Tom, who has worked with the likes of Arturia, Kilohearts, GForce, and some Grammy and Oscar winners, writes to let us know about the Synth Vault – 20 free preset each month, plus tutorials to learn how to go beyond them.

In a time of crisis atop crisis, we’ve followed the diverse musical voices of Beirut artists as they found a way to keep making music. Here, as part of a larger project and assembled by musician and tuning champion Khyam Allami, is a sampling of music from this past year.

SOMA’s “romantic engineering” just hit some crazy new level – their upcoming 6-voice digital polysynth is paired with a multidimensional sensor-controller.

Stretch, bend, and mangle those sounds, because BLEASS’ tape and granular effects from iOS are now PC and Mac plug-ins, too. Plus we’ve got a CDM exclusive bonus for ROLI hardware owners.

The frightening, darkly beautiful music of Seefeel was revelatory from its early-90s debut. And now with a set of reissues and new projects, it’s the perfect time for David Abravanel to talk to the current Seefeel group. -Ed.

Manfred Fricke was democratizing analog machines for music and pioneering Berlin electronic invention over 5 decades – years ahead of this city becoming known for such things. We’ve lost him this month.

Just like a fresh herb or spice, there’s some potential beauty in seasoning your musical ideas with something different. Note Raum does that with MIDI patterns – and it’s free, provided you’ve got Max for Live.

It’s a tough moment for a whole generation in electronic music history. This weekend claimed the British legend Peter Zinovieff – deserving a look back at him and EMS and the VCS3.

Influenced no doubt by their own Julia Bonar’s live sets, the folks at Endorphin.es are focusing their latest two modules on making it easier to play live.

Lebanon’s DIY scene simply won’t quit. On Friday June 25 an informal new space opens, a gathering spot for electronic music even in challenging conditions.