ReBirth, the software recreations of the TB-303 and TR-808, helped launch Propellerhead (now Reason Studios) and demonstrated acid could be made on a PC. Now, imagine that software in 2023 but – much lower fidelity. Like, much worse. 128×128 pixel UI worse.

News cycles tend to move from crisis to crisis – ignoring what happens as crises deepen. Artists of Turkish, Syrian, and Kurdish heritage deserve more attention in Berlin and Germany generally, so today is a great time for some music, awareness, and action as areas impacted by last month’s earthquake still urgently need support.

Arturia’s V-Collection 9.2 bumps performance, compatibility, tuning and MPE support, and more. That includes all their vintage-inspired instruments, plus the AUGMENTED line and Pigments. Oh yeah, and one more thing – finally, resizable windows. Here’s what’s new.

Happy MAR1O aka “Mario Day” – which Nintendo is going forward with worldwide, various international date formats aside. Any day is a good excuse to talk about the musical invention of Nintendo composer Koji Kondo, whose tunes are as iconic as the games he scored.

It seems to be a season of digital delays, but this is something different. Dedalus is a creation of some beloved devs and experimentalists. They’ve combined delay with distortion, modulation (with drawable curves), and tons of granulation – all in a one-window UI. Calling it a “delay” almost seems like missing the point.

Roland just released the 3.0 software update for its SP-404MKII sampler/sequencer/effects unit, and we’re psyched to share some of the features with you (and try them out ourselves!) Quick overview:

You’ve seen mechanical engineers attempt expressive synths, and real, polished products. But why not have fun with a slightly more punk, DIY, bendy synth of your own? Sound Werkshop has been working on that, using the eminently affordable and flexible Daisy Seed embedded platform (which in turn runs code and Pd and Max-generated patches).

Making instruments, making music overlaps directly with the issue of mapping sound to emotional experience, meaning, and orientation. Let’s listen to Khabat Abas, a musician, composer, sound artist, and instrument maker from Kurdistan-Iraq. She works directly at the crossing of so many of the issues we’ve encountered in the past months – and finds ways to make experimental cellos out of repurposed bombshells.

Ukraine Resistance Radio is a new project for amplifying experimental sounds and music of Ukrainian artists and their allies. An open call is up now, with the first broadcast with partner Radio Vilnius on the 19th of March.

Korg sound design fans, you’ll want this: a user has made a free tool that automatically generates images from program presets. (Sounds like a great idea for other synths, too – and we get into other geeky scripts here, as well.) And now is a good time to revisit free patch sheets for volca modular, though for that you’ll need drawing software … or a pen.