2014 was such an exceptional year for electronic music and synths that our best of 2014 posts, which cover Mobile Music Apps, Hardware Synths, MIDI Controllers, Modular Synth Gear, Electronic Music Hardware, Music Software and even the Sexiest Vaporware – still leave a lot uncovered.
Here’s wrap up on other things from 2014 that were too cool not to mention:
Synthtopia’s Best Of 2014: Stuff That Was Too Cool Not To Mention
- Best New Synth Book – Mark Vail’s The Synthesizer is a massive tome on everything synth. A must-have for synth fans.
- Best New Electronic Music Widget – The iConnectivity iConnect Audio 4+ Audio/MIDI Interface is more than an audio interface and more than a MIDI interface, it solves problems you didn’t even realize that you had.
- Best Mobile Music Trend – Android music apps are on the rise.
- Best Grammy Award – Kraftwerk Lifetime Achievement Grammy
- Best Original Electronic Music Soundtrack Album – Solvent’s New Ways (Music From I Dream Of Wires), like the DVD, is a must-have for modular synth fans.
- Best New Thing To Worry About – ‘Hawaii Synth Burn‘ – watch out for those Kawai K-0’s.
- Best Synth Shrine – the PsybOrg Synthesizer Pulpit
- Best Electronic Music Event – Moogfest 2014 was the best Moogfest ever and an event that will be hard to top.
- Best Synth-Related Podcast: Art + Music + Technology – host Darwin Grosse asks synth gurus smart questions.
- Best DIY Synth Project – The TTSH ARP 2600 Clone is huge, expensive, difficult and awesome.
- Best Retro Berlin School Synth Album – Node 2 – on heavy rotation here.
- Best Synth Soundtrack – Jodorowsky’s Dune Score, by Kurt Stenzel & SpacEKrafT, unfortunately not available as an album.
- Best Open Source Release That Will Take Us A While To Fully Comprehend – EigenD Music Performance Environment
- Best Hardware Re-Issue By A Competitor – Pioneer’s $699 PLX-1000 Direct Drive DJ Turntable
- Best Bootleg That Finally Got An Official Release – Fripp & Eno – Live In Paris 28.05.1975
- Best Aphex Twin Album In A Decade – SYRO
- Best Hardware Hack Ever – Zaquencer Step Sequencer Firmware For BCR2000
Was there other stuff that was awesome in 2014 that we missed? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!
Congrats to Jim Andor Genaro for the PsybOrg!
iConnectAudio4+ is still not released. Perhaps it should be included instead on your Best Vaporware list! That being said, the iConnectMidi4+ is definitely a killer interface, providing multi-host audio exchange over USB (as well as MIDI, of course).
It ain’t vaporware, the first batch has left the factory and is supposed to hit the US in Feb.
Best Synth-Based Moment of Humanity: Keith Emerson, at the unveiling of the NOS Moog Modulars built to “Brain Salad” specs, saying “Sorry, just got new dentures,” rearranging them in the middle of his speech. Its always great to see someone you admire totally humanize the situation in a fun way. I’d somewhat expect that from a guy who gave concerts with a bottle of hooch on his Hammond. Having a Sense-of-Humor module makes everything else better.
How about best independent or small manufacturer gear of 2014? Theres a lot of guys (some of whom frequent here) who put a lot of work into the gear they make and it would be great to give them some recognition on here.
Best New MIDI controller: LinnStrument. 200-cell grid controller with polyphonic 3D expression with multi-color LEDs to indicate in-scale notes and splits.
Misprint? The iConnect Audio 4+ is still a few weeks away from commercial availability.
“Best Electronic Music Event – Moogfest 2014 was the best Moogfest ever and an event that will be hard to top.” True dat, on multiple levels.
At which something from my bucket list also got crossed off, “Meet the Synthtopia.com folks.”
Which I did. 🙂
Oh yeah, plus I saw Kraftwerk, too.
Forgive me for being totally OT, but couldn’t find this information anywhere and have been wondering for weeks: Will the internal sequence memory of a Volca remain during battery change? In other words, is it buffered? I suppose it is, but better make sure. Thanks!
Yes, 99% sure my Volca Beats does retain saved sequences during battery swap. I can double check this evening if someone hasn’t provided a firm answer by then.
Thanks a lot, double-checking would be very welcome!
It does, just checked. Apologies for the late reply.
Great, thanks!!
It should be mentioned that MOOGFEST 2014 lost over $1.5 million hence it was cancelled for 2015, may return in 2016.
I think the loss of $1.5M has to be taken with a grain of salt. While the promoters might not have turned a profit when you consider the influx of funds and goodwill towards the city of Asheville this is much closer to a break-even adventure. Anyone who saw the opening panel featuring the mayors and politicians from the local towns knows how important it is to put on this kind of event and how thrilled they would have been with the outcome.
Yes, there will be some retooling for 2016 but the solution is really simple. Don’t offer so much of it for free. Either get rid of those outdoor stages or find a way to charge for them.
It was easy to see where the money went – on getting great artists.
It was also easy to see how they could tweak Moogfest to get it to break even – cut down on the number of competing shows. For example, on one day, you had to choose between Keith Emerson or Kraftwerk.
Cut it down to three days, reduce the competition between great shows, eliminate the free stage and they’ll probably have a profitable event. Everybody that i talked to was having a great time.
BEST GEAR RELATED SITE OF 2014: Synthtopia
Best free sample libraries:
https://soundcloud.com/darksideofthetune/sets/free-sample-libraries