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Sonicware’s LIVEN Evoke is a ‘nostalgia-evoking ambient music box’ fusing acoustic and electronic sounds.

Today, Japanese manufacturer Sonicware has introduced another instrument to its LIVEN series, a collection of affordable synths, drum machines and grooveboxes that includes the LIVEN Ambient Ø, LIVEN Texture Lab and LIVEN Lofi-12.

Described as a “nostalgia-evoking ambient music box”, LIVEN Evoke is a polyphonic synthesizer utilizing what Sonicware is calling “acoustronic” synthesis. Evoke’s Acoustronic Flux Oscillator blends acoustic and electronic elements together through a combination of sample-based and wavetable synthesis to create a diverse spectrum of sounds that the company says includes “nostalgic pianos, drone strings and bizarre vibraphones”.

Evoke’s sample engine is equipped with 34 acoustic instrument sounds, and patches are created by blending these with a noise generator and a wavetable oscillator armed with bank of 20 wavetables, with dynamic reversed movement applied through the synth’s Backtide Modulation system.

Multiple timbres can be layered across Evoke’s four tracks, each of which is equipped with its own amp envelope, two LFOs and a multimode filter with low-, high- and band-pass modes. The synth’s four-track sequencer stores up to 128 patterns, each of which can stretch up to 64 steps in length, and you’re able to adjust probability and record specific parameter settings for each step in a pattern. There’s also a multimode arpeggiator on board.

Effects include Evoke’s Grain FX, a granular engine that slices sound into minute grains, transforming and reconstructing these via a range of granular synthesis parameters, and a reverb with ten different algorithms. Effects can also be applied to external sources via the synth’s audio input.

Hardware-wise, Evoke is based on the same platform as several other instruments in the Liven series, with a 27-key keyboard and internal speaker on board. As for connectivity, you’ve got 3.5mm stereo line in/out, 5-pin DIN MIDI in/out, sync in/out on mini-jacks, and a 3.5mm headphone output. The synth can be powered via mains power or 6 AA batteries.

Sonicware LIVEN Evoke is priced at $239/£229 and ships June 30.

Find out more on Sonicware site.

Universal Audio Anthem synth plugin promises to ‘put the biggest, baddest analogue sounds at your fingertips’. A growling analogue-modelled filter, flexible sequencer and vintage-style modulation effects give UA’s new monosynth an edge.

Just a few weeks giving one virtual analogue synth plugin away for free, Universal Audio has announced the release of another soft-synth inspired by classic analogue instruments: Anthem.

Designed to capture the warmth and character of ‘coveted monosynths of bygone eras’, Anthem is a virtual analogue instrument built on a classic dual-oscillator architecture. Though it’s fundamentally monophonic, Anthem has both Unison and Paraphonic modes, the latter allowing you to play up to four voices through the same filter and amp envelopes.

Anthem’s two analogue-modelled oscillators produce four continuously variable waveforms spanning triangle, saw, square and pulse waves, alongside a sub oscillator and noise generator, and oscillator sync and ring modulation are both accessible via Anthem’s warp control.

The synth’s resonant low-pass filter offers both Drive and Growl controls for dialling in saturation and grit, and there’s an additional high-pass filter onboard too, along with keytracking and modulation controls.

Modulation comes courtesy of two ADSR envelopes for amplitude and filter and a single tempo-syncable LFO, which offers triangle, square and random waveforms that can be shaped via its Tilt control. Along with the filter cutoff, these can be routed to the oscillators’ waveshape, pitch and warp controls.

Anthem’s effects panel includes a stereo chorus and Mod FX section that features a phaser, flanger and tape-style warble effect, along with a Space FX panel comprising tape echo, spring reverb and hall reverb effects. There’s also a three-lane, 16-step sequencer on board with swing and accents, along with polyrhythmic and randomized sequencing modes.

Overall, Anthem is a stripped-back synth with relatively limited capabilities, and some will surely question the decision not to include an optional polyphonic mode, but it’s clear that Universal Audio isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here, instead offering music-makers an intuitive instrument that makes it easy to craft bold, punchy and authentic analogue-style sounds.

Priced at an introductory discount of $149, Anthem is available for macOS and Windows in VST3/AU/AAX formats.

Find out more on Universal Audio site.

Teenage Engineering has designed an electric moped – and it is cheaper than the OP-XY synth.

Though Swedish design studio Teenage Engineering is best known for manufacturing stylish, high-priced instruments like the OP-1 and OP-XY, the company has worked on a handful of products over the years that stray from its musical roots into uncharted territory.

The most memorable example of this is surely the much-maligned Field Desk, a piece of flatpack studio furniture that Teenage Engineering rather optimistically priced at $1,599. The company has also lent its design expertise to other brands, linking up with IKEA for a modular lighting and speaker system and working with Rabbit on the R1, a poorly-reviewed AI gadget.

Teenage Engineering’s latest extra-curricular excursion marks one of its most unexpected moves to date, as the company leaves the music technology world in the rear-view mirror once again with EPA-1, an… electric moped?

Developed in collaboration with Vässla, an e-bike manufacturer based out of Stockholm, EPA-1 looks almost exactly like what you’d expect a Teenage Engineering-designed moped to look like: sleek, industrial and minimalistic.

The scooter’s lofty marketing spiel also bears some resemblance to the company’s high-minded house style: “It is not like the others – the new Vässlan. It does not look like the others. It does not behave like the others. It is smarter to own than the others. The idea is simple. To challenge and improve everything that can be done better.”

Available in both Class 1 and Class 2 models with a removable 30Ah or 50Ah battery, EPA-1 has a range of up to 120km. Though coloured models will be available at the end of June, the launch edition is all-black.

EPA stands for En Passar Alla, which translates as One Fits All, a name that’s apparently intended to highlight the ethos of customization behind the moped, which is equipped with 11 reinforced mounts “strategically placed” for accessories and modifications. “They may just look like small screw holes, but they open up great possibilities,” Vässla says. “The new Vässlan is a moped you don’t just ride. You make it yours.”

The most surprising thing about EPA-1 is the price. Teenage Engineering has drawn its fair share of criticism over the years for pricing some of its products out of reach of the average consumer.

After angering budget-conscious synth fans by slapping a mortgage-endangering MSRP of $2,299 on the otherwise-fantastic OP-XY, the company recently gave customers the option to pay $9,999 for its OP-1 Field – you know, just in case they had some spare cash sitting around the house that they needed to get rid of.

With that in mind, we half-expected EPA-1 to cost something astronomical. Well, it’s priced at 19,990 SEK, about $2,100 – a reasonable amount for an electric moped, but significantly less than the OP-XY’s $2,299 asking price. Are they taking us for a ride?