From Éliane Radigue to West Coast, Homework is a patchable wonder

It’s a modular week, yes, but here are things you can never have too much of: great food, open beaches, modular environments, and Giorgio Sancristoforo sound playgrounds. So here’s Homework, a 4-track cassette recorder, retro effects including granular processor and tape echo, and modular synths inspired by Buchla and ARP. It’s all you need to recreate some Éliane Radigue-inspired drones and float away on a sea of noise.

Free emulations of 80s Alesis MIDIVERB II, MicroVerb, in plug-in form

Beloved by digital reverb buffs and shoegaze aficionados, not one but two classic reverbs are now in unofficial plug-in emulations — the MicroVerb and the MIDIVERB II. That includes the full range of MIDIVERB multi-effects, from gated reverbs to chorus and triggered flange, plus the grit and reverse of the Micro. Let’s travel back to the hottest gear of the late 1980s, for free.

Peter Kirn - April 27, 2026

Michigan Synth Works has an open-source 303 processor and a new kit

Call it the Bride of x0xb0x. Michigan Synth Works today teased a new, Arduino-compatible, open-source 303 processor, plus a full DIY kit. They’re both affordable ways to build your own all-analog, modern TB-303 with current components. And it feels like the early spirit of the open x0xb0x is back. The x0xb0x is the device that […]

Peter Kirn - March 3, 2026

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

Peter Kirn - February 16, 2026

Here’s Laurie Spiegel introducing Music Mouse in the 1980s

Peter Kirn - February 16, 2026

Laurie Spiegel’s Music Mouse, the Mac’s first instrument, in Eventide reboot

Peter Kirn - January 25, 2026

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

Peter Kirn - January 18, 2026

Get Universal Audio’s 610 tube channel strips for free — DSP or native

Peter Kirn - January 13, 2026

Watch as a telephone is transformed into a DIY analog drum machine

Peter Kirn - January 9, 2026