Amidst a sea of plug-ins modeling the same gear, Dials not only breaks from the pack but proves Hainbach’s beloved device collection serves everyday tasks, too. It’s a chance to rethink approaches to dynamics processing, saturation, filtering, and even what you want out of a channel strip – through the mirror of the distant past.

As people take to the streets of Iran and Kurdistan shouting “Women, Life, Freedom!”, Iranian music artists are raising their voices, too. With a two-day takeover of Radio Alhara by Iranian female and non-binary artists, artists inside the country speak to us about this moment and its connection to a long history of resistance.

As Atari celebrates its 50th year, why not recall the pinnacle of gameplay that was “Journey: Escape” – the vivid Atari 2600 title to match the band.

Change the color of that launch screen. Live 11.2 is now official and out of beta. Let’s review what’s new, apart from the anticipated refresh to Reverb.

The modular world this month pivots to Befaco’s hometown Barcelona, and they were ready to host the home game. Pony is a stable, “through zero” oscillator with wavefolding, and it looks seriously feisty both as VCO and LFO.

The latest browser-tab antidote to bad news – treat yourself to 30 seconds of acid with some trippy animation.

Designed by Aphex Twin, Samplebrain takes a new approach to samples – chopping up audio into a “brain” of little bits, networked by similarity. You can play it in real-time, free for all platforms, including Apple M1/M2.

The latest from NVIDIA Research is an AI-powered machine that spits out 3D models – in standard formats. Code is inbound shortly. And that opens up some possibilities for virtual worlds, especially for solo artists.

Kick, snare, hat, tom, and sequencer – the makers of Max remind us that patching your own drum machine gives you something unique. And they invited four artists to join in with some creative ideas. Grab the patches and see what you can learn.

Ars Electronica is vast – and this year doubly so, as it tackled topics from planetary climate down to microscopic microcosms. So we turn to guest contributor Sofy Yuditskaya aka The Source, media artist and educator, to navigate highlights and insights from the landmark media festival.