With Kyiv under attack as I write this in our neighbor Ukraine, I want to pass the mic to Ukrainian venues and artists and folks of Ukrainian descent/Ukrainian diaspora.

It’s difficult to focus today here in Europe as we’re rocked by war and have friends in danger in Ukraine. To readers, colleagues, friends in Ukraine – I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I hope to make at least some space for networks in Ukraine and across the region working for better futures.

Wow, yay, LOL. 22.02.2022! Is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is? 22.02.2022! LOL, yay, wow!

Looking for some nerdy way to celebrate 22.02.2022 ? Well, why not tune into everyone’s favorite palindromic visual dataflow multimedia development environment for Windows? (How’s that for a crowd-pleasing teaser?) And the timing is right for other reasons, too…

It’s a stunningly powerful groovebox you can run in a browser tab – and now, not only is it improved, but there’s a new default open sample library. Of course, that means you’ve got open sounds and patterns for use in other projects, too.

Okay, weekend warriors – Bitwig Studio 4.2 beta is here, and it’s got a good reason to get on the Grid modular patching train. Think note processing and generation in a really intuitive way. Plus whether or not that’s your speed, they’ve got 3 audio effects x 4 characters = stuff most everyone will want.

An interactive visual programming tool with patching right in the browser, Cables was already appealing. This month’s release adds shiny new features like – well, a feature for making things shiny and new.

It all started with “a mixture of river, wind in the trees, and Autobahn,” the sounds Hainbach heard where he grew up, he tells us. And the new AudioThing plug-in grew from there, into something deep enough for you to explore, too.

2002, Tijuana, twenty years ago this week: Murcof and FAX released their first albums and launched the label Static Discos. Sounds come in cycles, and they can easily sound new all over again – doubly so with a beautiful new remix compilation to celebrate. Let’s listen.

Macro promises to be an essential building block for some terrific Reason patches, with a new look for the interface that’s both attractive and at home in Reason’s Rack. Plus it’s free.