The free modules for VCV Rack are coming fast and furious. The latest is Bastl’s awesomely versatile Crust drum voice. Just in case you need something to, you know, distract yourself today/tonight/the rest of this week.

Imagine having access to a full original Moog modular system. Now imagine you could run the whole thing for free – and it won’t take up a wall of your home. Synthesizers.com has brought its MU East Coast-inspired modular to VCV Rack as freeware. It’s also a great place to begin with software modular synthesis.

The iconic monome grid just got native support from Cycling ’74’s RNBO, the patching tool for exporting Max sounds on other hardware and software environments. There’s a fun, free example patch to get you started, too.

Steinberg has shared a quick “switcher” tutorial for Finale users getting started with Dorico. Plus, here’s some general advice for switchers—especially for composers who are now worried they’ll lose access to their work.

It’s the end of an era in music notation software. 35 years after its introduction as Coda Music Technologies’ Finale, the landmark scoring software is at the end of its life. Developer MakeMusic is offering a steeply discounted crossgrade to Steinberg’s Dorico, and says Dorico represents “the bright future of the music notation industry.”

Ableton Live has never had a built-in notation view, but one intrepid developer has created one in Max – and it’s free/donation- and community-supported. And it works beautifully.

Nothing to download, no AI (and it’s not training on your stuff), and nothing to pay: Pikimov is a free Web-based motion graphics tool and video editor. It runs in your browser, but your files stay on your machine. In other words, it’s exactly what you wanted.

We’ve got ancient Chilean trees, a serial/parallel frequency shifter effect combined with a rich reverb, and a tool you can try in your browser as well as in plug-in form. Let’s talk to acclaimed composer Cristian Vogel about the art and code of NEL ShifterMesh.

You’ve heard time stretching. You’ve heard extreme time stretching. Sloom, a new plug-in and standalone app, is extreme-extreme-extreme time stretching – like instant ambient, instant experimental sonic manipulation – complete with unique spectral shaping.

NAP Framework, the free and open-source, lightweight, open-source framework for artists and designers now looks and runs better than before. And keeping it free, there’s now a non-profit NAP Labs organization – while the creators merge with partners Studio DRIFT.