In a challenging three acts – purification, initiation, and revelation – Universe in Prayer – فَلَک در ذِکْر takes the Bohlen-Pierce scale as a starting point for an intentional “invocation of Otherness, mystery, and transcendence.” It’s the latest from friend-of-the-site Arash Azadi.

US readers, if you’re looking for deals on new gear, major retailers are all running sales. Here are a few hand-picked selections I’d be scoping out if I lived in the US. And for now, while some inventory is backordered, you can lock in pre-tariff pricing.

Arriving with this weekend’s giveaways are some big freebies from Universal Audio and Native Instruments (now parent of iZotope). If you act fast, that includes iZotope’s Tonal Balance Control for free, through the US holiday weekend ending late Monday. Let’s break down the offers and tools.

Our music communities, the music instruments industry, the artists and engineers — all these groups would be incomplete without our trans friends and colleagues. But as their rights are stripped away systematically, as people question their right to exist, “visibility” is not enough. For US readers, now is a key time to act, with Senators coming home for the holiday weekend and ugly legislation looming.

From the mind of Behrang Najafi – known as half of Temp Illusion, among other things – “Kudos to Living Artists” asks the question, how would you make a mix of just one artist? Invited artists have crafted tributes to Boards of Canada, Brigitte Fontaine, Peder Mannerfelt, Grischa Licthenberger, Tania León, and more.

It was once the pinnacle of digital recordable audio, a would-be successor to the mighty cassette tape. And for one glorious moment in 1996, Sony MiniDisc was all that was right with the world, exemplified by a trippy Japan-only ad campaign with none other than Jamiroquai.

El Jaguar, out now, is a rhythmic excursion from sound library sameness. This toolkit from boutique house MNTRA produces a deeply customizable sound world by re-amping through the legendary Picó sound systems of Barranquilla, Colombia. It’s something new, melding Montréal synth love and afro-Caribbean percussion into a new hybrid playground for producers.

Roland has quietly added eight classic BOSS Effects pedals as Roland Cloud plug-ins, including OD-1 OverDrive, PH-1 Phaser, DS-1 Distortion, and more. That’s a welcome addition, but you should know where to find still more effects in Roland Cloud’s expansive, if sometimes confusing, lineup.

It’s time to escape mechanical loops and rigid, on-the-grid timing. Fugue Machine Rubato does everything Alexandernaut’s brilliant Fugue Machine did with multiple playheads. But now it can also accelerate, decelerate, bounce, echo, strum, swing, and bend, for both pitches and rhythmic triggers. It’s what has been missing in our digital sequencers: freedom.

The people we work with in music and music tech are more than just colleagues: they’re friends, inspiration, and part of our lives. Stephen Fortner, long-time editor-in-chief of the former USA-based Keyboard Magazine suffered a stroke earlier this month can use some support as he heals.