Oh, wow, checking this one out. Sam's done some great work over the years. Love the draggable quick starts. Live coding, alive and well!

Ah yes. I figured if I spit out random syllables I would hit real product names. So Vidcrunch is a monetization platform for videos. ShadowCast is a cool-looking capture card. Only Chocoviz is currently unused so you get that one for free. (From yesterday’s summary of acquisitions)

Ouch. Ha. Well I thought Janeway was right so …I guess it fits this, too.

Chop audio into bar-aligned pieces for Live -- or Ableton Move -- free. Nice use of Extensions in combination with sart open libraries. The work of @nerk.bsky.social -- take a look:

NI, iZotope, Brainworx, Plugin Alliance... who even owns what? And what's happening with the craftspeople who make oboes and trumpets? (Seriously, there are some big shakeups) Your cheat sheet for the NI afterscape and other M&A in 2026... so far.

Wow, I had totally forgotten I made this track. I do now remember improvising in the voice settings on a keyboard and mod wheel. So, like, I guess, an operatic interpretation of Claude Shannon with singing robots.

Aw thanks! Yeah, for those who don't know this project, do check it out! And here some sounds across the Americas this evening. <3

When bleeding edge digital animation met practical effects … how the music score was played live … and when T-1000 is DJ T-1000. Happy 35th anniversary, T2.

Oh, look. It's Live on Linux. (!!) All thanks to the years of work on Wine, of course.

88 keys, but only 8 kg. MK4 really nails what the Launchpad did -- keep it simple, but give you the stuff you want. Well, unless you want hammer action -- then you should look elsewhere. ;) Latest from Novation:

This confirms what everyone suspected. Also, so long as AI companies hide data sources and scrape without consent, there’s no way to avoid becoming training data. Oh sorry I mean “wow look the the future it’s AGI everybody get on board nothing can stop it it’s just like sampling”

You know, he's got a point. Also, definitely my go-to guy when I want to think about how the NEW things were totally better than the OLD things and anyone who says otherwise is totally wrong.

This is really a model for integrating sound in a node-based environment -- and a moment to reflect on the long history of Mark Coniglio's work as an artist and developer that led to this moment in audiovisual interaction.

Just added a little over a hundred more works to the Southeast Asian Composers Solo Keyboard pieces bringing the total number of works to about 750! doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...

This is just a friendly note to say you can drop what you’re doing for the moment and play with a JS version of MS Paint from Win 3.1 era which is more fun than it should be. All generated images should be replaced with terrible drawings made in this. paint.js.org

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the new Logic granular and sequenced FX modes. Full guide to getting the most from Alchemy, Sample Alchemy, and Beat Breaker in Logic Pro 12.3: cdm.link/logic-12-3-s...

Well this is more like it. Instant download from @theverge.com Needed that badly.

This series looks terrific!

Meta backed down after public pressure on its AI tools. But their entire model is still opt-out, not opt-in. Even after the change, you'll notice those defaults are really aggressive. These are tools run by privileged people who never experienced abuse (or respected privacy).

Look, just think of modules like food. Even if you've had so many that your stomach is hurting, we can still keep offering more. Be grateful. ;)

Private equity and capital aren't getting out of music -- they're doubling down. This time, that means parallel investments with festivals, ticketing, data, the lot. In the case of CVC, they joined KKR in the Superstruct festival deal (Field Day, Sónar, Boiler Room), of boycott infamy.

And CDM is back online... so yeah, if I owe you an article on something, the reason is a *lot* of stuff going on behind the scenes in my world, one major one being trying to fight the Rise of the Robots on the internet... stay tuned for more.

I forgot Learning Synths! Okay, updated the story with the full timeline of Ableton educational sites. It's one of their best efforts, for the Playground (pictured). cdm.link/ableton-learn/

"I'm draining, a broken battery" -Sofiia Artiukhina New music, mixed in a way that fits the moment for me (plus a couple of unreleased things from me), for Refuge Worldwide Berlin. With links to all the releases, because you need them.

EPROM built an instrument for Minimal Audio's Current synth -- here's a guide to exploring the standalone player and full synth versions. @eprombeats.bsky.social made some seriously epic sounds with this one.

We talk about the golden ages of print. But honestly, no one will ever do tech covers the way Hungarian Commodore magazines did.

