Edu Prado Sounds Electric Reed Organ The EPS Electric Reed Organ sample library is a creative collaboration between Edu Prado and Jan Pfitzer, resulting in an amazing virtual instrument built from a vintage Bontempi BN8 chord... Read More

Music career advice: Supermassive Games’ Orion Zane on building a portfolio and enrolling in music production coursesIn partnership with dBs Institute.
What does it mean to be a music producer? Is it all about making beats and DJing clubs and festivals? Not quite. Some producers may venture into sample pack and preset creation, film and TV scoring, foley design, or music software creation. One viable route that’s rapidly becoming desirable is video game audio design. As the budget for AAA games continues to expand, opportunities in video game studios’ sound departments expand, too.
Orion Zane, a graduate of dBs Institute’s Sound for Games and Apps course, is carving his path as a sound designer for Supermassive Games. So far, Orion’s worked on titles in The Dark Pictures catalogue, including Switchback VR, House of Ashes and The Devil In Me, and is thriving in the creative nature of the job.
We catch up with Orion to talk about his journey into game audio design, how he benefitted from enrolling in the course at dBs Institute, and the advice he has for those looking to pursue a career in music.

Hi Orion! What does your role as a video game sound designer entail, exactly?
As an audio designer at Supermassive Games, my specific role involves designing sound effects, foley, and ambiences. I have a particular interest in creating dynamic ambience systems and spatial audio. We also implement the audio into the game using Audiokinetic’s Wwise and Unreal Engine 5.
What do you love about being an audio designer?
I absolutely love the creativity and immersive nature of my job. Creating a dynamic and evolving soundscape that responded to the player’s actions in the game is incredibly fulfilling. I am also a big horror fan, so working in spooky environments is very fun. You know the jumpscares work when you forget you put it in and it catches you off guard later on in the development process.
Have there been any stand-out moments for you in your career?
I have been lucky enough to work on a few games here for the 2 years I have been here. House of Ashes was the first, The Devil in Me, and most recently Switchback VR which was a PSVR 2 launch game. The Devil in Me was fun as it was my first full cycle of a video game from start to finish. The game is based on H.H. Holmes’s (America’s first serial killer) murder castle.

We had a great opportunity to do some location recording for this project. Going to a beautifully old English manor house to record all the sounds of an old building – Doors, cabinets, footsteps, creaks, room tones, throwing a book down a corridor, we did it all. Including capturing impulse responses of many rooms in the house that we used in the game.
What sparked your passion for audio in video games? Is there sound design from a particular game, perhaps for your childhood, that inspired you?
I’ve always been a big gamer since I was young. The first game I played was Legend of Zelda on the N64 and the music in those games growing up. I started playing piano at 12 years old and got into making music and learned how to use DAWs in secondary school. During college, I spent a lot of time in the studio experimenting with my style of music – I like to create soundscapes, sonically describing places using only sound was something I loved to do over electronic projects. I think this led to me experimenting with sound design, and eventually pursuing a career in game audio.
How did dBs Institute tailor its teaching to your specialist subject?
At dBs, I studied the Sound for Games and Apps course. It was tailored to my specialist subject by providing a curriculum that covered both technical skills and artistic creativity specific to game audio. The hands-on experience was great and the teachers (shout out to Rich, Jazz and Bruce!) were very supportive, encouraging and fun to learn with.
Image: dBs Institute
What other career paths can be followed as a music technology enthusiast/graduate from dBS?
As a game audio graduate from dBs, I know that there are a variety of courses that cater to various career paths. Such as music production, audio engineering, film and screen sound, and game audio.
Would you say you’re doing what you love? What are the benefits of working in a job you’re passionate about?
Yes, I can confidently say I’m doing what I love. Working in a job I’m passionate about allows me to stay motivated, continually learn, and push my creative boundaries. The audio team here at SMG are very close, I see them all as friends more than colleagues, so it makes work fun seeing them everyday and cracking on.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into video game sound design?
For anyone aspiring to get into video game sound design, I would recommend building a strong portfolio showcasing your skills and collaborating on small indie game projects and game jams. Reach out to people! There are many resources and people to speak to when learning game audio – A good place to start would be to join the AirWiggles community and go to your local game audio monthly meetups.
What would you say to anyone thinking of enrolling on a dBs Institute course?
It’s a fantastic opportunity to receive specialized training and kickstart your career in the audio industry, plus Bristol is a great city to involve yourself in audio and to be creative! If you would like to know more about game audio, feel free to get in touch – you can find me on LinkedIn.
Find out more at dbsinstitute.ac.uk.
The post Music career advice: Supermassive Games’ Orion Zane on building a portfolio and enrolling in music production courses appeared first on MusicTech.

“Is what I have to share not engaging?”: Tokimonsta hits out at the Instagram algorithmTokimonsta has discussed the difficulties of being a professional musician on social media in a new Instagram post.
The Grammy-nominated DJ shared a post earlier this week in which she spoke about the workings of the Instagram algorithm, and how it prevents her posts from being seen by her followers – and the anxiety it induces.

