New Gear Alert: “Giants” Docuseries from Moog, Spitfire x Philip Glass, Orba by Artiphon & More

“Giants” documentary series by Moog details the early days of electronic music.

Moog and a cast of key characters chronicle the early days of synthesis with the new “Giants” docuseries.

This new documentary series, filmed and produced by Moog Music, is about honoring and preserving the legacy of key artists at the forefront of synthesis and sharing their untold stories with the world.

Giants spotlights untold stories from some of the most important artists and innovators in modern music history. It is a platform for legendary electronic musicians and innovators to express themselves through the art of storytelling. The artists in this series have left an indelible impact on electronic music history and culture, and their contributions have pushed the artform and industry forward. They are the “giants” whose shoulders we stand on—the pioneers who propelled synthesizers and analog instruments into the mainstream many years ago.

Join trailblazers like Moog synthesizer co-inventor Herb Deutsch, early modular synthesizer adopter Bernie Krause, modular synthesis legend Suzanne Ciani, and Mute Records founder Daniel Miller as they describe their passions, inspirations, origin stories, and never-before-heard revelations. Through spoken interviews, original music, and visuals, these artists share their perspectives around how electronic music has evolved and provide context for their place in that story.

Click here to get a closer look at Giants.

Spitfire Audio and Philip Glass offer free Glass Piano.

Spitfire teams up with Philip Glass to offer a crucial free piano.

Recorded at his home in New York City, Spitfire Audio presents Glass Piano; a faithful re-creation of legendary composer Philip Glass’s beloved piano. His entire breadth of compositional work over the past 30 years has been written on this piano—including seminal works The Piano Etudes, all of his Academy Award-nominated film scores, and hundreds of other compositions.

Discover the unique sonic personality of this baby grand with a range of sounds—from classic and beautiful, to soft and atmospheric. The plugin is available as VST2, VST3, AAX and AU, so it can be used directly in your favorite DAW; it does not require Kontakt.

Download Glass Piano for free here.

Meet Orba by Artiphon.

Portable, flexible—and most of all inspiring—Artiphon offers Orba, a new take on the concept of a groovebox.

Orba is both a simple portable synth groovebox, and an extensible wireless gestural MPE MIDI controller. Orba’s touch and motion sensors capture even your most subtle gestures. Pick it up and hold it, or just reach over and play a few notes while it’s sitting on your desk. Tap it with one hand or both, with your fingertips or thumbs, or shake and wave it through the air. You can slide around each pad, or go crazy with some vibrato. It’s all up to you.

Orba’s internal synthesizer was designed to respond to the way you move. Its wide range of drum, bass, chord, and lead sounds have been tuned for real-time control via Orba’s intuitive touch and motion gestures. Get the most out of your Orba with the Orba companion app from Artiphon. Designed to take your everyday music-making even further, the Orba app offers endless customization with an easy-to-use interface. Connect wirelessly using MIDI over Bluetooth, then explore a library of songs and presets that feature different sounds, tunings, and tempos. Record loops, then easily save, edit, and organize your creations—even add custom artwork for each track.

For pricing and further information on Orba, click here.

Positive Grid announces the Spark Control wireless foot controller.

Positive Grid unleashes a powerful and comprehensive foot controller for Spark.

Spark Control is a wireless, customizable foot controller that offers seamless integration with the best-selling Spark smart amp and app. Spark Control is fully customizable to provide convenient access to many of the amp’s popular features for practice and jamming. Plus, it will be compatible with future Spark firmware or app updates.

Going beyond a traditional foot controller that simply switches between presets and tones, Spark Control gives you the most deep and comprehensive control possible for your Spark amp. It comes with four pre-programmed scenarios that assign a combination of popular functions to each switch based on commonly used setups. You can also save your favorite functions to four of your own scenarios for easy access, and store up to a total of eight scenarios. This level of customization gives you immediate, hands-free access to a wider selection of Spark’s features, allowing you to stay in the flow of your playing experience.

Check out an introductory video to Spark Control here.

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