AI automation startup Relay shuts down, staff joins Google’s Chrome team"We have some really ambitious plans to help you work with AI in Chrome to get things done, and I’ll have more to share soon," Jacob Bank, Relay founder and CEO, said.

OCC approves Trump family crypto company for trust charterThe US financial regulator gave conditional approval for World Liberty Financial’s charter bid as ten Democrats signed onto a bill to “prevent corruption in banking applications.“

Sunset Marquis Hotel’s Legacy Recounted at Events with Lzzy Hale and Sharon OsbourneHeld at Landmark Theatres on Sunset Boulevard, just steps from the Sunset Strip, the double-header premiere of If These Walls Could Rock celebrated the new documentary chronicling the legendary history of the Sunset Marquis Hotel. Friday, August 14 featured a Q&A with Allison Hagendorf and Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, while Saturday, August 15 featured MC contributor Lyndsey Parker, and Sharon Osbourne.

Directed by Tyler Measom and Craig A. Williams, the 93-minute documentary spans more than 60 years of Sunset Marquis history and features over 40 music-industry figures, including Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Slash, Dave Grohl, and Morrissey. The film also explores the relationship between father-and-son owners George and Mark Rosenthal and the hotel’s evolution alongside Los Angeles’ changing music scene.

Following Friday’s screening, Hale recalled first arriving in Los Angeles with her band, stopping at the hotel’s famed bar and running into the late, great Amy Winehouse.

Saturday’s screening welcomed guests including Howie Mandel, followed by a Q&A in which Sharon Osbourne recalled the Osbourne family’s many stays at the Sunset Marquis, describing it as a place where Ozzy felt comfortable being himself. She also expanded on a story from the film about daughter Kelly Osbourne trying cocaine for the first time at the hotel, revealing that Courtney Love was the previously unnamed rock star who gave it to her. These stories offer just a glimpse into the countless tales brought to life throughout the documentary.

If These Walls Could Rock is a worthwhile watch for music fans interested in the stories behind one of Los Angeles’ most storied rock 'n' roll hotels - a place some rock stars still regularly call home while in town. The film is now playing in select theaters and is available to watch digitally on Apple TV and Prime Video.The post Sunset Marquis Hotel’s Legacy Recounted at Events with Lzzy Hale and Sharon Osbourne first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

OLEDs Have Gained Brightness, Not Burn-In ResistanceOLED displays solve many of the problems suffered by LC displays, including color fidelity, dynamic range and power usage. That said, especially in the early days OLED gained a reputation for dim screens, short lifespans and burn-in. Over time better organic dyes were developed, along with burn-in prevention methods that have made OLEDs much closer to LCDs in terms of longevity. In a recent comparison between OLED TVs by RTings it’s however clear that between 2017 and 2023 there haven’t been any major advances beyond bumps in brightness.
The relatively dim screens were a major problem, as they prevented OLEDs from displaying HDR content. This issue has been well and truly addressed, as confirmed by RTings’ testing, but after an over 10,000 hours stress test that simulates about 10 years of regular use at maximum SDR brightness, especially static elements like the CNN TV banner happily burned in even on the newest models with all burn-in prevention measures enabled.
Here the biggest take-away is probably that even if the expected panel lifespan at full brightness is still the same, this higher brightness budget means that you can gain some lifespan by cranking the brightness way down. It’s also essential to keep features like pixel refresh cycles enabled, as demonstrated by [Hardware Unboxed] and their abuse of a QD-OLED monitor where a worst-case 6,000 hour stress-test managed to create some impressive levels of burn-in from uneven subpixel wear.

Robert Kyncl justifies Suno deal, as UMG and Sony press on with lawsuit: ‘In my opinion, you embrace it.’Kyncl appeared on Semafor's Mixed Signals podcast on Friday (August 14), where he discussed Suno – and why he'd start a music service at Netflix.
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1010music update the Bluebox Available for both the standard desktop version and the Eurorack Edition of the device, the latest Bluebox firmware includes an array of user-requested functionality.

