Impactor, Rupture 2 by Rawton Forge are perfect percussion synths for Live

That’s it. Rawton Forge has nailed it. With the new Rupture 2 on the kick and bass drum synthesis side, and Impactor handling general-purpose percussion synthesis for kicks/toms/tonal, you have an ideal floor-rattling, punchy, snappy synthesis duo for Ableton Live.

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

Dillon Bastan, prolific Max for Live patch stylist to the stars, is at it again. BEAST Repeat takes the fun glitchiness of Ableton’s stock Beat Repeat and adds extensive new ways to re-pitch, fade, stretch, twist, gate, pan, filter, and generally mangle per-pattern and per-beat. And it’s free?!

Peter Kirn - July 22, 2026

On 303 Day, acid bassline love abounds, and some freebies, too

Roland is fairly quiet on this 303 Day, but in the maelstrom of terrible news, it was a relief to see the Japanese music community out in force. This is what we really strive for: a world where we can just make bassline noises all day. Here are some highlights, and even some free Max for Live love if you need some acid therapy.

Peter Kirn - March 3, 2026

Polyfold from Manifest Audio lets you paint with polymetric patterns

Peter Kirn - February 26, 2026

Breaking: cave-like reflections in Robert Henke’s free Lanzarote Verb

Peter Kirn - February 16, 2026

Sting 2.1 makes the most fun pattern, arp, acid maker even more funner

Peter Kirn - January 15, 2026

Boxing Day: get those xmas freebies and be serenaded by an Atari ST

Peter Kirn - December 26, 2025

Mudjaq TapeLeap, a freaky tape/lo-fi looper that can blink, be broken

Peter Kirn - December 11, 2025

Guide: Creating instruments with Max for Live and Ableton DSP (pt. 3)

Peter Kirn - November 12, 2025