Eva Instruments HARMO guitar harmonics library for Kontakt is FREE for a limited time
Typically, when we say something is free for a limited time, you have a week or more to take advantage of the offer. At the time of writing, you have around a day and a half to download HARMO for free before it returns to its regular price of $25 (the offer ends on September [...]
View post: Eva Instruments HARMO guitar harmonics library for Kontakt is FREE for a limited time

iZotope Ozone 12 has arrived Ozone 12 includes a trio of new additions: Stem EQ, Bass Control and Unlimiter, a configurable Master Assistant feature and a new transparent limiting algorithm for its much-loved Maximizer module. 

iZotope’s Ozone 12 is here, with a whole load of AI-powered upgrades that “guide, not decide”iZotope has released Ozone 12, the latest evolution of its popular mastering suite. This new iteration introduces three new modules, an update to its AI-powered assistant, and more.
The previous version of Ozone landed in 2023, and scored a 9/10 in our review. Though a near perfect score, we did note that the AI assistant needed some tweaks. As usual, Ozone 12 comes in three editions: Elements, Standard, and Advanced, with Advanced including 21 individual plugins.

READ MORE: These Loewe headphones cost over $135,000. Why? Take a guess

iZotope says that this assistant has “intelligent tech that guides, not decides”, and reiterates that the implementation of AI within its products is intended to simply help and inspire – the tech certainly comes into play a lot within Ozone 12.
Diving further into its features, Ozone 12 includes a Stem EQ, which lets users apply EQ to vocals, drums, bass, and instruments separately within a stereo audio file, and a Bass Control described by iZotope as a “machine-learing powered module that refines low-end frequencies, ensuring masters hit hard in any listening environment”.
Ozone 12 Unlimiter. Image: Press
There’s also an Unlimiter on board that can revive overly compressed audio, also powered by machine-learning, and, going back to the AI-powered Master Assistant, it now offers a ‘custom flow’ that allows for specific module choices, LUFS targets, and genre modifiers to create a unique mastering chain.
Furthermore, the well-loved Maximizer now includes an IRC 5 limiting algorithm, which “delivers outstanding loudness and clarity without the usual tradeoffs like pumping or distortion”, according to iZotope.

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iZotope’s comprehensive Music Production Suite 8 has also now been updated to include both Ozone 12 Advanced and all five of its Catalyst Series products: FXEQ, Velvet, Cascadia, Aurora, and Plasma.
Existing iZotope customers may be eligible for special loyalty offers. For new customers, Ozone 12 Elements is priced at $55, the Standard version is $219, and Advanced comes in at $499. Find out more via iZotope.
The post iZotope’s Ozone 12 is here, with a whole load of AI-powered upgrades that “guide, not decide” appeared first on MusicTech.

Melbourne Instruments Roto-ControlRoto-Control is a motorized MIDI controller. This unique controller utilizes the same motorized knob technology found in their Nina and Delia synths, providing real-time visual feedback for parameter changes in your DAW or hardware devices. Roto-Control features eight touch-sensitive, self-rotating knobs, eight keyboard-style buttons, and a row of high-resolution displays for clear visual feedback and versatile control. The integrated Motion Recorder allows for automation and looping of MIDI parameters on both hardware and software. Features The Roto-Control has three modes: MIX Mode: Plug & play with Ableton Live. PLUGIN Mode: Control plugins in Ableton Live. MIDI Mode: Control any MIDI device. The Motion Recorder allows for recording and looping of MIDI parameters. Additional Features: 8 touch-sensitive motorized knobs with haptic feedback. 9 high-resolution LCDs. 16 backlit RGB LED buttons. 2 USB-C ports. MIDI in/out/thru. The Roto-Setup App provides configuration and customization of knobs and buttons. YouTube/8qyduUwtNlc Read More

From inspiration to expression: The next chapter of Splice tools
We're excited to share two new Beta releases that mark the next step in Splice' journey.

Heads up: You can save 40% on Cubase 14 for a limited time – here’s howWhen we reviewed Cubase 14 earlier this year, we gave Steinberg’s flagship digital audio workstation a solid 8/10, commending its beatmaking and drum programming flexibility, and extensive, intuitive MIDI functionality, among a host of other strong traits.
So what if we told you you can save a massive 40% on Cubase 14 for the entirety of September?
[deals ids=”1n6gxbRwdr9vut1CXSdEiu”]
This promotion – hosted by our good friends at Steinberg – applies on all three tiers of Cubase 14: Pro, Artist and Elements.

