CDM Create Digital Music

You can now get eight of UA’s best plug-ins free, plus the free LUNA DAW

Peter Kirn — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:23:38 +0000

UAD Explore is a surprise. This is no "intro" or limited pack; eight stand-out Universal Audio plug-ins are available for free. That's on top of the company's free Luna DAW — though the plug-ins will also work in your DAW of choice, no special hardware required. For skill sharing or anyone lacking a budget now, that means access to some great tools.

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Intellijel made Swells a playable reverb with faders, rise, fall, ebb, and flow

Peter Kirn — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:37:10 +0000

Let's hear it for reverbs you can play, morph, squash, and swell -- not just set and forget. That's Intellijel Swells, the "Multi-Model Reverb Module with Swell Generator," or perhaps more aptly, "a lush reverb with a bunch of faders you can jam on."

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Liquid and hypnotic, Sinevibes’ Duality is a different breed of vibrato

Peter Kirn — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:56:27 +0000

By separating frequency spectrum emphasis from phase modulation, the “hybrid vibrato” Duality can create unique, clean, stereo-spinning pitch modulation. It’s one of Sinevibes’ most nuanced — but also most compelling — effects. I’ve been working with prerelease builds up to the final build — including watching the UI take shape! It’s really not so necessary […]

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Akai’s pint-sized MPC Sample has already gotten a couple of updates

Peter Kirn — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:50:30 +0000

It seems like just yesterday we were ogling the launch of Akai's inexpensive, ultra-portable standalone MPC ...okay, three weeks. But Akai delivered some important updates in the 1.3 firmware, available today, on top of V1.2.1 (in case you blinked). Here's what's new.

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Synth Days in Kyiv: inside the wartime Ukrainian modular scene

Kaximia — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:07:33 +0000

The prolific Kaximia of Tembra Modular and the series "Let's explore modular synthesis" transports us to a Synth Days holiday weekend event in Kyiv. Let's welcome her CDM writing debut, as she gives us a window into a Ukrainian modular scene that's thriving, despite everything.

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Bastl’s new Déjà vu is the 4HP module for when you need to fader stuff

Peter Kirn — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:32:52 +0000

This looks like a good case of what happens when a simple idea does a ton of stuff -- the opposite of a unitasker. Two faders, but there's attenuator, attenuverter, crossfader, preamp, line level booster, panner, mixer, and and and...

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Lebanon’s musicians are a model for action — they deserve support now

Peter Kirn — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:37:02 +0000

Again and again, music communities in Lebanon have embraced mutual aid and spoken out through activism and in their art. That's been true from experimental music labels to the Beirut Synthesizer Center initiative. They're getting results. It's time for the international music scene and press to do more.

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Reason 14 beta: new Track Panel, reverb, Dark Mode, more

Peter Kirn — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:22:10 +0000

Reason 14 probably won't cross off every item on Reason users' wish lists. But it sure tackles a lot: a new Track Panel and workflow, tons of improvements to the sequencer, Dark Mode, automatic import tempo detection, and more. Plus, since every Reason update really needs a device, this one gets the RV-9 Reverb Station.

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Elektron is the latest firm to be acquired by private investment capital

Peter Kirn — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:17:07 +0000

Swedish manufacturer Elektron is no longer independent; Bonnier Capital has bought a controlling stake.

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Objeq Delay 2 hands-on: AAS acoustic resonator modeling in a multi-effect

Peter Kirn — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:52:58 +0000

I'll take a side order with the fixins'. Objeq Delay gives you the signature physical modeling resonator that's the secret ingredient in AAS' main-course instruments, but in a handy multi-effect with stereo delays and filters. Version 2 is a major update, inside and out. Here's a breakdown of what's new.

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