The history of computation is connected to textiles. And in everything from choreographic gestures to weaving, one event makes patterns sing in music and materials and bodies. Across Sheffield, Berlin, Barcelona, Linz, and online, the latest Alpaca Conference is entering its second weekend, following an in-person festival the first weekend.

Its size is epic, as if a sci-fi prop itself. Its otherworldly sound is chilling in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. And The Blaster Beam is the unique handiwork of Captain Kirk’s own nephew — okay, Craig Huxley, who played that character on the original series. Meet The Blaster Beam. If any of us wins the lottery, there will be signs.

It might trigger a flood of grade school memories or open a world of computing you never got to experience. But either way, “Jed’s Other Poem (Beautiful Ground),” a music video coded in Applesoft BASIC, is itself “vintage” now. At 20 years old, it’s a window into a time when open-sourcing a music video was the thing to do.

There’s no grid, no harsh colors. Tinge swells and sways like a windchime, coming to life in spinning color wheels. It’s probably nothing like any arpeggiator you’ve seen before — or maybe it’s a “note agitator.” Co-creators Daedelus (Alfred Darlington) and Takuma Matsui (Rainbow Circuit) take us inside the process of how they created and thought about this new generative, responsive, playable melodic delight.

You may think you know the Yamaha DX7 from those couple of presets that dominated the 80s. But Oliver Greschke’s Elastic OSC for iPhone and iPad is a reminder of just how much potential Yamaha’s breakthrough FM synth can offer. And now Elastic OSC app can easily import those sounds, with a bunch of unique presets to get you started — plus a link to a cool generative tool that works with anything.

It’s a multisampler. It’s got 16 tracks. It’s an effects box. It’s got elaborate routing and multiple machines. It’s a modulation monster. Or to look at it another way, The Bride of Octatrack beast is here. Here it is at a glance.

Quick access to mutes is a must-have in any live performance context. Elektron owners have enjoyed that on the Analog Rytm; now it’s Push’s turn.

It’s 909 Day again, and a moment to reflect on the beauty of Tadao Kikumoto’s rhythm composer masterpiece. HAND CLAP. Let’s RIDE.

AlphaTheta, the company that DJs will probably never stop calling “Pioneer,” has a major update for their flagship deck. It starts to make the CDJ-3000 seem more like a foundation for this: expanded media access, online connectivity, and some welcome usability, reliability. and sound improvements.

Piers Headley’s Music for Toilets is an unsung masterpiece, a cheeky environmental imaginarium that once played on loop at Berlin’s Fisch Labor. And now, thanks to Tresor Records, it’s coming to you.