The latest from Ableton to teach the basics of music -- along with the software -- for free online. Some real promise here, especially in that the full Note and Move engine runs natively on the Web. And of course that means I also do a timeline of all the various Ableton education resources.

This update from @livartz.bsky.social and other special deals now added to the July sales round-up update! Julymas. Something. cdm.link/july-deals/

This 2003 gem is back -- and it's free. Dual matrices for modular routing, with control and audio, give you the power to run with scissors and self-oscillate until your ears bleed, if you want. Thanks @audiodamage.com for the memories (and software that feels right at home in 2026).

DON'T WORRY EVERYONE, it's FREE for you to read! this post contains some overdue shoutouts to your favs @ienjoymusic.net & @peretsky.bsky.social + thoughtful ramblings about how i'm finding my scene Catch up with me & admire my hours of photoshop work pls 😭 lol www.patreon.com/StayatHome_C...

Well this is fresh. Downloading this before there's a copyright claim or something ;) From @blacktechnomatters.bsky.social -- needed this this weekend.

RAMageddon may be coming for storage, game consoles, and computers, but not for our synths and software. Time for the carefully curated July/4th of July/Summer deals round-up -- and there are some serious temptations in this one:

I needed a beach book and now I've got it, if I don't just finish it now (already been browsing.) Tons of inspiration here, including ways of thinking about instruments, ambisonics and architecture, and more. Thanks @scannerdot.com !

Don't underestimate this one. A founder-owned, independent company is snapping up the pieces that big investment money left behind. Emmy-winning Boris FX buys Emmy-winning iZotope -- and when you see the *rest* of the pieces at Boris, that makes sense.

The $169 NTS-3 kaoss pad kit is not getting nearly enough attention for its ability to load custom plug-ins. But just like that, @sinevibes.bsky.social made the perfect four-up effect just for this pocket device. Hands-on review:

Huh. So as owner Songtradr slashes the Bandcamp engineering team, they're also shutting down Songtradr. These two platforms do different things. Most of the actual Songtradr functionality is going to MassiveMusic. Apart from Bandcamp, anyone using those other tools?

Apps from @blackmagicdesign.bsky.social and Apple exploit new pro possibilities of the iPhone ... and even previous models of iPhone and iPad. And this dock from Blackmagic is a huge boon, including to VJs and media artists and people shooting LED walls... let me break it down:

I could say this about probably a couple dozen companies right now -- we're in a massive economic and general slump. *Do more press on everything*. Hype everything. Weird to be saying that. Don't slump along with the slump. Fight through the pain, basically.

AI is going great! (sorry deep Mister Rogers' Neighborhood cut that totally dates me)

This is worth a reminder in that context -- Bandcamp workers had tried to unionize, including editorial, before they faced acquisition and huge cuts.

It's a year of layoffs and tech wealth consolidation at the expense of the people doing the actual work. Here's the update a lot of us want to hear the least.

"If it’s not there in the moment, it doesn’t really end up on the record." And oh yes, we're talking gear, synths (CS-30!) to compressors. From the artist who helped invigorate the current live gear/improv craze in techno... @dhla.me interview:

I want my fish tv

If your blood pressure or cortisol needs lowering, this should do the trick. Jim Sachs and the ongoing legacy of putting fish on your computer screen.

D16 Group's PunchBox 2 is a surprisingly deep sequel to the brutal kick plug-in classic: cdm.link/d16-punchbox...

Let's 100% just start human conversations in our UIs in music, too. And bring back easter eggs. (Credits screens are still in a ton of tools; have a look!)

Jeff Bridges using Suno?!! Say it ain't so! Jeez, if only there were a movie about big, evil tech corporations that employ AI to rip off the work of individual creators. Space Paranoids, we hardly knew ye. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Ekssperimental Sounds Studios analog-style wonders for Reason: hands-on review. So many gems in there, including a new drum step sequencer and multi-functional frequency shifter (Bode, ring mod, re-routable). @ekssperimental.bsky.social cdm.link/ekssperiment...

Another disaster, more neglect, more failed policy. But don't just get depressed: act and spread the word. WIth help from Hyperaktivist (DJ) and Carlotta Aoun (media artist), gathered some resources, including a lovely book and some music. As always, giving directly > NGOs. More:

I think other people are music critics -- I don't know if I've ever called myself that. What I write about is music at the moment that I really *need* to hear something. And these four I really needed to hear, on so many levels. Hope you find the same.