Dials, punch cards, and reels: watch how electronic music was produced in 1960s Germany

Watch just how painstaking and time-consuming electronic music production was ca. mid-to-late 1960s, in this rare documentary of the German Siemens Studio (now preserved in Munich at the Deutsches Museum).

Polystepper, a gorgeous electroacoustic synth made with stepper motors, and more wonders

Analog, digital… we’re onto the physical, kinetic, and electroacoustic. For one example, marvel at the Polystepper by artist/woodworker Love Hultén and coder Koka Nikoladze.

Finally – Reason 12.6 is fully Apple Silicon native and has offline mode (even for subscribers)

Two long-awaited updates to Reason arrive today. Reason now is fully Apple Silicon native for Mac users, and there’s an offline mode, for both Reason+ subscribers and license owners.

Watch Tarik Barri make some 1-minute creations in Videosync for Ableton Live, macOS

Speaking of live visuals, Tarik Barri has been composing some quick 1-minute demo/tutorials in Videosync, the software he contributes to for Ableton Live / Max for Live on the Mac.

Resolume 7.15 adds some artistic new effects plus UI-workflow enhancements

Live visual tool Resolume (Avenue / Arena / Wire) gets yet another bump release – this time with Dilate, Sharpen, and Kuwahara Effects plus some nice usability improvements in the interface.

Kitbashing, by ABADIR and Nicolò Cervello, is AV subversion of endless algorithmic scrolling

“Kitbashing” is an AV protest, a hard-hitting burst of fresh air, as producer ABADIR and media artist Nicolò Cervello are here to break you out of endless scrolling by transcending its materials. From the fragments of our algorithmic existence comes 17 minutes of liberating sound and light.

iKeleton OSC captures skeleton data on iOS, sends via OSC – free through May 5

Developer/musician/media artist Gwangyu Lee has made an app for iPad and iPhone that captures skeleton data and sends it via OSC. It’s free this week, and includes a complete tutorial (for use with any tool) and a TouchDesigner example.

Game Boy Advance gets a new, free step sequencer, complete with p-locks

Dust off that GBA: it’s a groove box now. Stepper is a free and open source 16-step sequencer with full access to the onboard sound engine and per-trigger parameter locks, Elektron-style. (And this pairs well with Elektron gear, as the developer shows.)

Teenage Engineering’s new CM-15 field mic looks like a marvel of design

Some of Teenage Engineering’s high-end design offerings sometimes seem made for design showcases as much as actual music making. But behold the CM-15: this is a gorgeous concept in an area that rarely sees genuinely new design. If it works as advertised, it seems like a new product category.

A new documentary tells the story of Wisisi, electronic music in West Papua

In the mountains of West Papua, a new electronic sound is emerging. It’s fusing traditional sounds with jaunty synthesized beats in a rapid-fire, high-energy dancefloor brew. And just try to listen without your whole body set in motion.