You’ve seen some feature lists – and this time Ableton is even doing a 90-day free trial. But how do you actually dig into what’s new in Live 11 and start working? Here’s a deep guide to all the essentials.

Notch is the latest “it” real-time visual effects tool. So as motion maven Defasten produced a dazzling science fiction video for my latest release, I asked him to share how it all works. Enter the nodegraph.

How do you set the mood to concentrate, especially in times of distraction and anxiety? Adjust the light, open a window to allow some air flow? Here’s a unique set of sound design tools and music to match that accomplishes that with audio.

Forget what platform it’s on for a moment – a Friday is a perfect time to support independent DIY music production, by directly supporting the artist and downloading something that you can come back to again and again.

“Life is so fragile” is the phrase that has echoed among friends, as last week claimed producer SOPHIE. My heart goes out especially to those who knew her, especially in this time of loss.

Strega is the new Make Noise invention – a tone maker, control instrument, and effects processor. It’s also an artistic collaboration with Alessandro Cortini. CDM talks to Make Noise about what that’s about.

KORG’s Modwave synth isn’t even out yet, but CDM sonic wizard-at-large Francis Preve was one of the people making sounds for it. Time to go 20,000 leagues under the sea with this monster wavetable hardware.

In dark moments, sometimes the most vital gesture is acknowledging uncertainty and feeling. So as we pass the milestone of one year into the next, I’ll be talking through some mixes alongside our year-end music review.

Maybe it’s not about being DAW-less or having particular software or gear. Maybe it’s just having your hands touch a box from the future that gets you into that state of music play. Andreas gives us an in-depth review of the $499 Bluebox.

It’s the virtual equivalent to someone dropping off the keys to a massive vintage studio. Version 8 leads with new retro additions, a vocoder, and various improvements and features suite-wide.