WORLD OF MUSIC ; PORTABLE KEYBOARD - Latest Portable Music Keyboards, Synthesizers and Music News

Teenage Engineering’s latest experiment is a free computer case made from one piece of foldable plastic.

Teenage Engineering has drawn its fair share of criticism over the years for the price of its products – many fans of the brand have felt priced out of purchasing desirable instruments like the OP-1 Field and OP-XY.

In its defence, though, it should be noted that the Swedish design wizards have released some affordable products.

This year, the company is addressing its avaricious reputation with a series of attention-grabbing offers rolled out on a monthly basis under the banner of Flipped Out ’25. This kicked off in June with the head-scratching decision to invite customers to pay what they want for the OP-1 Field, choosing a price from a given range that went from reasonable discount to daylight robbery.

Next up in Teenage Engineering’s calendar of promotions isn’t another discount – it’s a giveaway. The company has designed a DIY computer case and is giving a limited amount away for free (excluding shipping) with a limit of one per customer. Named Computer-2, the case is a plastic successor to Computer-1, a build-your-own aluminium PC case released in 2021.

Computer-2 is a small form factor case built to house a mini-ITX motherboard, SFX power supply and dual-slot graphics card up to 180mm. Constructed from a single piece of semi-transparent foldable plastic, it features snap-in hooks and flexible living hinges for convenient, screw-free assembly and disassembly – a novel design indeed.

Why is Teenage Engineering giving Computer-2 away for free? Aside from the obvious explanation (marketing stunt) it seems that the design was something of an experiment: a statement on the company’s website says that the project was inspired by the goal of designing “the cheapest computer case in the world”.

“Our engineers worked day and night to really push the limits and they went beyond all expectations,” the company says. “They engineered it all the way down to a cost of 0. Now, that’s Teenage Engineering.”

Sadly, it seems as if Computer-2 is already “sold out” in Teenage Engineering’s online store, mere hours after launch. However, if you are based in the UK, it’s still worth checking to see if stock is available in your location.

Find out more on Teenage Engineering site.

If you are the kind of vocalist that knows their pig-squeals from their death growls, then Amsterdam-based plugin developer Ablaze has designed a plugin just for you.

A multi-effect described by the company as ‘the ultimate plugin for extreme vocals’, Screamer is designed to enhance screamed vocals with the bold and punchy vocal sound that’s characteristic of modern metal production, taking your ‘lows, mids, highs, gutturals and pig-squeals to the next level’.

Screamer’s interface is divided into three modules, each with a dedicated gain fader. The Control module features high and low-pass filters, along with Drive and Mix controls for a Tube Screamer-like distortion with adjustable brightness. The Chop and Release dials introduce compression and limiting.

Once fine-tuned in the Control module, the signal is split and processed via Thicken and Flavour modules in parallel. Thicken adds stereo width, making vocals wider and fatter via stereo comb filtering, while the Flavor module can be used to bring in both reverb and delay.

The instrument ships with an extensive collection of presets designed for different vocal techniques and musical contexts, and Ablaze assures us that Screamer is latency-free, so you’ll be able to monitor the vocal effects in real-time as you’re recording.

Ablaze is a newly-founded plugin brand out of Amsterdam headed up by metal vocalist Jochem de Jong. Following the release of Screamer, their first plugin, the company is working on the development of Vocal Assist Bundle, a set of easy-to-use plugins designed to “fully streamline” the process of mixing extreme vocals.

“Producing extreme music ourselves, we find that the growing availability of metal-oriented Kontakt libraries and virtual instruments – such as low-tuned guitars, crunchy bass guitars, and hard-hitting drum kits – makes it easier than ever to produce entire metal tracks in a basic home studio,” reads a statement on Ablaze website.

“The biggest challenge is often mixing the vocals, and getting that modern, polished, larger-than-life vocal tone. That‘s where Screamer comes in.”

Screamer is available now for macOS and Windows in VST/AU/AAX formats. It’s priced at €69, but you can use the discount code SCREAMERLAUNCH25OFF for a 25% discount throughout August and September. There’s also a 7-day free trial.

Find out more on Ablaze website.

Critter & Guitari has announced the launch of Organelle S2, an updated version of the Organelle S music computer, bringing an improved processor and a couple of hardware tweaks to this cute but powerful instrument.

Described by its maker as a “sound processor and synthesizer”, Organelle can really be anything you want it to be – synth, sampler, sequencer, drum machine or effects unit – thanks to its ability to run patches designed in Pure Data, an open-source programming language for electronic music-making.

Organelle S2 has been equipped with a new 1.8 GHz ARM quad-core processor which Critter & Guitari tells us is 50% faster than the Organelle S and almost twice as fast as the original Organelle.

The Organelle’s encoders have been swapped out for new versions with a smoother feel, and the microSD card slot has been rejigged to address an issue with the previous design that saw cards getting lost inside the instrument.

Aside from these tweaks, the hardware remains the same, and Organelle’s 25-key maple keyboard is joined by six encoders spanning parameter control, volume and navigation via its OLED display.

There’s plenty of I/O onboard with TRS MIDI in/out, dual USB-A ports, a footswitch jack and HDMI output, along with 1/4″ stereo in/out and a headphone jack. There’s a built-in microphone too.

As mentioned, Organelle runs patches designed in Pure Data, and users can choose from a default selection developed by Critter & Guitari or a growing library of user-created patches.

This makes Organelle a hugely flexible instrument that can do anything from synthesis (the library spans additive, subtractive, wavetable, granular, FM, physical modelling and more) to sampling, sequencing, effects processing and more; the only limit is your imagination – and the Organelle’s beefed-up processor.

Organelle S2 is priced at $499. Find out more on Critter & Guitari website.