Get a free 808 instrument for Splice INSTRUMENT
Download our free 808 preset for Splice INSTRUMENT—grab these presets during the drop window and they’re yours to keep forever.

Melbourne Instruments introduce 10-year motor warranty Melbourne Instruments have just revealed that the motorised pot system used in their synths and MIDI controller is now covered by an extended 10-year warranty.

Want to study electronic music production? Eastman School of Music’s new undergraduate degree “explores new ways of creating and experiencing music with technology”Ad feature with Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music, based at the University of Rochester, New York, is launching a new Bachelor of Music (BM) degree in Music Creation and Technology.
The brand-new major course is designed for creatives whose craft is grounded in electronic and digital technologies. As a student, you’ll get hands-on with electronic music production and performance, sound design, recording and editing, DJing, and the development of software and hardware.
Applications are open from 1 September until 1 December 2026, with study commencing in autumn 2027. The degree will equip growing artists with all the necessary skills they’ll need to thrive in careers across music, media, entertainment, and technology, as well as highly-desired technical and collaborative skills on a wider spectrum.
The launch of the new degree continues the growth of the Eastman School of Music, as it forms part of the recently established Department of Sound Arts and Engineering – an interdisciplinary academic branch between the Eastman School of Music and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences — representing an expansion of Eastman’s Beal Institute.
Dennis DeSantis (right) teaching a student. Image: Eastman School of Music
What can I expect from the Music Creation and Technology degree at Eastman School of Music?
In addition to technical coursework, the curriculum addresses the cultural, historical, and social contexts of music technology. Students will learn to analyse and interpret electronic music from multiple perspectives, collaborate in creative and professional environments, and contribute to inclusive artistic communities.
Students will also get to study in a newly constructed, state-of-the-art collaborative centre on campus, spanning 6,000 square feet and hosting a suite of modern labs, creative spaces, classrooms, teaching studios, and a recording studio for all to use.
Who teaches the Music Creation and Technology degree at Eastman School of Music?
The degree will be led by Associate Professor of Music and Technology, Dennis DeSantis ’05E (DMA). DeSantis is a composer, percussionist, sound designer, author, and the former Head of Music Learning at leading music software company Ableton.
At Ableton, he led the creation of the interactive websites Learning Music and Learning Synths, and contributed to the design of Ableton’s Live DAW and Push instrument. He is also the author of music production resource Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers.
“This programme invites students to explore new ways of creating and experiencing music with technology,” says DeSantis. “Students will make music using a range of modern tools, while also learning to think critically about those tools and to make new ones that push at the boundaries of what’s currently possible.”
Eastman School of Music’s studio space. Image: Eastman School of Music
Kate Sheeran, Joan and Martin Messinger Dean at Eastman, adds: “Dennis’ broad experience across the music industry – alongside his work as a performer, composer, and educator – makes him especially well-suited to lead this programme.
“With this major, Eastman is taking a progressive approach to the intersection of music and technology, positioning our students to engage thoughtfully in a rapidly evolving field and to lead the future of musical innovation.”
Meet DeSantis and find out more in the video below:

How to apply for the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Creation and Technology at Eastman School of Music
To find out more information about the programme, you can register for virtual informational sessions with Professor Dennis DeSantis. These sessions run this year on 24 September at 8:30 pm ET and 22 October at 8:30 pm ET.
You can also contact the Admissions Office for more information on the application requirements, or visit the Music Creation and Technology webpage on the Eastman School of Music website.
Further information can also be found on:

The Undergraduate Admissions webpage
The MCT application requirements webpage

Learn more about the Eastman School of Music.
 
The post Want to study electronic music production? Eastman School of Music’s new undergraduate degree “explores new ways of creating and experiencing music with technology” appeared first on MusicTech.

