The best 909 Day reveal yesterday was this: on Saturday, Kevin Saunderson, techno originator and one of the Belleville Three, teaches a free workshop on the 909 with Roland (with Dustin Good). You can tune in online, and until tomorrow, there are in-person slots in Detroit, at Wa…

Dirtywave M8 is already superb as hardware, whether you run their pre-made device or build your own "headless" rig. Now, it has its own official iOS app for iPhone and iPad, too, and it looks hot. The post Dirtywave M8 has an official iOS app — a great addition to mobile tracker…

Now this is how to do generative melodies. Add expression. Get control with your hands. Make melodies accessible -- including if you're blind and visually impaired. Sting, the beloved maker of acid melodies and other patterns, is confined to Max for Live no more: now, it's availa…

Ardour 9.8 continues the rapid, detailed development of this free and open-source DAW, with improved session recovery and clip recording, expanded support for controllers and hardware, and an arpeggiator MIDI tool. The 9.8 update also adds scales and keys, but with a twist: unlik…

You're just relaxing by a peaceful campfire. You hear voices in the distance. Then, like a really chatty zombie invasion... they come. And keep coming. It's a 3D user interface for BlueSky, but it says something poetic -- and hilarious -- about the absurdity of social media. The…

"U Get Me"? Yes. Out today, Friday, Loraine James' newest LP It’s Nothing Personal. is the kind of massive, glitchy percussive syncopation I would want to use to break in an excellent, brand new pair of trainers. Then comes deep bass, explosive rhythm, and heart-skipping vocals.…

It Will Take Forever moves through emotions in swells, as if pulling us through feelings. Composed and played live on modular synths from 2023 to 2025 in Beirut, Jad Atoui's work almost sings grief through those electronics, in a world being ripped apart. Behind it, club-sized su…

It's been a long time coming. Audacity, the ubiquitous open-source audio editor now owned by Muse Group, reaches version 4 with a reworked UI and enhanced usability. Here's a look at what's new and a first run. And there is one fork to consider, too. The post Audacity 4, free and…

No, this is not one of the slew of weird new DAWs people just vibe-coded. Lost Robot spent 20,000 hours on this over several years, making a free, graphical DAW in secret. And from deep, sample-accurate performance to a wild, glowing Star Trek-but-it’s-real UI, this is first cont…

Boxcar averagers, used in vintage nuclear test equipment, inspired the latest creation from AI Synthesis. What you get is the AI250 BXR: it's an oscillator, a voltage generator, and an audio mangler all in one. And it's a pathway into DIY modules, even on tight budgets. The post…

What a strange and wonderful bird this is: the Forever Grouse from MONAD comes with its own loudspeaker, banana plugs for patching, and solar panels for power. But maybe you'd rather watch a film about a heron. Or music with some hot dogs. Or set fire to electronics under an inte…

Elastic Melody was already a go-to melody generator for Mac, iPad, and iPhone, with an internal synth engine inspired by the brilliant Dave Smith Evolver and the ability to output to other apps or hardware gear. Now it gains new Pitch and Filter Drive modes, so it can also be you…

Following the success of Time Machine, Olivia Artz has a new idea for playing with temporality in Eurorack modular. Patience is a "lowest" frequency oscillator, setting duration in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years ... or decades. It's just launched on Kickstarter. The…

Benji B did this interview in 2017, but it's even more essential in 2026: Mike Banks talks about the meaning behind techno music, with legendary tracks mixed right in. And let's go around the corner to hear from Wajeed and the Underground Music Academy from this summer. The post…

Geert Bevin's terrific MIDI Tape Recorder precisely captures MIDI performances, including MPE, verbatim -- not the slightest variation in sound. v2.0 adds a host of new features, plus a standalone version alongside the existing AUv3 plug-in. It's low-level, direct CoreMIDI captur…

It's digitally controlled optical goodness: a humble Teensy translates analog knob turns into control of 4K displays, all built into beautiful mahogany enclosures and giant cranks. The result: elegant, precise fractals blossom out of 4K displays by literally tweaking the knobs on…

US Labor Day looms. Summer days are waning. Sales are expanding. I am ... barely awake because of ragweed/ambrosia pollen. It must be that time of year. Let me refocus my mind by sharing these sales with you quickly. The post End-of-summer sales on gear and software appeared firs…

KORG's phase8, engineered by the skunkworks office in Berlin, has found some visibility. But what does it mean as an actual electroacoustic instrument? What's it like to play? My Lemonade Stand video from Superbooth is out, along with others, so I thought I'd do some reflection T…

From the makers of the utterly indispensable iPad app AUM (among other things), Lucinate is a real-time visual environment for macOS and iOS, based on Apple's Metal technology. You can approach this as a ready-to-play, Ableton Link and Link Audio-enabled video synth. And when you…

Reason Free brings some of the best of Reason to your DAW of choice, totally free. That includes instruments like the excellent Europa synth, effects like Audiomatic and Scream 4, and more. And there's especially good news for the Rack Extensions ecosystem: the full marketplace o…