READ MORE: Why Steinberg Cubase Pro 14 is the most significant update since 1997’s VST launch

Cubase Pro 14 is the complete and most fully-loaded version of the DAW, with the entire suite of Cubase tools at your disposal including professional composition, recording, mixing and editing workflows, Dolby Atmos support, advanced MIDI editing, a powerful modulation system and a professional-grade selection of pre-loaded plugins.
Cubase Pro 14 is trusted by many top producers and even Hollywood blockbuster composers worldwide, so its normal £481 price tag is justified. But until 1 October, you can get Cubase Pro 14 for just £288.60. That’s a huge £192.40 off.
Of course, if you don’t need the comprehensive Cubase 14 suite, you can go for either Cubase Artist 14 or Cubase Elements 14 – both with slightly reduced feature sets that might just be everything you’re looking for to make your best music ever.
Cubase Artist 14 is now priced at £163.80 – down from £273 – and still comes with an advanced set of features including, alongside all your basic DAW functions and features, VariAudio pitch correction, Multitrack AudioWarp and Audio Quantize, advanced comping workflows and an intuitive pattern sequencer and drum track.
Meanwhile, the most basic of the three tiers is Cubase Elements 14, which you can now get for just £49.80 instead of the usual £83. Yep, for under 50 quid you can get over 20GB of sounds and loops, as well as a host of inspiring songwriting tools including Scale Assistant, Retrospective Record and so much more.
And if you still need a bit of time to decide if Cubase 14 is right for you before making the purchase – even with the hefty discount – Steinberg has you covered, with a 14-day free trial so you can familiarise yourself with the DAW’s comprehensive feature set and inevitably fall in love with it.
So what are you waiting for? Head to Steinberg now to get your new favourite DAW at a massive discount.
The post Heads up: You can save 40% on Cubase 14 for a limited time – here’s how appeared first on MusicTech.

“Being a musician is sometimes more like being a top athlete”: Stimming on artists who only want to show off their skillsWhile Martin Stimming is constantly striving to innovate his organic sound, twisting natural field recordings with quirky, esoteric hardware, the German producer has spoken out against musicians who treat music like a competitive sport.
On the latest episode of MusicTech’s My Forever Studio, Stimming notes that his production work is always to aid the sound of a track – he doesn’t concern himself with ‘one-upping’ and proving himself to other musicians. “Being a musician is sometimes more like being a top athlete,” he reflects. “[For some artists] it’s not even about the music any more, to be honest.”

READ MORE: Bitwig Studio 6 first impressions: It’s been a long wait, but it’s been worth it

As Stimming puts it, competitive musicians can often feel like “musician police” rather than supportive peers. These musicians tend to release music just to show off their skills, releasing pretentious cuts that “nobody wants to listen to” bar “the other 5,000 people on Earth that can also play very good and are astonished by how fast you can play.”
“They’re not really ‘enjoying’ [the music],” he explains. “They’re enjoying the ‘athletics’, but not the feelings, the emotions – which is the core of what music actually is.”

While Stimming notes that he was never professionally trained, instrumentally or in terms of production, he believes this has benefitted him. “I would say that’s a big win because I’m not in that trap of knowing too much,” he says. “I had a little bit of education, but luckily not too much that I kind of lost my inner child.”
This ‘inner child’ approach is evident in the producer’s dream Forever Studio set-up, too. The German famously controls his computer with a Wacom pen, something he explains feels “more natural”. The approach allows for a more child-like and free flowing creative process, like plotting his daydreams out on a “sheet of paper”.
Of course, it’s also easier on the wrist. “Those who work with the mouse for hours a day know how bad your wrist feels,” he frowns.
He also notes that pretentious artists tend to make a big fuss of their set-ups. For Stimming, things are more simple and low-key, letting the music speak for itself. “I need big speakers – the biggest speakers possible – but I like my screens small,” he says. “The screen and the visual shouldn’t be the main part of making music… we’re making music, not visuals!!”
“If it gets too complicated, too architectural… then it’s not music,” he emphasises.

