In a challenging three acts – purification, initiation, and revelation – Universe in Prayer – فَلَک در ذِکْر takes the Bohlen-Pierce scale as a starting point for an intentional “invocation of Otherness, mystery, and transcendence.” It’s the latest from friend-of-the-site Arash Azadi.

US readers, if you’re looking for deals on new gear, major retailers are all running sales. Here are a few hand-picked selections I’d be scoping out if I lived in the US. And for now, while some inventory is backordered, you can lock in pre-tariff pricing.

El Jaguar, out now, is a rhythmic excursion from sound library sameness. This toolkit from boutique house MNTRA produces a deeply customizable sound world by re-amping through the legendary Picó sound systems of Barranquilla, Colombia. It’s something new, melding Montréal synth love and afro-Caribbean percussion into a new hybrid playground for producers.

Young independent outlet Megaphone tells the story of Irtijal Festival’s impact on Beirut and Lebanon through local eyes and a compilation of the folks who made it happen. It’s a must-watch as a way of reflecting on the spaces we create for music in all parts of the world.

Today, Ahmed Muin, director of Gaza Birds Singing, rose with drones loudly buzzing in the background. The sound of bombings through the night in Gaza has been relentless, he says. But he’ll join live with the Hebron/Bethlehem Amwaj Choir in a livestream today, a second musical encounter defying violence and starvation.

GRM Tools was one of the first plug-in suites available, the product of Paris’ GRM research center. It’s always been a unique, composition-focused toolset. But I’ve seen its future, and it’s on a whole new level, allowing open-ended modulation and multichannel signal processing that’s unlike anything else.

This is the Ableton Move update we’ve been waiting for. Ableton’s compact controller/standalone now gets proper MIDI implementation and slices up samples. Plus, you get the Auto Filter from Live 12.2. That’s in addition to other recent updates. Here’s your guide to what’s new.

SpaceBlender is technically a reverb, but don’t think of SpaceBlender as a reverb. Soundtoys’ new “imaginary space machine” uses a unique algorithm to produce rich new timbres and deep, cosmic, smeared wormholes of sound and texture. It’s a cross-breed of swarm synthesis and reverberation. I’ve been beta testing and talking to the developer; here’s the scoop – and act fast, as it’s free through May 22.

Arturia’s latest refresh of their sprawling V Collection is here today. In addition to updates across the Augmented line and the inclusion of the latest instruments, there are two surprises: a layered “lo-fi” synth and an instrument of the Roland JP-8000. Yes, really, the JP-8000: sometimes you want the 90s and 2000s and not only, like, the 70s and 80s.

If you don’t know the hyperfuturist post-anthropocene duo* MIRA新伝統 aka Honami Higuchi and Raphael Leray, you need to. But now for three bucks – $3!! – you can drop their absolutely addictive Max for Live mayhem into your Ableton Live set. Should you? You should.