Sweet Audio Scintillate is the FREE KVR Developer Challenge 2026 winner
Sweet Audio has recently released Scintillate, a free spectral reverb plugin for macOS and Windows. Scintillate is also the winner of the KVR Developer Challenge 2026, which is a pretty strong recommendation on its own. We covered the KVR Developer Challenge 26 when it launched, and James also looked at some of the free synths [...]
View post: Sweet Audio Scintillate is the FREE KVR Developer Challenge 2026 winner

Pro2Max releases Unirock HumStrat, a FREE 1.7 GB electric guitar plugin
Pro2Max has released Unirock HumStrat, a free HSS electric guitar virtual instrument for Windows. HumStrat is available as a VST3 plugin and a standalone application. The important detail is that this is not a lite edition or teaser version of a larger instrument. The complete instrument is free, with no paid upgrade or feature-restricted tier [...]
View post: Pro2Max releases Unirock HumStrat, a FREE 1.7 GB electric guitar plugin

Five synths Tom Oberheim couldn’t release under his own nameMusic fans all over the world love the Oberheim synth sound, whether they know it or not. Used famously by Van Halen, Prince, Herbie Hancock, Gary Wright, Tycho, and on soundtracks such as Stranger Things, the synths from Tom Oberheim’s catalogue are beloved for the rich, bold and luscious tones they produce.
Although Tom founded Oberheim Electronics in 1969, he also released a handful of synths under some lesser-known brands: Marion Systems and SeaSound. By the mid-1970s, Tom was making future classic synths like the SEM, 4-Voice and OB-X, but by 1985 the company was struggling. Following legal battles, the Oberheim name was sold to the Gibson Guitar Company, which went on to release Oberheim-named synths. Tom didn’t see his trademarked surname return to him until 2019.
READ MORE: Tom Oberheim at 90: “I can never retire, first of all”
In the interim, Tom created Marion Systems in 1987 and SeaSound in 2000, working on and contributing to new products. Here are the synths that Oberheim released during those wilderness years.

 
Marion System MSR-2

By the 1990s, rack mount synths were the format of choice for many developers. Famed for having the Oberheim sound inside a 1U rack, the 1994 Marion Systems MSR2 was 16-part multitimbral and featured some complex routing and programming capabilities as well as MIDI, of course. Though it looks unassuming, this rare module is beloved by anyone lucky enough to own one. It represented a first step into the new world of rack-mount modules as opposed to the standalone synths previously designed by Oberheim.
Marion Systems ProSynth

Released in 1995, the Marion Systems ProSynth followed soon after the MSR2. Another rack module, it aimed to capture analogue sound and feel in digital technology without using samples. It was 8-voice polyphonic but otherwise quite basic, with just a stereo out, no headphone port, no sampled waveforms or effects. Its 8 sounds could each be triggered by a separate MIDI channel, though the lack of separate channel outputs hobbled this feature somewhat.
There was a lot of stuff that was still pretty new at the time, including split and layer of sounds, 200 factory and 200 user presets, stack and detune of up to four voices and the synth was praised for its bass and lead sounds in particular. Compared to some of Oberheim’s best, though, it’s not generally considered a classic and is exceptionally rare.
tomoberheim.com SEM Pro

In 2010, Tom released an updated version of his hugely famous SEM (synthesizer expansion module) under the “tomoberheim.com” banner.
Using similar circuitry to the original, including the same multimode VCF and voice architecture, it came in three versions – the Patch Panel, MIDI-to-CV and the Pro, which included 21 patch points, a preamp, transposition and a MIDI-to-CV interface. The patch panel version featured 33 jacks and introduced new internal modulation techniques, as well as deep interfacing capabilities with Eurorack modular synths.
Marion Systems TVS Pro

