Tour Ireland’s experimental music history, handmade instruments and all

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so a good excuse to revisit this 2023 compilation of Irish experimental and electronic music back to 1960 — especially as the label has some updates from the underground scene recently. From handmade instruments to bedroom-produced tape constructions and a healthy interest in UFOs, get ready for the strange. “I wanted […]

Rage with the machine: Pigments 7 with new filters, new FX, sound features

Bonkers new filters? A Play mode everyone will actually want to use? Yeah, December isn’t done with you yet, synth fans. Meet the new Pigments 7 with Rage, Ripple, and Reverb filters, Corroder effect, improved amplitude envelopes, FM modulation on the filter, and more.

Peter Kirn - December 16, 2025

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

It has a “broken” button and an eyelid that you can blink on and off. It lets you record or set feedback to 150%. It overdubs, it loops, it — does it in opposing directions. No, it’s not another tape delay/looper. Every single setting in TapeLeap from Mudjaq, for Max for Live, is bonkers and fantastic.

Peter Kirn - December 11, 2025

Mix and patch ChowDSP’s tape modeling for free in VCV Rack

Peter Kirn - March 10, 2025

Throwback Thursday: Kerri Chandler DJing on reel-to-reel tape is a joy

Peter Kirn - June 27, 2024

Spectral Plugins are now free as maker goes out of business

Peter Kirn - April 2, 2024

Hainbach on scoring Qinyuan Lei’s film, machines through a child’s eyes

Peter Kirn - February 19, 2024

Lofi Oddity is a beautiful free “degradation toy box” plug-in

Peter Kirn - January 2, 2024

Free plug-in from BPB and Toybox Audio simulates dirty VHS tapes

Peter Kirn - November 30, 2023