Ableton Live’s new MIDI tools can be really useful – if you can get the hang of them. For that, we turn to long-time educator Madeleine Bloom for a breakdown.

VDMX6 promised new features on a new foundation, and Vidvox is already delivering. Protect the identity of faces in video, remove backgrounds, generate QR codes, and more.

Move, the all-new compact all-in-one hardware platform from Ableton, got your attention – whether you loved it, hated it, or just weren’t sure. So here’s still more detail on Move: what it can do, what it can’t, how it compares, and some tips and hacks for getting more out of it even at v1.1.

Applied Acoustics Systems’ Multiphonics CV-2 can be like having a carefully curated hardware modular rig on your computer – uniquely balanced, doing less with more. AAS has a new free pack showing off those capabilities, launching with a live jam and a bunch of discounts.

We mark the loss of Lilian Schwartz this week at age 97. She’ll be remembered for her impact on the craft of artmaking with computers and her vision for how to push human skill in digital media. And you can dive deep into her work online; here’s a set of links.

Billed at launch as a “transition designer,” it was clear from the start that Transit 2 was a multi-effects workstation. Now, the Baby Audio / Andrew Huang collab has delivered on that with new effects and Motion Modes, making this a “motion effects playground.”

Modor’s DR-2 is a monster truck of digital drum machines. Apart from being massive physically, it’s got brutal sounds — aggressive filters, pounding kicks — and its developer keeps packing in more. The latest update now adds bass models to the many features lurking behind this panel.

From Beirut to their current home, Prague, Rust – the duo of Petra Hawi and Hany Manja – have created an anthem and reflection on life far away from home. The video came out this week, at a moment when I know many, many diasporas are watching crises unfolding in parallel across the world.

The iconic monome grid just got native support from Cycling ’74’s RNBO, the patching tool for exporting Max sounds on other hardware and software environments. There’s a fun, free example patch to get you started, too.

Fully free, completely open source, Ubuntu Studio can breathe life into old machines and give you powerful free toolsets on new ones. It’s one of the easiest ways to get creative with Linux, and this new release looks better, supports more audio configurations, and is simpler to install, as well as bringing the latest-and-greatest package support.