It’s about time for a new granular dream module, and the Intellijel Multigrain could be a real contender. Available now, it packs stereo morphing granular powers into 20HP and US$479. (And yes, USA, you can import this from Canada!) I’ve had an advance look at the manual and I’m ready to wrap my granular brain around this one.

Live Mac visual app VDMX6 is now shipping some of the new hotness the developers promised with the transition to Metal for rendering. Apple’s frameworks unlock a ton of visual tricks, from tracking video to color scopes to background removal.

The Georgian pro-democracy, anti-corruption movement is still in the streets, month after month. Music remains a way to connect those demonstrations with supporters at home and abroad. Tbilisi/Berlin artist Mess)Montage joins as we put together sounds from Georgia (and I write this from soundcheck for a fundraiser tonight).

Ardour, the criminally underrated free and open source DAW for Mac, Windows, and Linux, has been a little quiet lately. Over the weekend, we learned what’s coming in Ardour 9.0/9+, and why the devs have been busy. Not sure where to start? Check out how-to videos, including voice-activated recording(!)

Baby Audio’s Smooth Operator Pro is a new, expanded version of the resonance suppression/spectral dynamics processing tool. Four years in the making, this version has a new UI and workflow, upgraded engine with per-node controls, stereo and mid/side processing, sidechaining, and more. Here’s a detailed guide to approaching this not just for correction tasks, but some creative use and abuse – as a spectral addition to your typical EQ and dynamics tools.

What could community and imagination in music making look like? Laurie Spiegel’s reflections on the 70s and earlier decades, recorded in 2014, offer some clues, even for a very different time today.

Musician, teacher, and founder of Gaza Birds Singing, Ahmed Abuamsha is collectively our colleague in the international music world as much as he is a voice for his family and community: Ahmed Muin needs support now just to manage drinking water. “What can I do?” Here are some answers.

I expect everyone could use a breather and some grooves. Japan is there for us, flooding my algorithm with a bunch of groovy beats – and Roland has an adorable t-shirt drop again for the superfans.

Eric Singer is back. The interactive artist and inventor helped the idea of robotics and alternative interfaces break out to wider audiences over the past decades – and now he’s gearing up to put LIDAR in your modular rig or other devices with analog CV inputs.

On 404 Day Eve, Roland is squeezing more power into the SP-404MKII. This time, you can use the device to add hands-on control to Serato DJ Lite/Pro and Serato Studio, combining Serato’s sampling, beatmaking, live, and DJing capabilities with the 404’s familiar layout and effects. Once you’ve got the 404, you can start playing with all of it for free. Here’s what’s included, and how we got here.