It’s a painful year for techno’s originators and Detroit. News is spreading today that Sean Tate, aka The Butcher and an iconic techno originator, has died.

Take a break from the surveillance nightmare around us for computer vision that’s local, not online, and doing creative, artistic things, instead. Resolume 7.28 adds some powerful Wire nodes and new effects and blends, all powered by vision. Yep, Resolume’s removing your backgrounds, segmenting your humans, estimating depth — and it’s good, clean fun.

Music gearmaker Elektron last week announced it would not allow sharing hacks and modifications for its devices on its official Elektronauts forum or social media channels. In a statement, the company says a sudden surge in firmware hacking, apparently driven at least in part by AI, helped motivate the decision. Here are the details.

New sound technologies? Sure, okay, I guess. But haunted dolls of the 1890s as made by Thomas Edison? Oh, now you’ve got my attention. So in case you haven’t discovered this before, Tempest Instruments, a “small team” led by TV/film and video game composer Alex Davis, has been collected strange sound ephemera of the 19th […]

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 […]

On Friendship Survival Guide, constructed from an archive of loops and sound exchanges, it’s as if Jóhann Jóhannsson is alive again. Adam Wiltzie, co-founder of Stars of the Lid and part of A Winged Victory for the Sullen, talks to us about the process, and about the perfect and fleeting personal and creative connection the two artist shared.

Based on the legendary TB-303, the x0xb0x was an underground legend all its own, one that helped popularize the open-source hardware movement. And now it’s back, in a digital emulation of the original hardware, from x0xb0x’s original creator.

MOTU’s DP doesn’t get a lot of hype — it just quietly remains a favorite for everything from scoring to post-production. DP12 has deep Dolby Atmos support, an Arrangement Strip, and lots of other welcome additions to this Mac and Windows DAW.

Elgato’s Stream Deck, a push-button desktop controller with interactive color keys and software shortcuts, has quietly become an ideal DAW accessory. Take, for example, this thoughtfully designed addition from Granite Coast Studio for the inimitable Cockos Reaper.

It’s Stem Ripper, and its expansion module accomplice, “With Mixer.” Patch it up quick, record individual stems, and perform stereo mixing with aux sends, panning, and even external USB MIDI control. And fit it all in 6HP + 8HP, with clever Eurorack modules from ALM/Busy Circuits.