This synth takes biofeedback data from plants and fungi and turns it into sound – yes, reallySpecialist synth maker Instruō has launched a new, portable device that captures biofeedback data from plants, fungi, and other living organisms and turns it into sound.
The device, called Pocket SCÍON, has been designed in collaboration with Modern Biology (real name Tarun Nayar) – an artist who makes music with plants and mushrooms, best known for his popular ‘mushroom music’ videos that often go viral online.

READ MORE: Band invent bionic robot arm that lets plants play musical instruments

This mini synth is a scaled-down, transportable version of Instruō’s Eurorack SCÍON module, of which Modern Biology is a prolific user. It’s designed to be super user-friendly, so anyone can experiment with it regardless of musical knowledge or experience.
The biofeedback data captured by the Pocket SCÍON is used by the onboard sound engine to generate evolving soundscapes and a range of MIDI messages, according to Instruō. It has a stand-alone, plug-and-play interface, but users can also utilise its MIDI and OSC outputs to integrate Pocket SCÍON and biofeedback into their studios.
The synth offers four custom instrument sounds that are inspired by nature, and operates with a capacitive touch pad and sensor clips. It also offers five note polyphony. Take a closer look in the video below:

 
“I’ve been hosting events around the world for almost five years, using Instruō’s SCÍON device as the heart of a system that uses small changes in the bioelectricity of organisms to trigger note and rhythm changes on a modular synthesiser. I believe that this practice is a powerful way to help us reconnect with the natural world,” says Modern Biology.
“I’m asked almost every day, both online and in real life, ‘How can I do this myself?’ Just over a year ago I got in touch with Kian and Jason at Instruō and asked them if they’d like to work on a device together. Something affordable, portable, non-dependent on modular synths and simple enough for beginners, yet deep enough for serious musicians. After numerous in-person meetings, Zoom calls between Vancouver and Instruo’s HQ in Glasgow, and the hard work of the entire Instruō team, the Pocket SCÍON is here!”
The Pocket SCÍON is available now for £129. Find out more about the synth via Instruō, or learn more about Modern Biology.
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Jr & Jr Studio Essentials mics from Warm Audio Warm Audio have introduced a trio of new microphones that build on the success of their WA-47jr, which has become one of the company’s best-selling models.

ZL Audio releases FREE ZL Splitter plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux
ZL Audio has released ZL Splitter, a free multi-mode signal splitting utility for macOS, Windows, and Linux. This is the latest entry in ZL-Audio’s (and no, it’s not short for Zlatic Audio, although I wish it were!) growing lineup of open-source mixing tools, alongside the ZL Compressor and ZL Equalizer. ZL Splitter is designed to [...]
View post: ZL Audio releases FREE ZL Splitter plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux

International music publishing association claims it has “extensive evidence of serious copyright infringement” by AI firms that have used popular songs to train generative modelsAn international music publishing company called ICMP claims it has gathered two years worth of evidence showing that AI firms have scraped copyright-protected music from millions of artists to train their generative AI models.
Similar claims have already been brought to lawsuits against firms like Udio and Suno by major labels (namely one in 2024), and even by an independent artist this year, but ICMP’s findings appear to be the largest investigation so far into the training of generative AI across the music industry.

READ MORE: AI finally pays up: Beatoven.ai’s new Maestro AI music generation model promises royalties for artists

Its findings have been shared exclusively with Billboard, which reports that the investigation was carried out using publicly available registries, open-source repositories of training content, leaked materials, research papers, and independent research by AI experts.
ICMP claims to have compiled “comprehensive and clear” evidence of the unlicensed use of digital music for AI training and GenAI music, as well as songwriter and performer image outputs. ICMP also says that the scope of the training is larger than previously acknowledged.
Documents shared with Billboard name a large number of AI firms including Suno and Udio, as well as Microsoft’s AI app CoPilot, Google’s AI system Gemini, OpenAI (owner of ChatGPT), Midjourney, and more.
According to the report, an “admission” from OpenAI’s chatbot (following enquiries from ICMP) allegedly revealed that its OpenAI Jukebox music-making app was trained on music by artists including The Beatles, Elton John, Madonna, Beyoncé, and many others.
The report acknowledges that when OpenAI launched Jukebox in 2020, the company publicly disclosed that it had trained the app on a dataset of 1.2 million songs, though it never revealed what songs or artists were used. ICMP’s findings also claim that X’s chatbot Grok is “one of the worst offenders when it comes to respect for songwriters’ and artists’ rights”.
“This is the largest IP theft in human history. That’s not hyperbole. We are seeing tens of millions of works being infringed daily,” says ICMP director general, John Phelan. “Within any one model training data set, you’re often talking about tens of millions of musical works often gained from individual YouTube, Spotify, and GitHub URLs, which are being collated in direct breach of the rights of music publishers and their songwriter partners.”
Phelan continues, “Despite their public claims that they’re not training upon copyright-protected works, we’ve caught many [tech companies] red-handed. We have extensive evidence of serious copyright infringement. Many of these companies are scraping the lyric datasets from the internet of millions of works and putting them into their models. Aside from amounting to breaches of copyright laws and often contract laws, this is often done despite the music sector’s consistent and clear statements that licenses are both required and available for legal AI training and GenAI.”
In previous complaints and lawsuits brought against AI firms, many have used the defence of “fair use”, which permits the limited use of copyrighted material without need for permission from the rightsholder(s). Suno has previously claimed that “what the major record labels really don’t want is competition”.
Billboard says it has contacted all the tech companies mentioned by ICMP, and that all of them either declined to comment or did not respond to its requests.
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Meet the engineer building Beatnik Audio, the open-source alternative to SonosWhen Johnny Gerber’s beloved sound system became obsolete due to software updates rather than hardware failure, he decided he’d had enough. The Swiss software engineer, fittingly with a background in archaeology, wanted to preserve his perfectly functional speakers, not consign them to e-waste.
Instead, he’s building something revolutionary: Beatnik Audio, an open-source system that transforms any speaker into a smart, networkable audio device using little more than a Raspberry Pi. “I was locked in multiple corporate ecosystems, and one of them was audio. My hardware became obsolete by making the software unusable or painful to use,” Gerber explains from his office outside Bern, Switzerland.

