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

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.

Prog icon (Dream Theater) and synthesist Jordan Rudess shared this look at 12 ways you can play more expressively with the Expressive E Osmose synthesizer.

The Osmose expands on the capabilities of standard piano-style keyboards, by providing new expressive options for individual note expression.

In this video, Rudess covers 12 exercises for exploring and practicing new expressive options.

Topics covered:

00:04 introduction

02:02 Bach invention n°4

02:57 adding inflections

06:39 adjusting sensitivity

09:51 exercise 1 playing legato & press glide part 1

11:52 exercise 1 playing legato & press glide part 2

13:26 exercise 3 finger independence

16:16 exercise 4 vibrato right hand

19:05 exercise 5 vibrato left hand

20:16 exercise 6 vibrato left & righ hand alternation

21:56 about the aftertouch

23:30 exercise 7 aftertouch on simple chords

26:55 exercise 8 aftertouch on complex chords

28:26 exercise 9 aftertouch finger independance

31:02 exercise 10 playing thirds and sixths with press glide

34:59 exercise 11 controlling pressure with precision

38:23 exercise 12 press glide as grace notes

Synth-Werk has announced that the Bode Barberpole Phaser, a reissue of the rare design by Harald Bode, is now available as a 5U module for MU systems.

Initially, it was reintroduced as a rack unit at Superbooth 2024. Here’s an official audio demo:

The Bode Barberpole Phaser offers 9 phase stages and various sound manipulation features, including the option to insert an additional effect into the feedback loop or one of the two audio paths.

A unique feature of the Bode Phaser is infinity phasing. Infinity phasing is a psychoacoustic effect based on the Shepard scale, which was introduced in 1964 by the psychologist Roger N. Shepard. It creates the illusion of an infinitely ascending or descending scale that never exceeds the limit of one‘s hearing.

The Bode Barberpole Phaser is available now, priced at €2,900.00