Ableton Live 12.2 is in public beta today, with some major welcome features. Bouncing is easier, Auto Filter gets its biggest update since it came out, and there are new generative harmonic features, Meld and Roar updates, Push enhancements, and more. Here’s your guide.

KORG’s analog-modeling, layered multi-poly was already compelling as hardware. Now, it’s available as a software plug-in, either as a companion to the keyboard version or as a rich plug-in in its own right. I’ve been working with a late build; here are some impressions.

An Armed Forces of Ukraine unit in the south of Ukraine depends on John Object’s 1991 Opel Frontera crossover SUV. You know what to do: support Timur, support Ukraine, get new music, and replace this broken car. Be a better friend and ally than the USA is at the moment. There’s more to say so – I’ll just say it.

It’s not just Eurorack. It’s UkRack – the all-Ukrainian module. And while today marks three years of full-scale Russian invasion of their country, it’s a chance to mark the power of Ukrainian resistance in sound. We join our friends at MachineRoom in Kyiv.

MPE, MIDI Polyphonic Expression, can make playing digital instruments expressive in ways we’ve desired for decades. It’s just down to understanding everything you can do – and composer Josh Madoff has a fantastic tutorial and Osmose demos that make this technology more accessible to anyone.

AAS Multiphonics CV-3 realizes the potential of this modular software as a synthesis and physical modeling powerhouse. It’s the biggest update to date, with 3-op FM, new physical modeling components, effects, and sound tools. And it’s polyphonic and expressive, with full support for 8-voice polyphony and glides and expression with MPE.

Sonification Tools v2 from Manifest Audio and Noah Pred can now sonify text, images, video, and OSC – plus it’s got an all-new 8-voice polysynth that lets you play that data like an instrument. Noah also reflects on what sonifying data can mean.

Ableton Move’s screen reader support is still getting rave reviews from blind and low-vision users, even though it’s not officially documented. Here’s more about how it works and more about what’s left to do – and an appeal to the entire industry to add more accessibility features.

Unreal Engine is looking good enough on macOS that Epic is starting to brag about it. That’ll still depend on which Apple Silicon machine you’ve got, though – which brings us to why the M4 Mac mini is starting to look like a serious live visual machine.

Chappell Roan didn’t just win a Grammy: she used that stage as a platform to call out industry abuse and demand a living wage for artists. And she did it in an enormous hat. There is a call to action for just this kind of change inside the USA – one that’s relevant advocacy worldwide.