Skip to content

XLR MAG

Synth History

20 stories

Synth HistoryGearThree Questions With Dan Deacon Next up in the 3Qs Series is the amazing musician and composer Dan Deacon! He was kind enough to list off some of his music-making essentials.

Synth HistoryGearInterview With Johnny Jewel Interview with the legendary musician, record producer, composer, visual artist and founder of the Italians Do It Better record label, Johnny Jewel.

Synth HistoryGearInterview With Tom Cosm, Telepathic Instruments Synth designer, educator and musician, Tom Cosm of Telepathic Instruments answers some Qs about the design process of Orchid ORC—1.

Synth HistoryGearTony Hawk's Favorite Records Next up in the Favorite Records series is the one and only: legendary pro skateboarder, entrepreneur, owner of Birdhouse, and an absolute cultural icon whose influence spans generations, Tony Hawk!

Synth HistoryGearInterview With Boy Harsher Caught up with the amazing Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller of Boy Harsher before their performance at Milky’s in LA.

Synth HistoryGearHannah Lew Recommends Musician and filmmaker Hannah Lew is next up in the Recommends Series. She lists some of her music-making essentials below! Photos of Hannah Lew by Ginger Fierstein. Without further ado…

Synth HistoryGearInterview With Daniel Pemberton Got to chat with the amazing composer and songwriter Daniel Pemberton who recently scored Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and written by Drew Goddard, based on the…

Synth HistoryGearKurt Vile's Favorite Records Kurt Vile recommends his favorite records for Synth History.

Synth HistoryGearThree Questions With Book of Love Next up in the 3Qs series is Book of Love. The 40th Anniversary edition of their self-titled debut is out June 26th via Rhino Records. Link. Keyboardist Ted Ottaviano answers three questions below.

Synth HistoryGearInner Wave Recommends Next up in the Recommends Series is the amazing Inner Wave.

Synth HistoryGearThree Questions With Steve Roach Next up in the three questions series is legendary composer and performer Steve Roach! Steve first gained recognition with his 1984 minimalist album, Structures from Silence.

Synth HistoryGearInterview With Croz Boyce (Dave Portner / Avey Tare and Brian Weitz / Geologist of Animal Collective) Got to chat with the amazing Dave Portner (Avey Tare) and Brian Weitz (Geologist) of Animal Collective about their new project, Croz Boyce!

Synth HistoryGearThree Questions With RZA Three questions with producer, director, writer, composer, rapper, and de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan: living legend RZA !

Synth HistoryGearDevon Ross' Favorite Records Next up in the Favorite Records series is actress and musician, Devon Ross! She recently starred in the HBO/A24 original series Irma Vep directed by Olivier Assayas and carried the lead role in…

Synth HistoryGearInterview With Flying Lotus, 2026 Interview with the legendary Flying Lotus!

Synth HistoryGearThree Questions With Mandy, Indiana Mandy, Indiana answer three questions.

Synth HistoryGearInterview With Peter Baumann Interview with legendary musician, producer and synth pioneer, Peter Baumann.

Synth HistoryGearJill Fraser Recommends The amazing composer and electronic music pioneer, Jill Fraser, recommends some studio essentials.

Synth HistoryGearThree Questions With Soulwax Next up in the three questions series is the Belgian electronic band and DJ/production collective from Ghent, who formed in 1995, the legendary Soulwax!

Synth HistoryGearThree Questions With Sébastien Tellier Next up in the 3Qs series is musician, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sébastien Tellier!

On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every six hours, linked to the original

About

Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.