Remembering HeathkitWhile most hams and hackers have at least heard of Heathkit, most people don’t know the strange origin story of the legendary company. [Ham Radio Gizmos] takes us all through the story.
In case you don’t remember, Heathkit produced everything from shortwave radios to color TVs to test equipment and even computers. But, for the most part, when you bought something from them, you didn’t get a finished product. You got a bag full of parts and truly amazing instructions about how to put them together. Why? Well, if you are reading Hackaday, you probably know why. But some people did it to learn more about electronics. Others were attracted by the lower prices you paid for some things if you built them yourself. Others just liked the challenge.
But Heathkit’s original kit wasn’t electronic at all. It was an airplane kit. Not a model airplane, it was an actual airplane. Edward Heath sold airplane kits at the affordable price around $1,000. In 1926, that was quite a bit of money, but apparently still less than a commercial airplane.

Sadly, Heath took off in a test plane in 1931, crashed, and died. The company struggled to survive until 1935, when Howard Anthony bought the company and moved it to the familiar Benton Harbor address. The company still made aircraft kits.
During World War II, the company mobilized to produce electronic parts for wartime aircraft. After the war, the government disposed of surplus, and Howard Anthony casually put in a low bid on some. He won the bid and was surprised to find out the lot took up five rail cars. Among the surplus were some five-inch CRTs used in radar equipment. This launched the first of Heathkit’s oscilloscopes — the O1. At $39.50, it was a scope people could afford, as long as they could build it. The O-series scopes would be staples in hobby workshops for many years.
There’s a lot more in the video. Well worth the twenty minutes. If you’ve never seen a Heathkit manual, definitely check out the one in the video. They were amazing. Or download a couple. No one creates instructions like this anymore.
If you watch the video, be warned, there will be a quiz, so pay attention. But here’s a hint: there’s no right answer for #3. We keep hearing that someone owns the Heathkit brand now, and there have been a few new products. But, at least so far, it hasn’t really been the same.

Music Business News Last Week: Tours, Superfans, Jobs & MoreThings were busy in music business news last week, with the industry asking big questions, fans stepping up to support artists, new superfan-focused tech, and more...
The post Music Business News Last Week: Tours, Superfans, Jobs & More appeared first on Hypebot.

AudioUi Modern Audio kit-Figma-02Modern Audio kit-Figma-02 Background PNG 700*420 px. ANIMATION. - Big Knob Animation 129 Frames 144*144 px. - Medium Knob Animation 129 Frames 90*90 px. - Small Knob Animation 129 Frames 50*50 px. - Slider Animation 99 Frames 24*122 px. - Big Button Animation 2 Frames 52*18 px. - Small Button Animation 2 Frames 18*36 px. - Square Button Animation 2 Frames 50*50 px. - VU Meter Animation 129 Frames 174*100 px. - Strip File for all. win/mac support with easy installation. ***You can buy each PNG file separately***. Read More

Independent Musician News: Fake Streams, Sync, Singles, MoreLast week, our tips, advice and independent musician news covered how to become a better live singer, the true costs of artificial streams, a guide to getting music synced, and more..
The post Independent Musician News: Fake Streams, Sync, Singles, More appeared first on Hypebot.

ADPTR AUDIO Utopia reverb from Plugin Alliance Created in collaboration with Geraint Luff of Signalsmith Audio, Utopia is said to reimagine reverb not just as an effect, but as a powerful compositional and harmonic tool.

