The Chemical Brothers live review: Trailblazing electronic duo’s rave spectacle lights up London’s O2 ArenaPioneering electronic duo The Chemical Brothers brought the ultimate rave to London’s O2 Arena on Saturday evening.
Performing in the capital as part of their UK tour, the venue was well and truly packed by the time Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands took to the massive stage at 9pm.
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Hot on the heels of a DJ set from MusicTech producer of the year award winner TSHA, who warmed the room up with an hour of house and tech groovers, the Manchester pair wasted no time in transforming the vast space into a hedonistic club.
Kickstarting their career-spanning two-hour show, the one-two of Go/Do It Again had the mixed-age crowd singing along while throwing their best shapes.
This was a theme that ran throughout the 23-song setlist, as newer tracks from recent album For That Beautiful Feeling (many of which exploded to life) were seamlessly paired with older favourites. This structure served to showcase the interconnectedness of the Chems’ sonic universe and its many elements.
Chemical Brothers Live @ The O2 Arena. Image: Ray Baseley
No Reason, which was accompanied by an army of neon drumming dancers, blended perfectly into 1999 classic Hey Boy Hey Girl – despite the two-decade-plus separation between both tracks, they worked surprisingly well back-to-back. Similarly, the ominous Eve Of Destruction weaved effortlessly into the psychedelic rabbit hole of Feel Like I Am Dreaming.
While the stage set up itself was actually quite simple (aside from a moment halfway where the duo looked out on the huge crowd and took in the moment, the duo loomed over their technical equipment), it was the beaming light show and trippy, sci-fi-leaning visuals that really took the experience to another dimension.
During the euphoric Live Again, pink strobes scanned the crowd while tunnelling on-screen soundwaves reflected a post-lockdown rewiring of the brain. Soon after, the hypnotic Wide Open erupted with thousands of tiny birds breaking free. Later, the troupe of animated breakdancing acrobats looked so 3D and lifelike it was as if they were about to somersault over the crowd. And that’s before mentioning the now-iconic giant walking robots who descended during 1995 acid workout Three Little Birdies Down Beats.
From start to finish, this was a spectacular assault on all the senses (particularly the piercing lasers of MAH) and proof of The Chemical Brothers’ place atop the electronic throne. More than that, it was an exhilarating embodiment of just how transcendent dance music can be when the right people are in control.
 
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TikTok shuts $1B creator fund as Instagram creator subscriptions hit 1M, YouTube Shorts expands monetizationHow creators earn on TikTok is shifting again with the closure of its original $1 billion creator fund shutting down on December 16th in the US, UK, Germany, and France,. Continue reading
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Just 8 days left to get ready for Spotify Wrapped: A Musician’s GuideSpotify’s Wrapped year-end recaps are a great way to reconnect and celebrate with fans, but only if you are ready. Fortunately this year Spotify created a guide to help. With. Continue reading
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Attention producers: Logic Pro now comes with a Mastering Assistant built right inApple has unveiled a series of updates for Logic Pro on Mac and iPad including, most notably, a Mastering Assistant, which offers creators a “quick and easy way to add that final professional polish for a release-ready mix”.
As the tech giant explains, once a mix is complete, Mastering Assistant can instantly analyse the audio and make “expert refinements to the sound, adjusting elements such as the dynamics, frequency balance, timbre and loudness.

 READ MORE: Will Apple’s “scary fast” M3 chips boost speeds for music producers?

