It has a “broken” button and an eyelid that you can blink on and off. It lets you record or set feedback to 150%. It overdubs, it loops, it — does it in opposing directions. No, it’s not another tape delay/looper. Every single setting in TapeLeap from Mudjaq, for Max for Live, is bonkers and fantastic.

It’s mx. pinky’s birthday, and if you need some energy to deal with the world, this is a mix to play and cherish.

You’d be hard-pressed to build a better handheld-sized computer. Artist nbor has turned his Steam Deck gaming handheld from Valve into a compact step-sequencing powerhouse, and he shares the script and tips you need if you want to do the same.

Ukrainian-born Zavoloka was a perfect choice to debut the new Waldorf Protein with a jaw-rattling live set. Now you can catch that performance in video — grab a cold Koryfei*, kick back, and enjoy.

Surgeon’s Shell~Wave easily tops my favorite techno records from 2025, a nice return to form for Tresor Records. But as we’re awash in generated artwork, let’s devote our own brain cycles instead to listening to Surgeon talk to Taiwanese artist Jazz Szu-Ying Chen about the craft of making this album cover by hand.

We have updated hardware classics, so why not software? Absynth’s original creator, Brian Clevinger, weighs in on what motivates his instrument creations and what strikes emotional resonance. From Native Instruments, Hannah Lockwood joins to talk about the user interface and the collaboration.

Back in green: three years after Native Instruments announced its demise, Absynth 6 makes an unexpected return from the dead. What we get is not just a rerelease, but the biggest update for the polysynth in its history, with everything from new filters and engine enhancements to a new UI and MPE. Early review: this is a polysynth you need to explore all over again — or discover for the first time.

It’s the 12 Days of Soundtoys: the Burlington-based developer is giving away one of its excellent audio effects every 48 hours, free (a total of six plug-ins). That’s on top of their existing sale. The freebies kick off today with Little PrimalTap, a retro delay with extra time warping, looping, distortion, and sound-transforming powers.

They gathered for 24 hours in 70 live coding performances from around the world. Now Algorave has a 55-track album “full of really great music and noise from the live coding/algorithmic music community, fundraising to support Palestinian health, dignity, and culture.” All that plus extra videos from their recent livestream and more. At a time when computer tech is all about extraction, it’s refreshing to see an actual community that’s using code to give.

If you didn’t get the chance to grab Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals and were hoping to stock up, there’s still a chance on some music gear, software, and plug-ins (with a couple I missed that expire tonight). Here are a few of the best options. Hardware First, Reverb has up to 80% off […]