ᴛᴏᴀᴅsᴛᴏᴏʟ ʀᴇᴄᴏʀᴅs
ᴜʟᴛɪᴍᴀᴛᴇ ʀᴇsᴏᴜʀᴄᴇ ʟɪsᴛ

ESSENTIALS
INSPIRATION, ADVICE
JOBS, GRANTS
VENUES, ORGANIZATIONS
MAKE & RECORD MUSIC
INSTRUMENTS, COMPOSTION, PRODUCTION
MARKETING, RECORD LABEL DIY
ELECTRONICS DIY / SYNTH DIY
CODING
MISCELLANEOUS

✭ Toadstool Records Guide to Building a Community ✭
Our in-house guide to planting the seeds to growing a vibrant community.

✭ MIT OpenCourseWare ✭
MIT OpenCourseWare is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content.

✭ Encyclopedia of Life ✭
The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science.

✭ Library Genesis✭
File-sharing based shadow library website for scholarly journal articles, academic and general-interest books, images, comics, audiobooks, and magazines. The site enables free access to content that is otherwise paywalled or not digitized elsewhere.

✭ Radio Garden✭
Explore live radio by rotating the globe.

✭ 12ft ✭
Remove popups, paywalls, banners, and ads from any website.

✭ UBUWEB ✭
UbuWeb is a pirate shadow library consisting of hundreds of thousands of freely downloadable avant-garde artifacts.

Protonmail
End-to-end encrypted email service.

Have I Been Pwned?
Allows you to search across multiple data breaches to see if your email address or phone number has been compromised.

Spyware Watchdog
Defining spyware as anything that includes telemetry, phoning home, automatic updates or is listening in without the user's knowledge or consent.

Anarchist Library
An archive focusing on anarchism, anarchist texts, and texts of interest for anarchists since 2008.

Sci-Hub
Sci-Hub is a database of 88,343,822 research articles and books - freely accessible for anyone to read and download. (Might have to google to find a mirror website if this one is down).

✭ Film Courage ✭
Excellent youtube channel with a seemingly infinite archive of stories and wisdom from the world of film and television. Highly recommend for anyone who is an artist.

✭ The Creative Independent ✭
Inspirational and practical guidance for artists. Highly highly recommend. See also: On Making a Living as an Artist, a free digital zine published by The Creative Independent.

✭ Oblique Strategies PDF ✭
Methods for unsticking yourself out of a creative rut.

✭ Synth History ✭
Cool interviews with cool musicians about gear and inspo. Founded by Danz CM (fka Computer Magic).

Contemporary Art Library
The Library includes more than 775,000 images, documents, and videos representing more than 21,000 exhibitions, performances, and other projects.

✭ Words of Mouth ✭
Weekly curated newsletter sharing creative and multi-disciplinary opportunities.

✭ Selected Work ✭
Another excellent weekly curated newsletter sharing opportunities, mainly in the art world.

Hacker News: Jobs
Jobs board for the social news website focusing on computer science and entrepreneurship.

Green Jobs Board
A space for green jobs.

MagPax Agency 4 Creatives
Creative opportunities, specially curated by Maggie Paxton.

Where Are the Black Designers?
Non-profit design advocacy organization, by and for Black designers. Job postings, community support and more.

She Is The Music
The organization is committed to driving inclusivity and equality for women in music. Job board, mentorship opportunities, and a member database.

ilovecreatives
Ads, jobs, events, etc. sent to your inbox every Wednesday.

BOOOOOOOM
Blog and vibrant virtual community for artists. There's a monthly fee to enjoy membership benefits, but I think it's worth it just to be able to join the slack channel.

Working/Not Working
Community and job postings for creative opportunities. Free to join as an artist/creative.

Freelancing Females
Directory, job postings, rate transparency, community.

Business of Fashion - Jobs
Job postings in the fashion industry.

New York Foundation for the Arts - Classifieds
Art jobs and other opportunities.

Creatively - Jobs
Job postings in the fashion industry + beyond.

jobs.art
An international job board focused solely on art-related careers and opportunities.

Dezeen Jobs
Architecture, interiors and design jobs board, including roundups of vacancies around the world.

✭ Fuck Gatekeeping ✭
Excellent resource for anyone trying to break into the professional world of photography.

Freelancer's Union
An organization dedicated to providing support for freelance workers.

DNAMAG
Inspired by the feminine creative, DNAMAG is an online curation of designers and artists. Job listings and more.

✭ AIGA - Eye on Design ✭
Editorial platform that explores life as a modern-day designer.

✭AIGA - Graphic Design Rate Transparency✭
AIGA Eye on Design has put this form and spreadsheet together to encourage transparency and equity in the design industry.

Editor X - Graphic Design Rates
Systems to help you find your graphic design rate.

Backstage
Casting calls & auditions in NYC.

Pick up the Flow
Grant opportunities.

Brooklyn Arts Council
Yearly grants and resources for Brooklyn-based artists.

Queens Council on the Arts
Yearly grants and resources for Queens-based artists. (defunct???)

