Ableton Live 11.3 hits public beta today, with more MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) throughout – including a new MPE-compatible synth, Drift. And Drift is available even in Live Lite.

From music to technology, fashion to performance, few artists can reveal a future to so many people as Ryuichi Sakamoto did in his work. The world he touched learned of his death today.

In must-watch “TV” this week, it’s the 1987 Vermona DRM, a Roland-style East German analog drum machine. It’s from when DRM didn’t mean DRM.

Plenty of reverbs will flood you with sound or bathe you in shimmering tails. Fewer are controllable in multiple situations, or manage to balance lushness and precision. For that, we head to Rome and Isotonik Studio’s new Piastrone. We get not only an Ableton Max for Live gem, but a master class in reverb design […]

The creator of SoundScaper and FieldScaper is back with another deep and esoteric instrument – and this might be one of the most immediate (and glitchy) yet. GlitchScaper combines six sound generators, a two-layer cycle sequencer, and rhythmic and glitching magic.

Here’s an unexpected reissue: Japanese music maker Suzuki is celebrating the company’s 70th anniversary by bringing back the Omnichord, a unique 1981 electronic answer to the autoharp.

Nintendo is sunsetting its online shops for DS, 3DS, and WiiU today – which means it’s the last chance ever to grab two handheld synth gems from KORG and Detune.

What happens when you put the modular and generative visual powers of TouchDesigner together with the ubiquitous Ableton Live? Looks like you’ll have a chance to find out in a free workshop Saturday from London’s Music Hackspace, available online anywhere via Zoom.

Composer, producer, and percussionist debashis sinha delved into spiritual spaces of his ancestral India in a double-release from late last year. These projects interweave rhythm, mythology, decolonization, and artificial intelligence. We talk to Deb about his take on machine learning – uniquely humble and human just when we need it – and the significance of the sonic imagery on this album. He reflects on the process of making and meaning for these gorgeous releases.

Buy local: the world of gear for musicians is opening up to independent makers in more places. That includes Tbilisi-based Ambient audio, who are making everything from glowing and recycled patch cables to modular kits.