Pure Data (Pd) 0.57 inbound, enduring free software for tinkering with sound

Technology keeps asking us to speed up. Pd is happy to let you slow down: tinker, patch, make mistakes, obsess over a number or signal routing, and do it all visually. The free and open source software is getting a nice 0.57 update with new features, relevant to Pd and tools like libpd and plugdata that are based on it.

Cook every day: read Suzanne Ciani’s 1976 Buchla Cookbook, for free

In 1976, Suzanne Ciani reported back to the USA’s National Endowment for the Arts with a report on her compositions, in the form of a modular cookbook. Now you can read her notes and follow along using entirely free software, complete with sound examples. I love overusing the cookbook metaphor, maybe just because food is […]

Peter Kirn - September 21, 2026

Pac-Man, Befaco RANDOM8, and more free modules of VCV Rack

Your sequencing gets upgraded — including cameos by Pac-Man and the LOGO turtle. You get even more secret weapons for drum synthesis. You get the hot new RANDOM8 collab from Befaco and Mylar Melodies, cloning their new hardware. There’s just so much goodness in VCV Rack that covering the free stuff has me dizzy. Here’s your June update, with some sound examples.

Peter Kirn - June 18, 2026

Unfiltered Audio Battalion drum synth, FX in VCV Rack are a revelation

Peter Kirn - June 9, 2026

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

Peter Kirn - May 19, 2026

Wish granted: VCV Rack’s Plateau is now a Eurorack module from 4ms

Peter Kirn - May 7, 2026

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

Peter Kirn - May 3, 2026

Synth Days in Kyiv: inside the wartime Ukrainian modular scene

Kaximia - April 12, 2026

Play together with Ableton Live, pt. 1: playing in tune

Peter Kirn - March 31, 2026