Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y & Indie MusicLast week, our tips and advice for the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how to create a one-stop promotion tool, what explicit music does to your streams, and more… Create. Continue reading
The post Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND: The new music industry’s week in reviewA busy week by any definition, the music industry was no exception; with 2024 Grammy regulations released, YouTube caters to content with AI quizzes and more… 5 Movies that changed. Continue reading
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s week in review appeared first on Hypebot.

Vicious Antelope Cat Pads - Octave Cat Cat Pads is our second soundbank for Cherry Audio Octave Cat Synthesizer. It contains 51 classic synth pads that fit for many music genres especially when a synthesized sound background... Read More

StrongSoft SS-VC1 Compressor SS-VC1 Compressor is a comprehensive professional compressor featuring gain and envelope visualisation, as well as all the other features you'd expect from a compressor. It features three... Read More

The Ionian mode: A comprehensive guide
Let’s discuss what the Ionian mode is, some songs and compositions that make use of it, and how to apply it to your own music.

Bobby Darin Estate Relaunches Direction RecordsBobby Darin was, by any definition, a superstar – a chart-topping, multimillion-selling, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, a Golden Globe-winning actor, visionary entrepreneur, and committed political activist.

In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of his 1973 passing from heart disease at just 37 years old, the Bobby Darin Estatehas officially relaunched Direction Records, the groundbreaking label founded by Darin in 1968. Distributed by Secretly Distribution, the Direction Records collection kicks off with the release of five classic albums recorded between 1966 and 1967 and newly reverted to the Bobby Darin Estate, all available now on digital platforms for the first time ever.

The new releases include: Bobby Darin Sings The Shadow Of Your Smile (1966), In A Broadway Bag (1966), If I Were A Carpenter (1966), Inside Out (1967), and Bobby Darin Sings Doctor Dolittle (1967). 

“The purpose of Direction Records is to seek out statement-makers,” Bobby Darin said of the label’s foundation.

Direction Records heralded the two landmark albums in which Darin masterfully reinvented himself as a serious, socially conscious singer-songwriter equal to any of the era – 1968’s Born Walden Robert Cassotto and 1969’s Commitment. In addition, the Direction Records catalog will include Songs From Big Sur, a previously released anthology of non-LP singles, rare tracks, alternate takes, and music recorded live during Darin’s May 1969 residency at West Hollywood, CA’s venerable Troubadour.

CONNECT WITH BOBBY DARIN + DIRECTION RECORDS: WEBSITE

First Amendment org challenges restrictions on TikTok at Texas universitiesThrough a new lawsuit, a free speech group and research coalition that studies technology’s effect on society are pushing back against a ban on TikTok affecting government devices in the state of Texas.
In the lawsuit, filed by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute on behalf of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, the allied plaintiffs argue that restrictions on TikTok in Texas violate the First Amendment. The lawsuit focuses on how the ban affects faculty members at public universities.
“Banning public university faculty from studying and teaching with TikTok is not a sensible or constitutional response to concerns about data-collection and disinformation,” Executive Director of the Knight First Amendment Institute Jameel Jaffer said. “Texas must pursue its objectives with tools that don’t impose such a heavy burden on First Amendment rights. Privacy legislation would be a good place to start.”
Late last year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed Texas agencies to remove the app from government devices, citing security worries over from TikTok’s Chinese ownership. Abbott described concerns around TikTok as “growing threats,” issuing a mid-February deadline for government offices to implement the changes. Last month, the governor signed a law to firm up the ban, which initially took the form of an executive order.
That ban also applied to public universities in Texas, which moved to block TikTok from campus Wi-Fi networks and school-owned devices. Texas A&M and the University of Texas were among the colleges that complied with the ban, limiting access to the hit social video app across their campuses.
Public universities in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma and South Dakota have also taken their own measures to restrict TikTok in light of other executive orders. If successful, the Texas lawsuit could serve as a precedent for how similar bans will hold up in those states.
“Like it or not, TikTok is an immensely popular communications platform, and its policies and practices are influencing culture and politics around the world,” Coalition for Independent Technology Research board member Dave Karpf said.
“It’s important that scholars and researchers be able to study the platform and illuminate the risks associated with it. Ironically, Texas’s misguided ban is impeding our members from studying the very risks that Texas says it wants to address.”