Having reintroduced the SEM, Oberheim then revisited one of his personal favourites of his designs, the Two Voice, in 2016. Where the new SEM had practically been a recreation of the original, this time he went further. Essentially two SEMs chained together, now they could be controlled by the integrated Fatar touch sensitive keyboard and a new sequencer module.
The new sequencer was two-channel with 16 steps that could be chained together into songs, sample and hold and a ratchet mode. The hardware had 56 patch points, MIDI in, out and thru as well as six discrete audio output jacks. Performance options were stepped up, with both SEMs playable in unison, duophonically and via pitch and mod wheels.
Sequential OB-6

A collaboration between synth legends Oberheim and Dave Smith, the OB-6 took the classic Oberheim sound with its true voltage-controlled oscillators, 2-pole filter and amplifiers and added modern enhancements such as studio-quality effects, a polyphonic step sequencer, arpeggiator and more.
With a sound inspired by Oberheim’s original SEM, the OB-6 took a hands-on approach, putting basically all its features within easy reach including 500 factory and 500 user presets, a Manual mode for more creative sound shaping in real time and of course a four-octave, semi-weighted keyboard with velocity and channel aftertouch. After this, Oberheim would regain the rights to use his name again when releasing hardware.
Read more synthesizer guides.
The post Five synths Tom Oberheim couldn’t release under his own name appeared first on MusicTech.

Foundations Music Academy offers private music lessons in Ohio
Foundations Music Academy offers private music lessons and group classes for students of all ages at four Central Ohio locations: Powell, Lewis Center, Hilliard, and Dublin. We have covered online learning tools before, and apps can be useful for a convenient way to start learning piano or music theory at home. But there is still [...]
View post: Foundations Music Academy offers private music lessons in Ohio

