1010music Bento: sampling, granular production sequencing and mixing box

The 1010music story we’ve been following for some years just reached its dénouement. I’m holding a bento right now, and it lives up to the name: compact, lunchable, perfectly sized portions of everything delicious you’d want. It’s a multisampler, slicer, granular, looper, sequencing, production, mixing, FX box for $899.

Harvestworks, NYC arts center founded in 1977, threatened by US funding cuts

Harvestworks, the storied arts center in NYC that has been a hub for electronic music and media since its 1977 founding, is making an urgent appeal. Cuts by the Trump administration’s National Endowment for the Arts threaten the space.

Ableton Move 1.5 beta: full MIDI I/O and clock, sample slicing, Auto Filter, more

This is the Ableton Move update we’ve been waiting for. Ableton’s compact controller/standalone now gets proper MIDI implementation and slices up samples. Plus, you get the Auto Filter from Live 12.2. That’s in addition to other recent updates. Here’s your guide to what’s new.

Dub techno original Fluxion on atmospheres and narratives in Haze

Konstantinos Soublis, aka Fluxion, has been quietly pushing the boundaries of dub techno and experimental electronic music for over two decades. His latest album, Haze, represents a profound exploration of musical storytelling. For CDM, he breaks down that work track by track and dives into his thought process, then and now.

Dirty, punchy, free: this plug-in rendition of the Korg Poly-61 is raw and perfect

The 1982 Poly-61 was a grimy, cheap, raw-sounding quintessential 80s synth. It doesn’t have any of the star power of other Korg instruments or rivals from Roland and Sequential. So instead of a commercial remake, what we get is free. But it’s fantastic. It’s way better than you’d expect from a free plug-in. Meet the Full Bucket Music FURY-68.

Super Space Club, lo-fi shooter to chill to, is free now – let’s praise Fat Bard

We need to talk about how good Fat Bard’s game soundtracks are. Super Space Club rebooted Asteroids as “a lo-fi space shooter to chill to,” set to the St. Louis production duo’s beats – and that game is free right now on Epic Game Store. So grab that. But it doesn’t end there.

Elastic OSC is a Mutable Instruments-based polysynth voice for iOS: tested

Developer Oliver Greschke (MoMinstruments) built an AUv3 iOS synth around the DSP from Emilie Gillet’s legendary open-source Mutable Instruments Plaits VCO. Elastic OSC gives you unique touch-based controls, plus new features that let you use Plaits’ sound palette as a complete mono/polyphonic instrument.

3D masses, springs, soundmakers: Anukari physics-based instrument

We’ve got physical modeling for instruments, so why not pair them with physical modeling in 3D objects? Anukari is the latest instrument to do that, with lovely-looking modeled visuals and the ability to run as a plug-in as well as standalone.

This site is promoting Linux plug-ins with resources for developers and users

A musician-led initiative is aiming to bring more plug-ins to Linux. That includes promoting developers (both proprietary and libre/open source), featuring software for users, and answering developer questions. Linux Audio Plugin Development (LAPD) is already worth a look; you’re likely to discover some plug-in or information you hadn’t before.

Bitwig hardware: deep Roto-Control integration; Connect 4/12 is here

Okay Bitwig Studio fans: your hardware has arrived. Bitwig’s own Connect 4/12 is available now (and yes, that includes the beleaguered market of the USA). Plus Melbourne Instruments’ appetizing-looking Roto-Control with its motorized knobs now has Bitwig Studio support, following Ableton Live support – and they say the integration is even deeper this time.