Ableton Live 12.3 is here, and that means built-in Splice support, stem separation, and… uh… well, there was the tremolo thing… and… need a guide? We’ve got you. Here are the rest of the best features to try in 12.3 (and Push 2.3 with Live 12.3), at a glance.

Oh, Cache is good as a Mac/Windows/Linux effect — flip, repeat, stretch, robotize, and generally go buffer-mad. But you expected that from a Sinevibes plug-in. The joy here is that now you can really play. Connect a MIDI keyboard, and Cache is a breaks-friendly, sound transmorgrifying effect instrument.

Were you the type to draw elaborate doodles in your math class margins? Well, great news: Science now says that letting your mind wander is good for you. And indie Swedish design studio Henrik & Sofia went and made a Max for Live device that brings back your freedom to doodle and animates and exports your drawings. It’s a fabulously whimsical break from staring at colored rectangles and waveforms.

Moog’s DFAM has become almost a genre of instrument — like the Minimoog architecture or original Moog modular. Look no further than this delight from Rainbow Circuit. On the surface, it looks like another model of the percussion synth (Mom!). But it sounds like nothing else, and if you’re looking for more synthesized, sequenced percussion to infuse a smile into your day, Motherly is like uncut dopamine.

This is not granular. This is all sampler, unison. And so it sounds like things that even granular can’t do. Vara Osiria Belich is this week’s sound design inspiration, with her bonus gestural spell casting with gen-1 Leap Motion. (Remember?)

How far MadMapper has come. The tool, built as a collaboration between Swiss GarageCube and French studio 1024 architecture, helped define projection mapping for a generation of visualists. It has matured into a broadly versatile media tool, and v6 brings timelines, montage tracks, clips, audio features, and more to manage your project work, all wrapped into a new UI. Here’s the quick rundown.

“Mere Survival is Not Enough.” Professor Drew Daniel, you had us on the title on this one. The artist, known for being half of Matmos, and being all of Dr. Drew Daniel, and the solo project The Soft Pink Truth, talks about string arrangements and the meaning behind the track title in an interview.

The Hewlett-Packard Word Generator 8006A has become an unintentional legend of sound lovers, transforming this obscure lab equipment into a kind of instrument. So you knew that a Hainbach/AudioThing collab to produce a software version was inevitable. B00GA is available now as a macOS, Windows, or Linux plug-in, or an iOS/iPadOS AUv3 plug-in or app.

Those sprawling synths are great, but when it comes to exploring a sound design idea compositionally, there’s nothing quite like a modular patch. I’ve long admired Adam Pietruszko’s work for AAS, so it’s a treat to watch him break down a patch and hear what he did on Rotors, bringing those leftfield sounds to dancefloor contexts.

In a single, fader-covered box with a capacious patchbay, Alt brings together creative, generative sound worlds beneath a unified interface. FM, dual filters, random slew, scales, light sensors, a mic: it’s not every day you see a device so obsessed with exploration. And now it’s in preorder mode, shipping in December, making me wish for a residency somewhere in a cozy arctic cabin or something.