COALITION FOR INDEPENDENT T… by TechCrunch
First Amendment org challenges restrictions on TikTok at Texas universities by Taylor Hatmaker originally published on TechCrunch

W.A. Production Introduces InstaComposer 2 A.I. MIDI Tool W.A. Production, producers crafting creative plug-ins to help anyone achieve studio-quality processing speedily and easily, introduces InstaComposer 2 as an advanced AI MIDI Tool taking its popular InstaComposer MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) creation station plug-in predecessor to another level — launching new features and improvements that enhance the user experience with more MIDI tracks, scenes, new scales, and new modes married with enhanced generative coding and superior performance to make practicable new ideas flow more quickly than ever before by producing a wide variety of musical elements, including melodies, phrases, riffs, and chord progressions to provide both beginners and professional musicians with endless possibilities for creating unique and engaging music in any genre or style while working with an intuitive interface and advanced algorithms allowing them to focus on the creative aspect of music production without having to think about composing every note.

14-day, fully-functional trial versions of all W.A. Production plug-ins — including InstaComposer 2 — are available by signing up for an account for free from here: waproduction.com/users/login

Watch W.A. Production’s informative introductory video for InstaComposer 2 here: youtu.be/sjx-KYMZip0 

The Very Loud Indeed Co. Summer Sale The Very Loud Indeed Co.'s Summer Sale is currently running, offering savings of 40% on individual products and 61% on bundles. 

From Luminate’s midyear Music Report to Mubert’s 100m AI-generated tracks… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe headlines from the past week you can't afford to miss...
Source

Spotify expands analytics to give ‘a 360-degree view of your audience’When Spotify For Artists deleted older historical data last month, they said they did it to make room for new features, and a just-launched Audience Segmentation feature makes good on. Continue reading
The post Spotify expands analytics to give ‘a 360-degree view of your audience’ appeared first on Hypebot.

Fred again.. reveals bass sound in Jungle came from a dodgy cableFred again.. has revealed that the bass sound in his 2022 track Jungle was recorded from the sound made when he plugged in a dodgy cable.

READ MORE: How Fred again.. stole the hearts of Glastonbury 2023

Sometimes innovation truly does prevail over high-spec gear – through simply recording the sound made when the dodgy cable was plugged in via a voice memos app on his iPhone, Fred again.. chopped it up into the main bassline for the song, which sits on his album, USB.
“I realised I’d never told anyone this,” writes the EDM giant on TikTok. Check out the video below to see how he made it happen:

@fredagainagain
i realised id never told anyone thisssss
♬ Jungle – Fred again..

Users on TikTok praised his creativity, with DJ Sistek commenting, “Omg that’s genius”, and others leaving replies such as “90s Daft Punk moves” and “Gettin [Benny Benassi] Satisfaction vibes and I’m lovin’ it”.
The Rumble producer isn’t one to overcomplicate things – he’s previously praised the endless possibilities of a simple laptop-based set up, having joked “if you’re bored of laptop, you’re bored of life.”
Earlier this year, Damon Albarn also surprised Gorillaz fans by revealing that the main looping melody heard on track Clint Eastwood came from a preset on the Suzuki Omnichord in an interview with Zane Lowe.
You can catch Fred again.. at a number of shows from August through November. To check out all of his upcoming live dates, go to his official website.
The post Fred again.. reveals bass sound in Jungle came from a dodgy cable appeared first on MusicTech.

Softrave Bacteria A Bacteria A VSTi is inspired by ELTA Solar synthesizer. It has 32 oscillators onboard that can be independently detuned to create rich sounds that are good for ambient, experimental, rave... Read More

Tyrell N6 Synthesizer Review (Free Download)
Tyrell N6 is a legendary freeware plugin by u-he. Is it still one of the best FREE synths available? I’m a big u-he fan; the Berlin-based company has delivered some of the best freeware and commercial synth and effects plugins for over 20 years. Right off the back of discussing Beatzille, the Beat magazine exclusive [...]
View post: Tyrell N6 Synthesizer Review (Free Download)

Lindstrøm’s space disco modular cave once belonged to the Bandidos Motorcycle ClubHe may be based in Oslo, but Lindstrøm’s machine-made disco tracks sound as though they were formed in outer space. That’s still the case on the widely-named ‘space disco king’’s latest EP, Everyone Else Is A Stranger, which features four heart-wrenching, euphoric moments for late-night discotheques.