DIY Spotlight: Juanita and JuanJuanita and Juan is the name of a thrilling new project featuring the talents of punk rock luminaries Alice Bag (The Bags) and Kid Congo (Pink Monkey Birds/Cramps/Gun Club). The two respected musicians have a combined resume that is remarkable, but how did this duo come to be?“We were invited to write a song for the Peacock series The Resort,” says Bag. “The idea was that we would write a song for them and then pretend to perform it poolside at a Mexican resort.” “It was really fun, and the characters we played seem to have further things to say beyond ‘Arenas De Amor,’” adds Congo. “Our lounge duo seemed more unruly than a traditional lounge act, although we were trying to play it straight! We could not disguise our rebellious nature, so we brought the fictional characters into our real lives.”Bag says that this project has allowed her to explore different configurations of sound, and experiment a little.“We even have a couple of songs that are cumbias,” she says. “Also, the fact that we don’t use a full band but perform with our own pre-recorded tracks has really allowed me to go crazy with instrumentation.”“I like to say it’s LOUD Lounge because I like it to be a party,” adds Congo. “A party at a Mexican beach. Electric guitars fuzzy and raucous, and keyboards melodic and demanding. With drum machine, Latin beats mostly, and Alice is a fantastic soulful and punk singer. I’m channeling a Barry White kind of talk-singing. We sing in Spanish and English language—I suppose Spanglish.”The new album, Jungle Cruise, was recorded at Waterworks Studios in Tucson, AZ with Jim Waters, on Larry Hardy’s In The Red Records. “Fortunately for us, he was willing to take a chance on this kookie endeavor,” says Bag.It’s all a fine example of the DIY ethic that the pair have long adhered to: “If you’re bold enough and creative enough, no one will guess that you don’t know what you’re doing,” says Bag.“No rules in music,” adds Congo. “Simple recording. Say what you mean. Defy expectations.”Look out for Juanita and Juan on tour, and get Jungle Cruise. Bag has a Spanish language translation of her book, Violence Girl, coming out in the summer, and Congo will be doing some shows with his Pink Monkey Birds.  Visit alicebag.com, officialkidcongopowers.com.The post DIY Spotlight: Juanita and Juan first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Anthropic sent a takedown notice to a dev trying to reverse-engineer its coding toolIn the battle between two “agentic” coding tools — Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex CLI — the latter appears to be fostering more developer goodwill than the former. That’s at least partly because Anthropic has issued takedown notices to a developer trying to reverse-engineer Claude Code, which is under a more restrictive usage license […]

