WaveTracker is a fun, free tracker for Windows that features wavetable editing, more than 100 instrument macros, and visualization for a glitchy good time. And that brings up the many other free trackers you might try out these days…

DIYers, coders, hackers – Super Synthesis is fully open-sourcing their modules under the ultra-permissive CC0 license (public domain). It could be the start of a new model for module making – and if you’ve ever wanted to watch someone live-stream the design process, you get that, too.

The Synthstrom Audible Deluge, a grid-based synth/sequencer/sampler, has its first official open-source, community-developed firmware – “and it’s huge,” the makers say. There are new views, new effects, new modulation, and more.

Ardour 8 has arrived with easier editing, automation, improved tempo mapping, arpeggiators, Launchpad Pro controller support, and more. The DAW is a workflow powerhouse – and it’s free and open source for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Bitwig and plug-in maker u-he today are announcing a new plug-in format into beta, dubbed CLAP, for CLever Audio Plug-in API. It’s open and has features missing from the leading proprietary formats – and boasts some significant support at launch. So what will that mean for you?

With gaming giant Epic buying Bandcamp, why not let music-makers put their albums on indie gaming darling itch.io, too? Thanks to homebrewed, customizable, free players, it’s now totally doable.

It’s powered by math but doesn’t require you to remember your, uh, linear algebra. It’s not a set of presets, but it’s accessible to newcomers and experts alike. MOPs is a free entryway to treating motion like an expressive instrument, and it radically changes the experience of using Houdini for the first time.

Sure, it ain’t pretty. But Audacity’s extensive feature set and free status have made this audio editor an essential tool across education and sound production. And now it’s been acquired by the emerging Muse Group. So, who are Muse, and what does this all mean?

Get a free algorithmic bass drum generator, a lo-fi modulator, a massive granular workstation, for free – and that’s just the beginning.

Sometimes, when you want something, you have to make it yourself – literally. The blog Music Thing, back in the day, was a favorite reason for any music tech lover to fire up the browser. Now, Tom Whitwell – whose day job at The Times of London keeps him plenty busy – is back, with […]