READ MORE: Fake artists, real opportunities: Hoaxes and scams are holding back the potential of AI music

Gerber’s frustration isn’t unique. It’s clear some audio brands have increasingly embraced the internet culture of “enshittification” — the gradual degradation of once user-friendly services. Sonos users will remember the company’s controversial app update that stripped away beloved features, forcing users to essentially start over with their multi-room systems.
“I throw around words like ‘vendor lock-in’ and ‘planned obsolescence’ — which is a great song by the British band Sports Team, by the way,” Gerber reflects. “But enshittification describes the problem very well, especially in the audio space where a simple update ends up making a lot of people very angry.”
The irony wasn’t lost on someone with an archaeological background — here was perfectly preserved hardware being discarded not because of physical decay, but because of artificial software limitations. The experience sparked a lightbulb moment to shift from closed-source cloud technologies to self-hosting solutions.
Johnny Gerber. Image: Press
Beatnik Audio bundles open-source libraries like Snapcast, Shairport, and Librespot on a Raspberry Pi 5 and Pi Zero 2 WH, to enable compatibility with a growing list of streaming sources, such as AirPlay and Spotify Connect, and redistributes them to multiple rooms in perfect synchronisation.
The setup uses HiFiBerry sound cards to ensure audiophile-quality output, proving that open-source doesn’t mean compromising on sound quality. Purists can stream from vintage vinyl turntables, CD players, tape decks and even MiniDisc.
“It receives music (audio streams) and distributes it, like a heart does blood,” Gerber explains. “I tried to understand software, protocols and libraries that can stream music to different rooms, when I started this, and I found Snapcast to be amazing. It does the main job, it’s open source [GPLv3], and gave me a major shortcut to what I wanted to build.”
The system works remarkably simply: your smartphone or laptop streams wirelessly to the Raspberry Pi-powered Beatnik server, just as it would to a Sonos speaker. The difference is that Beatnik then distributes that audio to any number of connected speakers throughout your home, all in perfect synchronisation.
DAC. Image: Press
What makes this particularly appealing is the hardware flexibility. Users can power larger passive speakers using an Amp4 hat, smaller speakers with a miniAmp, or connect to existing receivers and amplifiers. It’s the ultimate upcycling project for audiophiles. Importantly, the system isn’t locked to specific hardware. “You do not have to use a Raspberry Pi or HiBerry,” Gerber clarifies. “They both have a very open approach to hardware, though. That’s why I chose to put my focus on them. It’s a suggestion, you can choose something else if you like.”
A charming aspect is its pan-European DNA. Gerber proudly lists the countries contributing to the project, including Germany, Ireland, Britain, Sweden, and Switzerland, with companies and individuals all playing roles in the hardware and software ecosystem. “Europeans seem to love this open approach, and it feels very much like a European ideology now, given that everything is closed source and big business,” adds Gerber.
This philosophy extends beyond nationalism to practical benefits. Because everything is open-source, users get community modifications, and the security of knowing their system won’t become obsolete due to boardroom decisions. The community involvement has already moved beyond just feedback, with members contributing code and documentation improvements to the project.
Gerber envisions three user paths: “As an expert, you can build it yourself, completely design, and order from everywhere. Alternatively, order a bundle from the website and fit it yourself. Or, if you have no idea, but like the idea, you can have it assembled,” says Gerber, admitting he’s yet to work out whether that would take place in Switzerland or through a decentralised network.
Beatnik architecture. Image: Press
“I haven’t found a good balance yet. It’s still very technical,” he says when asked about balancing technical complexity with user-friendliness. “But the first step was to give it a name and a visual appearance. Also, documentation is key. That at least reduces the frustration for ‘experts’. The goal is to make it more accessible step by step. IKEA-like instruction manuals are what I’m aiming for.”
Gerber’s varied career path has prepared him well for this ambitious project. His background spans archaeology (where he learned technical drawing and CAD), founding a web design agency at 20, leading teams on open-source e-learning projects, and, most recently, co-founding a successful IoT startup focused on irrigation systems for flowerpots.
Money remains Beatnik’s biggest challenge. Gerber has self-funded development through to March 2026, after which he’ll need to find sustainable revenue streams. “In March, I will evaluate if I can spend more time on it,” he explains. “But that’s the beauty of open source. The code is public; it’s been forked already a couple of times. Anybody can maintain it or develop it further.” Gerber also points out that the code is already public on GitHub.
A system in restoration. Image: Press
Indeed, the audio community has already been crucial to Beatnik’s development, providing both encouragement and technical reality checks. “Beatnik would have stayed a personal project without the interest from certain Reddit communities. In the beginning, I got roasted a lot. This helped to find similar products and other open source libraries the community already uses,” adds Gerber, who even confesses to doing the unthinkable — taking apart his Sonos speakers, giving himself an electric shock in the process.
When it comes to persuading users to abandon vendor ecosystems, Gerber believes the work is already done. “I don’t have to convince them anymore. Like me, they’ve seen the downsides of those closed ecosystems and have lost trust.”
Beatnik represents more than just another DIY project, however. It’s a statement about technological self-determination against a backdrop of increasing corporate control over our devices. With a website due to launch soon, and a project gaining momentum through both community interest and concrete contributions, it may well become a sound way of sticking it to the man.
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Eternal Research Demon Box conjures demonic soundscapes from thin air$999, eternalresearch.com
You are, at every moment of your life, bathed in electromagnetic fields (EMF). I say this not because they pose a danger to your health, or are part of some government conspiracy to control the masses. Instead, I want to draw attention to this potentially untapped source of sound. Under normal circumstances you can not hear an EMF, but with the right tool, such as the Eternal Research Demon Box, you can turn this invisible background noise into a potent source of samples.

READ MORE: I got lost in Moog Messenger’s massive Res Bass sounds

Demon Box is not the first device geared at musicians capable of capturing EMFs, but it does have key differences. That’s important, because Demon Box isn’t cheap. While you can build your own DIY EMF mic for about £20, or pick up the Soma Ether (which captures more than just low frequency EMFs) for £135 Demon Box will set you back $999.00 USD, or about £745. But it does more than simply turn electromagnetic radiation into audible signals, it can blend them with incoming audio or even turn them into MIDI data for controlling other gear — imagine controlling a synth using its own incidental EMF. (Note: this is more fun in theory than in practice.)
This is the big pitch for Demon Box. It’s not simply a microphone for the inaudible, it’s an instrument in its own right. But one that can be extremely unpredictable. There are 33 inductors spiraling around the top of the device, split into three channels, which correlate to the three audio inputs and three CV outs, and are then connected to a three-channel mixer with four audio outputs — one for each channel, plus a fourth master out.

