Mario Nieto’s Novagrid opens up sequenced volume, pan, filter, and bitcrusher effects in plug-in form. And while that may sound a bit familiar, Novagrid has some tricks up its sleeve. If you like animating sound, you’ll definitely want to take a look. If you buy something from a CDM link, we may earn a commission. […]

Who stood out at this year’s NAMM show, that festivus of gear that brightens our winters from Anaheim? We’ve given you some idea with NAMM and LA’s Buchla & Friends. Here, in images, are our favorites from NAMM, as captured by LA photographer Mehdi Hassine and veteran Berlin hardware guru Gösta Wellmer.

It leaked, you saw it — it’s real, it’s huge. In addition to its recent MPC Live III, Akai has a big mama standalone called the MPC XL with more dedicated controls and a big 10.1” display — but mostly the same innards. Let’s explain.

It’s a patcher inside a patcher. And that patcher has more patches that you can copy, randomize, and sequence. And in that patcher is a ton of glitchy goodness. PatchSeq, hot off the grill from Jeremy Wentworth and Voxglitch, is something special.

I won’t mince words about the year – on a global scale, things seemed to be falling apart. I’ve likely been to more protests and rallies in 2025 than since before COVID. But we have each other, and we have empathy, and we do what we can.

Food comas. Empty wrapping paper. Or whatever you’re celebrating, hopefully you’ve got some time off to grab a slew of free synth-y gifts available to download right now. Need a soundtrack? 1987 and Atari ST have you covered.

It’s some serious experimental gear pr0n, if you’re in the mood. It’s mysterious. It’s the creation of Buenos Aires-based Martin Grieco, Rocío Gal, and team. And it seems it’s getting closer to reality, as glimpsed in a new site and teaser. It’s the Nopia, and creators hope it will help you unlock harmony. This video […]

It’s the 12 Days of Soundtoys: the Burlington-based developer is giving away one of its excellent audio effects every 48 hours, free (a total of six plug-ins). That’s on top of their existing sale. The freebies kick off today with Little PrimalTap, a retro delay with extra time warping, looping, distortion, and sound-transforming powers.

It’s the full SuperCollider synth, without the installation. You can add it to any site (self-hosted). It performs seamlessly via WebAssembly. But most importantly, it’s fun, colorful, and comes with examples and an OSC API so it can interface with live coding tools like Tidal (or your favorite). And you can mess around with it right now, for free.

For the final episode in this trilogy on learning Max for Live and Ableton DSP Objects, we’re going to keep the focus on working fast. We’ll learn how to use Ableton DSP to prototype instruments quickly, play expressively, and hack them with some tricks and mods beyond what the stock Live Instruments provide.