Universal Audio offering 12 days of savings across Black Friday – with up to 85% off in some casesUniversal Audio is offering 12 days of savings across Black Friday with a huge plugin sale. A large number of its products have over 50 percent off.
Running until 24 November, a range of bundles and standalone plugins are available with some huge discounts.

READ MORE: Universal Audio’s Luna DAW is now free for all Mac users – no UA hardware required

Whether you like or loathe the festive season, it’s always a good excuse to treat yourself to an early Christmas gift. We’ve rounded up just some of the biggest deals from UA’s 12 days of savings, so you can get to work with a new plugin and have that new Christmas belter ready for 25 December.
Check out some highlights below:
Studer A800 Multichannel Tape recorder
With a huge saving of 85 percent, this plugin brings the rich analogue sound of the world’s most popular multichannel tape machine. Formerly priced at £349, you can now get your hands on it for just £49.

Capitol Mastering Compressor
This emulation of the legendary tube compressor used at Capitol Studios was £349 and is now priced at £99. Polish those Mariah Carey vocals for your big ballad.

Waterfall Rotary Speaker
Save 50 percent on this classic Leslie 147 rotary speaker cabinet recreation, to  envelope your guitars, vocals, keyboards, and more in three-dimensional modulation effects. Was£199 now £99.

There’s also a range of bundles up for grabs with big savings, such as:

UAD Producer Edition – A collection of 22 UAD plugins and instruments with no UA hardware required. Includes instruments like Electra 88 Vintage Keyboard Studio and Moog Minimoog. Now £299 instead of £399.
UAD Signature Edition – 44 UAD plugins suitable “for any genre.” No UA hardware required. Includes API compressors, rare mastering tools, and channel strips. Was £599 now £499.
UAD Studio Edition – 33 UAD plugins and instruments, no UA hardware required, so you can “build your perfect studio.” Includes “legendary” channel strip from Avalon, Studer tape machine, classic compression from Fairchild and Empirical Labs. Previously £499 now £399.

There are, of course, plenty more standalone plugins and collections up for grabs. To view the full list of items on sale, head over to Universal Audio.
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Hypebot: 100% FREE Music Business, Music Marketing & Music Tech NewsFrom Billboard and Music Business Worldwide to Variety, Music Ally, and Digital Music News, publications covering the music business, music marketing, and music tech are increasingly putting some or all. Continue reading
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Leveraging the Power of Stans: Spotlight on the Renaissance AppA comprehensive exploration of how platforms like Renaissance are revolutionizing how artists connect with their fans, providing them unprecedented control over their careers and fans with unprecedented access. by Niamh. Continue reading
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PinkPantheress wants to be the “female Rick Rubin”At only 22 years old, PinkPantheress is still at the beginning of her career. She’s only just released her debut album, Heaven knows. But she has big aspirations: to be the “female Rick Rubin”, in fact.
In a new conversation with NPR, the English artist – whose real name is Victoria Beverly Walker – says that while she’s become known as a performer, her real passion is in songwriting and producing.

READ MORE: PinkPantheress lost out on a studio session with Kendrick Lamar because her phone was on silent

“I really love being a singer, but honestly, my main love is writing,” she says. “When people try and people tell me, ‘You’re not a great performer,’ or ‘She needs to improve,’ I’m always like, ‘Babe, I don’t even really want to do the performing.’ I’m more of a writer. I want to be like Rick Rubin – the female Rick Rubin.”
At the time the interview was held, PinkPantheress revealed she was preparing to catch a flight to LA, where she would attend some writing sessions with a “big pop star” whom she couldn’t name.
“I’ve never written for anyone in a room before,” she says. “But yeah, I’m really excited because she’s mega.”
PinkPantheress, who first gained traction on TikTok – as so many younger musicians do these days – also speaks about bringing her talents to a wider audience that’s not necessarily on the platform.
“It’s scary – and at first I didn’t like it,” she says. But she says the process is worth it.
“I feel like I know a lot of internet artists that people do not know outside of the internet, and I never wanted to be in that position,” she says. “I always wanted to be like, you could ask your cousin or your mom and they’d know who I was. And it’s weird because I’m at that point now, and even I don’t feel that big.”
Check out Mosquito, from PinkPantheress’s new album, Heaven knows, below:

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Early Black Friday On Reverb: Get 50% OFF NI Maschine MK3
Reverb.com has got the party started early on Black Friday sales, with up to 66% off selected gear until November 20, after which additional deals will be announced. Plenty of deals are available from big names such as Audio-Technica, Shure, Roland, Korg, Moog, and many more.  Three of the spiciest deals for producers on Reverb [...]
View post: Early Black Friday On Reverb: Get 50% OFF NI Maschine MK3

Ableton Live 12 arrives – here’s what’s newAbleton has announced Ableton Live 12, the next edition of its hugely popular flagship DAW, that’s set to launch in 2024 with a beta version being made publicly available soon.