The first thing you’ll notice when firing up Demon Box is that it’s a noisy beast. Even with the gain at relatively modest levels it buzzes, clicks and hums with all the chaos of an electrical fire. Because of the sorts of esoteric and experimental devices I tend to be attracted to, it feels like it’s become cliche for me to describe things as “difficult to tame”. However, Demon Box has set a new standard in the field. Even between powercycles the induction pickups seem to change behavior. Pickup one might prove unusably noisy one minute and then 10 minutes later, with the only obvious change being that Demon Box was turned off and turned back on again, it will sound much cleaner, but pickup three will now be the chaotic one.
Demon Box is fickle and sensitive to the environment in which it’s placed. Too close to something with a lithiumion battery in it? Well that’s gonna create interference. Poorly isolated power supplies will exacerbate a noise problem. This is a bit confusing because, sometimes you have to place something directly against the inductors to hear it. All of this background radiation is creating massive amounts of noise, but I have to sit my camera on top of the inductors to capture a usable percussive shutter fire.
Image: Terrence O’Brien
That’s just kind of the price you pay, though, to capture sounds that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Sure, you can put a mic up to a camera and hear the audible sound of its shutter, but it can’t record the magnetic whir of the motors. And a simple electric drill becomes an exciting drone instrument when paired with Demon Box.
The two things that need to be kept in mind are: the MIDI data that comes out of the Demon Box is borderline unusable in its raw state, and you will need an army of effects to make it sound its best.
Even at its most reserved, Demon Box spits out 15 semi-random notes per second as determined by inductor three. But inductor two generates 33 notes per second, and inductor one 57. And you can easily lay all three of those over each other on a single instrument. Unless you want relentless, chaotic note runs then this isn’t ideal. I’d highly recommend pairing it with an external sequencer or plugin that can filter and quantise the notes into something more manageable.
Image: Terrence O’Brien
Then there is the raw sound of Demon Box. It’s fun, it’s unique, but it’s a little one-dimensional. Effects are a must to really get interesting with the sound design. Chorus, distortion, delay, reverb… these can all go a long way to helping anything you feed into Demon Box, whether it’s a Dremel or a kid’s toy, sound more musical or haunting. Pitch shifting is also a powerful tool. The Hologram Microcosm, for instance, immediately turns the Landscape Ferrous from what is essentially a superpowered EBow into a nightmare organ.
While I love a device that can be wild and unpredictable, Demon Box does get pretty crazy, even by my standards. I aim for controlled chaos, but Demon Box doesn’t really want to be tamed. It’s a malevolent presence that brings disorder to a recording session and completely hijacks a live performance. While I could see it being the centerpiece of a sound art installation, I can’t imagine it finding much of a home in a more traditional live music setup. While it does conjure exciting sounds in a studio, it requires serious post-production attention to make the most of it.
Even with its rough edges and chaotic, evil sound (that might have some questioning if it’s malfunctioning), I kinda love Demon Box. It’s abrasive and bristles like it’s been possessed. I could imagine it being the primary instrument in the score of a horror movie. But $999 is a big ask. Unless you are a professional sound designer or regularly score films and video games, it might be tough to splurge on.
Image: Terrence O’Brien
Key Features

Experimental electromagnetic field (EMF) instrument
33 inductors (EMF pickups)
3 channel mixer
3 audio inputs
3 mono audio outputs
1 summed stereo output
3 CV outputs
5-pin MIDI DIN out
USB (power and MIDI)

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15 Fun Solfege Games For Music Class Solfege is one of the most powerful music education tools, but it’s not often ignored or underutilized because it’s more complicated than rhythm and other tools. 

It doesn’t have to be complex; it can be a ton of fun! 

I wanted to share 15 of my favorite solfege games that I use regularly in my classroom. These are tested by real kids in real classroom situations. Try some out and let me know which was your favorite! 

Read more: The Busy Music Teacher’s Guide To Solfege

#1 You Can’t Trick Me! 

Sometimes, all it takes to move an activity from an exercise to a “game” is a little competition. Choose your bank of 5-7 targeted solfege patterns. Now, be all dramatic as you tell your students that you’re going to trick them…guaranteed. 

Every pattern (or repetition through the set of patterns) they sing correctly with solfege, hand signs, and don’t get tricked is worth a point. If you trick them, you get a point. First one to 7 points wins! 

If you make this all silly and dramatic, they’ll be way into it. Just like any other game! I often fake crying, drop my markers, etc., as they get them right to engage them with humor even more. 

Do this with echoing, decoding (turning neutral syllables into solfege), reading, or any other normal exercise you do with solfege. It’s amazing how something so simple really gets them focused! 

#2 Sing It – Solfege It – Think It  

Take a well-known song. Make sure it’s one that only uses solfege the students already know. In fact, it’s better if you’ve sung it through with solfege in the past before trying this game. 

Have students a) sing through the song without you, b) sing the solfege and hand sign without you, and then c) hand sign without singing through the song without you. When they can do all three without much difficulty, you’ll know they’re ready. 

Now, tell them that they’re going to sing the song on repeat, but when you hit the (insert your preferred instrument here—I use a triangle), they need to switch to singing solfege. Then, when you hit it again, they switch to thinking. If you hit it again after that, they switch back to singing. 

Start easy. Make the switch happen naturally with the phrase. Then gradually make it harder by changing the frequency of the switches. If the kids are really good at this, let another student be the leader! 

#3 Solfege Train

This is an improvisation game just like the Rhythm Train game I’ve talked about at presentations before. 

Want some PD that actually applies to you? Check out my available workshops and share it with your administrator. 

Easy Mode –  Students sit in a line or circle. They need to think of a 4 pitch solfege pattern using notes they know. Once they have this, you go along the line with them and have them share their ideas to a steady beat. If there is a hesitation, the train derails, and we must start over! 

Medium Mode – Students are not given time to prepare a pattern. They must make up a 4 pitch solfege pattern to the steady beat using notes they know. When you reach the end of the train, work your way back up again. Students are NOT allowed to repeat the pattern someone else just said. 

Hard Mode – Same as above, BUT every time the train repeats, the beat gets faster. 

Super Duper Hard Mode – Same as hard mode, but students MUST start their pattern with the same pitch of the previous pattern. Alternatively, make it a rule where they CAN’T start the pattern with the same pitch. 

#4 Mystery Song

Choose a well-known song and present it as a mystery to your students using only solfege. They must figure out the song. This can be done in various avenues of solfege learning, including: 

Teacher singing

Teacher hand signing only

Students reading

Students reading the song backwards

Teacher pointing at a solfege ladder or music street

Student being given measures that are mixed up, and they must sort them

Teacher humming patterns for the students to decode and write

#5 Hula Hoops / Solfege Piano

Spread hula hoops out around the room (also works with laminated pieces of paper that have solfege written on them). Students sing a song and walk around the room. At the end of the song, they must stop on the nearest hoop. 

Each hoop or paper is assigned a specific solfege pitch. This is the only pitch they can sing. The teacher sings patterns for them to echo (or hums, and they decode if you want to make it harder). Students echo the pattern but only sing the pitch they belong to. 

Repeat where students must pick a new hoop. This way, we build variety and musical independence! Do as many times as you like! 

To make this a solfege piano, we can also make a large piano on the wall or floor. Keys are labeled with the solfa. Now it’s the same game as above, but students end up on a key rather than a hoop. 

#6 Decode Race

Split students up into groups of 3-5. Give them a whiteboard with staff lines on it or use a laminated piece of paper with large staff lines on it. Have them practice writing specific solfege patterns, so you make sure they understand what they’re supposed to do. 

Now, tell them it’s time for a decoding race! You will hum, play, or sing on a neutral syllable a solfege pattern. They must work in their group to decode the pattern and put it on their staff board together. Once they think they’ve gotten it, the whole group must raise its hand. Award the first group to get it right 3 points, and the others who get it right get one point. 

Repeat for a while and then crown the winner! 

#7 Arrange This! 