Catering to different workflows, too, Mastering Assistant can also be used as a starting point, after which users can fine-tune each setting with intuitive controls.
Apple stops short of claiming Mastering Assistant could rival other mastering tools like LANDR, for example, but the addition of a mastering tool built right into Logic Pro is a pretty big deal for just about anyone making music using the DAW.
In other updates, Logic Pro Mac users now have access to Sample Alchemy and Beat Breaker, which arrived on Logic Pro for iPad earlier this year.
For the uninitiated, Sample Alchemy allows users to transform a single audio sample into a playable instrument using granular, additive and spectral synthesis. Additionally, producers can now create a wide range of unique sound beds, pads, effects and rhythms.
Credit: Apple
Beat Breaker, meanwhile, is a multi-effect plugin, which users can utilise to “radically reshape and reshuffle audio in real time, slicing audio, rearranging it, and adding scratching effects”.
“By altering the speed, direction, volume and number of repeats for each slice, musicians can effortlessly define complex patterns that can be changed on the fly,” Apple says.
Credit: Apple
Other changes to the Mac version of Logic Pro include Slip and Rotate tools, enabling users to move content within audio and software instrument regions without altering the region boundaries.
There are also two new sound packs: the Hybrid Textures sound pack, which includes a collection of 70 patches, as well as over 80 Apple Loops featuring Sample Alchemy, and the Vox Melodics sound pack, which contains a diverse collection of over 475 lyrical phrases, hooks, layered harmonies, FX, and one-shots.
Moving onto changes to the iPad version of Logic Pro, a new Quick Sampler plugin allows users to quickly create sampler instruments and drum kits by directly recording audio with the iPad’s built-in microphone or connected audio input, allowing for on-the-fly instrument creation.
Elsewhere, Split View and Stage Manager both bring greater flexibility to workflows. Split View allows users to open two different apps simultaneously – or two windows from the same app – by splitting the screen into resizable views. This will no doubt be handy to creators transferring Voice Memo ideas into Logic Pro, for example.
Stage Manager, on the other hand, allows users to resize windows, see multiple overlapping windows in a single view, tap to switch between apps, and more.
Notably, Logic Pro for iPad now features the popular in-app Lessons hub, which provides instructions to get the most out of Mastering Assistant, Sample Alchemy, Beat Breaker, beat making, automation, sound packs, and Play Surfaces.
Credit: Apple
And finally, to both iPad and Mac versions of Logic Pro comes 32-bit float recording, which helps artists minimise the digital clipping that often occurs when recording more dynamic instruments or performances.
Logic Pro 10.8 is available now for $199, or as a free update for existing Logic Pro users. Logic Pro for iPad 1.1 is also available as a free update for existing users, and can be purchased via the App Store for $4.99 per month or $49 per year.
For more info, head to Apple.
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How to safely ship Vinyl Records to FansFind out how to ship fragile vinyl records to faraway fans, including what courier to go through, the best packaging, and much more… by Lauren Davish from the Disc Makers. Continue reading
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Vienna Power House from VSL & GPU Audio VSL's MIR Pro 3D has become the first of the company's products to gain support for GPU Audio's patented graphics card-powered processing.

UVI Digital Synsations Vol. 1 Is FREE For A Limited Time
UVI and the Mixing and Mastering Tips Facebook Group offer the Digital Synsations Volume 1 virtual instrument for UVI Workstation as a free download today only (requires free iLok user account). Digital Synsations is a sample-based virtual instrument powered by the free UVI Workstation plugin. It features the deeply sampled sounds of four legendary digital [...]
View post: UVI Digital Synsations Vol. 1 Is FREE For A Limited Time

APG’s NESS Is The First FREE Sound Spatialization Software
APG (part of the Arbane Groupe) is a French loudspeaker manufacturer and creator of the NESS sound spatialization software for Windows and macOS. NESS stands for New Experience of Sound Spatialization and is the first software of its kind, according to APG. Of course, NESS isn’t the first immersive sound solution, but the developers describe [...]
View post: APG’s NESS Is The First FREE Sound Spatialization Software

Hit’n’Mix takes ‘in-the-mix editing’ to the next level with its new RipX DAW and RipX DAW PROHit’n’Mix’ today announces that its RipX software is now available as a fully-fledged DAW that comes in both standard and Pro versions.

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Said to be “the first and only DAW to treat audio and MIDI ‘as one’”, RipX DAW replaces existing RipX DeepRemix, DeepCreate and DeepAudio modules with a streamlined offering of one standard and one Pro version.
To start, RipX DAW features audio separation and in-the-mix note & chord editor technology. Once MIDI and audio are inside RipX, they are in Rip Audio format, and all features including editing and effects can be applied, no matter what. Ripx DAW offers 6+ tracks of stem/instrument separation each of which can be independently muted, soloed, extracted and adjusted. It also includes the ability to customise, clean-up, transform and rearrange ideas directly from AI Music Generators.
Users can record using a MIDI/ MPE/ laptop keyboard, or microphone/ audio input, laying down sounds extracted from existing audio, or the built-in library. There’s also a wide range of single-click automated effects included, allowing for plenty of experimentation.