READ MORE: Light Place, Right Time: LP Giobbi is a beacon for budding artists

Lindstrøm – real name Hans-Peter Lindstrøm – lets us take a look at his impressive studio, an industrial space strangely once used by the Bandidos Motorcycle Club that looks over the Alna River. He tells us about how he kicks off tracks on his bulging modular rack, then builds on this with vintage synthesizers and funnels everything through chunky hardware processors.
Everyone Else Is A Stranger by Lindstrøm
Hey, Lindstrøm! Your studio is incredible. What’s the story?
Thank you. I’ve been here for two years. My room is located in an old industrial complex, formerly used by Bandidos Motorcycle Club, that’s been turned into a thriving hub of local creative and social activity.
There are all kinds of nice people here doing woodwork, ceramics, sewing and everything in between. My former studio space was located downtown facing a dusty backyard. This new room has a wonderful overview of the Alna River, as well as the only primeval forest area in the inner city.
I’ve been treating the room using bass traps and rock wool tiles and, although I’m not an expert at room treatment, I’m happy with the results.
Image: Lin Stensrud
What’s your favourite area of the studio? And where do your tracks usually start?
My modular rack is where I always gravitate towards, mainly because it’s an endless source of inspiration and new ideas. Also, all my drums live in my modular rack, and the Roland CR-78, TR-606 and Linndrum get sync and triggers from here.
What I also love about the modular gear is that it’s a huge customisable wall of whatever I want it to be; drums, synth voices, mixers, modulation, sequencers, samplers – you name it. I love having everything in one rack, even though I much prefer big synthesizers with full-size knobs and keys such as my Yamaha CS-60 and the Moog MemoryMoog.
Image: Lin Stensrud
Is vintage hardware essential to your space disco sound?
Yes, it’s become essential to me in the last 10-15 years. Before that, I couldn’t afford much more than a computer with cracked software and a MIDI keyboard. My track I Feel Space was made only with VST plugins such as Native Instruments FM-7 and Pro-53 in around 2003/2004.
I find it much more engaging to play and record my Moog Model D instead of using a mouse and a mapped MIDI controller while staring into the computer, even though recent soft-synths from companies like Softube sound more than close enough to the original instruments they are trying to emulate.
Image: Lin Stensrud
What’s your favourite piece of gear in the studio?
My trusty old Roland Juno-106 gets used almost every time I’m making music. It’s the synthesizer that I’ve been using since I was 14 years old, and even though it’s not the exact same Juno-106, it’s still a very dear instrument to me. It’s my bread-and-butter synth – it’s almost impossible to make it sound bad. I will never get rid of it!
And is there a recent piece of gear you’ve fallen in love with?
Recently, I’ve been moving focus away from the computer and my DAW of choice (Reaper), and instead, I’ve been using XOR Nerdseq in my modular rack. So far, it’s been a lot of fun, and it forces me to constantly use and learn my modules. It’s a tracker-based sequencer – I don’t have any former experience with trackers (which can be a good thing! – and it comes with certain limitations compared to a modern DAW. I’ve connected it via MIDI to Reaper so now I’m enjoying a hybrid setup that fits my workflow. The sync is also rock-solid because I recently bought the E-RM Multiclock.
Image: Lin Stensrud
What’s the weirdest thing in your studio?
The Maestro Rhythm ‘N Sound G2 is a colourful weirdo.
How did you get your studio all set up to plug in and play?
Before I moved into this room two years ago I decided to set up a plug-and-play setup, in stark contrast to my old studio where everything was always a total mess of patch bays and multicables. So I went for a RME UFX+ and a couple of Ferrofish converters, and I’ve never looked back.
Image: Lin Stensrud
Syreen is proper end-of-the-night euphoria. It’s so climactic, building with key changes. How did the main synth line in this track form itself?
The main synth line is almost stupidly simple, consisting of just a few notes. I’ve been multitracking several synths here, Korg MS-20, Juno-106, Yamaha CP-70 piano and the Moog Matriarch, before I’ve processed all tracks separately through early digital and spring reverbs, analogue delays and RE-201 tape. The epic chords make up for the simple synth-line.
Everyone Else Is A Stranger by Lindstrøm
If you could take six items out of this studio that you had to make music with forever, which would they be?
Roland Juno 106 for bread and butter keyboard sounds and Roland Re-201 for making them sound more organic and alive, Yamaha CP-70 for working on chords and ideas, Linndrum for everything drums, ARP 2600 for everything bass, and Lexicon Model 200 for everything reverb. That’s pretty much everything I need, but I would miss my modular rack!
Image: Lin Stensrud
What’s your best piece of production advice?
Spend as much time as possible in the studio. Play and learn your instruments and equipment rather than waste your time on the internet. In fact, I could need the latter piece of advice myself!
Check out all of Lindstrøm’s releases on his Bandcamp.
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