Make several sets of cards with solfege patterns on them. I recommend somewhere between 7-10. Split students into groups that fit the number of sets you have. If you only have 5 sets, then split your class into five groups. But for this activity, the smaller the group size, the better. 

Hand out the solfege cards and ask groups to arrange 4 of them into a song. Then, they need to practice it as a group. Encourage them to try several versions of the arrangement. After they’re happy, they can share with the class. 

Extension: You create a 4-card pattern to use as the principal theme in a Rondo form. Student examples as the episodes. Have the whole class sing your pattern, and each group sing their own. Play on xylophones or boomwhackers for even more fun! (Also, record and post this to families; it’s always a hit!)

#8 Solfege Hop Scotch

I was reminded of this activity while writing this article—it’s been a while since I’ve used it! The only reason I haven’t brought it back sooner is that it takes a little prep work, and my classroom floor tends to make plates or papers slide around.

Here’s how it works:Create a long hopscotch-style path, either by drawing with chalk outside or laying down paper plates inside. On each square or plate, write a solfege pitch (I like to begin and end with Do). Students line up and take turns deciding which pitches they’ll step on or skip. As they jump their way through the path, they must sing each pitch they land on.

#9 Class Solfege

This is a simple activity that I’ve used with my students for years now, and every time, they eat it up! First, ask students to pick a single solfege pitch from the ones they know. 

Once they’ve picked one, have students make a line at the board (or at your computer where they’re ready to write the pitches) and write their pitches all into one long rhythm. If you’re not focused on writing, you can just have them sing their solfa and write it down yourself. The idea is that everyone picks a note, and we combine it into a single LOOOONNNGGG class song. 

Once the song is down (I often pick the last pitch of Do or Sol—La if minor—if a student hasn’t already), we sing through it together. We sing through it backwards. Then, I play a simple chord harmony with it while they sing the solfa. Finally, I write it down in Flat.io to use for later. Often, I’ll bring this song back to add some layered ostinati too, and we can brainstorm lyrics. 

#10 POISON Pattern

Ah, yes. The infamous POISON game. I almost didn’t add this one to the list since so many people know and use this, but then I thought: what if someone doesn’t, and I miss out on this chance to introduce it to them? 

The POISON game can be played with solfege or rhythm at any level of concept. All your students need to be able to do is echo patterns after you (or decode them from neutral syllables if you want more of a challenge). 

Start by having your students echo you. After a few patterns, highlight one for them on the board by writing it down. Now, explain that this is the POISON pattern. If they sing this pattern when you do, they are OUT or the class loses a point or the teacher gets a point (you get the idea). 

Switch the pattern around. Speed up the tempo. Decode patterns instead of echoing. Lengthen the patterns from 4 beats to 8 and beyond, and tell them if the pattern is inside somewhere the 8 beats, they can’t say that part only. There are infinite variations to this, and almost every one is a blast! 

#11 Add One (And One, And One…) 

Start by writing four pitches on the staff (or whatever mode of delivery you prefer). Have the students sing and sign them with the solfege hand signs. Then, add another pitch. I like to set up a random picker from something like a wheel of names and choose with that. Students now sing five pitches. Spin and add and add and add and see how far they can go! 

#12 Sing Only One

This one’s a classic—and one of my favorites! You can use it with any song or set of solfege patterns, as long as your students are already comfortable reading and singing together with ease.

Start by displaying the solfege for the song or pattern and singing it all the way through as a group. Then comes the challenge: students must sing through it again, but this time they can only sing out loud on one pitch. For every other pitch, they show the hand sign and sing it silently in their head.

This kind of audiation is fantastic for strengthening pitch retention and developing an inner sense of steady beat.

Keep rotating through the pitches the song uses—trust me, as students get older, this gets trickier (and sometimes that’s what makes it even more fun!).

#13 Four+ Corners

Make your life even easier by taking a game kids know and adding a solfege twist! Print off paper/cards/posters with a solfege pattern on it and post them up on your walls around the room. Play music (bonus if it’s a concert song you need them to listen to or sing along with) and have them move around the room. 

When the music stops, the students quickly find a spot. Each spot takes a turn singing their pattern. Now, here’s where there may be some variety: 

If you have an IT person – Have the person with their eyes closed sing a random pattern, and this group is out. 

If you don’t have an IT person – Plug your patterns into a random picker and let that choose who is out. 

Repeat until you have a winner! 

I don’t LOVE having an IT person because they often hesitate. Worse, there are always those kids who will complain that the IT is cheating or picking on them. Sticking with a random picker eliminates this issue. (Almost anyway—I still get kids who think the random program has it out for them!) 

#14 Double It

Go through several songs you know with solfege that the students know well. Then, discuss which songs have similar pitches. Talking works OK for this, but I like to pull them up and display them side by side. 

When you have two songs the kids say are similar, split the class in two and have them sing the songs with words and then with solfege at the same time. It’s almost like you’re experimenting to discover partner songs (songs that create nice harmony when sung together at the same time).

Does it have to be perfect? No! In fact, this opens up great talking points on what makes songs work well together. 

#15 Shift By…

Write or display the melody of a song (known works better, but an unknown song will be a tougher challenge!). Make sure the entire melody is on one looong line. Ask students to sign and sing the solfege. 

Then, take the first pitch, erase it, and move it to the end. Essentially, you’re shifting the melody over by one. Have them sing it again. Repeat until you go all the way through the song. This is surprisingly hard, especially if you keep the rhythm values (which I recommend trying sometimes). 

Transition magic! Display your song, but start with it shifted over already. Then, when you shift over 5-7 times, all of a sudden, it’s the next song you want to play! 

