of the blame, as top artists debut LPs digitally before their physical release, and fans flock to sites like Spotify and Apple Music to hear only their favourite two or three tracks, ditching the rest. Not even the UK’s National Album Day could help. Despite heavy media coverage, album sales fell during the industry-backed blitz. Is this a new era in music? Time will tell. Read more.
Acid-spotting. Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh is releasing a “classic” acid house album, which he says will “inject fun and humour” into the genre, acting as a “counterblast” to the currently “joyless” music scene Welsh perceives. He’ll even sing in a German accent. Wunderschön. Read more.
Attack of the clones. Roland’s TR-909 drum machine will soon be available at the entry-level price of $299USD from Behringer. The Behringer clone will come with a few additional features, including a drive and pitch control for the kick, hi-hat pitch control, an analogue filter and wave designer, and parameter locking on a 64-step sequencer. It’s due early next year. Read more.
Black Friday. Today is Black Friday, and that means sales on tons of gear, software and accessories, including headphones, synths, loops, DJ equipment and more. We’ve compiled a list, so you can get your holiday shopping done early. Check it out here.
Autechre overload. Autechre have uploaded 13 hours of video to YouTube, with clips running from one to seven minutes featuring the UK duo’s signature patches. At 444 videos long, the playlist nods to their track “444,” released on their 1993 Warp Records debut, Incunabula. Watch them all below—if you dare.