✭ Do DIY ✭
DIY resources and classifieds from around the world.

✭ 8 Ball Community ✭
Artist collective and creative space.

✭ NYC Noise ✭
Experimental music calendar... v cool!!! Resources and more! See also: their great list of NYC orgs, collectives and spaces.

✭ GUNK ✭
NYC indie show blog/newsletter and zine! Toadstool homies.

✭ NYC Resistor ✭
A hacker collective with a shared space located in downtown Brooklyn. They meet regularly and host events to share knowledge, hack on projects together, and build community. Inspired by Chaos Computer Club and other hacker organizations.

✭ Temporary State University ✭
A training organization focused on teaching the next generation of New Yorkers how to throw their own cultural events in a way that is fun, fair, and safe.

Artists In Resistance NYC (A.I.R.)
A collective of disabled and chronically ill artists providing air purification & education to help make NYC gatherings COVID-safer & more accessible. See also: CLEAN AIR CLUB and CLEAN AIR RESISTANCE NYC.

✭ Listings Project ✭
Weekly curated newsletter sharing classifieds for creative studio shares, apartments and more.

The Stratosphere
Crown Heights artist space - free jam sessions and networking every Monday.

Project for Living Artists
Gallery & community space in Woodside. An affordable venue for live performances and art shows.

Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space
As a living history of urban activism, MoRUS chronicles the LES community’s history of grassroots action.

ABC No Rio
Legendary. Collectively-run center for art and activism, known internationally as a venue for oppositional culture. ABC No Rio was founded in 1980 by artists committed to political and social engagement and we retain these values to the present. Also see affiliated projects Food Not Bombs and Book Through Bars.

✭ Club A NYC ✭
Anarchists Collective distributing groceries every Wednesday & Saturday at Bushwick City Farm.

✭ Brooklyn Library Instrument Loan (!!) ✭
Borrow an instrument from the Brooklyn Library for free w library card!

Synth Library NYC
Lending library of synthesizers and recording equipment.

Band Spaces NYC
Rehearsal spaces in NYC.

Freedom of the Press Foundation
Non-profit organization founded to support free speech and freedom of the press to protect, defend, and empower public-interest journalism.

✭ Toadstool Records Guide to DIY Recording ✭
All the info you need to start recording your own music.

✭ Kettner Creative ✭
This guy is awesome. He explains audio equiment in a way that's easy for a novice to understand. His tutorials on setting up a sound system and beginner/home audio tutorials are really helpful.

Non-male Engineer + Producer Archive
Directory by Mallory Hawk. Submit here.

Kush After Hours
Production, mixing + mastering wisdom. This guy is kind of kooky. The best takeaway from Kush is that mixing and mastering should be approached as any other art form - subjectively!

Audio Geek Zine - DIY Mastering
DIY mastering tips.

Andrew Furmanczyk - Academy of Music
Music theory explained in very simple terms. Andrew is funny, easy to follow, and has the demeanor of a childhood piano teacher. Personally - I think the easiest way to learn music theory is by learning piano first. Western music is based around the 12-tone system which is super easy to grasp through learning piano.

Let's Learn Together - Music
Music theory basics and informational curio.

✭ Ted Reed's Syncopation - PDF ✭
The go-to method book for practicing syncopation, available for free!

✭ Rob Brown ✭
Great Youtube channel for drumming.

Quincy Davis
Another great Youtube channel for jazz drumming.

TapeOp
A bi-monthly American recording magazine that focuses on creative recording techniques. "there's a forum too but it's dead these days... like what American cinematographer is to people learning that craft"

Tom Tom Mag
The only magazine in the world dedicated to women drumers.

TabsOut
Casette tape stuff.

Audio Casette Loops
Looping with audio casettes - instructables.

Sound on Sound
Independently owned monthly music technology magazine... includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals.

List of DAWS compatible with Windows XP
Vintage daws, for fun...

Bedroom Producers Blog
An online magazine for music producers with free software and plugins.

Show Us Your Junk!
Fun series where producers show you their gear.

Musical Artifacts | Libre Resources for Music Making
Musical Artifacts is an open source web app helping musicians to find, share and preserve the artifacts they use for music production.

✭ In Every Town: An All-Ages Music Manualfesto (PDF) ✭
It's in your hands. You have the power to create space for music and youth in your community. This book is your toolkit, your road map; your survival guide. (click "borrow for 1 hour" to read the whole thing.)

One Punk's Guide to Starting a DIY Record Label
DIY label guide and interviews with people who run
their own DIY record labels.

How to Book Your Own Tour
Step-by-step how-to, industry jargon and more! Very helpful. See also...

Ari's Take
Ari’s Take is a music business education and artist advocacy company focusing on empowering musicians to have successful careers in the new music business. I highly recommend Ari's book, How to Make it in the New Music Business.

Music Industry Terms
A helpful glossary of music industry terms by the musician Kindness.

How to Release a Record
"I designed this site to serve as a quick, candid and hopefully empowering guide through the maze of the release process." - Zach Hangauer

Magic Nothing
Magic Nothing is an online ecosystem for independent musicians.