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED DEVO DOCUMENTARY NOW STREAMING ON NETFLIXDEVO, the feature documentary about the pioneering New Wave band DEVO, is now streaming globally as a Netflix Original. The film premiered to rave reviews from critics and audiences at Sundance 2024:“A zippy, zany, whip(it)-smart documentary” - INDIEWIRE“For Devo fans, it’s 90 minutes of irresistible pop history and dazzlingly edited surrealist audio-visual candy.”  - VARIETY“This is utterly fantastic. On some level stupendous. This is not your average rock doc. You know, a linear retelling of the band's career, pure fact with a bit of rearview interpretation by those still alive. RATHER, this is all about the inspiration, this is all about the ARTISTRY! And we haven't had that spirit here for a very long time. If you're a baby boomer, you will remember. The inspiration of old films, from W.C. Fields to the Marx Brothers to Inherit the Wind, which had a profound effect on Mark Mothersbaugh. Who is inspired by a pamphlet given to him by a teacher which lays out so much of the Devo philosophy long before there even is a band.” –THE LEFSETZ LETTER  Netflix trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgV8X2x6xvE An announcement from Rhino touted 2025 DEVO endeavors:“Acclaimed filmmakerChris Smith (Wham!, Fyre, 100 Foot Wave, and Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond) captures the gloriously radical spirit that is DEVO – a rare band founded by a philosophy; a Dada experiment of high art meets low, hellbent on infiltrating American popular culture. Through never-before-seen archival and interviews with Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, and Jerry Casale, DEVO relishes in the highs, lows, surreal moments and incredible performances of a 50-year career, embracing the spectacle of the band from their lo-fi beginnings to pioneers of the music video in the early days of MTV’s cultural dominance. “Band members are open with their memories and archives, charting their origins as Kent State University arts students shaped by the activism of the late 1960s. Following the 1970 massacre on their campus, the band’s concept of cultural “De-Evolution” turned from satirical humor to urgent social commentary, and what began as subversive counterprogramming to KSU’s 1973 arts festival would go on to warn of, comment on, and reflect back the absurdism of the late 20th century. Finding mainstream success at the height of 1980s consumerism, DEVO soundtracked the De-Evolution they’d long predicted – and influenced a 21st century they’d have never believed. “DEVO is a Library Films / VICE Studios production in association with Mutato Entertainment, presented by BMG, Undeniable (a Fremantle label), and Warner Music Group. The film is available exclusively on Netflix starting today. Listen to the DEVO Netflix Official Playlist here: https://netflixmusic.ffm.to/devo.“Accompanying the band's documentary is a companion piece, Energy Dome Frequencies: Songs From The DEVO Documentary, available as a 1LP and CD on October 31. Featuring unforgettable DEVO hits like "Girl U Want," "Uncontrollable Urge," and their platinum-certified single, "Whip It."“Energy Dome Frequencies: Songs From The DEVO Documentary track listing:Side OneMongoloid (Warner Version)

Jocko Homo (Warner Version)

