From Beirut to Berlin, Perth to Orange County, Moscow to Nanjing, 42 labels are joining the Indonesian underground in imagining a decentralized musical future. Even as DIY duo Senyawa planted the seeds, Alkisah seems a movement as much as an album release. The idea might seem crazy at first – share all the materials for […]

What is this MPE “polyphonic expression” about? Well, you can get your hands all over the vintage test tone goodness of Fundamental, and a bunch of synths will be easier to control in Ableton Live 11 out of the box. Let’s explain.

Mutable Instruments’ Clouds defined granular instruments even beyond the modular world. Beads – making a surprise debut today – is a brilliant-looking follow-up, retaining the design but improving almost every element.

You’ve got an iPhone or an iPad, and you want to control …. a Max patch, a live visual or VJ app, Unreal Engine, a live-coding synth in Tidal/SuperCollider. Finally, there’s a worthy, fresh option for making it happen – one that makes making layouts uncommonly easy.

No obscure Moog synthesizer past is left out – it’s like a party. The latest is IK Multimedia, the 1981 Moog Memorymoog, and – it’s available for free (with mailing list sign-up).

Ableton Live 11 has its final release on Tuesday, 23 February. Near-release beta is available, too. Here’s a refresher on what’s new – and an open thread on what you might like to know.

How do you set the mood to concentrate, especially in times of distraction and anxiety? Adjust the light, open a window to allow some air flow? Here’s a unique set of sound design tools and music to match that accomplishes that with audio.

Analog synth + Sinevibes digital effects – the Dreadbox Typhon is one of the most compelling synths of the moment. So we turn to one of its bug testers to let us know how to get the most out of this week’s big new update.

Novation’s Circuit Tracks is out now – I’ve got one to test. Circuit Rhythm is coming in summer. It’s the one that samples directly; here’s what we know so far.

Okay, everybody’s been seeing their computer too much lately. So Novation’s Circuit Tracks does stuff with no screen, no menus, even no power plug – and squeezes tons of musical power for the money, at US$399 (about 399 EUR with VAT).