The Swedish company Elektron announced the release of two new products. Analog Four, a four-voice analog desktop synthesizer and Analog Rytm MKII, an 8-voice analog drum machine and a sampler, have undergone some drastic changes in the MKII versions. The units can be purchased this fall for $1,350 and $1,550, respectively.

Many musicians - especially those who are into sound production but have to do it at home - dream about DSI Tempest or Elektron Analogue Rytm the prices of which are honestly snappish. Then they have that painful comeback and face their reality and are not in the mood to check their account. And a bit later they experience that amusing enlightment: the Internet allows us to find appropriate (concerning price and quality/functionality) variants of analog drum machines and any possible synth. Some of these instruments will surely give way to more expensive units but there are those great alternatives you can opt for until you earn enough to splash out.

That drum machine wave which drifted the 80s into history as the time for cult dance music instruments brought a lot of units which would be copied and imitated after with enormous zealotry. But while musicians of that epoch had to enjoy vintage synthesizers the future was preparing for them big announcements of legendary drum machines being revised to fit the modern world. Analog renaissance of the XXI century keeps on flourishing and expands adding more and more of new possibilities. Here we’ll take a look at the great drum machines of the past (LinnDrum LM-2, Sequential Circuits TOM, Roland TB-303) as well as contemporary analog beat creatures - Dave Smith Instruments Tempest, Elektron Analog Rytm, and recent Arturia DrumBrute.

17 November 2016 analog drum synth Arturia DrumBrute becomes available! We’ve been waiting for it and finally can get another Arturia’s synthesizer which already seems as cute as a commercially successful MiniBrute – who knows, maybe it’s going to be one of the market leaders among mid-range drum machines. 17 available instruments, sequencer, multifilter, various patterns and a recording mode as well as the wide range of connectivity possibilities will give a beginner and a professional the chance to improve themselves revealing their potential – and the good part is that you won’t have to save up for it.

Not so long ago the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron announced Analog Heat – powerful and compact analog stereo processor with vast range of connectivity and control possibilities. Shape the sound with 8 analog stereo distortion circuits, analog multimode stereo filter and analog stereo equalizer.