Music tech Software Tech
Scales among updates to the free Ardour DAW — with tuning on the way
Ardour 9.8 continues the rapid, detailed development of this free and open-source DAW, with improved session recovery and clip recording, expanded support for controllers and hardware, and an arpeggiator MIDI tool. The 9.8 update also adds scales and keys, but with a twist: unlike competing software, scales/modes will soon be tuning-aware.
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Septabee, an insane-looking free Linux/Windows DAW with pomegranates
Suddenly, a bunch of the producers I follow are buzzing about the music-mangling possibilities of Septabee, a free DAW for Linux and Windows developed “in secret” over “20,000 hours.” And it looks like insane fun: a bonkers dataflow interface and “violently unfinished” early-access software available through an intentionally broken website that autoplays music and makes you hunt for the click zone like it’s 1994.
Peter Kirn - September 3, 2026
Music tech Software Tech
Digital Arabic Maqām Archive and open-source MIDI plug-in now available
Khyam Allami presented his long-term research project in Beirut yesterday, and it’s an exciting one. Hundreds of tuning systems, ajnās, and maqāmāt are now in a free, open archive, and there’s a free MIDI plug-in that lets you apply tunings (and tweak them by ear) across all major software tuning formats.
Peter Kirn - July 22, 2026
Music Music tech Software Tech
Play together with Ableton Live, pt. 1: playing in tune
Peter Kirn - March 31, 2026
Modular-Analog Music tech Software Step 1 Stories Tech
Lethelium, a 24-string instrument fashioned from a bicycle wheel
Peter Kirn - December 2, 2025
DIY + Unusual Gear Music Music tech Tech
No one shreds on keys like Mauritania’s Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla
Peter Kirn - September 5, 2025
Music Music tech Tech