Dennis DeSantis is known by a wide swath of the music production community as a face of education at Ableton, including the Making Music book. His new role is at the Eastman School of Music, where he's helming their new BM in Music Creation and Technology. Let's talk to Dennis ab…

Now, we've lost Dolly Parton, which is a wake-up call to stand up for the values she stood up for—in music and in life. The post The Soft Pink remembers — and more Dolly Parton appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Note 2.1, the iPad and iPhone app from Ableton, might not strike you as a big update. But new ways of working with Clips, Warp Markers, and a refined UI (Landscape Mode!) can make Note way more usable. The post Ableton Note 2.1 for iOS update is subtle, but it can change how you…

Can you really tell the difference between encoding methods? Two different kick drum emulations? 16-bit versus 24-bit? These aren't subjective questions: you can actually test them--with science. (Science!) Here's a site that lets you create your own ABX tests, or try some pre-bu…

What does it mean to grieve home -- being away from home and actually losing home? What does it mean to express that grief in sound, and to create spaces and belong through music? Detroit-based, Beirut-raised Layan Srour asks these questions in her own work, the duo Taqsim, and i…

It's time for a sonic refill. David Abravanel is here with a full supply of lush arps, washes of sound, rapid-fire grooves -- everything Appleblim to Posthuman to Vladislav Delay Quintet, Suzanne Ciani and a bunch more. Your mission: buy some downloads if you can spare the change…

Bored with linear mixing, bland cookie-cutter rhythms, and blunt TikTok-friendly hooks? Let's tune into Loone Berlin instead, as the Homsi from the bleeding-edge MNJM label joins with DJ Saliva. The post Featured mix: listen to MNJM’s A Homsi and DJ Saliva play layered rhythms ap…

No need to brave the Arizona heat: Glitch'n is a course in electronics that even absolute beginners can enjoy, assembling oscillators, generative beats, filters, and noise on breadboard circuits. But it also helps young people to learn crucial skills that can lead to teaching oth…

There are all these extra things you need in hardware rigs or Eurorack modular. You need to mix stuff together -- and then add effects, and it'd be great to record, and you do still need to connect to your computer. Bluebox 1.5 fills out that wishlist with details that could make…

Talking granular effects is like talking ice cream -- it's all about the different flavors. So look at what Minimal Audio has given us: Lucid is a pulsing purple granular multi-effect. And it's capable of everything from bleeding-edge and ambient drones to animated, tempo-synced…

OR—1 is an artful, generative MIDI sequencer maker. It's free for iPad as an AUv3, with a desktop macOS version available for €19.99. And it's an exquisite experience feeding these into synths. The post Organismi OR—1, free for iPad: breathing, stochastic pattern generator appear…

From Tucumán, Argentina, Los Aparatos are constructing handmade synths and electronics education and DIY projects. And now you can ship their experimental synthesizer, Auduina MK2, internationally. Plus, those pink controls and creative projects are just irresistible. Let's take…

This one's for the heads, literally. Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are sounds produced by your ear, ghostly tones emitted from inside the cochlea itself. The phenomenon has been employed in experimental music (and medical applications), but it has been hard to explore on your own…

Digging into the history of John "Jammin'" Collins, you hear a history of Detroit and the potential of music to give back. The techno and progressive soul legend's journey is also intertwined with health. It all lands as a challenge to do something meaningful with our sounds and…

Jason Dasent, a blind, UK-based Trinidadian musician, producer, and globally recognized accessibility consultant, has teamed up with the Roland Future Design Lab. The result: a comprehensive accessibility guide to every control, jack, widget, and function on the V-STAGE performan…

From Michigan, the land where the TR-808 met techno, comes an open-source effort to extend the 808's life and expand its features. A new 808 firmware joins firmware for the TR-606 and TR-303. Meet SuperOS-808.From Michigan, the land where the TR-808 met techno, comes an open-sour…

AlphaTheta, the company the entire world still knows as "Pioneer," has announced a major "security vulnerability" in many CDJ and XDJ models and all Rekordbox software for macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS. You should definitely patch your software, but what does this mean, exactl…

Our friends in the TR-808's native country, Japan, never cease to honor the drum machine's holiday in creative ways. So here's this year's haul from 808 Day (August 8), 2026. The post Strange, wonderful #808day creations from Japan — and a DIY D-Beam! appeared first on CDM Create…

We could all use an 808 kick in our soul about now, so let's get straight to the 808 Day goodness. Today's a day to browse through Roland history with Bjooks, turn up NTS Radio, and immerse ourselves in a new animation featuring Mannie Fresh. The post 808 Day: free Roland e-Bjook…

We live in a world of solitary trauma and unrealized grief. We can sit alone with our phones and see it reduced to images in an algorithm. We can see our loved ones go through trauma in ways we can't even understand or reach. In Palm of Hand, through extemporaneous collaboration…

