This summer is bringing a slew of motion graphics updates. Late last week, we got a first preview of the latest in visual effects powerhouse SideFX Houdini – another studio-grade tool now available for a song. Houdini 19.5 should get a full reveal this week, but here it is in all its liquid-y, firey goodness: […]

You deserve a summer break. Here’s a dark disco love ode to a moustache, made by Greek-Argentinian partnership of Local Suicide and Skelesys, with a cheeky video by Lebanese-born video artist Zaher JR. Come for that silliness, stick around for a who’s-who of music artists redefining queer identity and the harp, acid to post-punk and beyond.

It’s got all the basic elements of the BBC Symphonic Orchestra in plug-in form, it sounds great, it’s easy to use, and it’s all in a tiny 200MB. And now it’s free instantly, no strings attached. (No pun intended.)

Sequencer Electronics keeps giving us musical, inventive gadgets for Max for Live, from two of our favorite artists, Gooooose and ayrtbh. This one just records knob movements, which in Device form is both more visual and accessible for improvised parameter tweaks than traditional Automation.

It’s incredible this package is free – a full set of fifteen carefully crafted, native-feeling add-ons for Ableton Live that add everything from bread-and-butter modulation to dub-style effects. It’s a chance to dial in human expression and bring those sessions to life, all driven by probability.

Amidst meaningful and justified disenchantment with digital media, NASA’s Webb offers a different course for understanding our relationship with technology. It offers a chance to peer into our existence with greater understanding. It could be this generation’s “Blue Marble” – looking instead outward and deep into time. And it promises to be more than one image – way more than just one.

The modular sound environment Pd (Pure data) is wonderful. Pd is free. Pd runs everywhere. Pd is … frequently lacking some of the stuff you’d ideally want out of the box. Enter Piloslib, totally free and just released.

The “daxophone” is a new acoustic instrument invented in the 80s. Its creator was a German typographer. It’s name is derived from “badger.” It sounds like an half-human, half-alien vocal. And virtuoso Kazuhisa Uchihashi has been able to coax a whole album out of it – with jaw-dropping results.

In 1974, lunar modules were landing in quick succession on the moon – and the Synthesizer Expander Module (SEM-1) landed here on Earth. Developer GForce turned to creator Tom Oberheim and 80s Oberheim veteran Marcus Ryle for input on this one – and it shows. This is a unique, very analog-y feeling software instrument. It’s simple, elegant – and at 30 quid, a no-brainer.

Here is one tasty-looking custom keycap design, adding the faders, knobs, and synth-y visuals your mechanical keyboard so desperately wants.