With audio and VST3 support, Isadora is now a complete interactive canvas

Isadora for macOS and Windows has long been a powerful media art tool for those in the know, thanks to its intuitive interface and focus on live performance. It’s the media art tool that can feel at home with dance choreographers, a rare piece of software that gets dramaturgy. Isadora 4.5 adds a lot to that, but most notably flexible sound tools — and VST3 support — bring it solidly into the world of audiovisual media.

Turn Ableton Push 3 into a single expressive percussive surface, free

The most exciting add-on for Ableton Live this spring for me is actually not an Ableton Extension. It’s warpradius, a Max for Live device by Jon Doe One that transforms the entire grid into a single expressive percussion surface. It employs a Bessel membrane resonator model, a modal synthesis method that produces realistic, varied percussion sounds. And it’s free.

Peter Kirn - June 15, 2026

Free: 4ms VCV Rack ROMplers put gobs of drums under voltage control

The library for the free and open source VCV Rack has been on fire lately. But this one is a standout: 4ms has a sprawling library of ROMpler modules based on classic drum-machine samples. And don’t let the “ROMpler” part fool you: those samples are ready for full voltage control.

Peter Kirn - May 19, 2026

This free tool lets you create interactive, live graphic scores in Ableton Live

Peter Kirn - May 15, 2026

Link Audio, now in Max, Pd, VCV Rack, TouchDesigner, oF, and plug-ins, free

Peter Kirn - May 3, 2026

Tim Exile built an experimental modular system, all about playability

Peter Kirn - April 28, 2026

Max for Move: run RNBO patches on Ableton Move — like Granulator III

Peter Kirn - March 17, 2026

The best way to learn Bitwig Grid, Serum 2 is in Japanese from LOBOTIX

Peter Kirn - March 5, 2026

The developer of Tweakbench wants to remake the DAW without linear time

Peter Kirn - March 4, 2026