With gaming giant Epic buying Bandcamp, why not let music-makers put their albums on indie gaming darling itch.io, too? Thanks to homebrewed, customizable, free players, it’s now totally doable.
Music
Lists aside, these 2024 albums are personal must-listens
Music Reviews Stories December 31, 2024
Saying goodbye to 2024 with music and reflections: David’s picks
Music Reviews Stories December 31, 2024
Tbilisi’s music scene is still out in the streets, defiant
Music December 27, 2024
Meditation in a time of war: Ukrainian music innovator Kotra interview, premiere
Extreme-distorted metallic surfaces buzz on the surface, but there’s deep meditation beneath. Ukraine’s Kotra, aka Dmytro Fedorenko, returns to CDM to tell us how he’s coping with the invasion of his home country and how we can respond – starting with keeping our minds together.
Free modular patching how-to with Reaktor Blocks, live coding, TidalCycles, more
Ready to get started in modular – without spending any money? Or at the opposite extreme, ready to go way deeper in Reaktor Blocks and even integrate live coding with TidalCycles? I’ve got a tutorial for you…
Reason Studios shares update and fixes, roadmap for the year, deal on Players
Reason Studios have a small update to Reason 12, some updates on their roadmap for the year (like when to expect M1 support) – plus some offers for anyone in the market for an upgrade or new license.
Bentō is an alive, unstable Japanese noise box by Giorgio Sancristoforo
Feedback networks, unstable oscillators, shaky fat quivering filters, distorted mayhem, a bunch of labels in Japanese, a bunch of switches and knobs and a tape recorder – Bentō is a delight of software madness. It’s a delicious meal of noise.
Renoise tracker better supports Mac, Windows, Link, and – get ready, DIYers – RasPi
It’s the tracker software (Renoise) and sampler-sequencer (Redux) that bring those tools into the 21st century. And now Renoise delivers a ton of new native options for every platform.
COLLIDZ° generates detailed ambient music, on its own or with a candy store worth of features
It’s a sequencer. It’s a generative music maker. It’s microtonal. It’s packed with synth engines and effects. But if other tools get you stuck in presets, this world-builder for Reaktor makes each preset and parameter a gateway to something creative and unexpected.
Efx FRAGMENTS is a granular processing loaded with modulation in latest Arturia FX addition
Efx FRAGMENTS takes granular processing from niche effect to fully robust plug-in – and moves Arturia’s growing FX Collection into new creative territory. Today’s the last day of the intro pricing so let me make sure you get a quick review.
Cries and pleas, expressed in music, in expansive benefit compilations for and by Ukraine
Here’s another essential batch of projects against war, in support of Ukraine, many of them centering Ukrainian artists’ music and organization. All represent global outcry, and organizers are also reporting significant funds raised for direct support.
Go check out people making music and visuals by connecting synths to plants
Peope are finding new, organic inputs for synthesizers – the patterns of leaves, humidity and climate, and even electricity pulsing through your friendly neighborhood plants. It might be just the kind of Earth connection you need right now.