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Uncontrollable Urge

Girl U Want

 Freedom Of ChoiceSide TwoWhip It

Gates Of Steel

Working In The Coal Mine

Beautiful World

Through Being Cool

That's Good“In summer of 2025, the group is gearing up to unite with The B-52’s for the 2025 “Cosmic De-Evolution Tour”: a co-headlining 12-date run serving as both bands’ continuing concert farewells. Lene Lovich will open the trek, which launches September 24th in Toronto and wraps November 2nd in Houston.Tickets are available at LiveNation.com.” COSMIC DE-EVOLUTION TOUR DATES 2025:9/24 - Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage9/25 - Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre10/2 - Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center10/4 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center10/5 - Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater10/16 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre10/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl10/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl10/24 - Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion10/25 - Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre11/1 - Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater                                                                    In 1973, out of the remnants of late ’60s political activism and the rising post-punk music climate, the seminal band DEVO was born. The formative lineup consisted of two sets of brothers—Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Gerald and Bob Casale—along with drummer Alan Myers, all hailing from Akron, Ohio. The band’s prophetic message of “Devolution” and their strikingly original fusion of electronics and punk made them a singular influence throughout the ’80s and into the ’90s.”DEVO began when Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale met as students at Kent State University and began exchanging ideas about art and music. Deeply influenced by the Vietnam War, campus protests, and the tragic Kent State shootings of May 1970, the duo started making films and writing songs that would evolve into a wholly unique performance style.Their art-meets-music ethos quickly propelled them into the spotlight as one of the most high-profile acts in the New Wave movement.During 1976, it was the Hollywood-based music publisher Dan Bourgoise of Bug Music who played me DEVO recordings right after the group landed in Southern California. He also screened DEVO videos by director Chuck Statler. I met Mark in his office.  I saw DEVO’s debut in Hollywood, as well as numerous shows, including a gig at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium with Mink Deville.After interviewing Leonard Cohen for Melody Maker in the late seventies, we went to see DEVO at The Starwood. I recall Leonard and I talking about bluegrass music in the dressing room. In the late fifties Leonard was in a band the Buckskin Boys, and in 1968 recorded Songs From A Room in Nashville Tennessee with producer Bob Johnston. The members of DEVO quickly bowed out of any discussion with us on bluegrass and country music. It was obvious that these art heads were not at all interested, let alone wanting to be associated with past musical genres.      In 1978, after earning a fervent cult following that included David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Neil Young, after a show in New York at Max’s Kansas City, Bowie declared DEVO “the band of the future,” DEVO was whisked off to Germany. There, Brian Eno—along with Bowie’s collaboration—produced their debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!. The record caught the attention of both critics and the industry, helping the band build a following. It wasn’t until their third album, Freedom of Choice—produced by Bob Margouleff and featuring the double-platinum single Whip It—that DEVO became a worldwide band.They continued to evolve, releasing influential albums such as New Traditionalists, Oh No! It’s DEVO, and Shout. Their visual and sonic innovations helped define the aesthetic of the early MTV era.In 1990, DEVO went on hiatus to pursue other creative paths and during 1996, DEVO reunited for the first time in six years at the Sundance Film Festival to an exuberant crowd—DEVO was back with the original lineup intact (except for Alan Myers, who was replaced by drummer Josh Freese), the band reignited their live performance legacy. Freese remained with DEVO for nearly two decades.Since then, DEVO has continued to perform at festivals and venues around the globe. Their message feels contemporary, and their influence can be heard in bands ranging from Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana to LCD Soundsystem and Santigold.Kurt Cobain once said, “Of all the bands who came from the underground and made it in the mainstream, DEVO were the most challenging and subversive of all.” (Nirvana covered DEVO’s Turnaround, featured on their 1992 compilation Incesticide.)In 2023, DEVO embarked on their 50th Anniversary Tour, featuring three original members—Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Gerald Casale. Jeff Friedl now holds the drumsticks, and Josh Hager has taken over for the late Bob Casale on rhythm guitar and synths. Their high-energy performances blend punk, rock, and synth-pop in a way that continues to delight a loyal audience.It was in 1990 when DEVO went on hiatus to pursue other creative paths.Mark Mothersbaugh received a call from friend Paul Reubens and went on to compose the theme and music for Pee-wee’s Playhouse. This unexpected opportunity launched him into a prolific career in film and television composition. He founded Mutato Muzika—a full-service music production house and a nod to his DEVO roots ("mutant" + "potato")—and brought in Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale.Based in the Oscar Niemeyer building on Sunset Boulevard, Mutato became one of the most successful music houses in Hollywood. Mark has since become one of the most in-demand and highest-grossing composers in the industry. In addition to hundreds of commercials, games, and television projects, his film scores include The Rugrats Movie, Wes Anderson’s Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, The Lego Movie, Thor: Ragnarok, Cocaine Bear, and most recently, A Minecraft movie.Gerald Casale, director of most of DEVO’s music videos, became a notable figure in the MTV revolution, directing videos for bands like Rush, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, and Silverchair. He also built a successful commercial career, directing for brands including Miller Lite, Diet Coke, Mrs. Butterworth's and Tang.I’ve always enjoyed Mothersbaugh’s soundtrack score to The Royal Tenenbaums. A film starring Gene Hackman, Anjelica Houston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson. The Royal Tenenbaums is a hilarious, touching, and brilliantly stylized study of melancholy and redemption from Anderson.The Criterion Collection has released a Blu-Ray with a restoredhigh-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Anderson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack · Audio commentary by Anderson · With the Filmmaker: Portraits by Albert Maysles, featuring Anderson · Interviews with and behind-the-scenes footage of actors Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Danny Glover · Outtakes · The Peter Bradley Show, featuring interviews with additional cast members · Scrapbook featuring young Richie’s murals and paintings, still photographs by set photographer James Hamilton, book and magazine covers, and storyboards · Studio 360 radio segment on painter Miguel Calderón, along with examples of his work · Trailers · Insert with Eric Anderson’s drawings of the Tenenbaum house · PLUS: An essay by film critic Kent JonesDuring July 2025, DEVO made available a restored version of their May 1976 short film, The Truth About De-Evolution. In 1977 the movie won first prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. The nine-minute film, directed by Chuck Statler, now incorporates upgraded audio and video by archivist, Peter Conheim, and the Cinema Preservation Alliance. It includes two DEVO renditions of “Secret Agent Man” and “Jocko Homo.” An Instagram post promised, “More restored films and mind-melting content coming soon.”Last century I was at a music business event in West Hollywood. At the food line, Mark Mothersbaugh introduced himself and praised my work with the Doors’ Ray Manzarek. Mark then offered, “Hearing the Doors’ ‘Light My Fire’ and Ray Manzarek’s keyboard was a big influence on a teenage kid in Akron, Ohio.”During 2006 I interviewed Mark Mothersbaugh.Q. How did you begin working with Wes Anderson?A. The Royal Tenenbaums. How it began. Asked to look at a film by someone at Sony that Owen and Wes wrote together Bottle Rocket. Saw a screening and thought it was much more interesting than other movies made about this generation.I’d like to do music for this that had nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll or current trends or MTV. I was offered the score. I met with Wes and we talked, led to Rushmore and Tenenbaums. Now we have a vocabulary when we work. Since we had done two films, he was calling me when he was writing the script for The Royal Tenenbaums, so we were talking back then, trading music over a year before the movie came out.Q. What about the process of the composer working with the record label for soundtracks?A. Labels don’t really care about composers. That’s the truth. Generally speaking, a label is generally looking for a way to sell, they look at the movie as a poster, a commercial for their talent they’ve signed. And they don’t know what do with, and try and pick up movies that they think they can stick their songs into, and don’t care where, or how, usually.Most movies do not care about the underscore when it comes to a soundtrack album because, from a numbers point of view, it’s a rare soundtrack that sells numbers that are exciting to a record company.With my pieces on Tenenbaums, it’s Wes’ call. He was very adamant about the score being on the soundtrack. That’s the only reason it’s there. The movie is Wes’ vision. He’s an artist.Now movies are made, with a lot of lawyers in the middle and there’s a lot of focus, depending on your focus group, either 16 year old boys in Encino or 12 year old kids in Pasadena. Typically, they tell you how much money they have for a music budget and from the get go Wes knew he wanted some of these songs.Q. You’ve been the artist with DEVO, what’s the best way for the composer to work with a director and music supervisor?A. It took me a while to get there. I always looked at music supervisors as being unnecessary and meddlesome and over credited. And I think you have to try and understand everybody’s motivations and why they are there in the first place.The most important thing for me is helping a director achieve his vision. You’re given the limitations of what the film company thinks your worth, you have that many dollars to use towards that goal and a lot of time directors don’t have a clue about a soundtrack album. In the case of Wes, it was quite different. Every single piece of this movie is important to him. He sat with me while I was writing music for the film and scoring and we talked constantly during the process. Most times directors get nervous, or are too busy to do that, or they’re already on to the next project. He sat in the back room. He’s probably the most hands-on director I’ve ever worked with.In this case I wrote cues while temp music was already in place. It’s very common that the songs are in place before the film gets to a composer. But unlike our previous collaborations, this is the first time he called me to discuss music as he was putting the script together. So, I was writing sketches based on early drafts of the script and then sending them to him. That allowed him to listen to the music as he was filming.   Actually, I was writing music when he gave me the first draft of his script back in November of last year.Q. What drew you to Wes?A. His temp music was one of the reasons I wanted to work with him from the very beginning. Even in Bottle Rocket. Like in that one, he used the Rolling Stones’ ‘2000 Year Old Man’ which I really like. I thought, ‘what an odd choice, but it was a perfect choice.’ How interesting that he would go there instead of doing something from MTV.That’s what made me want to meet him in the first place. ‘This is somebody who needs somebody to protect him and to help him create his vision.’ He has interesting tastes and makes a lot of his choices intellectually, but they always resonate with what he’s doing. He picks things that compliment his picture. It’s like, there are movies I’ve worked on where because before they got to the end of the movie, they made a deal with a company or label, and it’s doesn’t matter who they are to the label, and it’s kind of at a certain point it doesn’t matter to the film makers, they just want an album and hoping and fishing for a hit song. And if it relates to the music, all the better, but if it doesn’t, they quite honestly could care less.By the time we mixed the movie we backed off from some of the score simply because there were so many songs in the audio, you didn’t want to distract anybody. But that’s a balance you find as you are going along and it becomes determined what songs are going and staying.Q. What about scoring for movies and directors who might like your band. Does it help?A. You know what, maybe a little bit, but I wouldn’t over rate that. I don’t think it’s necessarily a plus to come from a band. The reality is that there’s a lot of people who were in bands that tried to get into composing and it didn’t work. It’s a totally different monster. I think the writers that have the most success are ones that are empathetic and are able to. First of all, you have to understand what your job is, and your job is to help the director’s vision come to fruition. And when you’re in a band that’s not really what your job is at all. You have your own vision and your own story to tell, and pitty the person who tries to fuck with that.Q: As a band, DEVO have had songs in films and soundtracks.A: Jerry and I are both kind of active in that, and the other Devo members all work with me at Mutato, so sometimes they’ll be working on a project, like Bob has done a couple of movies for MTV where he’s been able to suggest things. There’s some involvement.Regarding music videos, we thought we were doing something different and bigger when we were making our films. We thought we were creating a new art form that was going to eclipse rock and roll, believe it or not. That’s what our intentions were.Unfortunately, MTV came along, we had ideas earlier about music television and sound and vision eclipsing rock and roll and visual audio artists, people who were multi-media artists would become more prominent in pop culture, but I think because it didn’t happen early enough lawyers had already started to figure out a way to turn it into home shopping network. What we were doing was sort of reduced to baby pictures for record companies. Just a 3 and a half- minute commercial. Q. What does music add to movies, since you’re in deep in the game now? How does music support a movie?A. I think composers know better than anybody what their music brings to a movie because when you are in the process of writing things you don’t always write what goes on the screen is probably not always the first thing that you write. In my case, sometimes it’s the third, fourth or fifth thing I’ve written for a scene, instead of the first.Q. There seems to be a trend where directors are really involved in the music in their films and hands on in music and songs on soundtracks, and maybe music informs the script. How do you see the role or roles of the soundtracks as far as the composers in the future and music on the screen?A. I think scores showing up on CD’s only relates to an economic viability to it. If they can figure out a way to do it and just hit the niche market that wants it. I don’t think you’re ever going to talk the general public into thinking that underscores should be listened to without the movie. They’ll be moments when the underscore catches someone’s fancy like a Henry Mancini theme that actually becomes a song that’s part of the movie. And stuff like that does happen. Rock music has been around so long now, it’s like the classical music of our time in a way.    (Harvey Kubernik is the author of 20 books, including 2009’s Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon, 2014’s Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972, 2015's Every Body Knows: Leonard Cohen, 2016's Heart of Gold Neil Young and 2017's 1967: A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love. Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz. In 2021 the duo wrote Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child for Sterling/Barnes and Noble.       Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s Docs That Rock, Music That Matters. His Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Scenes) is scheduled for 2025 publication.         Harvey wrote the liner notes to CD re-releases of Carole King’s Tapestry, The Essential Carole King, Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish, Elvis Presley The ’68 Comeback Special, The Ramones’ End of the Century and Big Brother & the Holding Company Captured Live at The Monterey International Pop Festival.    In 2006 Kubernik appeared at the special hearings by The Library of Congress in Hollywood, California, discussing archiving practices and audiotape preservation. In 2017 he lectured at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in their Distinguished Speakers Series. Amidst 2023, Harvey spoke at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles discussing director Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz music documentary.    During 2007 Harvey appeared in the M-G-M/Sony Pictures New Wave Productions Deluxe Edition DVD of Jailhouse Rock starring Elvis Presley. He was interviewed in the video short The Scene That Stole Jailhouse Rock.   In 2014, Kubernik was a consultant and interviewed for an hour-long examination of the musical legacy of Los Angeles for the Australia television series Great Music Cities for Australian subscription television broadcaster XYZnetworks Pty Ltd (www.xyznetworks.com.au). Slash, Brian Wilson, Steve Lukather, Keith Richards and Lonn Friend were also lensed for the project. Senior Producer is Wade Goring for the music channel.     Kubernik was an interview subject for director Matt O’Casey in 2019 on his BBC4-TV digital arts channel Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac’s Songbird. The cast includes Christine McVie, Stan Webb of Chicken Shack, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Christine’s family members, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Mike Campbell, and Neil Finn. Harvey was lensed for the 2013 BBC-TV documentary on Bobby Womack Across 110th Street, directed by James Meycock. Bobby Womack, Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones, Regina Womack, Damon Albarn of Blur/the Gorillaz, and Antonio Vargas are spotlighted.    Kubernik was interviewed for the August 2025 documentary, The Sound of Protest now being broadcast on the TVOD Apple TV broadcasting service. https://tv.apple.com › us › movie › the-sound-of-protest. Director Siobhan Logue’s endeavor features Smokey Robinson, Hozier, Skin (Skunk Anansie), Two-Tone's Jerry Dammers, Angélique Kidjo, Nina Simone, Holly Johnson, David McAlmont, Rhiannon Giddens, and more.    Harvey is also an interview along with Iggy Pop, Bruce Johnston, Johnny Echols, the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs and Victoria Peterson, and the founding members of the Seeds in director Neil Norman’s documentary The Seeds - The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard. This November 2025, a DVD with bonus footage will be released via the GNP Crescendo Company.    The New York City Department of Education is publishing in 2025 the social studies textbook Hidden Voices: Jewish Americans in United States History. Kubernik’s 1976 interview with music promoter Bill Graham on the Best Classic Bands website Bill Graham Interview on the Rock ’n’ Roll Revolution, 1976, is included). The post CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED DEVO DOCUMENTARY NOW STREAMING ON NETFLIX first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Ether exchange reserves fall to 3-year low as ETFs, corporate treasuries soak up supplyEther supply on centralized exchanges has plunged around 38% since 2022, as billions flow into spot ETFs and corporate treasuries ramp up their ETH holdings.

