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…

Here's another live visual icon with some welcome updates. Vidvox promised lots of quality-of-life refinements with VDMX6 as a platform, and VDMX6.3 adds just that. So it's a good excuse to mention VDMX again, in case you'd tuned out for a bit. The post VDMX 6.3 adds expressions,…

The news can be numbing in all its violence and mindlessness, compounded by a chorus of shills across media and social media. Temp-Illusion, the duo formed in Tehran by Shahin Entezami and Behrang Najafi, cuts through those feelings like a knife. Then stick around for the deeply…

Sinevibes has been cheering on KORG gear as much as KORG themselves. Now they're bringing the entire range of 20+ effects to prologue, minilogue xd, NTS-1, NTS-1 mkII, NTS-3, and microKORG2 -- plus you get major sonic updates for the Eternal flanger and Shift frequency shifter. T…

MID continues to make cool stuff for Ableton Live, with a special emphasis on Ableton Move. Ever wished you could quickly chop up a track or other longer material into bar-aligned loops -- especially for easy triggering on Move? Move Loop Slicer does just that, and it's free now.…

Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance, and Brainworx being part of inMusic? That was early May; now only NI remains at inMusic. 2026' mergers and acquisitions have come so fast, you practically need a reference to keep up. So... let's do just that. It's part of a larger pa…

35 years later, the T-1000 is more relevant than ever. Terminator 2 debuted in the first weekend of July 1991. The groundbreaking mix of computer animation and practical effects has come full circle. And I can’t mention the T-1000 without mentioning Alan Oldham (DJ T-1000.) T-100…

Finally, proof that there's life for Live after Apple and Microsoft. It's unofficial and totally unsupported, but a set of patches for the free Wine compatibility environment lets you run Ableton Live 12, Max for Live, and Push 2 and Push 3 on Linux. And the result is just about…

Novation's Launchkey remains a go-to, no-hassle standard for MIDI controllers. Now they've rounded out their MK4 lineup with an 88-key model that adds the extra octaves without the weight or bulk that usually entails. They opted for semi-weighted keys to keep from bulking up.) It…

Isadora for macOS and Windows has long been a powerful media art tool for those in the know, thanks to its intuitive interface and focus on live performance. It's the media art tool that can feel at home with dance choreographers, a rare piece of software that gets dramaturgy. Is…

Apple's Logic Pro for macOS and iOS just got some powerful new granular features for Alchemy and Sample Alchemy, plus new modes for the sequenced slicer/effect Beat Breaker. Once you do know where to find the new features, it opens up major sound design possibilities. The post Lo…

Capital and private equity continue to fly in the music and music tech industries. CVC has acquired a majority stake in the music distribution giant DistroKid, with Insight VC keeping a significant share. The post CVC private equity now has a majority stake in DistroKid, music di…

For my semi-regular program POST for Refuge Worldwide this week, I focused on new releases. This highlighted Lebanon in particular and still didn't cover the flurry of releases there, but it covered other places, too. It's all recommended, so here's the full playback and track li…

EPROM, the West Coast experimental bass and production legend, meets Minimal Audio’s Current with Memory Rites. Here’s a guide to exploring those sounds, whether the full flagship synth or the new Current Expansion Player. The post EPROM built an instrument for Current: complete…

School's out for summer. But Ableton's getting ready for back-to-school, soft-launching Ableton Learn with lessons for starting from the beginning with music and production. And there's a twist: its interactive features are powered by the same engine that Ableton Move and Note us…

You wake up. It’s the year 2003. Some upstart software developer called Audio Damage wants to let you patch a combo filter-delay however you like, including ways that will break your ears. Ronin is reborn as ShinRonin, from a time when software developers let you run with scissor…