READ MORE: Universal Audio’s Luna DAW is now free for all Mac users – no UA hardware required

The DAW, arriving early next year, will see an array of improvements in its usability and accessibility. The release will also feature developments in its navigation functions to help streamline the production process, alongside the addition of new exciting composition tools, devices and more.
At a glance, Ableton Live 12 brings significant visual enhancements, aiding the visually impaired with screen reader support and extensive keyboard shortcuts for a more accessible music-making experience.
The update focuses on intuitive navigation, introducing tags and a sound similarity system to simplify finding sounds, effects, and plugins. It also has a keen focus on aiding song composition, with new MIDI Clip options expanding composition features, including automatic key alignment with diverse scale options.
New powerful devices such as Helm, Roar, and Granulator III offer experimental sonic capabilities and creative modulation options.

Let’s take a more detailed dive into what’s new and improved in Ableton Live 12:
MIDI Composition Tools
Ableton Live 12 is introducing MIDI Transformations and Generators that suggest connections between successive notes and chords, simulate guitar strums, can generate algorithms to create melodies, rhythms, and chords adhering to user-defined constraints. These suggestions are created within constraints set by you, the user.
The MIDI Editor now provides a range of improvements, letting you manipulate notes with more flexibility than before. You can rearrange selected notes by pitch, velocity, or duration. You can stretch, split, chop, or join notes in interesting ways, adjust note velocities more seamlessly, transpose notes into scales, or introduce intervals chromatically or in key.
MIDI EditorCredit: Ableton
Live’s Keys and Scales feature now lets you select a key in the Control Bar, which shows the corresponding notes in any created clip. Scale highlighting serves as a guiding tool for clip editing, aiding in the transformation and generation of musical ideas using the clip scale. Additionally, it enables syncing the scale of MIDI devices and instruments to the played clip, enhancing the overall musical cohesion.
Also, tuning capabilities have been expanded beyond Western 12-tone equal temperament system scales, allowing for alternative tunings such as TKTK and TKTK within Live’s devices and MPE-capable plugins.
What is Meld in Ableton Live 12?
Meld is a new device in Ableton Live 12 that’s a bi-timbral and MPE-capable instrument offering extensive sound-shaping capabilities. It boasts two powerful macro oscillators that allow for diverse wave shaping. There’s also an advanced modulation matrix.
MusicTech sat down with Ableton earlier this year and was shown a demo of this awesome new instrument, and we saw how an artist used Meld to create an entire track, inclusive of drums, showcasing its versatility in generating experimental and textured sounds.
Meld deviceCredit: Ableton
What is Roar in Ableton Live 12?
Roar is a new, advanced saturation effect that offers various visualiser options and a fascinating feedback mode. This feature-rich tool allows users to craft anything from delicate mastering-grade warmth to audacious sound alterations. With three saturation stages usable in different setups and an expansive modulation matrix, Roar provides versatility for creative audio processing.
What’s new in Granulator III?
Granulator III, Robert Henke’s updated granular instrument, introduces MPE functionality, granting nuanced control over note modulation aspects like bend, vibrato, and glissando.
Real-time audio capture allows immediate manipulation, ideal for live performance. Featuring three granulator types and comprehensive MPE support, it enriches expressive sound manipulation.
Credit: Ableton
User Interface and Navigation Improvements
Ableton is also aiming to make its new DAW a more pleasant experience for the eye, with a range of new colour-coding options and new themes, such as night mode, to make for a clearer interface.
On the mixer, there’s now detailed mixer gain staging, transitioning via green to orange gradients, so you can see when your sound is close to redlining with visual precision.
In Ableton Live 12, the Arrangement and Mixer can now be viewed within a single window. There are also new zoom functions, so you can have one window zoomed in more than another, which is great if you work with two screens and want to adjust audio in detail and make big changes to the project at the same time.
The update introduces Stacked Detail Views, too, offering a comprehensive overview of a track’s elements simultaneously, streamlining workflow by presenting devices, Clip Editor, automation, and parameters within one view.
Browser Tagging and Sound Similarity
Another cool addition in Ableton Live 12 is improvements to the browser. There is set to be a new system for finding sounds or presets from plugins, so you can type in, say, ‘airy strings’ or ‘gritty bass’ and it will find results from sounds and even presets within plugins, both stock and third party.
The new Sound Similarity Search feature means you can find a sample and Ableton will find similar sounds and instrument presets based on timbre, making the sound selection process much more streamlined.
Browser functions and Sound SimilarityCredit: Ableton
Live 12 also has a huge emphasis on accessibility, providing control through assistive technologies like screen readers and offering new keyboard shortcuts that navigate almost every part of the software, enhancing the user experience for a broader range of users.
Ableton Live 12 is set to launch early next year. A public beta version will soon be available although a launch date for this is unknown currently.
Find out more at Ableton.
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Love Hultén teases bizarre new synth project with mysterious “black goo”Audiovisual artist and woodworker, Love Hultén, has teased a new project in the works on his Instagram page, which appears to be a synth featuring a crazy “black goo” which responds to sound.
The device, which features a screen displaying the black goo in the centre, integrates a Korg Minilogue XD, plus Collider Delay+Reverb.