His dream studio would also be isolated in a wooden cabin in the Alps – just like how he recorded 2016’s Alpe Lusia. Inside, he’d be working away on an Asus Republic of Gamers Flow Z13 laptop (“I would buy a Mac computer because it’s simply the better computer – it’s more efficient, it’s more clean – but the touchscreen pen is more compatible with PC.”)
When getting down to the nitty-gritty, Stimming explains how Merging Technologies’s HAPI as his audio interface of choice. He’s also keen to have Bricasti M7 reverb due to its “beautiful texture” that allows for “roominess” while still feeling “very natural and organic sounding”.
He also namedrops a few budget options – because, again, making good music doesn’t have to be inaccessible. He picks out Twisted Electronics’ MegaFM Synthesizer and Behringer’s semi-modular percussion synth, Edge. “The Edge is inspired by a Moog DFAM,” he explains. “Well, it’s not inspired, it’s [essentially] cloned. Yeah, it’s like brutally cold heartedly cloned…. And it’s only €200.”
Subscribe to My Forever Studio on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and check out all episodes so far via MusicTech.

The post “Being a musician is sometimes more like being a top athlete”: Stimming on artists who only want to show off their skills appeared first on MusicTech.

“The heaviest synthesised drums ever”: Baby Audio Tekno is an analogue-inspired drum synth plugin with no pre-recorded audioBaby Audio has expanded its plugin lineup with a new analogue-inspired drum synth plugin, Tekno.
Tekno brings drum synthesis into a new era, offering the “hardest hitting synthesised drums” to ever be put in a plugin, the brand says. Though partially envisioned as a successor to iconic drum machines from music history, Tekno is not an emulation of any hardware unit, but rather “an evolution of the underlying technology”.

READ MORE: The best free and paid-for plugins you need to know about this week

It all sounds rather alluring, so what features does it actually offer? Created in collaboration with Jatin Chowdhury, a leading engineer in analogue circuit modelling, Tekno is powered by 18 entirely synthesised drum engines that combine authentic circuit-modelling, advanced synthesis, and classic drum machine techniques.
All of its drums are synthesised from scratch, so it contains no pre-recorded audio of any kind, with each hit that it produces being unique. Through modelled analogue circuits and onboard Humanise features, Tekno offers unique quirks that “make tracks come alive as samples never could”.
“Tekno generates every drum hit from scratch through a complex non-linear VA circuit. That means it never hits exactly the same way twice – a quality it shares with the classic analogue drum machines (and a big part of their magic),” states Baby Audio. “Compare this to samples, which are just static snapshots and you’ll find that Tekno’s subtleties make tracks come more alive.”
Tekno launches with 73 custom kit presets from producers including Mr. Bill, Richard Devine, Virtual Riot, and Yoad Nevo. You can also fine tune individual components of the modelled circuits onboard for in depth sound design, and experiment with Baby Audio’s smart preset randomiser if inspiration is running dry.
Check out the video below for more:

Tekno is available to download now for an introductory price of $79 (regular price $129). Find out more via Baby Audio, or get yours at Plugin Boutique.
The post “The heaviest synthesised drums ever”: Baby Audio Tekno is an analogue-inspired drum synth plugin with no pre-recorded audio appeared first on MusicTech.

Who Olivia Rodrigo, Green Day and Beyonce Turn to for Mental Health Services for Their ToursThis week, Ari is joined by Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer from Amber Health to discuss mental health in the music industry.

Taylor Guitars Releases Study on Link Between African Forest Elephants and GuitarsTaylor Guitars, a leading global maker of premium acoustic instruments, has released groundbreaking research demonstrating that African forest elephants play a crucial role in the survival of ebony trees, the wood used in nearly every Taylor guitar fingerboard. The findings, published in Science Advances, come after nearly a decade of community-driven conservation work in Cameroon through The Ebony Project, a partnership led by Taylor co-founder Bob Taylor and the Congo Basin Institute.“When I met Tom Smith eight years ago, I never imagined that Taylor Guitars’ commitment to responsible ebony sourcing would lead to discoveries about elephant poop,” said Bob Taylor. “But that’s exactly what happened, and the implications are profound for both conservation and the future of guitar making.”The research shows that African forest elephants are essential for dispersing ebony seeds and ensuring the growth of new trees. Areas where elephant populations have been decimated show almost no young ebony saplings, as Dr. Vincent Deblauwe explains: “The majority of ebony trees thriving today likely owe their existence to elephants that dispersed their seeds decades ago. In parts of the forest without elephants, there are practically no young saplings.” Seeds protected within elephant dung also have significantly higher survival rates against predators.The Ebony Project has exceeded expectations in its conservation efforts, planting over 40,000 ebony trees—far surpassing the original goal of 15,000—and 20,000 fruit trees to support local food security. The initiative has also secured additional funding from the Global Environmental Facility and the Franklinia Foundation, earning international recognition from National Geographic, Forbes, Reuters, and the BBC. Dr. Zac Tchoundjeu, a Cameroonian agroforestry expert, noted that planting both ebony and fruit trees addresses critical environmental and community needs simultaneously.The findings carry direct implications for the music industry. “Almost every guitar ever produced includes an ebony fingerboard,” Taylor said. “If guitar players want ebony fingerboards in the future, they need to support elephant conservation in the Congo Basin today.” Protecting elephants is not only a matter of animal welfare but a necessary step to maintain forest ecosystems and the sustainable supply of materials that have defined guitar craftsmanship for generations.Taylor Guitars continues to demonstrate how musical instrument manufacturers can integrate conservation into their supply chains, showing that protecting wildlife and supporting communities can go hand in hand with preserving the instruments that shape music worldwide.

