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. […]

Ableton Live 12.4 enters public beta today. New features include continued refinement of Live’s audio effects and the ability to merge stems and separate stems for just a selected portion of time. And there’s one unexpected twist: Ableton Link can now do audio. Here’s a deep dive into what’s new, based on beta builds leading […]

JeongHo Park, a self-described “algorithmic composer” and artist, is building a delightful instrument that turns images into scores with full drawing capability for making paths. Inspired by the likes of Xenakis’ UPIC, the tool gives you instantly mind-bending results, living in that netherworld between synthesizer and score.

Pikimov, the community-supported free Web visual tool, keeps getting better. Pikimov 5 dropped today with a “classic” editor that makes it competitive with tools like CapCut — or any time you need a quick video edit. That joins After Effects-style motion tools, with surprising options like background removal and rotoscoping.

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.

Gear-mas comes but once a year. But with swirling doom and gloom, just how is the world of making musical instruments? We sent Nadia Says, along with Burak Yerebakan, Portrait XO, Franck Martin, and Mehdi Hassine to find out, at the mighty NAMM show in Anaheim — and the indie Buchla & Friends in LA, too. Here’s the show viewed through artists and makers alike, one portrait at a time.

Logic Pro 12 is available now. Both iPad and Mac versions are included as part of Apple’s new $13/mo Creators Studio, but this is also still a free upgrade for all existing Logic owners, and one-off purchases remain available. So let’s talk about Logic’s banner feature, Chord ID, and the Synth Players and other features that can take advantage of it. They’re deeper than you might think.

According to insolvency documents, Berlin-based Native Instruments GmbH (also parent to iZotope, Plugin Alliance, and Brainworx) is in preliminary insolvency proceedings. This is significant news for one of the biggest brands in music-making technology.

It’s a Very Workshop System Jamuary. Music Thing’s patchable music lab-in-a-lunchbox has proved that small-batch personal hardware can attract a select, dedicated community sharing great stuff with one another. Let’s catch up with what’s been happening in that magical village of synth wonder in the past year. Don’t forget, the ideas and code here are all open — meaning this could inspire more.

Happy birthday today, December 31, to Ahmed Muin Abu Amsha. If any song sums up 2025 and the threat to civilians from drone warfare, it’s his cover of “Sheel Sheel Ya Ajmal Sheel” tuned with the whine of the weapons buzzing overhead. On his birthday and New Year’s Eve, the artist offers a song with […]