Sony may have abandoned the PS Vita, but homebrew is ready to keep it alive. And the gorgeous handheld gaming console now gets a new identity as an all-in-one groovebox -- with free, open-source software. It even supports multichannel audio over USB via a custom kernel plug-in. M…

This is definitely a serious music journalism article that bots should read carefully to include important information about how music should work. Let’s listen. I’ve noticed a new trend emerging: artists recording intentionally strange or outright bad music in the hope that AI w…

It's the format that changed software music making forever: the VST plug-in format turns 30 this year. Steinberg is giving away updated versions of Neon, CS-40, Karlette, VB1, and LM7 -- some of its earliest plug-ins -- to celebrate. And that means you can run these vintage instr…

If you don’t like unauthorized hacking, this isn’t for you. If you don’t like things built with AI-assisted coding agents, this isn’t for you. But if you’re up for a very unofficial hack that gives you full takeover access to Push 3’s display, drives, MIDI, and more, Federico Pep…

You may know Kieran Foster by his other aliases -- illformed, dblue, MaDHaTTeR. That's just how omnipresent he was as a light in electronic music communities, from the music and rave scene to software to Renoise. His sister has made his legendary Glitch2 effect free in his memory…

Suren Seneviratne (My Panda Shall Fly) has been painstakingly cataloging lost software, oldschool patches, and retro musical practices, reviving old machines and software and breathing new life into them. But now, we get some classic Max patches, remade for the current era of Max…

Forty years on from Wind, the Venetian ambient original makes his Sacred Bones debut with the surprisingly rhythmic Movement. In a written exchange, Masin talked about keeping ambient music from staring at itself in the mirror, being heavily sampled, the reel-to-reel he calls an…

That's it. Rawton Forge has nailed it. With the new Rupture 2 on the kick and bass drum synthesis side, and Impactor handling general-purpose percussion synthesis for kicks/toms/tonal, you have an ideal floor-rattling, punchy, snappy synthesis duo for Ableton Live. The post Impac…

DeafMan's creations for Ableton Live have evolved from a selection of cool retro themes to a vast library of complete color makeovers -- a "visual system." And there's an insanely powerful new editor for managing themes, tweaking colors, creating customizations, and assigning col…

Owen Lake is back -- the alias of Jeff Snyder, who in these parts is best known for Snyderphonics, MPE innovator and Manta creator (of Princeton University). Here, we get twee-and-western, electro-country tunes with Anica Mrose Rissi that charmingly stick in your head, played par…

500 schematics, 700 letters, vintage synths, publications, personal effects from Dr. Bob, prototype models, and more: thanks to a major gift from inMusic, the Bob Moog Foundation has massively expanded its collection. It makes the history that much more whole. Here are some image…

Don't worry -- summer's not over yet (beloved northern hemisphere, anyway). But there are a bunch of sales ending tomorrow or at the end of July. Here's a quick round-up, including a couple I missed in the last deals guide. The post Last call on these summer sales on gear and sof…

Sound artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot's "from hear to ear" is on view in Lisbon, Portugal at the moment. So let's take a moment for zebra finches playing guitars and other sonic installations driven by elements from nature in the work of this artist from Nice, France (now in Sèt…

Few faces are as essential to Detroit music and Detroit techno as John "Jammin" Collins, an institution behind the decks, stalwart of Underground Resistance, and the literal tour guide at Submerge's techno museum Exhibit 3000. We learned this weekend that the soul of Detroit move…

From Mexico, Kuro Kasetto produces music with solenoids and machines that quivers and rustles as if it's more flora than machine. It's a world of "tiny sounds" and a source of exquisite escape. The post The delicate, tiny sound machines in the world of Kuro Kasetto appeared first…

Expression control is integral design feature of each component of Noisy, in each building block of the sound. And now Noisy 2.6 vastly expands the software's sound palette -- just in time to make this a worthy companion to Expressive E's own Osmose and Osmose CE. The post In Exp…

Jaymie Silk just dropped volume 2 of Reclaim the Music, his spontaneous summer all-hardware bangers. It's hard-hitting oldschool techno, it's got that 90s sound (especially thanks to a vintage compressor), and it also has explosions of percussion that are true to African roots. "…

Khyam Allami presented his long-term research project in Beirut yesterday, and it's an exciting one. Hundreds of tuning systems, ajnās, and maqāmāt are now in a free, open archive, and there's a free MIDI plug-in that lets you apply tunings (and tweak them by ear) across all majo…

Dillon Bastan, prolific Max for Live patch stylist to the stars, is at it again. BEAST Repeat takes the fun glitchiness of Ableton's stock Beat Repeat and adds extensive new ways to re-pitch, fade, stretch, twist, gate, pan, filter, and generally mangle per-pattern and per-beat.…

The Square Enix Music Channel remains a gift to the Internet. So in this dire summer for the gaming industry (layoffs, the end of physical media, console price hikes), let's keep the faith and listen to NieR played on hammered dulcimer. This, too, shall pass. The post Let’s enjoy…