Clara Amfo talks to her BBC Radio 1 audience about mental health and George Floyd’s death

Clara Amfo, a major UK journalist and one of the top DJs at BBC Radio 1, has a message that speaks to the trauma she’s experiencing now and gets to the heart of what appropriation means in music.

A 17-yo made a reference to actions for participating now, and it’s multilingual

While the record industry are honing their profound Instagram prose and really powerful uses of Helvetica, volunteers are making simple action cards – relevant everywhere from the USA to the Philippines.

Blackout Tuesday began as a call to action; corporate misuse is silencing activists

It started at a major label as a call to the music industry, but now everyone from music gear makers to artists and media is joining in. And “#BlackoutTuesday” is even squeezing out Black Lives Matter information and organizing. So what just happened, and is there a constructive way to participate? TL:DR please whatever you […]

Free 80s injection: KORG Poly-800 emulated in plug-in for Mac, Windows

The year was 1983. The competition: Roland’s Juno. And KORG would introduce an instrument that … actually … would never really be as legendary as other 80s synthesizers. But it’s excellent, and you want it anyway – especially for free.

No Love Parades this time: in the midst of crisis, an image of tonedeaf ravers in Berlin

A large swath of Berlin’s club scene kicked off the summer with an illustration of how not to respond to a crisis. The message: if the crisis doesn’t apply to me, I won’t acknowledge its existence.

Explode your face with Detroit Underground’s AR mask, melt it with these releases

Being a label – hell, being a human – can feel pretty virtual these days. So let’s lean into that, huh? Face exploded – filter, check. Face melted – music, yes.

Honoring Florian is a free library of Kraftwerk-inspired sounds for Ableton Live, TR-8S, more

This has been a season of obituaries, but when it comes to music, tributes can’t be silent. Francis Preve has a special set of free sounds on his Symplesound platform.

Make a 909 kick on the Make Noise 0-Coast, and more drum modeling fun

Forget even all the music that was made with it for a second. How the sound of a TR-909 kick was made can open new doors.

Yaeltex V2: any music and visual controller hardware you imagine, made real

Finally, an open browser tab can bring you something good for your music and performance – like helping you build your dream controller, visually. A first look at Yaeltex V2.

In Slovakia, the rave goes on: social distancing with a taped-off grid for dancers

How do you party without putting people at risk – but without killing the reason for partying in the first place? Here’s Slovakia with a novel concept. It’s not that we haven’t had ideas for nightlife in the era of social distancing. It’s that a lot of those take something crucial away. Here in Berlin, […]