Our friend DeafMan is back with another retro take on the Ableton Live color scheme. This time, the idea is making Live look attractive and legible in low light - even extreme low light. So get set for that late-night session, light a couple of candles, and travel back to the screen aesthetics of the 80s and 90s.

The post Make Ableton Live easy on the eyes in low light – with a retro 80s & 90s look appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Few instrument designs have ever come as close to science fiction as Synplant - and the alien breeding lab for sound has gotten more otherworldly in this update than ever. Replace those knobs with a double helix and start genetically engineering new paths from any sound you want to load. Here's a first hands-on.

The post Synplant 2 is as close to an alien laboratory as a synth plug-in can get appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Korg's drumlogue has a killer app: the incredible-sounding Sinevibes Nano dual-oscillator synth, with all the extras. And that app gets a ton of new stuff in a free system refresh. Add that to the separate, 3rd-party synth based on Mutable Instruments' Braids macro oscillator, and ... drumlogue is like two shampoos in one!

The post Korg drumlogue: major Sinevibes Nano update, plus free Braids synth appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Crises are a given; resilience is a given - to slightly bastardize the author's words on Beirut's Underground Scene, Hajar Ibrahim's portrait of a musical world. But in this book, released this summer, what you get is more personal. It's the underground telling its own story, rather than having one framed for it.

The post Tour Beirut’s music underground in a free PDF, from the inside out appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

This year has proven that independent music developers are able to give back and share resources. It's important to follow up on those efforts, too. So here's how it went with Soundtoys and flood relief in Vermont - flashback to summer.

The post Soundtoys worked to support local flood relief: here’s how it went appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Dnipro Modular and Sinevibes are collaborating on an upcoming Eurorack module, adding Sinevibes' effects to Dnipro's module design. And the module is being produced in Ukraine. We'll have more info on this soon, but I'm set to clear some rack space already. It's a shining bit of collaborative engineering with friendly design and cosmic capabilities.

The post Dnipro x Sinevibes Radiant multi-effects Eurorack module – made in Ukraine appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

With Ableton Push 3, Max for Live effects, instruments, sequencers, and other tools can work on standalone hardware - even without your computer. So it's a perfect time to look at how Max for Live devices can work without a computer display - and, by the way, that's just as useful on Push and Push 2, as well. Here's what you need to know, as a user, a first-time patcher, or an experienced developer.

The post Making Max for Live Devices work on Push and Push 3 standalone appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

In the "that didn't last long" files: Epic Games is divesting itself of Bandcamp after barely a year and a half. The music platform will be acquired by Songtradr, a "music licensing platform and marketplace company supporting artists, labels, and publishers."

The post Bandcamp never seemed to fit Epic; now Epic is selling it to Songtradr appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

MIDI starts with the obvious - in and out, easily understood. But then it throws us this curveball of a preposition - thru. Through? Let’s really talk about what it means, what a thru box or MIDI splitter is for, and how this knowledge can help you keep your gear timing perfectly tight.

The post What MIDI Thru really means – and how can it help keep your gear in sync appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Here's a product name I didn't expect to come back: it's the Roland GAIA 2. But despite the name and form factor, the new GAIA has a different architecture - virtual analog plus wavetable, and support for (some) Model Expansions so you can swap out different instrument engines.

The post Roland unveils GAIA 2 hybrid polysynth with Model Expansion support appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Moog Music has responded to concerns about last week's layoffs in their Asheville, NC production facility, via their Facebook page.

The post Moog Music releases statement on layoffs appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Welp, now that we've been putting modular environments inside modules inside modular rigs, next we get to make TouchDesigner play Bitwig Studio and Bitwig Studio play TouchDesigner -- and Bitwig's modular The Grid and TouchDesigner's modular UI interact. It's all coming on the eve of the TouchDesigner Roundtable in Berlin - and it's even part of the official Touch build. 3D and generative visuals, meet the DAW.

The post Bitwig Studio and TouchDesigner can now play one another appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

So far, it's got just two DAWs behind it - Bitwig Studio and PreSonus Studio One - but DAWproject's creators hope the format will become a new open standard that lets you move projects between software.

The post Could a new DAW file exchange format help you move projects around? appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Machine Learning Poetry, the new LP from Tehran's kāve, is not pastoral or pretty. It's 10th-12 century poetry made into a brutal digital assault - machine learning sound that cuts like a full-force buzz saw. And it's fantastic.

The post Premiere: In new kāve LP, pre-classical Persian verse meets the machine appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

This week only, Puremagnetik is giving away their beautiful Voculon 3000 - a "retro-futuristic" vocal machine that can bring you into some alternate timeline, at least for a little while.

The post Free now: Voculon 3000 is a wonderful retro-futuristic vocal instrument appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

The excellent Nadia Struiwigh has taken out time from her busy production and live touring schedule to break down how she works with Push 3 standalone and hardware. There are tons of great ideas here - and while we're on the topic, here's a useful hardware accessory for expanding Push 3 with more CV outputs.

The post Using Ableton Push 3 to work with hardware, play live, and capture ideas appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Memorex, Sony, TDK -- most of the names once associated with selling blank compact cassettes to consumers have since discontinued production. But one holdout still making tapes is Maxell - and their social media manager does not what you to forget it.

The post Maxell would like you to know that they still make audio cassette tapes appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Several reports have confirmed steep layoffs this week at Moog Music's Asheville, NC headquarters, shortly following an acquisition by InMusic (parent of Akai, Numark, Alesis, and others). Even in a year full of layoffs, these cuts are uniquely significant, threatening to erode some of the brand equity of the single best-known name in synths.

The post Moog Music layoffs provoke dismay in synth community appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Palestinian-global festival and music platform Exist reached London this month at Cafe OTO, the latest triumph of adventurous programming and acrobatic work across borders and international challenges. Exist has always been abound reaching beyond boundaries, organizers say. This year, they have some poignant messages about what music can do to reach beyond the boundary between life and death. And they've shared some crucial thoughts and music with us as they reflect on that mission.

The post “Exist is a feeling”: Organizers talk about their festival after losing Odai Masri appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Groove Synthesis, the instrument maker founded by veterans of Sequential and Oberheim, has taken their massive 24-voice wavetable synth and put it into a desktop form.

The post 3rd Wave, wavetable synth beast, does MPE and is now in desktop form appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.