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 […]

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

Reason Free brings some of the best of Reason to your DAW of choice, totally free. That includes instruments like the excellent Europa synth, effects like Audiomatic and Scream 4, and more. And there’s especially good news for the Rack Extensions ecosystem: the full marketplace of third-party add-ons will run in the free plug-in, too.

Peter Kirn - August 27, 2026

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

Can you really tell the difference between encoding methods? Two different kick drum emulations? 16-bit versus 24-bit? These aren’t subjective questions: you can actually test them–with science. (Science!) Here’s a site that lets you create your own ABX tests, or try some pre-built ones. Argue about other stuff instead!

Peter Kirn - August 24, 2026

Organismi OR—1, free for iPad: breathing, stochastic pattern generator

Peter Kirn - August 18, 2026

808 Day: free Roland e-Bjook, NTS Radio jams, animation

Peter Kirn - August 8, 2026

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

Peter Kirn - August 4, 2026

Last call on these summer sales on gear and software

Peter Kirn - July 27, 2026

Free BEAST Repeat for Ableton Live is so good, you’ll switch genres to IDM

Peter Kirn - July 22, 2026

Audio Damage ShinRonin, now free, is a throwback to 2003 plug-in design

Peter Kirn - July 6, 2026