RipX DAW PRO, meanwhile, includes all of the features and functionality of the RipX DAW, with the addition of advanced stem and AI Music Generator clean-up, Audioshop sound manipulation tools, and pro DAW features that enhance workflow.
Creators can tweak sounds at the harmonic level, draw in guitar slides and vocal embellishments, and edit noise and unpitched sound without affecting the melody. Python scripting is also included for complete programmatic control over audio.
According to Hit’n’Mix’, RipX DAW is designed for every kind of music and audio creative, with “special emphasis on the new generation of AI-inspired content creators.”
“From AI generated music access and refinement, to stem separation, to instrument replacement, this update also includes over 100 workflow enhancements,” says the brand.
Of the new release, producer and songwriter Riley Knapp says: “The output of most AI Music Generators is robotic, chaotic and usually unlistenable. This is due to the fact AI ‘samples’ contain elements that are out of key, out of time and don’t follow any musical structure.”
“With RipX DAW, I am able to separate each sound within a generation, re-pitch and fine tune any elements, create a musical structure out of it and replace any subpar sounds with high quality sounds. RipX DAW’s unique ‘Edit-in-Mix’ workflow makes it possible to humanise AI Music.”
RipX DAW is priced at $99/ £99/ €114 while RipX DAW PRO will cost you $198/ £198/ €228.
Hit’n’Mix is now offering 30 percent off both versions and upgrades in their Black Friday Sale, which runs from 7 November to 7 December 2023.
Learn more at Hitnmix.
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Meet Flow, a generative sequencer which uses algorithms to break free of “conventional” sequencingOrthogonal has launched a generative, non-linear MIDI sequencer for Ableton Live called Flow. The sequencer uses algorithms to break free of “conventional” sequencing for “infinitely long” and varying musical patterns.
Flow utilises the concept of a “parallel hierarchical probabilistic state machine” which may sound confusing, but Orthogonal has broken down exactly what this means.

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“Flow is based on a simple but powerful idea: a state machine. Think of it like a musical heart that pumps out beats and melodies,” says the brand. “You can define trigger states that contain musical notes or modulation values, and configure transitions between these states – as opposed to arranging musical events on a fixed grid.”
To simplify, you can feed Flow different musical rules such as “a G chord is followed by an Am chord,” or  “a loud hi-hat note is followed by a soft note, which is followed by loud.”
Users can let Flow generate sequences as simply or as random as they like by using looser terminology in their rules. Using probabilistic terms such as “usually” or “often”, sequences can become much more unpredictable. “The G chord is usually followed by the Am chord, but sometimes, it may be followed by the C chord,” is a given example of this by the brand.
You can also organise the state machines in a hierarchical manner, and you can also use four parallel independent sequencer parts that can run simultaneously. This means users are able to split their patterns into polyrhythmic sections which can behave independently and complement each other.
View the video below to see it in use:

You can purchase Flow now for $39 (excluding VAT) via Orthogonal. This is a one-time payment, and further updates will be free.
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Is Now and Then really the end? Peter Jackson says it’s “conceivable” to make more Beatles tracks using AIPeter Jackson has said it is “conceivable” for more tracks by The Beatles to be released utilising his MAL audio software.
Jackson and his sound team used a demixing technique on Lennon’s demo of the newly released track Now And Then to preserve the clarity of his vocals by separating it from the piano. The song has been branded as the “last” Beatles song.

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Released on 2 November, Now And Then features all four members of The Beatles. Alongside the release, a 12-minute Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song documentary film was released which tells the story behind the track.
But could more songs from The Beatles be revived using a little bit of AI tech? Although Jackson calls it “fanboy stuff”, he hasn’t denied that it is possible and has said that the thought has already “crossed his mind.”
“We can take a performance from Get Back, separate John and George, and then have Paul and Ringo add a chorus or harmonies,” he says. “You might end up with a decent song but I haven’t had conversations with Paul about that. It’s fanboy stuff, but certainly conceivable,” he tells The Sunday Times.
The involvement of AI in a new Beatles track had the internet in a frenzy when Paul McCartney had originally mentioned the tech in an interview earlier this year. AI has been used to emulate the vocals of many legendary artists, but in this case it was purely used to clean up a recording which already existed.
Since the release of Now And Then producer Giles Martin has clarified that AI software was only used to extract and clean up Lennon’s vocals on the demo track.
If you haven’t already, you can check out the song below:

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PinkPantheress lost out on a studio session with Kendrick Lamar because her phone was on silentPinkPantheress has revealed that she “nearly” recorded a guest feature for a Kendrick Lamar song but missed out because her phone was on silent.
The singer-songwriter said in a new interview that she was on a date in a cinema when the notification had come through, so she didn’t see it until afterwards and subsequently missed her chance.

