Composers Desktop Project has been producing secret sauce of sound spelunkers since the cooperative began in 1986. But it’s receiving newfound attention — partly because of the revelation Aphex Twin used it, but mostly because we finally get a usable GUI. Here’s your guide to how to install this on Mac, Windows, or Linux, and how to dive into the rabbit hole.

The After Effects and Capcut alternative is starting to look like a real alternative. Pikimov v4 landed this month, no-signup, in-browser, and free for macOS, Windows, Linux, and (critical in education) Chromebook. And even alongside other tools, it’s an absolute joy.

What can music do against darkness? It may be our one fuel for emotions, a weapon against depressive inertia. Today, on Ukrainian Independence Day, it’s a perfect day to catch up with Ukrainian label Prostir/I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free — especially as these platforms have been a hub for solidarity with other resistance struggles worldwide.

Many tools can add gates, filter frequencies, or add envelopes. But few do it with the elegance and ease of Sinevibes’ Switch, Array, and now Inertia. These plug-ins were early favorites from Sinevibes for their simplicity, but UI overhauls make them look and work beautifully — especially as you get to Inertia.

Give Faircamp a folder of audio. A few minutes later, get a complete static website with your music, podcasts, whatever. That includes playlists, RSS, and a Web player, downloads, third-party links, purchases, and unlocks. No coding. And it’s free.

Music and sound are not action — at least, not normally. But sound can recenter you, rewire your brain, and let you catch your breath before that action. So I find myself returning to this eight-hour broadcast by London’s Sister Midnight FM, which includes Palestinian artists who have long been featured on CDM, including Muqata’a, bint mbareh, and Dakn.

Legislation in the USA to support musicians with streaming revenue is will be reintroduced next month by Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib. In advance of its reintroduction, there’s a chance to lend your support.

Kliohearts’ software line is a treasure trove of effects. But Kliohearts Essentials alone is an impressive free collection of standalone plug-ins for anyone. You won’t want to sleep on the latest addition, Compactor, a deceptively simple “precision ducking” tool.

Mudjaq’s Swimmer is a rare, deep-sea creature, trawled up from the depths of the Max for Live world. This is not your general-purpose modulation source. Think of it like an idiosyncratic Eurorack module — a source of specific gestures and a beautiful, briny gift from the ocean.

Summer vacation? You can tell a USA-born project because it doesn’t take one. Vidvox has a nice update to their VJ/live visual app VDMX that captures inter-app audio. And for absolutely any Mac user, there’s an awesome music visualizer that’s totally free — bringing you back to the fun you had with visualizers back in the day. Milkdrop is back on the Mac!