Traders still offloading TRUMP holdings after dinner announcement — NansenThough the identities of many of the top holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin were still unknown, blockchain data showed significant outflows over the past seven days — during which time he announced a dinner and White House tour for certain tokenholders. According to data from blockchain analytics firm Nansen as of April 25, the TRUMP memecoin had seen more than $869 million in outflows in the last seven days compared to roughly $96 million in inflows among the top 500 changes. Some of the changes followed Trump announcing that the top 220 TRUMP holders could apply to meet him at a golf club dinner in Washington, DC, with fewer opportunities for a White House tour.“It’s clear that more people took the opportunity to offload their Trump tokens than new buyers came in,” said Nansen. “There still appears to be some interest — either A) to secure the dinner ticket, or B) to capitalize on price volatility. As a result, a few new wallets have entered the top 250 holders, while some previous holders seem to have taken the opportunity to exit their positions.”Top TRUMP memecoin holders as of April 25. Source: TRUMP tokenLaunched in January before Trump took office, his memecoin, and that of his wife, Melania, have seen criticism from US lawmakers and leaders in the crypto industry for potential conflicts of interest. At the time of publication, the identity of many of the top tokenholders and those who might apply to attend the dinner were unknown.Who is investing in Trump’s memecoin?As of April 25, the top tokenholder had 1,176,803 TRUMP memecoins worth roughly $16 million at the time of publication. The wallet holder, under the username “Sun,” had led to speculation that Tron founder Justin Sun — a Trump supporter and investor in the Trump family-backed crypto firm World Liberty Financial — could be among the dinner attendees. Cointelegraph reached out to Sun’s team for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.Related: Trump memecoin team denies $300K dinner requirement rumorsOther tokenholders included usernames like “elon” and “doge,” though it was unclear if Tesla CEO Elon Musk, also a Dogecoin (DOGE) advocate, was involved in the project. The team behind the TRUMP token controls 80% of the total supply, resulting in many critics suggesting the Trump or someone in his family could still rug-pull investors.Before the 2024 election, Trump arranged a similar dinner at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida with supporters who purchased non-fungible tokens depicting his mugshot during his arrest for allegedly attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 election. It’s unclear whether any of the same people who attended the May 2024 event are among the top TRUMP memecoin holders.Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Spitfire Audio RonrocoA signature sound that adds emotion into music, film and games Step into the personal sound world of Gustavo Santaolalla. For media composers seeking truly authentic, evocative textures to score drama, tension, and expansive landscapes, or producers wanting unique acoustic character unavailable elsewhere, this library captures the unique voice of the multi award-winning composer's iconic ronroco. Heard prominently in his iconic scores for The Last of Us, Motorcycle Diaries, Babel, and his seminal solo album Ronroco, this isn't merely a collection of sounds; it's the culmination of a deep, personal connection, meticulously translated into playable form. For Gustavo, the ten-string ronroco (specifically the E-minor tuning he discovered and embraced) became a vessel for expressing identity beyond traditional boundaries. Its voice carries echoes of Andean roots but transcends them, finding its way into cinematic soundscapes and deeply personal compositions. It can whisper with introspection or soar with resonant emotion, capable of both grounding melodies and floating textures. Gustavo himself performed every sample, pouring his distinct, non-traditional fingerpicking style and emotional nuance into each note. He was driven by the desire to capture the ronroco's specific character – the resonance of the wood, the breath between notes, the gentle touch of fingertips. Spitfire explored its full spectrum, its shadows and its light, to craft something that feels genuine, intimate and alive. The distinctive sound of a legendary career Gustavo Santaolalla is a true visionary – a composer, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose evocative soundscapes have left an indelible mark on both film and popular music globally. He achieved the rare feat of winning consecutive Academy Awards for Best Original Score for Ang Lee's poignant Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Alejandro G. Iñárritu's sprawling Babel (2006). His instantly recognisable and deeply atmospheric scores also grace critically acclaimed projects like the video game phenomenon and subsequent hit HBO series The Last of Us, Walter Salles' Motorcycle Diaries, and Iñárritu's debut feature Amores Perros. Beyond his influential film work, Santaolalla is a seventeen-time Latin Grammy Award winner and a pivotal figure in Latin Alternative music, having produced over 100 albums for groundbreaking artists such as Café Tacvba, Julieta Venegas, and Molotov. His own artistic endeavours include the seminal solo album Ronroco and the innovative electro-tango collective Bajofondo. His staggering collection