West Coast, with penguins: Aaltoverb on Linux; Aalto 2 coming soon

Madrona Labs’ patchable West Coast synth is one of the most playable, exploration-friendly, unique instruments around — a piece of software to last. And it comes with a reverb companion, now on Linux, too as a free demo you can beta-test. The big news: Aalto 2 is coming this fall for macOS, Windows — and Linux, too.

Ubuntu Studio 24.10 – the free Linux audiovisual workstation – is here

Fully free, completely open source, Ubuntu Studio can breathe life into old machines and give you powerful free toolsets on new ones. It’s one of the easiest ways to get creative with Linux, and this new release looks better, supports more audio configurations, and is simpler to install, as well as bringing the latest-and-greatest package support.

Peter Kirn - October 10, 2024

Ubuntu Studio in new LTS beta; still the easiest creative Linux distro

Ubuntu Studio remains the quickest one-shot way to get at Linux and free software for music, sound, video, media, and 3D. And they deserve some extra love now, especially since Apple Silicon has slightly deflated desktop Linux attention. Here’s a look at the long-term support version that just hit beta, due later this month.

Peter Kirn - April 18, 2024

Amigo Sampler, Amiga sampling in plug-in form for £10, plus skank music

Peter Kirn - March 22, 2024

Ardour 8 – what’s new, and why this free, open-source DAW is worth a look

Peter Kirn - October 9, 2023

Free sample mashing with samplebrain, by Aphex Twin and Dave Griffiths

Peter Kirn - September 25, 2022

Linux gets native analog modeled plug-ins, Pultec emulations, with VST, VST3, and now – CLAP

Peter Kirn - August 24, 2022

Tracktion Waveform Free gets updates for 2022 – and it’s a solid no-cost starter DAW

Peter Kirn - August 22, 2022

Free presets, free filter, TAL-Filter-2 mean a new trance-y Age of Love for us all

Peter Kirn - May 24, 2021