Elektron’s Model:Samples groovebox is $100 off for the holidays

Elektron's synths, samplers, drum machines and grooveboxes are known for their top-notch sound and unique sequencing features. Once thing they're not known for, though, is being affordable. The Model:Samples is the big exception to that rule. And it'...

The Organelle music computer is nearly $100 off this weekend

Here's a sweet deal on a gift that could make sense for the more adventurous music-makers in your life. Critter & Guitari is running a sale on the Organelle M that drops the price from $595 to $499 from now through December 2nd. At that price, th...

Grovemade’s Task Knife turns a humble design tool into an incredibly desirable instrument

Bringing aspects of design to the very tool you’d use for designing purposes, the Grovemade Task Knife is to cutters and scalpels what Moleskine is to notebooks, or Muji is to stationery. It transforms a humble design tool into a well-designed instrument that every creative worth their salt would absolutely love to own, use, and put on display on their Insta-worthy workspaces.

The Grovemade Task Knife comes with a pristine monolithic design that combines handle and blade into one perfect package. The handle features the Grovemade logo machined onto one end, as it seamlessly transitions into a sheepsfoot blade at the other end, perfect for cutting anything from paper to foam or even leather. Machined from a single metal billet, the Task Knife comes in stainless steel with a matte black ceramic coating, or regular stainless steel and brass variants that showcase the true colors of the respective metals, complete with the CNC machine lines for that extra bit of raw beauty. The knives are available as standalone instruments but are best paired with Grovemade’s distinctive wooden stands that showcase the Task Knife in all its glory, keeping the instrument mounted vertically in a way that’s both gorgeous to look at and also easy to grasp and use, so you’re never rifling through stationery kits or rummaging through cabinets for your tools. Each Task Knife is made to absolute perfection in Grovemade’s headquarters in Portland Oregon with the utmost respect for form, function, detail, and quality… by designers, for designers.

Designer: Grovemade

Roland’s JU-06A stuffs iconic ’80s sounds in a tiny portable synth

There are a few instruments that really defined the sound of the 80s: The Yamaha DX7 and the gated snare chief among them. But just as important was Roland's Juno line of analog synths. They were (at the time) reasonably priced polyphonic synths that...

Teenage Engineering ships its delayed modular synth and keyboard

Teenage Engineering announced it was adding modular options to its Pocket Operator line back in January. A month later, the company cited manufacturing issues when it cancelled pre-orders for the 170 analog synth and the 16 keyboard designed to be us...

Blipblox is a synth made for kids that adults will like too

Blipblox is a synthesizer designed for children. The company behind it, Playtime Engineering, even calls it a toy. And it certainly looks like one. It's made out of bright, glossy, primary-colored plastic. The large knobs and buttons are cle...

The new Organelle is a synth built around a Raspberry Pi

It's a niche company, but Critter and Guitari was a big name during the portable synth renaissance, and back in 2016 it released its flagship instrument, the Organelle. Now, it's had a pretty significant upgrade.

The best multi-effects pedal for new guitarists

When I first started playing guitar way back in 1995 (or maybe it was 1994?) the idea of a digital multi-effects pedal was still pretty new. The Zoom 505 was the biggest game in town, if you wanted a pile of effects in a compact package for a reasona...