VST is 30 years old, and Steinberg is giving away some of its earliest plugins

It’s the format that changed software music making forever: the VST plug-in format turns 30 this year. Steinberg is giving away updated versions of Neon, CS-40, Karlette, VB1, and LM7 — some of its earliest plug-ins — to celebrate. And that means you can run these vintage instruments (plus one tape delay) on your modern Mac or PC.

DeafMan transforms Ableton Live with custom colors, interactive editor

DeafMan’s creations for Ableton Live have evolved from a selection of cool retro themes to a vast library of complete color makeovers — a “visual system.” And there’s an insanely powerful new editor for managing themes, tweaking colors, creating customizations, and assigning color to tracks. It’s more than just customization: it’s a way of thinking about your workspace and music in hues and shades.*

Peter Kirn - July 29, 2026

Amiga Lagoon and the enduring power of marine aquarium screen savers

Long before anyone was teetotaling screen time like it was some kind of vice, we once stared into our displays for no reason at all, as long as possible. Friends, I’m here to tell you that that dream is alive, and everything from your latest smartphone to computer to flat panel TV can again come to life as a virtual undersea world. And for aquarium love, no one compares to computer artist Jim Sachs.

Peter Kirn - June 29, 2026

Making music on the TI graphing calculator — and a TI-inspired plug-in synth

Peter Kirn - March 6, 2026

Generalmusic revives GEM and LEM, legendary Italian music tech brands

Peter Kirn - January 26, 2026

ANIMEVOX by castpixel is a free retro anime-style sound fx generator

Peter Kirn - January 18, 2026

Forget channel closures: watch every decade of MTV music videos online

Peter Kirn - January 8, 2026

KORG’s 1995 Trinity, 1977 PS-3300, SGX-2 piano now in software

Peter Kirn - October 28, 2025

Sit back and take in a half-hour Novation Bass Station documentary

Peter Kirn - July 30, 2025