Scale AI is suing a former employee and rival Mercor, alleging they tried to steal its biggest customers  Scale is clearly concerned enough about the threat of Mercor, and the poaching of one of its employees, to pursue legal action.

JYP Entertainment is hiring for AI and Unreal Engine experts to develop an ‘unprecedented’ virtual K-pop artistJYP is hiring staff with expertise in artificial intelligence, motion graphics and more
Source

One Camera Mule to Rule Them AllA mule isn’t just a four-legged hybrid created of a union betwixt Donkey and Horse; in our circles, it’s much more likely to mean a testbed device you hang various bits of hardware off in order to evaluate. [Jenny List]’s 7″ touchscreen camera enclosure is just such a mule.
In this case, the hardware to be evaluated is camera modules– she’s starting out with the official RPi HQ camera, but the modular nature of the construction means it’s easy to swap modules for evaluation. The camera modules live on 3D printed front plates held to the similarly-printed body with self-tapping screws.
Any Pi will do, though depending on the camera module you may need one of the newer versions. [Jenny] has got Pi4 inside, which ought to handle anything. For control and preview, [Jenny] is using an old first-gen 7″ touchscreen from the Raspberry Pi foundation. Those were nice little screens back in the day, and they still serve well now.
There’s no provision for a battery because [Jenny] doesn’t need one– this isn’t a working camera, after all, it’s just a test mule for the sensors. Having it tethered to a wall wart or power bank is no problem in this application. All files are on GitHub under a CC4.0 license– not just STLs, either, proper CAD files that you can actually make your own. (SCAD files in this case, but who doesn’t love OpenSCAD?) That means if you love the look of this thing and want to squeeze in a battery or add a tripod mount, you can! It’s no shock that our own [Jenny List] would follow best-practice for open source hardware, but it’s so few people do that it’s worth calling out when we see it.
Thanks to [Jenny] for the tip, and don’t forget that the tip line is open to everyone, and everyone is equally welcome to toot their own horn.

Ableton update the Move Hot on the heels of the latest version of Live, ...