Other Record Labels
Taking the mystery out of running a record label. Podcast & community.

✭ Raspberry Pi Foundation ✭
Charity and company founded to promote the study of basic computer science. Easy way to experiment with circuit boards and learn how computers shape our daily lives.

✭ Louis Rossman - Intro to Basic Electronics (Unprofessional Edition) ✭
Louis Rossman of Rossman Group's intro to basic electronics. Practical and applicable knowledge.

Science Buddies - Electronics Primer
Primer on the field of electronics. See their other references as well.

How to Use a Multimeter
How to use a multimeter to measure voltage, current, resistance, and continuity.

How to Read Schematics - The Psychedelic Cherry
Understanding a schematics diagram.

Group DIY
Electronic forums for audio design & audio schematics... "really the place for tech questions"

✭ New York School of Synthesis ✭
An introduction to synthesis by Dean Friedman (of Ariel fame) back in the day. If you have any interst in getting into synthesizers this is the perfect place to start.

Music From Outer Space
Build your own synth!!! The seminal guide.

Matrix Synth
(Another) synth blog...

Synth DIY Youtube
Music and Audio Electronics Tech. DIY.

Eurorack DIY
Eurorack module DIY tutorial.

YU Synth
Blog of synth designer Yves Usson – one of the designers of Arturia’s Brute series of synthesizer.

Synth DIY Books - Synth DIY Wiki
Books relevant to Synth DIY.

W3 Schools
Learn and practice HTML for free.

Github
A code hosting platform for version control and collaboration. It lets you and others work together on projects from anywhere.

Jquery
Fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library. Iconic!!!

Nyanseong Web Resources
Nyanseong's recommendations for building websites.

Codepen
CodePen is an online community for testing and showcasing user-created HTML, CSS and JavaScript code snippets.

✭ Neocities ✭
DIY web hosting platform and community, reminiscent of the days of geocities. This website is hosted and maintained on Neocities :)

Open Frameworks
C++ toolkit for creative coding.

Andrei Jay Creative Coding
Open source video synthesis.

Cinematography.com
All things cinematography.

Great Women Animators
Ongoing international directory of historical and contemporary female* animators.

Online Omnichord
Omnichord - but online.

366 Weird Movies - Psychedelic
Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!

Sharegrid
Rent, buy and sell professional photography and film gear.

Peer Space
Basically AirBNB but for photoshoots...

Spaces Archive
SPACES is dedicated to the study, documentation, and preservation of art environments and self-taught artistic activity.

Brooklyn Spaces
An archive of unique artist spaces in Brooklyn + beyond. This site hasn't been updated since 2015, but it's still pretty cool.

Akiyoshi's Illusion Page
Akiyoshi KITAOKA, Professor, Psychology, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan studying visual perception, visual illusion, optical illusion, trompe l'oeil, 3D, etc

tourfood.us
Searchable database created to answer every traveler’s favorite daily question: “Where are we going to eat?”. Perfect for music tours! Hasn't been updated in a while but might still be useful.

SurfGuitar101
Since February 26, 2006, SurfGuitar101.com has been the premier home on the web for friends and fans of the world-wide phenomenon known as surf music!

Space Age Pop
The web's most comprehensive guide to space age pop, exotica, lounge, cocktail, incredibly strange, easy listening, and other cool music... and the people who created it!

Living Archive of Underground Music
The Living Archive was established on 1 August 2009 to document the underground music movement called "Cassette Culture".

guitar-picks.com
Curiously concise and seemily exhaustive yet ever-expanding collection of guitar picks. Favorites include Prince, Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffett.

bandcalc
Simply enter the album URL and click the button to calculate the length of an album on bandcamp. Helpful for manufacturing cassettes etc.

GDSets.com
Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Brent Mydland, and Robert Hunter setlists, ticket stubs, concert posters, backstage passes, and more!

Florida State University - Silicon Zoo
A collection of photomicrographs (photographs taken through a microscope) featuring many of the interesting silicon creatures and other doodling scribbled onto integrated circuits by engineers when they were designing computer chip masks. :)

bugguide.net
An online community of naturalists who enjoy learning about and sharing our observations of insects, spiders, and other related creatures.

Eco Printing with Dye Flowers
Get inspired by the magic of coaxing color from cheerful flowers to create works of art on fabric.

Girl & Queer Bands
Punk bands (not that fake shit), just the facts.

J Card Templates
Downloadable PSDs.

Printing & Binding Resources - Printed Matter
A listing of printing & binding resources compiled by Printed Matter.

The Converation: The Environmental Impact of Music
The environmental impact of music: digital, records, CDs analysed.

Gfiles - UFOs
Records from governments and private organizations.

Smithsonian - What Does it Mean to be Human?
The history of art & music in humankind. By 40,000 years ago, humans were creating musical instruments and two- and three-dimensional images of the world around them.

WE ARE ALWAYS TIDYING THIS PAGE UP, PLEASE BEAR WITH US