READ MORE: Researchers find a way to use “off-the-shelf” earphones to measure heart rate

Hultén is known for making quirky musical creations, earlier this year he turned a cactus garden into an instrument by integrating a device called Plantwave, which turns biodata from organic objects into MIDI.
The “black goo” used in this new project is inspired by the FAV (Fluid Audio Visualiser) project. This has been developed by South Korean artist, Dakd Jung, at BurnSlap art and tech studio.
Jung has been experimenting with fluid audio visualisation for many years. On his official website, he explains how the “black goo” works: “FAV is a ferrofluid audio visualiser. Ferrofluid is a material first developed by NASA in the 1960s. It has been used for fuel transport in zero-gravity space, spacecraft, and sealing connections in space suits. In modern times, it is used as a damper for high-end speakers, a rotating shaft for motors, and gas sealing.
“The composition of the magnetic fluid is very fine iron particles and a surfactant coated on it, and base oil. It is a liquid magnetic substance that does not sink because it is so small that it is invisible to the naked eye and is evenly distributed in the base oil due to the surfactant component.”
Writing on Instagram, Hultén says of the peculiar synth: “Another project inspired by Dakd Jung and that amazing black goo. Incl Minilogue XD + Collider del/rev. Swipe for video #ferrofluid.”
Take a look below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Love Hulten (@lovehulten)

Check out more from BurnSlap and Love Hultén via their official websites.
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Ableton to launch Live 12 Live 12 introduces a set of new features designed to spark musical creativity, including new MIDI tools that help to generate unexpected ideas and a range of improvements that allow users to work more intuitively.

RØDECaster Duo is a compact and affordable box of tricks for all your broadcasting needs$499, rode.com
The original, fully fledged RØDECaster Pro is a mixer and recording device that’s a one-stop solution for content creators. Colourful and hugely capable, we covered its most recent iteration in our September 2022 review.

READ MORE: Majority’s Teton Plus raises the bar for what an entry-level home AV system should aspire to