Is iZotope Ozone 12 just a routine update, or something more exciting?Believe it or not, iZotope’s Ozone is now 24 years old and, in that time, has revolutionised the process of mastering, making pro-level tools available to anyone with a couple of hundred dollars. The company has just released version 12, and has given MusicTech an early copy to dig into Ozone 12’s new capabilities, from enhanced AI tools to Stem EQ.
We’ll be publishing a full review soon, but here’s everything you need to know right now about the new suite. We’re checking out Ozone 12 Advanced, which is the fully-featured package and costs $499, but the Standard version ($219) also gets most of the new features, while Elements ($55) gets the new Master Assistant, which is the big news here.
Ozone’s Master Assistant
Master Assistant is greatly expanded from Ozone 11; it can still listen to your track and use AI to suggest a sympathetic mastering treatment, but now there’s a whole new set of options too.
Switch to the Master Assistant’s Custom mode, and you can get much more granular instead of letting the software make all your choices. For a start, there’s a new list of genre-specific target styles, including several sub-genres of EDM (where there used to be fewer), to tailor the processing to your track. Then there’s the option to enable or disable the different processing modules – love the imaging but not the EQ? It’s easy to just use some modules in this mode now. Then there’s an Intensity slider so you can apply variable amounts of the mastering processing.
Custom mode is a new addition that’s ideal for producers who don’t like the idea of trusting a whole master treatment to the software but who also want some guidance and to save some time. It’s a halfway house and a useful option to have alongside fully automated or fully manual setups. It’s worth repeating that even the most affordable version has this new feature if you’re on a budget.
Ozone 12 Stem EQ vocals. Image: Press
Three new modules
Stem EQ, found in the Advanced version, builds on the Stem Focus mode and uses AI to separate four stems: vocals, drums, bass and instruments, something we are seeing across many pro audio packages these days.
Here, you can apply EQ separately to any of these stems even when working with a mixed-down stereo file. The idea is that you don’t need to go back and do tedious mix edits and re-exports to achieve this. In some cases, you might not even have that option, so it’s super handy to be able to just go in and tame the bass a bit, for example, or pull up some mids to brighten the vocals, without having to unpick everything first.
The second new module is Bass Control (Standard and Advanced), which uses machine learning to “streamline” bass frequencies, iZotope says. It provides you with a dedicated waveform view of your low end, with light/heavy balance and punch controls, as well as a Sustain Power control. In short, the feature helps to make your bass hit harder without becoming overwhelming. It’s neither EQ nor compression, so it is capable of tightening up the bottom end in a way that’s not possible with more conventional tools.
Thirdly, and included with the Advanced version, there’s the Unlimiter, another machine learning-powered module that iZotope claims is the only tool of its kind on the market. We’re all familiar with the over-limiting that characterised the loudness wars, sucking life and dynamic range out of masters. This tool analyses your over-limited track and has a simple Amount knob you can use to “reverse” the effects of limiting, opening up dynamic range and bringing a more natural character back to the track.
This module is sort of magic, and while I doubt we’ll be told exactly how it does what it does, it’s remarkably effective. It will become an invaluable tool for re-mastering older material where stems aren’t available, correcting mistakes, and even just sweetening up tracks you’ve taken a bit too far.
Finally, the Maximizer section gets a new IRC 5 limiting algorithm, which iZotope says delivers clarity and loudness without the usual associated pumping or distortion. Digging around in this section of the software is perhaps a pursuit of more experienced users, but when doing an A/B comparison of the new algorithm, it is noticeably clearer and cleaner in the results it produces.
Ozone 12 Bass Control. Image: Press
Ozone 12 — promising update or AI slop?
While Ozone was already pretty much the most fully-featured software mastering suite on the market, the features that iZotope has added in version 12 makes it a significant update for producers of all skill levels.
The new features span a range of use cases from audio repair and AI-powered assistance to more forensic control of frequencies in a way that isn’t possible with standard EQ, compression and similar tools. This all elevates mastering into a more technically advanced process – note the prevalence of machine learning — but the software remains accessible and doesn’t blind you with science.
The Standard version is the one most people will opt for, and if you’re already a customer, discounted upgrade pricing is available via your account. You’ll only get the full tool set with the Advanced version, which is the most expensive, but there’s also a 10-day free trial, so you can try it out for yourself.
For new customers, MSRP prices are as follows:

Ozone 12 Elements: $55 USD
Ozone 12 Standard: $219 USD
Ozone 12 Advanced: $499 USD
Music Production Suite: $799 USD

Ozone 12 Unlimiter. Image: Press
Learn more at izotope.com.
The post Is iZotope Ozone 12 just a routine update, or something more exciting? appeared first on MusicTech.

“We’ve listened to our community and improved every part of the experience”: Drumsheds announces sweeping venue improvements for 2025/26 seasonAhead of its 2025/26 season, Drumsheds – the 15,000-capacity venue housed within a repurposed IKEA building in Tottenham, north London – has announced a sweeping set of improvements and updates, with an emphasis on improved movement around the venue, and a complete redesign of one of its rooms.
Drumsheds came under fire in December last year following UKF15 – an event featuring Pendulum, Nero, Knife Party, Modestep, Flux Pavilion and other dance music titans – following widespread concerns over safety, poor crowd management, two-hour entry queues and some people even being denied entry to the main room.

READ MORE: Drumsheds to enforce new safety measures following review

The backlash was significant enough for some attendees to create a petition, with nearly 2,500 people signing to demand refunds after “unsafe event conditions”.
Now, organisers have taken the feedback onboard, and are promising a very different experience for those attending its upcoming events in 2025 and 2026.
“Guest feedback has helped shape a series of sound, space, and service refinements designed to reaffirm the venue’s ongoing commitment to those who make it what it is – the people on the dancefloor,” the venue says.
First up, there will now be “improved movement around the venue”, with new spaces and routes unlocked, including a 360-degree channel around the venue, a lobby, and new ways to enter and exit. Search lanes have also been doubled, improving entry and exit channels.
In another safety and quality-of-life improvement, the venue will now offer free Wi-Fi for all attendees across the entire venue, powered by tech brand Nothing.
“Losing yourself on the dancefloor is what it’s all about at Drumsheds, not losing your crew,” organisers say.
In further venue improvements include enhanced acoustic treatment in the main room, Room X, revealing the “full clarity and punch of the d&b audiotechnik sound system”, as well as extra bass and Infrabass speakers halfway down the room for extra low-end in the back half of the dancefloor. “Consistent sound, delivering an incredible experience wherever you’re dancing,” Drumsheds says.
There’s also a new layout for Room Y – which we’re not told too much about in detail – but organisers say it’s a “complete redesign” aiming to offer an “elevated dancefloor experience”.
And finally, there’s a brand-new Backstage Bar space, offering all attendees the chance to access a “unique vintage point” behind the stage, “offering a new perspective and a space to relax”.
Drumsheds says its 25/26 season will be its “biggest season yet”, with artists confirmed including Adam Beyer, Peggy Gou, Flava D, DJ Snake and many, many more.
“Drumsheds was built to be a home for bold ideas and a platform to push boundaries in music and culture, with people at the heart of the experience,” says Luke Huxham, MD of Broadwick Live, owner and promoter of Drumsheds.
“This season we’ve listened to our community and improved every part of the Drumsheds experience, while curating a line-up that reflects the scale and diversity of music culture in London today. AW25/26 is about putting the focus back onto the dancefloor and creating world-class experiences that people will remember.”
As a beacon of London’s nighttime economy, the prospect of Drumsheds losing its licence following UKF would have dealt a heavy blow to dance music culture in the UK, especially during a time when we’re seeing more and more venues close under increasing financial pressure and reduced demand.
The team here at MusicTech commends Drumsheds’ changes in response to attendee feedback, and we very much look forward to experiencing the new and improved Drumsheds in the 25/26 season.
Check out the full AW25/26 schedule at the official Drumsheds website.
The post “We’ve listened to our community and improved every part of the experience”: Drumsheds announces sweeping venue improvements for 2025/26 season appeared first on MusicTech.