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A post shared by TOKiMONSTA (@tokimonsta)

She was met with an outpouring of support, and in her subsequent post described her struggle as a “sub-issue under the wider umbrella of distress triggered by social media overall”.
She continued, “I think the biggest takeaway is how many of us creators (big and small) feel pressure and suffocation by social media. By creators, I don’t mean ‘content’ creators, I mean artists, professionals, individuals who have a lot meaningful things they want to share.”
“Are we posting too much or too little? Do we need to use trendy audio? The part that gets me, personally, is how musicians feel as though they need to be “seen” on a photography app (that’s what IG originally was). We start to conflate visibility on this app (and others) as a sign of success when in real life it doesn’t, necessarily.”
Tokimonsta went on to emphasise that success on social media and success in real life aren’t the same thing, with the number of Instagram likes not necessarily corresponding to listens on streaming platforms. She said, “We turn inward and create self-doubt: ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ ‘Is what I have to share not engaging?’ ‘I have these followers, but my messages aren’t being shared.’ ‘Do they not care about my art/message/profession anymore?'”
She finished by saying that as a musician, she just wants her music to be heard, but doesn’t want to be forced to share everything just to keep engagement up.
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Audient launch online Console Builder Audient have launched an online virtual Console Builder, allowing users to configure and visualise an ASP8024-HE console to their own custom specification.

Astell & Kern’s new UW100MKII earbuds features a redesigned acoustic chamber for improved wireless playbackKorean hi-fi specialist Astell & Kern has unveiled the AK UW100MKII, the second iteration of its AK UW100 true wireless earbuds that boasts a “refreshed ergonomic design” and an “improved wireless playback”.

READ MORE: First-generation iPod sells for $29,000

Building on the brand’s philosophy of delivering natural sound, the UW100MKII is said to offer A&K’s most advanced true-wireless sound to date with an embedded 32-bit DAC, a full-range balanced armature driver, and the addition of aptX-Adaptive support.
According to Astell & Kern, the buds’ acoustic chamber has been redesigned to enhance the overall sound quality and improve its wireless playtime. The new model also features a more advanced circuit design to ensure a more stable connection and vastly reduce sound distortion and excess noise.
Like its predecessor, the UW100MKII is equipped with Passive Noise Isolation rather than active noise cancellation (ANC). The new earbuds are also built with Qualcomm’s cVc Generation 8.0 (Clear Voice Capture) for extra clear and stable call quality. The technology supposedly keeps background noise to a minimum in noisy environments, and enhances the user’s voice to produce consistent, crystal-clear audio.
In addition, easy-to-use touch controls ensure a seamless, hassle-free listening experience when using the AK UW100MKII. Simply tap to switch between functions to play music, answer calls, ambient mode, adjust the volume and more.
As for battery life, the power system in the AK UW100MKII has been redesigned to increase wireless playback time to 9.5 hours of continuous playback, and a whopping 29 hours of playback with the charging case. And while the size of the charging cradle has been reduced dramatically, the AK UW100MKII achieves an impressive one hour of continuous playtime from only a 10-minute charge.
For hassle-free connectivity, the AKUW100MKII features Google’s Fast Pair Service to automatically connect the earbuds to Android devices using Bluetooth Low Energy. All you have to do is open the cradle near an Android device and the earbuds will enter pairing mode, connecting instantly. There’s also support for Multi-Pairing and Multi-Point functions which allows you to pair the earbuds to and switch between multiple devices at once.
Finally, users can customise the UW100MKII using the Astell & Kern app, which offers an adjustable 10-band EQ to alter the sound of the earbuds while also enabling listeners to reconfigure the touch controls of the earbuds and change the ‘Ambient Mode’ levels.
The AK UW100MKII will be available for purchase from early October 2023 for £269/ $280.
Learn more at astellnkern.
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It’s true: Daft Punk’s Homework and Discovery were both recorded in a bedroomThe rumours are true – Daft Punk have officially confirmed that both Homework and Discovery were recorded in a bedroom, with none other than a JVC boombox.
Homework, which landed in 1997, was the duo’s debut album, with their second LP Discovery landing post-millenium in 2001.

READ MORE: “I’m relieved to look back and say ‘Okay, we didn’t mess up too much’”: Thomas Bangalter on the end of Daft Punk

