New Cartridge adds 16 Kits to Vintage Sequential TOM Drum Machine

Youtuber Congohelium shared this video demo of a new sound cartridge for the Sequential TOM drum machine.

The custom TOM drum machine cartridge features 16 vintage and rare analogue kits.


The Sequential TOM drum machine is a digital drum machine design from 1985. It features 8 sounds, but four-voice polyphony. It was designed to let you customize the sound palette using sound cartridges, which would let you access 8 additional sounds. The new cartridge is designed to let you add 16 sets of sounds.

Congohelium hasn’t said anything about plans to make these available to TOM owners. If you’re interested, see their Youtube page.

 

 

Learn Instrument Design with Roger Linn


Electronic instrument pioneer Roger Linn (LinnDrum, MPC, LinnStrument) let us know about an upcoming workshop that offers a rare opportunity to learn instrument design.

Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) is hosting a workshop on Designing Physical Interactions for Music June 17 through 21, 2024.

The workshop, held in Stanford, CA, will be taught by Linn, and composer/inventor Sasha Leitman.

What Linn shared about the workshop:

“Every year around June, I and Sasha Leitman co-teach a one-week, five full days, hands-on workshop about designing and creating simple electronic music/audio projects at Stanford University’s CCRMA computer music school, either in-person or remote via Zoom.

In the workshop, Sasha and I provide lots of information about sensors, actuators, software, mechanical design and materials, and lots more. We help you come up with a project idea and help you build it.

If you’re attending in person, you’ll have access to sensors, actuators and electronic/mechanical tools in the CCRMA Max Lab. Or if you’re attending remotely online, you’ll obtain the needed items in advance. Either way, we’ll provide one-on-one help with your project.

Given that the workshop is only one week, the projects are generally simple, providing a novel way of interacting with sensors to generate sounds, controlled by software written for a Teensy microcontroller board or a laptop.”

The workshop is conducted both in-person at Stanford ($500) or remote online from anywhere ($250). It is open to all, with no prerequisites. To register, see the CCRMA website. You can preview the content of the workshop at Linn’s website.

Skyridge, New Vocal-Based Software Synth For Mac + Windows


ZAK Sound has introduced Skyridge, a vocal-based software synth that generates ethereal and inspiring pads

The developers say that Skyridge is perfect for creating “unparalleled soundscapes. It comes with everything needed to produce unique atmospheres, from soft, billowing clouds to otherworldly textures.”


Features:

  • Two samplers: Engine X and Engine Y
  • 78 textures based on voice recordings.
  • Master rack: Atmosphere, Compressor, and Limiter
  • Double arpeggiator for each layer.
  • Envelope controls, graphic EQ, two filters with eight types.
  • Saturation, chorus, delay, phase and reverb effects.
  • 100 presets.
  • Randomizer function.
  • Modulation of filters with LFO, MPE, and tables.
  • Lossless audio sample compression
  • Space: 80MB (Windows) / 120MB (macOS)

Skyridge is available now for $25.27 through June 11th, 2024 (normally $42.12).