Blog – Markus Junnikkala

Reviews

Wavelet Audio Runa Elder Scoring Strings & Runa 2 Review: One Instrument, Two Questions

Wavelet Audio’s Runa and Runa 2 are both built on the kobyz, a two-stringed Kazakh bowed instrument, but they ask very different things of it. Runa covers the core articulations and a deep rhythmic toolkit, while Runa 2 explores extended techniques, gated textures, loops and phrases. Here’s how each one plays, and why they complement each other instead of overlapping.

Markus Junnikkala September 27, 2026

Interview

Seth Tsui on Leaving Riot Games, Owning Your Sounds, and Why the Ladder Always Points Away From the Work

“That was not one that I wanted to look back on and say, where did the last 10 years go?” Composer Seth Tsui on turning down the orchestra, the Zimmer studio ladder, and a manager’s salary at Riot Games.

Markus Junnikkala September 15, 2026

Reviews

Sound Magic Neo Piano Chapters: F308 — Nuance Over Spectacle

Sound Magic’s Neo Piano Chapters: F308 fits a full concert grand into 550 megabytes and surrounds it with a deep set of shaping controls — including two ideas I haven’t really seen done this way before. It’s a focused, purist instrument that rewards patience rather than preset browsing, with a couple of rough edges worth knowing about. Here’s how it actually feels to play, and who it’s really for.

Markus Junnikkala September 14, 2026

Interview

How Do You Make a Keyboard Believe It’s a Guitar? — Greg Schlaepfer, Orange Tree Samples

Greg Schlaepfer of Orange Tree Samples has spent seventeen years making keyboards sound like guitars. A conversation about hidden mechanisms, the ethics of who gets paid, and why the most impressive work never announces itself.

Markus Junnikkala August 13, 2026

Reviews

Everything Must Change: Emergence Audio’s Envoy and the Analog Percussion That Refuses to Repeat Itself

Percussion is the one corner of music where asking for variation isn’t exactly the first thing we think of — and Envoy, the first instrument built on Emergence Audio’s new Cadence Engine, is built on the opposite assumption. Six hundred analog sources, three independent clocks, and a randomiser that reshapes your sequence without destroying it. A close look at what it does well, where it asks something of you, and the second instrument hiding inside it.

Markus Junnikkala August 10, 2026

Reviews

Dead Right: How Circles Turned Cult Sample Libraries Into One Instrument — Circles Audio Plugin Review

The Circles drum samples have long been a quiet favourite secret weapon among producers, used across countless big tracks. Now Circles Audio has gathered the whole library into a single instrument — smooth, clean, polished, and easy to navigate. The samples were never the question; whether the instrument could do them justice was, and it does.

Markus Junnikkala June 25, 2026

Reviews

Orange Tree Samples Latitude: The “Latin Rock” Percussion Library That Doesn’t Stop There – Review

Orange Tree Samples’ Latitude arrives subtitled Latin Rock Percussion, but what’s inside reaches far beyond that — 376 deeply sampled instruments, musical grooves, surprising drum kits, and a sound quality that breathes. Here’s why this might be one of the most versatile percussion libraries right now.

Markus Junnikkala May 24, 2026

Reviews

Heavyocity Oblivion Drums — Aggression That Doesn’t Exhaust You – Review

Heavyocity’s Oblivion Drums delivers aggressive, industrial-grade percussion that stays musical and mixable. It hits hard without becoming fatiguing or harsh — a balance that sounds simple but very few libraries in this category actually pull off.

Markus Junnikkala May 23, 2026

Reviews

Believe the HYPE — Teletone Audio, Darren King, and Drums That Make You Want to Write – Review

Built in collaboration with drummer Darren King, Teletone Audio’s HYPE is refined texture, rare drums, and unending groove — the kind of instrument that genuinely makes you want to write. Powered by sounds from Blackbird Studio’s vault, an extraordinary beat maker, and Teletone’s own effects DSP, it’s as much a source of musical inspiration as it is a source of soulful, rich drum sounds.

Markus Junnikkala May 19, 2026

Reviews

Events Haunt Spaces — And So Does This Library (Again) | Haunted Spaces 2 by Soniccouture

Soniccouture’s Haunted Spaces 2 pairs Chris Watson’s extraordinary field recordings with a deep hybrid engine — and the result is one of the most inspiring ambient and sound design instruments I’ve encountered. A blind, first-listen review from a composer’s perspective.

Markus Junnikkala May 5, 2026

Markus' Log

Pro Audio Reviews, Podcast Blog, News Updates.

Wavelet Audio Runa Elder Scoring Strings & Runa 2 Review: One Instrument, Two Questions

Seth Tsui on Leaving Riot Games, Owning Your Sounds, and Why the Ladder Always Points Away From the Work

Sound Magic Neo Piano Chapters: F308 — Nuance Over Spectacle

How Do You Make a Keyboard Believe It’s a Guitar? — Greg Schlaepfer, Orange Tree Samples

Everything Must Change: Emergence Audio’s Envoy and the Analog Percussion That Refuses to Repeat Itself

Dead Right: How Circles Turned Cult Sample Libraries Into One Instrument — Circles Audio Plugin Review

Orange Tree Samples Latitude: The “Latin Rock” Percussion Library That Doesn’t Stop There – Review

Heavyocity Oblivion Drums — Aggression That Doesn’t Exhaust You – Review

Believe the HYPE — Teletone Audio, Darren King, and Drums That Make You Want to Write – Review

Events Haunt Spaces — And So Does This Library (Again) | Haunted Spaces 2 by Soniccouture

Want to Keep Logging?

Subscribe to my newsletter!

Want to Support this (B)Log?

Become a member! (it's not a cult!)

Keep in Touch.