Hungry maw of big data, dreamt as ghostly video for Dustin O’Halloran

Artist Owen Hindley, working in TouchDesigner, tackles the dense, pulsating track “Harmonic Dream Sequence” by Dustin O’Halloran (A Winged Victory For The Sullen). It’s a dark contemplation of the insatiable appetites of Big Data and AI, translated into strangely beautiful clouds of particles for an equally gorgeous track.

Go watch Polygonia’s videos on Ableton Operator hi-hats and more

Polygonia, aka Lindsey Wang, is expanding techno into imaginative blossoms of percussion and pattern. But she’s also doing some terrific tutorials. Where to start? A terrific breakdown of constructing high hats from scratch in Ableton’s Operator might inspire you.

Sublime, modular sonic worlds from Beirut, with Munma (Jawad Nawfal)

Jawad Nawfal, aka Munma, is in the spotlight with two transcendent releases for Ruptured Records: one album on modular, and one in an all-star trio along with Sharif Sehnaoui and Jad Atoui. This is don’t-miss music to lose yourself in, from Lebanon’s exceptional, tight-knit improvisational scene.

Benjolin Gorga, Andreas Siagian’s Yogyakarta Eurorack edition

Rob Hordijk’s wonderful Benjolin has been recreated in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, by squaresolid / instrumentasia (aka builder Andreas Siagian). Meet Benjolin – Gorga, in Eurorack – or, uh, Asiarack!

Baby Audio BA-1 gets free 1.5 update: FX Strip, arp, more sound controls

Baby Audio has refreshed their 80s Yamaha-inspired BA-1 soft synth with a free update. You get a new arpeggiator, more controls, plus an FX strip that lets you use the BA-1’s retro effects with other sources.

Emmanuel De La Paix on nature in mirrors, essence of clouds [LP, gallery]

Enter a meditative world of images of the “invisible essence” of things, as tranquil as an Alpine pool or wispy cirrus cloud. Multi-instrumentalist Emmanuel De La Paix teams up with engineer Jón Þór Birgisson (Jónsi, Sigur Rós) for a sublimely calm new LP, The Physics of Clouds.

Don’t upgrade to macOS Sonoma 14.4 yet: plug-in compatibility issues

macOS Sonoma remains stable, but a change reportedly related to AU plug-in validation in the recent 14.4 update can cause compatibility issues. With no significant reason to rush to upgrade, that means you should delay until plug-in developers have updates.

LFO device in Max over top an Ableton Live session, showing the Presentation view. The Freeze button (set to unfreeze to allow editing).

Ableton has a new free guide to making better Max for Live devices

Ableton is today releasing an exhaustive free guide full of resources they’ve used internally in developing and maintaining devices. The guide has a ton of advice, so it’s a chance to benefit from Ableton’s experience.

Resolume 7.19: Quick Search, workflow improvements, rotate text

Leading the live visual world, Resolume Arena/Avenue continues to keep up its brisk update cadence. This latest version lets you search for stuff Spotlight-style, speeds up workflow, and oh yeah, you can finally rotate text.

Sarah Sommers’ debut is a deep journey through live sets, all in custom pink

Behind all the meticulous electric-pink customization, the debut full-length from self-identified “bimbo princess” Sarah Sommers is a return to deep, smart techno, made live the old-school way. Glammed-up synths meets stripped-down production.