For many though, the full-size Pro is overkill, especially as many podcasts are a solo affair or a conversation between two presenters with the second person often working remotely. And this is where the RØDECaster Duo comes in.
Part of RØDE’s huge 2023 product drop, the new Duo distils the essential functions of its larger sibling into a more compact and affordable package. With its bank of faders, visually-appealing screen and touch pads, the Duo still looks and feels the part, while taking up less space on the desk or tucked away in a bag for work on the move.
The four mic preamps of the Pro are reduced to two on the Duo, there are two headphone preamps instead of four, plus slightly fewer faders and pads. Just like the Pro, there remains the option to record directly to an on-device memory card or external drive to make the most of the tactile nature of the device. Plus, there’s a wide selection of ways to incorporate audio from other devices, using Bluetooth, multiple USB audio streams and even to receive signals from RØDE’s own wireless mics. Clever stuff.
Unboxed
Handling the Duo, everything feels and looks great. The included USB-C power supply has a chunky, long cable, while all the physical controls feel tough – before plugging it in, we wonder whether the pads will do anything at all when pressed, such is their lack of give. Turned on, it’s tastefully lit up (you can customise colour-coding if you wish), the touchscreen has really decent resolution and is more responsive than you’d expect on a device at this price. Rotary encoders for controlling volume and other parameters feel a little toy-like, but aren’t at all flimsy in use.
RØDECaster Duo in use with mic and headphones
Show time
In session, the Duo is remarkably intuitive to use and, despite the online user guide seeming daunting before we get going, any such fears quickly fade away. There’s a lot to it but it’s so simple to get everything set up and then use it in the high-pressure environment of a live broadcast, even if you’re new to this kind of device. It’s truly liberating how much can be done on hardware, without reference to a glaring, distracting computer screen – much like the digital portastudio of old, but with far fewer barriers when you decide it’s time to chuck material across to the computer for an edit or a brush-up.
Show set-up begins with the preamps, where you select the type of input (mic, line or instrument) and even the model of mic you’re plugging in. According to the choice made, the system sets an appropriate level of gain and tweaks a few EQ and dynamics settings, shaping the incoming signal so it’s closer to the eventual finished product. It’s very handy for novices, then, but more seasoned users might prefer to start with a generic ‘Dynamic’ or ‘Condenser’ starting point and set up their own processing from there. We tend to start with the preset settings based on our Shure SM7B, and then back off the more extreme or unnecessary parts of the processing chain.
Just like other devices that run the preamp signal through various effects, there’s always a trade-off with noticeable self-noise, although the noise gate soon puts pay to this. Therefore, the Duo is not as suited to recording quiet, sensitive music in a studio, but that’s not really what the product is intended for.
The onboard headphone amps crank very loud – we don’t once struggle to hear our Shure SM7B microphone in detail, as we do on some audio interfaces. There’s also a sensitivity setting, which makes the output suitable for either low or high-impedance headphones – a neat touch.
Switched to multitrack mode and linked to a computer, the RØDECaster can be used like a more conventional audio interface, even with the additional option of printing the onboard DSP effects to the recorded track. With an electric guitar plugged in, we test out the DI input running with software monitoring switched on and an amp sim plugin inserted on the track, and the level of latency is acceptable for playing through.
The RØDECaster is more than just a podcasting device. It could be a neat addition to the home recording studio, providing comforting EQ and effects to the performer’s headphones, even if these effects aren’t being recorded.
Back of RØDECaster Duo
The full effect
Effects are plentiful and offer detailed control over parameters, unlike products lower in the range (such as the PodMic USB, which lacks a proper EQ section). There are thoughtful graphics too – for example, a real-time graph tracking the opening and closing of the noise gate. Again, unexpected at this price point. It’s a shame there are no amp simulators on board for bringing DI’ed electric guitars to life – this is something that some of the Duo’s closest competitors do have.
Speaking of the gate, this cleans things up nicely without being obviously intrusive, typically only requiring a moderate amount of range to get rid of unwanted background noises – very handy for recording in a less-than-ideal environment. Compression and EQ is flattering; in fact, once you’ve got used to it and then turn it off, everything reduces to a hissy, far weaker signal. In a similar way, the exciter section provides harmonic richness in low mids as well as the more typical high frequency sheen.
Further down the line, there’s also a master limiter which seems to be on by default when creating a new ‘show’ – this helps to make everything sound radio-friendly, but its presence did catch us out slightly! There’s reverb, delay and some voice-changing effects too, but as is often the case, the reverb sounds pretty terrible, so that effectively limits the use of the RØDECaster in mixing a musical performance, as opposed to spoken voice.
There’s latency in the monitored preamp signal that does take a bit of getting used to, just in the way that the phase/tonality of the mic’d voice comes across a little strange when you’re also partially hearing the acoustic signal outside of the cans. Adding effects obviously doesn’t help with latency but actually, once you’ve got a gate switched on a compressor pumping up the signal you tend to focus only on the signal running through the mic, so it becomes far less noticeable.
RØDECaster Duo
There’s endless fun to be had with the pads. Setting up and using them is a breeze, and in a show situation the most useful functions to reach for are playing back a music bed, triggering sound effects and when things get heated, the censorship bleep. Momentary and latching options are available as well as different playback modes; you can also trim and fade audio, but for some reason the playback button on this screen doesn’t seem to work in the current firmware version.
The ducking function is really handy when talking over an incoming track on the Bluetooth stream or similar (the Mic 1 signal ducks other inputs when this is enabled) but there aren’t fine controls for the likes of range and attack/release. More annoyingly, audio playback from the pads doesn’t duck, so you cannot easily talk over a show-opening music bed – perhaps this is an oversight that could be resolved by introducing an extra option in a future firmware update.
Pads also can send MIDI data – especially useful for switching things running in the background in a Stream Deck manner, e.g., selecting between monitor speaker and headphone presets in our correction software without needing to switch windows or mouse around on the computer screen.
The Duo then is indeed a one-stop podcasting and broadcasting platform, just like the bigger Pro. You could argue that RØDE has really hit the sweet spot here, in giving content creators exactly what they need for an incredibly competitive price. If you’re not put off by a bit of preamp noise – and would normally use a noise gate – shortcomings are few and far between.
RØDECaster Duo in use for broadcasting
Key features