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“I’m not trying to date, even though I love dating,” she tells iD magazine. She later admits that she missed the studio session after her date asked her she put her phone in silent during the film.
“Oh fuck, I can’t even think about it,” she says. “I was watching Nightcrawler with this guy.”
Despite missing the Kendrick opportunity, PinkPantheress has still been involved with plenty of collaborations throughout 2023, including Boy’s A Liar with Ice Spice, and Rush by Troye Sivan and Stray Kids’ Hyunjin.
She is set to release her debut album, Heaven Knows, this Friday (10th November), which features previously released singles Mosquito and Capable of Love.

According to a press release, Heaven Knows reveals inner self-reflection as the singer explores various types of relationships, including romantic, parasocial, materialistic pursuits, grief, and finding contentment within loneliness. It features collaborations with Greg Kurstin, Mura Masa, Danny L Harle, Count Baldor, Phil and Cash Cobain, among others.
Speaking of the LP in a press statement, the singer says: “The record is about grief for a loss but being at peace with yourself in your aloneness. Journeying from hell into purgatory, but I’m ok with being there.”
She will also embark on a UK and EU headline tour in 2024, which will see her play a huge headline show at London’s Alexandra Palace.
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The Weeknd’s mix engineer on Dolby Atmos: “Artists would have these ‘oh shit’ moments… because what they heard in the room didn’t match experience on the headphones”Joe Grasso, mix engineer for The Weeknd, Yung Gravy and more, has opined on the current state of Dolby Atmos mixing and the artists who make use of the technology.

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Grasso shares his thoughts in a recent conversation with Audiomovers founder Igor Maxymenko, the team behind the new Binaural Renderer plugin, which allows creators to sample what their Dolby Atmos mixes will sound like on Apple Music whilst still working in their DAW.
According to the mixing veteran, there often is a gap between what artists expect their songs to sound like on Apple Music and what those tracks end up sounding like.
“I mixed over 3,000 albums in Dolby Atmos. So I’ll give you a best case and worst case scenario,” he begins. “Best case scenario. We mix something in the room, the artist comes in the room, they hear it and they approve it, and they go home and if they want to hear a copy at home, we render out an MP4 and send it to them.”
“And they hear and they can approve it in headphones if they want. And it sounds just like what they heard and it goes on Apple Music and everything is great.”
As Grasso explains though, this pretty much “never” happens and “what ended up happening is, artists would have these ‘oh shit’ moments on Friday morning.”
“When it does get released on Apple Music, they don’t like what they [are] hearing, ​ we’re going backwards because what they heard in the room didn’t match the experience on the headphones.”
Fellow mixing engineer Ariel Borujow — who’s engineered for Madonna and the like — also chimed in on the conversation, saying “I think for a lot of the artists right now there still is a big mystery about Atmos. So getting them excited about it and to care about it as much as stereo is different.”
“They know they can check stereo in the car and they know what to expect everywhere. I think, right now, really getting them to be comfortable with what’s on Apple Music is key,” he adds.
“So I think doing this with the bigger artists who you know, mostly would say ‘I don’t care, I don’t care’. It’s not only helping speed up the approval process, but it’s actually helping us get approvals that we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten or would have gone to A&R rather than artist so that connection with the artist is great”.
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Glenn Coleman: 1951 – 2023 Glenn Coleman designed and manufactured a range of switching, monitor control, processing and metering solutions under the Coleman Audio brand.

Abbey Road’s Amplify event Amplify is a two-day event which sees Abbey Road Studios open its doors to young artists, engineers and creatives for two days of free masterclasses, interactive sessions, workshops, A&R demo feedback sessions and Q&As.