Winter is far from over. Or, erm, summer; I don’t know which hemisphere you’re in. You need to prep for what’s ahead by stocking up on music gear and software now. I am the voice of your Gear/Plugin Acquisition Syndrome, and this is my hand-picked list.

Nothing about this year was normal; next year promises the same. But that’s what music is for – to reframe moments in time.

David Abravanel is one of the people who has shaped this site’s musical awareness over the years. In a year when we turn to music for meaning, I’m even more grateful for his annual picks. It’s an astonishing list, and makes some good listening homework for the start of the year. (Time to clean house/studio and sit back and listen!)

From Egyptology and Commodore Amiga to reflecting on AI and selecting the best physical modeling tools, Ed and Andy (Plaid) open up about their work and practice. We’re turning this year into the next with talks with our favorite artists.

It’s what VCV Rack users have been waiting for. Instruō has Apple Silicon-native support for its software module clones, plus, for all platforms, the cèis envelope generator and powerful øchd modulation expander. And it’s all freeware.

While the year draws to a close and much of the world is focused on holidays, Tbilisi’s music community is out in force in ongoing protests, fighting for Georgian democracy.

From La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela to Valee and Gangsta Boo, Michael Vincent Waller talks to us about collaboration, mixing, and connecting the dots between modern Classical/new concert music and hip-hop.

Noah Pred has a fantastic free treat out on Manifest Audio for Ableton Live and Max for Live. Percotone is monophonic, expressive, playable, and full of tonal, pitch-mangling delights. It’s just the thing for sneaking in some quick sound experiments in the waning days of the year.

On December 24 and 25, radio will broadcast live from Gaza and produce a live-streamed exchange between a choir in Bethlehem and Hebron and one in Khan Younis. It’s an unprecedented live connection to a world whose violence has been shrouded in darkness. It’s also a way for live streaming to reconnect a Palestine divided across the West Bank and Gaza.

Virtual patching has reached a major milestone: you don’t need a controller. Using just your hands and natural gestures, you can now build up entire interactive worlds, connect virtual wires, tweak knobs and faders, and play virtual instruments in PatchWorld on Meta Quest. Combined with Mixed Reality, virtual physics, and support for OpenSoundControl and Ableton Live and Link integration, it’s a glimpse of how mixed reality and VR can work for music making.