Reintroducing Dahi: “As a producer, you’re servicing other artists and helping uplift their ideas. This was the time for me to do that myself”A decade ago, Dahi had a revelation.
The producer was holed up at Jungle City Studios in Manhattan with a cast of incredible musicians, including acclaimed producer Sounwave and keys player Danny Keyz, jamming out in free-flowing sessions led by his longtime collaborator, Kendrick Lamar. “Everybody was naturally taking a role and aiding whatever the record needed: bassline, melody, rhythm, hooklines… the music just came so easy,” Dahi recalls to MusicTech. That music would ultimately turn into Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2017 record Damn.
Dahi on the MusicTech Cover. Image: Brianna Alysse for MusicTech
Dahi – then known as DJ Dahi – was already a sought-after producer, having broken out over a three-year streak with Money Trees from Lamar’s album Good Kid, m.A.A.D City, Drake’s Worst Behavior and multiplatinum Big Sean single I Don’t Fuck With You. Even Madonna tapped him for her own 2015 album, Rebel Heart (produced alongside Avicii and BloodPop). But it turned out Dahi still had much to learn.
“That experience really taught me about collaboration,” he says of the Damn. sessions. “We created so many ideas in a matter of 24 hours, and it triggered me like, ‘I feel like I’ve been doing this shit wrong for the longest time, because usually it’s just me in the studio making beats.’ I realised I needed to figure out how to bring some spontaneity into the room.”
This marked a huge shift for Dahi, who has since earned a Grammy Award and produced for the likes of SZA, Nas, Vampire Weekend, Childish Gambino, and Kali Uchis. The track that catapulted him to fame, Money Trees, showcases his inventive approach to sampling: its brooding, beautiful hip-hop groove was built around a tiny burst of ethereal interplay between guitar and electric organ, plucked from the song Silver Soul by dream pop band Beach House and reversed. Later, tracks including Gravity (Brent Faiyaz, Tyler, the Creator) and Grammy-winning single A Lot (21 Savage, J. Cole) cemented Dahi’s reputation for building anthemic hip-hop tunes around slightly skewed, left-field melodic samples; the former used a chopped-up Steve Lacy guitar loop, the latter dug up a little-known 70s soul track from East of Underground, a US army band stationed in Germany.
Image: Brianna Alysse for MusicTech
Now, 20 years on from his very first production credit, Dahi is making his own solo statement – one whose process was anchored in collaborative live performance. “I should’ve made this album 10 years ago, but it was a long process figuring out my own lane of creation,” he says of his upcoming record, Black Boy (Alternative). “As a producer, you’re servicing other artists and helping uplift their ideas. I felt like this was the time for me to do that myself, and see what flourishes.”
To realise his vision, he called upon A-list collaborators from across his career, but also formed a core band: guitarist Danny McKinnon (Free Nationals, Anderson .Paak), keys player Ely Rise (Childish Gambino, SZA), rhythm section master John Key (Solange Knowles), plus London-based artist Jonah Stevens, whom Dahi describes as “an incredible textural sound guy and a really amazing producer”.
“When we’re in the room, I call it music trading cards,” he adds. “It wasn’t just Dahi and the all-stars; everybody meets each other halfway in the process. I’m like, ‘what are you listening to?’ and vice versa… let’s try and figure out a through-line. A few ideas started with just me and Danny together; I’d play bass, pull up a drum loop, or figure out a rhythm. There are records like They Don’t Know that started with a whole different groove, but the chords and the feel of the record felt really good… You have to make sense of it.”
He continues: “The key, to me, is having a similar taste in music. We love things that feel left of centre, and trying to figure out how to create that balance in a song. You’re trying shit and seeing what sticks. And we got something that felt really special.”
“The idea of a band and musicianship in pop music today has become kind of a lost art”
The Alternative Path
As a young child, Dahi quickly grasped the power of live instrumentation. Born Dacoury Dahi Natche, he grew up in Inglewood, California, the son of a mother from North Carolina and a father from Côte d’Ivoire. His first dabblings in music came thanks to his stepdad’s penchant for hoarding second-hand musical instruments.
“My stepdad would go and buy random instruments at swap meets for $20, and the funny thing is he didn’t really know how to play any of those instruments. He just thought they were cool to have in the house,” Dahi says. “It sparked my interest in sound and what you could do with an instrument. I picked them up, I started playing them, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but it was a form of expression. From there, it was about learning about how to read music, taking classes, and formulating an idea of how these different genres and sounds and styles of music told a narrative.”
In this sense, film also played a crucial role in his early creative development. He noted the huge storytelling potential of song, and remembers being struck by movies like Chariots of Fire (with its iconic Vangelis score) that showed “how music can be part of the grander scheme of life… Experiencing the trials and tribulations of being an athlete, the perseverance, and how music can give you cues and help tell a story.”
Image: Brianna Alysse for MusicTech
Styled partly as a letter to his younger self, Black Boy (Alternative) weaves together the different musical movements and cultures that have influenced him most in his life: chiefly 90s rock music, West African soul, and experimental hip-hop. Dahi has even described the record as “African Radiohead”, and in the outro to the single Running (a collaboration with Childish Gambino) – with its complex guitar and rhythm sections interlocking mesmerisingly against a jumpy 6/8 time signature, a saxophone echoing in the distance – that term makes total sense.