of accolades further includes two BAFTAs, a Golden Globe, and two Grammy Awards, cementing his legacy as a uniquely gifted artist whose signature sonic palette, featuring the soulful ronroco, is revered worldwide. Expertly programmed by Mike Georgiades Renowned for his 'beautifully recorded, meticulously crafted' MG Soft Acoustic Guitar and MG Soft Nylon Guitar libraries, the Ivor Novello-nominated Mike Georgiades is an expert in engineering libraries to replicate all the behaviours and nuances of a real guitar through detailed scripting and careful calibration, achieving ground-breaking realism. Innovative performance tools that authentically approach stringed virtual instruments lay the foundation for the expressive engine here in the Ronroco. A virtuoso guitarist and ronroco player himself, Mike's programming ensures that every single note performed by Gustavo - capturing every delicate articulation, strum and squeak over five distinct velocity layers, becomes a truly responsive and musical tool for your own productions. What's included. Ronroco by Gustavo Santaolalla offers a sophisticated yet intuitive experience across four main pages – Perform, Sequencer, Calibrate, and FX – designed to let you easily harness the instrument's unique character: Perform: Real-time Playability This is your central hub for live playing, seamlessly integrating multiple performance approaches: Expressive Note Playing: Instantly capture Gustavo's feel, playing melodies across the instrument's range, enhanced by a suite of keyswitch-activated articulations. Including realistic pre/post-note slides (up and down), sampled vibrato (plus additional simulated vibrato via Modwheel), and characterful half/whole-step 'twiddles', all performed by Gustavo. Up to seven round robins and four dynamic layers per note allow for incredibly realistic expression, with intelligent string selection that cycles through strings in a manner that's true to Gustavo's real life playing technique. Authentic Slurs & Noises: Perform automatic slurs (hammer-ons/pull-offs) by overlapping notes within playable legato intervals, controlled by velocity sensitivity. Add lifelike detail with dedicated keyswitches for diverse, velocity-sensitive string squeaks, shifts, and slides. Trigger fret noises automatically on sustain pedal release for realistic transitions (can be disabled for manual control). Intuitive Chord & Strum System: Effortlessly create authentic ronroco voicings and rhythms. Easily set chords by holding the 'Set Chord' keyswitch and playing a triad. Choose between 'Auto' voicing (which intelligently interprets major, minor, 7th, and sus chords for authentic ronroco voicings) or 'Manual' for full user control. Perform realistic up/down strums using dedicated keys (yellow keys), including a string hit articulation. Control strum speed and humanization for organic variation. Arpeggio & Tremolo Control: Play individual chord strings arpeggio-style using the String Keys (blue keys) or trigger lush major/minor tremolo chords based on the current selection using the dedicated Tremolo Key. Control the tremolo attack/release envelope and start behavior (strum or fade-in). Performance Effects: Utilise the 'Fix String' keyswitch to lock playing to a specific string, effective for certain slide techniques. Engage open-string switches for specific strings to create fluid, ringing chord changes and textures. Control how chord changes respond (Squeaks, Stops, Sustain). Manage the unique octave-doubled third string manually or automatically. Sequencer: Instant Authentic Rhythm. Craft intricate patterns and rhythmic beds with a powerful, yet easy-to-use sequencing engine: Flexible Sequencing: Utilise a fully customizable 4-bank, 32-step (max) sequencer. Activate/deactivate notes per string for each step. Define articulation (style switches) and strum direction (picked, up, down) per step. Control volume per step relative to playing velocity. Authentic Rhythms: Load presets containing MIDI patterns derived from authentic ronroco rhythms and arpeggiation styles interpreted from Gustavo's playing. The library also carefully recreates playing articulations like upstrokes and downstrokes, crucial for capturing the instrument's true sound, especially on the octave-doubled third string. Creative Control: Set sequence length (Bars), Time Signature, and Rate (step division). Adjust Strum Speed, Humanise Strums (randomness), Humanise Steps (timing), and Swing amount for organic feel. Define chord and sequence release behaviors. DAW Integration: Easily record your performance within the sequencer, including chord changes, and simply drag and drop the resulting MIDI directly into your DAW project. Load and save your own sequence patterns. Calibrate: Tailoring the Feel. Fine-tune the instrument's global settings to suit your needs: Adjust overall Volume, Stereo Width, and the balance between Close and Far microphone positions. Control the level of Fret Noise and whether noises trigger on pedal release. Manage the instrument's Dynamic Range (compression) and shape the note Attack envelope. Optionally blend in the authentic Room Tone from Gustavo's own studio where the ronroco was recorded. Configure String Setup order. The FX Page: Shaping the Atmosphere. Add professional polish and ambience with three integrated effects: Choose from high-quality Convolution Reverb, Algorithmic Reverb, and Delay. Easily activate, bypass, and adjust parameters for each effect module. https://youtu.be/ReCKR_xwQK8 Read More