Read the Science Advances Article HERE.The post Taylor Guitars Releases Study on Link Between African Forest Elephants and Guitars first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

US regulators clarify rules for spot crypto tradingIn a joint statement, the SEC and CFTC said existing law does not block regulated exchanges from listing spot crypto products.

Waymo expands to Denver and Seattle with its Zeekr-made vansAdd another two cities to the growing list where Waymo is looking to deploy its robotaxis. The company will start with manual testing but is eyeing a commercial launch in both cities.

The Interruptor Bionic Delay 2Bionic Delay 2 is a VST3 plug-in specialized in vintage and modern delay effects. It combines a straightforward user interface for the main delay parameters with a character dial that allows you to easily select the sounds of analog or digital delay units in any condition between brand new and extreme Lo-Fi. Features: Easy delay time selection by note values: half notes, eight notes, 16th, 32th notes plus tripplet and dotted notes via the FINE controls. These are synchronized to your host/DAW tempo. Delay time selection in milliseconds for delay times up to 3 seconds. Separate delay times for the left and right channels are possible. PING PONG delays. SWING creates a swing time feel by applying a longer (or shorter) delay time to every second delay iteration. CHARACTER dial allows you to morph the delay sound between classic bionic delay, clean digital and Lo-Fi analog or crushed digital tones. You can even turn the delay time down to zero and use the CHARACTER function alone for standalone effects like tape degradation and digital crushing. Modulate the delay time for pitch and phase variations, simulating tape transport inaccuracies like wow and flutter. Use extremely small delay times to create Chorus or Flange effects. Full control of the stereo image via WIDTH and BALANCE controls. FREEZE button captures the delay in a static endless loop. SMOOTH control for gradual delay time changes. HI CUT and LO CUT controls progressively narrow the frequency bandwidth of consecutive delays. DRIFT control allows to send more feedback to the left or to the right channel. This results in delays that continuously wander to the left or to the right. Read More

Phonenstien Flips Broken Samsung Into QWERTY SliderThe phone ecosystem these days is horribly boring compared to the innovation of a couple decades back. Your options include flat rectangles, and flat rectangles that fold in half and then break. [Marcin Plaza] wanted to think outside the slab, without reinventing the wheel. In an inspired bout of hacking, he flipped a broken Samsung zFlip 5 into a “new” phone.
There’s really nothing new in it; the guts all come from the donor phone. That screen? It’s the front screen that was on the top half of the zFlip, as you might have guessed from the cameras. Normally that screen is only used for notifications, but with the Samsung’s fancy folding OLED dead as Disco that needed to change. Luckily for [Marcin] Samsung has an app called Good Lock that already takes care of that. A little digging about in the menus is all it takes to get a launcher and apps on the small screen.
Because this is a modern phone, the whole thing is glued together, but that’s not important since [Marcin] is only keeping the screen and internals from the Samsung. The new case with its chunky four-bar linkage is a custom design fabbed out in CNC’d aluminum. (After a number of 3D Printed prototypes, of course. Rapid prototyping FTW!)
The bottom half of the slider contains a Blackberry Q10 keyboard, along with a battery and Magsafe connector. The Q10 keyboard is connected to a custom flex PCB with an Arduino Micro Pro that is moonlighting as a Human Input Device. Sure, that means the phone’s USB port is used by the keyboard, but this unit has wireless charging,so that’s not a great sacrifice. We particularly like the use of magnets to create a satisfying “snap” when the slider opens and closes.
Unfortunately, as much as we might love this concept, [Marcin] doesn’t feel the design is solid enough to share the files. While that’s disappointing, we can certainly relate to his desire to change it up in an era of endless flat rectangles.  This project is a lot more work than just turning a broken phone into a server, but it also seems like a lot more fun.

Warner’s Divo Music makes play for independent artists in India via new label LoopdWarner acquired a majority stake in Divo in 2023
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