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Windows, Mac OSX
Colugo Blockhead v0.44.0 Alpha WiN/OSX/LiNUX-FANTASTiC screenshot
FANTASTiC | 16 March 2025 | 81 MB
This new DAW is unlike many others you may have seen on the market - BlockHead is a work-in-progress experimental audio production program intended for music making and sound design. It's got some unique features, innovative modes of interaction and it records everything you do! Alpha builds of Blockhead are available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

New Feature: "Quick Find"
•Press ENTER to open a search box to search for things.
•Press Ctrl+N to select the next item in the search results and Ctrl+P to select the previous. Or you can use the arrow keys.

You can currently search for:
•Named blocks
•Labelled block instances
•Samples currently loaded in the project
•Blink plugins (effects, samplers and synths)
•CLAP plugins (but selecting them doesn't currently do anything)
•Update: Visual effect when playback scrubbing was changed to be less uncomfortable for photosensitive users (please let me know of anything else like this.)
•Bugfix: Crash when redoing the assignment of a sample to a sampler block which previously had no sample assigned.
•Bugfix: Crash when redoing the creation of a macro from a dragged selection of blocks.
•Bugfix: Possible crash when creating a manipulator from the parameter context menu.
•Bugfix: Feedback loops aren't detected properly.
•Bugfix: "Error: queue size is beyond reasonable" when triggering many baking operations.
•Bugfix: Visual jittering effect on dragging/stamping blocks while zooming in and out.
•Bugfix: Clicking a browser button while the browser is fully contracted sometimes doesn't open up the browser.
•Bugfix: Workspace map can't be hidden.
•Bugfix: CPU load indicator has visual glitches when CPU usage goes above 100%.

Update Notes

•Update: The UI for creating new workspace blocks has completely changed and is described to the best of my ability in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI3r57Gj_O4
•Update: An error screen should now be displayed if libblockhead fails to load for some reason and will give some platform specific information about why it may have happened, instead of just •crashing/hanging on the main screen as is commonly reported.
•Bugfix: "Focus hovered block" operation is completely broken.
•Bugfix: Playhead does not escape from a loop region when loop is toggled back off on the meta block.
•Bugfix: Undo doesn't work for hot-switching a block plugin.
•Bugfix: "Plugin info" popup widget appears on Blink effect blocks which have no information to show.
•Bugfix: "Smooth Transitions" cannot be turned back on after being turned off for a block.
•Bugfix: Newly bounced blocks don't have the correct size.
•Bugfix: Block context menu checkmark lies about whether or not "Smooth Transitions" is enabled.
•Bugfix: Several other subtle issues in the interactions between "Smooth Transitions" and bouncing.
•Bugfix: Visual issues with block selections.





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comments

  Member 18.09.2023 162
+45
Looks and feels like a fun DAW
  Member 21.12.2021 55
+15
I've been messing around with this one a bit and IMO it brings true innovation to the table.
For those of you who have always felt weirdly constrainted by the grid and "rigid" BPM rules of traditional DAWs, I urge you to look into this one a bit. It's as close as simply a sketchpad you drop things into as a DAW can be. And if you do want a grid once you've built something with structure, you can just add it afterwards. Very cool.

How useful it's going to be for actual music production vs. just sound design down the line is gonna depend on how it's going to handle synth polyphony and such in the future, because as of right now, you just draw in pitch and intervals and don't seem to have any real note input.
  Resident 25.12.2017 6 2141
+827
I watched the first five minutes of the second video (I'd only read a brief article about Blockhead before this,) and don't understand how this could be construed as vastly different than starting a session in S1 with the grid-snap and click track turned off... or different at all. The session technically still has a tempo, but you can change it anytime you like, you're not locked into it. I often record something, drums, some keys, whatever, free-form and then set the tempo accordingly, and then work into the tempo.
"Rap is a gimmick, but I'm for the Hip Hop, The Culture." ~ Method Man ~
  Resident 25.06.2021 1 520
+279
Audio parameters per media clip is a whole other workflow, perhaps, uh... watch more than five minutes of a video or use it to get a feeling? It's all about workflow.
be kind :)
  Resident 25.12.2017 6 2141
+827
Wrote a big-ass, detailed response and my browser crashed.
I'm not re-typing it—you get the fast-typed Cliff Notes.
I know what this is and does, as I mentioned, I was aware of it before.
It's not the groundbreaking, future-of-DAWs that I see most claim it to be, partially because it's only a DAW in the strictest sense of the word/acronym, being more of an effects-laden sampler or sequencer in the way that it operates.
Most people hyped on this just want some new shiny ish to play with, which is fine, but people shouldn't follow their discovery of its specific usefulness and innovations with "... therefore it must be a DAW!!" The rest of the people want that specific workflow and its capabilities, which is legit... but again, it's still not a DAW.
"Rap is a gimmick, but I'm for the Hip Hop, The Culture." ~ Method Man ~
  Member 7.07.2018 68
+11
You can get this for 3 (1?) bucks on his patreon.
  Resident 2.02.2014 513
+59
It's only a few bucks a month. This is well worth supporting.
  Member 30.04.2017 7
+1
Acid Pro has literally been doing this for ages..You can change/off the grid..Change tempo/key via markers and insert fx to each piece you slice...
  Resident 25.06.2021 1 520
+279
Every DAW ever can change tempo signature and snap on or off grid. That's not what this is all about.
be kind :)
  Member 5.07.2018 110
+11
will try
peace & music 8-)
  Member 20.07.2020 446
+67
this never worked last time on a Mac, better now?
  Member 30.04.2023 11
0
I have no problem paying, but The application “Blockhead v0.44.0 alpha” can’t be opened. on Mac OS ,Sonoma M3
  Member 30.04.2023 11
0
Does anyone know what the problem might be?

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