West African soul is stitched into the fabric of the record; highlights include the clean, sunny intro to Love Me featuring Nigerian-British vocalist Obongjayar, where Danny McKinnon’s soft, intricate guitar melody pulses with the alacrity of a cuckoo’s call. “We layered multiple guitar rhythms over each other, almost like having a looper pedal on and stacking different parts together, making small incremental changes that made the music feel like it was evolving,” Dahi explains.
There’s a continued commitment to Dahi’s staple of soulful, inventive hip-hop; on tracks like Who Are You (featuring Vince Staples and Channel Tres) and How To Pray (featuring Kendrick Lamar and Amber Mark), Dahi’s textured, thoughtfully constructed instrumentals provide the perfect platform for ruminations on identity, responsibility, and trust. During the recording process, Dahi scoured his creative archives for sparks of inspiration, with several tracks first taking root years ago.
Image: Brianna Alysse for MusicTech
“Make notes, save shit, and review it once in a while. You’ll hear it differently; that’s the magic of music,” he says. “Don’t throw away anything. Sometimes the way of the world won’t allow you to hear an idea in a certain context, or it’s just not ready. We live in a generation of instant gratification, where if it’s not hitting then it ain’t good – the world is deaf right now. But you have to keep pushing forward and know that what you made is really great.”
He continues: “The idea of a band and musicianship in pop music today has become kind of a lost art: how to bring musicians together, and those musicians having a specific style that creates a signature sound and feel. It reminds me of how records were formed back in the day; everybody came in and did their part, from arrangers to session players, different types of engineers – it was an assembly of people. That was something I wanted in my career.”
“Being a producer still takes somebody that can come in and finish a job or an idea”
Do The Work
Dahi’s recording process is hardware-heavy. Channelling those early interactions with his stepdad’s instruments, he constantly moves around the studio, trying out basslines, playing with samplers, constructing beats. “It’s how I’ve learned to get out of ruts creatively; jumping on a different piece of hardware, it can click, like ‘I remember when I had this idea, or I did this thing’. You’re collecting a bunch of ideas over time,” he says.
Across the guitar-heavy record, he regularly relied on his trusty Fender Telecaster, aiming for a straight drive sound with limited reverb. “A lot of the sounds were DI, not a lot of amping,” he says. “I wanted something that didn’t feel glossed up. It was more about the style of guitar playing rather than the guitar having this special tone.” Dahi also made extensive use of Sequential’s iconic analogue synth, the Prophet-5, and other favourite vintage keyboards like the Mellotron and Roland’s Jupiter-4.
He also used a complex combination, “about half and half”, of live and programmed drums, seeing this as a way of bringing worlds together to create “a tone of drums that’s sometimes very hard to recreate live because you don’t have the kit or the recording stuff.”
Image: Brianna Alysse for MusicTech
That’s a challenge that will grow over the coming weeks and months, as Dahi works out how best to perform Black Boy (Alternative) live. “It’s interesting doing something with an album that’s heavily featuring other artists,” he muses. “We want people to feel like they’re at one of our jam sessions. It’s a revolving door of talent, with some of the best musicians in the world. You’re gonna hear different sorts of music in a space that makes sense, once they’re presented with a through-line.”
Another challenge will be performing vocals live for the first time. Lead single Rest of Your Life sees Dahi take to the mic, delivering a hypnotic, fuzzy falsetto, cranked daringly close to the red using Universal Audio’s Neve 1073 plugin, that builds slowly before bursting through to break the calm, considered structure of the track in its final throes. It’s another hurdle-jump in his mission to carve out a fresh, ambitious solo path for himself.
“How do you make something with feeling and style? You’ve still gotta do the work”
“Having my voice on the record is significant,” he reflects. “I knew I had to have some type of singing or expression that came originally from me, and this felt good. It’s super important to me that the rhythm felt intoxicating, tribal, and ceremonial.”
Seeing this totally new side from an artist of such longevity is fascinating. Dahi has been in the game a long time, and the world of production has changed dramatically since his early days making music. How does he see the landscape for young beatmakers? “AI is the biggest thing, man. Anyone can make a beat now,” he says. “There are tutorial videos on YouTube on how to get certain sounds, and so much information about how to make music. But the biggest thing is having love for making records. Being a producer still takes somebody that can come in and finish a job or an idea. How do you make something with feeling and style? You’ve still gotta do the work.”
Dahi’s Black Boy (Alternative) is out 28 August via ALTER Music.
Words: Fred Garratt-Stanley
Photography: Brianna Alysse
Location: Department of Recording and Power
The post Reintroducing Dahi: “As a producer, you’re servicing other artists and helping uplift their ideas. This was the time for me to do that myself” appeared first on MusicTech.

Do What You Fear Most: The Top 5 Velvet Underground Albums