By the Zonagirante.com team @spinning zone
Cover art by Zonagirante Studio
From Roland's classic drum machine to Telepathic Instruments' mystical synthesizer, a fun (and somewhat absurd) look at the latest electronic temptations on the market.
Some believe music is made with talent and emotion. The rest of us know it's also made with buttons, knobs, lights, and the constant suspicion that we're about to break something. Luckily, the music industry keeps releasing toys that rekindle our sense of discovery: machines that make sounds, vibrate, and sometimes seem to talk.
These are five new features that, without exaggeration, could change the way you play with sound.
Roland TR-1000: the return of the punchy hit
Roland understood that nostalgia doesn't sell itself: it needs to be remixed. Their new TR-1000 isn't just a reissue of their classic drum machines (yes, those that shaped the DNA of techno and hip-hop), but an analog reinvention that breathes like the old monsters, but with new lungs.
It has sixteen analog circuits, a sampling system inherited from the SP-404, and the ability to connect to almost anything you have in your studio or laptop. In short: the 808 and 909 had a child who went to the gym and learned MIDI.
Ideal for those who still tap their fingers on the table when they hear a beat.
Sequential Fourm: Dave Smith's soul continues to speak to us
Sequential synthesizers have always had that museum-like aura, but with a whiff of whiskey and wires. The new Fourm honors the tradition of Dave Smith—the man behind the Prophet-5 and MIDI—offering a four-voice polyphonic analog synth with aftertouch and a modulation matrix so flexible it seems to have a sense of humor.
It sounds warm, aggressive, or delicate depending on the day and your level of patience. It's the kind of synth that forces you to listen to yourself before recording, which isn't always a bad thing.
UDO DMNO: Two brains, one mutant heart
UDO has been exploring hybrid technology for some time, and with DMNO they've created something that sounds like two synthesizers arguing inside the same casing. Each has four voices, but they can combine to form a single, eight-headed sonic monster.
It combines digital oscillators with analog filters, a 64-step sequencer, an arpeggiator, and such creative modulation modes that you end up sounding like you know what you're doing.
Perfect for those who love to twist sound until it becomes unrecognizable.
Telepathic Instruments Orchid: the mystical synthesizer
This is, quite literally, a chord synthesizer. It was designed for those who believe that a single note isn't enough and that chords also deserve to be distorted.
He Orchid It's colorful, quirky, and charming. It includes presets created by Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), built-in effects, improved filters, and an interface that won't intimidate beginners but won't bore veterans either. Plus, it comes with a plugin that replicates its digital brain so you can use it in your DAW.
If there were a botanical garden of sound, this would be its main orchid.
Dubreq Stylophone Gen X-2: the toy that grew
The Stylophone was that mini keyboard that looked like it came straight out of a 70s science fiction movie, played with a tiny stylus. Now, the Gen X-2 He left school and joined the serious adults: you can play it without a stylus, it has CV/Gate for modulation, delay, sub-oscillator, analog filter and a touch panel that responds to mistreatment with dignity.
Compact, cheap and unusual, it's the perfect instrument for recording an experimental album from the couch.
Absurd but true conclusion:
These five toys prove that music remains a dangerous combination of obsession and play.
And although brands talk about innovation and sound fidelity, the truth is different:
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Having pretty presets is no longer enough. The new instruments invite you to make mistakes, to sound dirty, and to discover beauty in error.
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The myth of the bedroom producer has fallen. Today, with these devices, anyone can set up their own little sound laboratory without asking anyone's permission.
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Perfect sound is overrated. What matters is the tremor produced by the first loop, the happy mistake, the texture that no one else has.
So yes: call these gadgets "toys," but play seriously. In an age where almost everything seems simulated, turning a real knob remains an act of resistance (and love).