Rumours have always flitted about as to where these records were made, and in a new podcast, one half of the duo, Thomas Bangalter, confirmed how the famous records were crafted.
“The myth is that Homework was all in your bedroom, is that true?” asks Matt Everitt in The First Time… podcast episode.
“It’s true,” Bangalter replies. “Homework and Discovery were done in the bedroom, in the same flat as I was watching [TV show] Modern Times and we had [Stevie Wonder album] Songs in the Key of Life constantly on the turntables. This small bedroom, [and] my parents had given me this small boombox for my 11th birthday, a JVC boombox with a little graphic equaliser, and I kept this thing.”
He adds, “One day when we plugged in a few keyboards and samplers, I found that boombox and I put it on the stack of machines. And that little boombox is what we mixed and recorded both Homework and Discovery on. That was the magic one.”
Discovery is of course the album where their famous track Face To Face lies. Contatining a mighty 70 samples, fans have been on a quest to track down each one used. Producer Todd Edwards recently presented the actual floppy disk which houses all the samples in an Instagram post.
“Did you ever wonder why on Daft Punk’s Discovery album most of the samples they used for their songs were from disco and R&B, except for one song in particular, Face To Face, where they used folk music and soft rock?” said Edwards.
“That’s because most of the samples came from my sample library. The thing is, for years before, I did sample disco and R&B but I got kind of tired of it…
“The day Thomas [Bangalter] and I worked on the track, the night before I sampled up 70 samples, they came in the next day and they sampled up 70 samples. And all those samples were recorded on this zip disk.”
Listen to the full podcast with Bangalter on BBC Sounds.
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Musicians ignore Threads as engagement drops 50% weeks after 100M sign onJust a month after sn unprecedented launch that saw more than 100 million sign-up for Threads, user engagement has fallen 50%, and active users have fallen 20%. That analysis comes. Continue reading
The post Musicians ignore Threads as engagement drops 50% weeks after 100M sign on appeared first on Hypebot.

How musicians make money on InstagramNot only is social media a great place to grow your online presence, but you can also make some extra money with just a few steps. Here’s a musician’s guide. Continue reading
The post How musicians make money on Instagram appeared first on Hypebot.

How to create a press and promo kit that gets more gigsThis complete but simple guide gives musicians a template for creating a one-stop promo kit that will impress talent buyers and promoters. by Megan Price of Gig Salad As a. Continue reading
The post How to create a press and promo kit that gets more gigs appeared first on Hypebot.

Someone just spent $100k on the microphone Cardi B threw at a fanThe microphone that Cardi B threw at a fan last month has sold for nearly $100k at a recent auction on eBay.

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The infamous projectile was put up for auction by Scott Fisher, owner of an audio equipment hire company, who promised that all profits from the sale will go to charity.
“100 percent of the profit from the sale of this mic will be evenly split among [two] charities. The first charity is a local Las Vegas charity called Friendship Circle Las Vegas. The friendship circle is an organization that has teen and young adult volunteers helping children, teens and other young adults with special needs,” the listing’s description read.
“The [second] charity is Wounded Warrior Project. Wounded Warrior Project helps to bring independence back to our most severely wounded veterans. While I did not serve, my father served in the USAF and my son-in-law served in the USMC.”
The mic, which originally cost $1000, had a starting bid of $500 — before it was finally sold for a whopping $99,900 a week later. In addition to the mic, the winning bidder will also receive a letter of authenticity and a custom case created specifically to display the device.
Explaining how he’d verified the mic was indeed the one Cardi B tossed into the crowd, Fished told CBS News, “It’s standard procedure to mark all microphones and in ear systems as to whom they ‘go to’ prior to soundcheck to make sure the same person gets the correct items during the show.”
Additionally, “You could see white tape on the Cardi B mic in all the videos, and that is how we knew which mic was hers.”
The sale comes just weeks after the rapper made headlines for hurling the mic at a fan who splashed a drink at her while she was performing.
Check out the viral clip below.

Jealous Ass Bitch! https://t.co/bPikhCYBYx pic.twitter.com/AUoG7pvtCv
— Cardi B | Updates (@updatesofcardi) July 30, 2023

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Google and Universal Music in talks over AI “deepfake” royaltiesGoogle and Universal Music Group are currently in talks over licensing issues that surround ‘deepfake’ AI music.
Both companies are hoping to create a partnership through which deepfakes can be shared, with royalties going to Universal, the Financial Times reported.
For this to work, the companies would need to license the voices of artists, as well as songs, which would allow people to legally use them to make AI tracks.

READ MORE: BandLab announces support for Human Artistry Campaign – which favours the ethical development of AI in creative industries

The ideal end goal is to make a platform on which music fans can create AI music and pay the copyright owners, with artists entitled to opt in or out as they wish.
Earlier in 2023, Universal urged streaming platforms to block AI companies from getting access to music from its artist’s back catalogues, saying that it was aware that some AI services had been trained on music protected under copyright law.
Meanwhile, Warner Music is also reportedly in talks with Google, with chief executive Robert Kyncl telling investors that fans could “pay their heroes the ultimate compliment” through AI, with the “right framework” in place.
This year in particular, deepfake AI music has been exploding online. Heart on My Sleeve, a track featuring AI-trained vocals from Drake and The Weeknd, went viral with 15 million views on TikTok in under 48 hours recently, and Drake has been among the critics of deepfake AI music.
Universal Music Group represents both Drake and The Weeknd, and at the time emailed the parties concerned. It said it “will not hesitate to take steps to protect our rights and those of our artists”, and the song was then taken down from platforms like Spotify and YouTube.
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SSL unveil B-DYN 500-series module Based on SSL's first console, the B-DYN dynamics module offers an aggressive, ‘grabby’ character that is very different from their later E- and 9000-Series designs.