Free Friday: GForce’s superb Axxess instrument is free until December

GForce has updated their site, branding, and pricing (now with both lifetime licenses and subscription options). And there are two freebies, time-limited through the end of November: a Mellotron M400 instrument, and the one I suspect most readers will be into, GForce’s take on the 1975 ARP Axxe synthesizer.

Beads, last of the Mutable Instruments modules, is now open source

Beads, the granular “texture synthesizer” that was Emilie Gillet’s follow-up to the legendary Clouds, is now fully open source. That completes the final missing piece in open-source code and free licensing for Mutable Instruments’ iconic and influential range of Eurorack modules.

Peter Kirn - October 12, 2026

Cook every day: read Suzanne Ciani’s 1976 Buchla Cookbook, for free

In 1976, Suzanne Ciani reported back to the USA’s National Endowment for the Arts with a report on her compositions, in the form of a modular cookbook. Now you can read her notes and follow along using entirely free software, complete with sound examples. I love overusing the cookbook metaphor, maybe just because food is […]

Peter Kirn - September 21, 2026

Scales among updates to the free Ardour DAW — with tuning on the way

Peter Kirn - September 7, 2026

Audacity 4, free and open-source audio editor, arrives with a revamped UI

Peter Kirn - September 3, 2026

Septabee, an insane-looking free Linux/Windows DAW with pomegranates

Peter Kirn - September 3, 2026

Reason now offers 15 Reason devices, plus Rack Extensions access, for free

Peter Kirn - August 27, 2026

Test what you’re hearing, scientifically: free ABX testing website

Peter Kirn - August 24, 2026

A $5 modular drum circuit, a free online course, and how it grows into more

Peter Kirn - August 21, 2026