SAMPLED▌ FRONT AND CENTER
Is LUNA Really Free? The Free DAWs Worth Downloading on Mac, Windows and iPad
Universal Audio's LUNA now costs nothing on Mac and Windows. Here is what that gets you, plus the other free DAWs worth your time, including Sampledex on iPad, Mac and Windows.
// also right now
GearWhat Equipment Do You Need to Start a Video Podcast at Home?
A home podcast studio built from gear I actually use: a 4K webcam, a pair of tracking PTZ cameras and the headphones every broadcast booth already owns.
FeatureIs Sampledex for iPad a Real Free DAW, and What Can It Do?
Robert Clemons has brought Sampledex from the Mac to the iPad as a free download. Here is what it does, what it can't do, and who it's for.
// from the dispatch
Drake dropped three albums in one night and the internet still can't agree what happened
ICEMAN, HABIBTI, and MAID OF HONOUR landed together on May 15. Two weeks later, the discourse is louder than the music — which might be exactly the point.
Why Tracktion's JUCE and Waveform Free are quietly the most generous toolkit in music software
One company maintains the C++ framework that runs most of your plugins and gives away a full-fat DAW with unlimited tracks. The catch: there isn't one.
Supreme and Jordan reload for Spring 2026 with a full leather-and-tracksuit kit
The brands quietly returned this week with a six-piece SS26 collection — hooded leather jacket, track set, jersey, hoodie, basketball short — dropping June 4 in the US and June 6 in Asia.
Tyler, the Creator is running a two-album victory lap and nobody can keep up
Between Don't Tap the Glass, a deluxe Chromakopia, and a two-day London takeover, the Hawthorne polymath is treating 2026 like an encore he never has to leave.
che's Fully Loaded is rage rap's SoundCloud-first power move
The Atlanta teenager surprise-dropped a five-track EP on SoundCloud — anchored by 'Million Dollar Mansion' — and the deep-voiced, self-produced rollout is his clearest 2026 thesis statement yet.
Hi-C and the Rotting Logic of Survival Horror Rap
By mapping the skeletal remains of early 2010s gaming onto a bit-crushed 'vamp' persona, the Reptilian Club Boyz visionary turns digital decay into high art.
Effects for analog synths: what to buy first
Reverb, delay, and drive in the order that actually improves your patches.
Arpeggiators and sequencers: writing with hardware
Step entry, ratcheting, and gate length as a composition tool rather than a preset toy.
Modulation matrices explained
Fixed routings versus free assignment, and why a matrix changes how you write, not just how you patch.