It’s just an alpha version, but it’s already impressive: the open source visual programming tools Pd is running in a browser window, even with externals.

It’s the ultimate open source ugly duckling story. Once an awkward, esoteric tool, Blender has grown into a 3D modeling and animation standard that’s slick and pretty – and free.

Get ready for some tablet patching. A developer has revealed a port of popular open source modular environment VCV Rack to the iPad.

Vember Audio’s Surge synth could be an ideal choice for an older machine or a tight budget – with deep modulation and loads of wavetables, now free and open source.

AudioKit Synth One has arrived. The first wholly open source synth app on the iOS platform is here and is of course free to download. You can find all the specs for the synth right here

Ableton Live 12.4 is inbound, with Link Audio support coming to Live, Move, Note, and Push. But Live Audio can also be about routing audio over a network to other hosts, too. Julien Bayle (VOID) has an early, open-source implementation. If you’re ready to start experimenting even while this API is still in alpha, you’ve got a wide variety of sound and visual tools to try, all for free.

What if an integrated plug-in instrument could rival even full-blown modulars? That’s the question posed by u-he’s Zebra 3, out now at long last for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It’s unlikely any other soft synth takes on just this much synthesis territory, or with this much depth. From spline-based morphing oscillators to physical modeling and […]

Skip the laptops and loads of proprietary hardware with an ultra-simple, portable, affordable add-on that turns any turntable into a digital vinyl turntable. That’s the pitch from NAP Works for crowdfunded, compact hardware built on open-source tech. It might do more than just impress digital vinyl DJs: this has the potential to win over even the CDJ crowd.

What if you could remake Ableton Move to do anything, using Max — the audio engine, I/O, every pad, button, encoder, and even the display? That’s RNBO support on Move. It’s labeled “experimental alpha,” but I’ve been testing RNBO Takeover Mode on Move, and it’s already really usable. There’s even a lot you can do without patching at all, like running Robert Henke’s now-iconic Granulator III. Here’s a first look.

Pikimov 5.1.0 is now available as an offline app, bringing all the browser-powered video editing and motion graphics powers of this tool to a standalone tool — no internet connection required. The browser version is free forever; for offline capabilities, you need to pay $6 a month (no commitment). Pikimov is not free as in […]