Podcasting/broadcasting system with touchscreen operation, faders and pads
Standalone operation or connect to computer (USB-C)
Onboard recording to MicroSD or a connected USB drive
2 mic/line/instrument preamps with digital gain and presets for mic type/model
Bluetooth input for music playback/taking call-ins
Wireless receiver for up to 2 RODE Series IV transmitters
DSP effects including noise gate, compressor, EQ, de-esser, exciters, reverb, voice transformation and master limiter
2 headphone outputs with individual level control/sensitivity selection
2 balanced line outs for connecting studio monitors
6 effect/sample/MIDI control pads with 3 switchable banks==
Ethernet/WiFi network connectivity

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Cableguys release ReverbShaper ReverbShaper allows users to create a versatile range of rhythmic reverb effects using editable LFOs and dynamic envelope followers. 

The 2023 AllMusic Gift GuideEach year around this time, the AllMusic team pulls together some music-related books, records, and gadgets that we've stumbled across throughout the year. From super-deluxe boxed sets and music books to turntables, headphones, and musical instruments, we've selected a number of items that you should probably just buy for yourself.

5 sound design tips for V Collection with Spencer Zahn
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Spencer Zahn shares five sound design tips that he applies in his own music when using Arturia's V Collection.

Pebble, a startup that tried and failed to take on Twitter, finds new life on MastodonPebble, a startup that took on Twitter and failed, has returned from the dead — as a Mastodon instance, it seems. The company announced last month that it was shutting down its Twitter/X alternative citing the increasingly competitive landscape, X’s ability to retain users, and its own failure to gain traction with a wider audience. […]
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First deadline window looms for SEC to approve Bitcoin ETFs: Law DecodedEven if approved by Nov. 17, the spot Bitcoin ETFs are unlikely to come to market for at least a month after approval.

Cypress Hill, Onyx and Trash Talk at the Novo, Los AngelesWest coast hip hop legends Cypress Hill continued the Haunted Hill Halloween tour at the Novo in Los Angeles with New York hip hop duo Onyx and Punk band Trash Talk. Talk about hardcore hip-hop, platinum group Onyx consisting of duo Fredo Star and Sticky Fingaz generated the raw New York style flavor everyone expected. Hits like "Shut ‘Em Down" sparked a mosh pit amongst the young crowd. Followed by the smash hit "Slam’" Gen X fans remembering a time when hip-hop was pure and uncut. Their energy level was unstoppable, Fredo and Fingaz made sure their fans were awake and not miss one beat. Now in their early 50’s, Starr and Sticky are not slowing down one bit. They recently released their newest album titled ‘Blood on da X’ which was a smash hit. 

Hardcore punk band hailing from Sacramento, CA lit up the night with songs such as "The great escape" which is a cautionary tale of the side effects of excellent hardcore music. One of the crowd favorites, hyper young goers started another mosh pit which pushed people against the barricades. Singer Lee Spielman jumped over the barricades and instructed everyone to settle down. He waited about two minutes before playing "Worthless Nights," the whole crowd was in a roar, with their tongues out and waving their rock hand symbol. Trash talk is most certainly a punk rock band to look out for. Singer Lee Spielman, Spencer Pollard (bass guitar) and Garret Stevenson (guitar) are guys in the mission who has been taking over the hard rock punk scene for years. 

Last but not least the undeniable legendary hip-hop group Cypress Hill graced the stage smoking blunts. Rapper B-real wearing a giant afro and rapper Sen dog sporting a bucket hat. Loyal fans of Cypress Hill wore merch with a marijuana leaf and a skull on it. "Hits from the Bong" started to play as the bass started the boom, you can feel the rumble through out the venue. Since it was Halloween weekend, the B-Real invited a few folks from the crowd on stage for a quick costume contest. Finishing off with the widely known hit "Insane in the Brain" produced by fellow member DJ Muggs is one of the songs that put Cypress Hill on the map. Overall it was a great night, everyone who attended Haunted Hill definitely got their moneys worth. Looking forward to seeing who Cypress Hill will bring to the stage next year. 

Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill

Onyx

Onyx

Trash Talk