Robot Gets a DIY Pneumatic Gripper Upgrade[Tazer] built a small desktop-sized robotic arm, and it was more or less functional. However, he wanted to improve its ability to pick things up, and attaching a pneumatic gripper seemed like the perfect way to achieve that. Thus began the build!
The concept of [Tazer]’s pneumatic gripper is simple enough. When the pliable silicone gripper is filled with air, the back half is free to expand, while the inner section is limited in its expansion thanks to fabric included in the structure. This causes the gripper to deform in such a way that it folds around as it fills with air, which lets it pick up objects. [Tazer] designed the gripper so that that could be cast in silicone using 3D printed molds. It’s paired with a 3D printed manifold which delivers air to open and close the gripper as needed. Mounted on the end of [Tazer]’s robotic arm, it’s capable of lifting small objects quite well.
It’s a fun build, particularly for the lovely sounds of silicone parts being ripped out of their 3D printed molds. Proper ASMR grade stuff, here. We’ve also seen some other great work on pneumatic robot grippers over the years.

From Warner’s Crumbl copyright lawsuit to the EU’s Downtown deal probe… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…
Source

93% of UK music fans support £1 ticket levy on large events to help fund grassroots venuesA new survey has revealed that 93 per cent of music fans in the UK would back a £1 ticket levy on large scale events and arena shows to support grassroots music venues amid ongoing closures.
The survey, conducted by Music Fans’ Voice, collected responses from 8,000 music fans across varying genres (with rock being the most popular type of music the group attend gigs for), aged 18 and above.

READ MORE: Over 60% of emerging producers and DJs feel “the electronic music industry is a closed club”, with social media presence prevailing over skill

99 per cent of participants agreed that live music is an important part of UK culture, and 30 per cent said they visit a grassroots venue monthly. As for larger venues, these are attended less regularly, with 27 per cent saying they visit an arena less than once a year. A large number of respondents also said they “never” attend nightclubs.
58 per cent of fans said they have witnessed the closure of a locally important music venue or nightclub since 2020, and the same percentage of participants also said that more local events would enable them to attend more gigs, with transportation costs preventing people from attending venues.
For those who said they have been attending less live music events compared to a year ago, the high cost of tickets was the main reason why, with 64 respondents citing this as an issue. The general cost of living and frustrations with dynamic pricing on tickets also fall closely behind as reasons why fans are not able to attend as many gigs as they once did. Only 11 per cent of those who have experienced a ticket price surge due to the dynamic pricing model agreed that the concept of surge pricing was effectively communicated to them beforehand.
Last year it was revealed that the UK government was planning to look into the “transparency” of dynamic ticket pricing. It was also later revealed it was planning to tackle ticket touts by potentially introducing a price cap on resale websites.
You can view the full report via Music Fans’ Voice.
The post 93% of UK music fans support £1 ticket levy on large events to help fund grassroots venues appeared first on MusicTech.

NoiseWorks Audio’s DynAssist gains Pro Tools ARA integration The latest update for DynAssist provides ARA support for Pro Tools, offering tighter integration and allowing users to apply intelligent dynamics processing without the need for real-time playback.

This new mini synth from this.is.NOISE inc. promises to always be in key, and even comes with a virtual petA new mini synthesiser from this.is.NOISE inc., a boutique Canadian hardware company, promises to always be in key, and its OLED screen even features a built-in virtual pet.
The synth, called Gamma, is ready to be played “without the need for prior musical training”, as its seven chords and notes are mapped to a selectable diatonic scale so everything always sounds good together. And yes, you read that correctly – you can own a virtual pet right within Gamma, just like that Tamagotchi you let die back in the late 90s, and it will even evolve as you play.

READ MORE: “Designed not to deliver perfect results, but to encourage exploration”: Sampleson’s Predictor plugin generates new notes and voicings from any MIDI file

The mini synth offers 14 low-profile keys for triggering notes and chords, two thumbsticks for real-time modulation, and four knobs for “precise” control over sound parameters. The thumbsticks offer on-the-fly access to octaves and effects – these include reverb, delay, detune, glide, tremolo, vibrato, and advanced chord variations like sus, 7th, and 9th chords.
Overall, it has 10 oscillators and four waveforms, plus an ADSR envelope, low and high pass filters, a key selection encoder for jumping between major and minor scales, and an on-board speaker. As for connectivity, it offers MIDI Out, an audio out/headphone jack, and rechargeable USB-C power.
Get a closer look below:

Gamma is currently in its final stages of development and will be available for pre-orders from 1 May. No pricing details appear available as of yet, but if you sign up for email alerts, you’ll get a $50 discount code emailed to you upon launch day.
In other gear news and on the soft synth side of things, Arturia has released V Collection 11, the latest instalment of its revered suite of plugins that emulate classic analogue synths and acoustic instruments. Along with a handful of new emulations, V Collection 11 also introduces new additions to Arturia’s Augmented series and a new synth, Pure LoFi.
You can sign up to receive notifications when Gamma launches via the this.is.NOISE inc. website. 
The post This new mini synth from this.is.NOISE inc. promises to always be in key, and even comes with a virtual pet appeared first on MusicTech.

Guide to Meta Ads to Market Music on Facebook and InstagramWant to turn listeners into loyal fans? This step-by-step Guide to Meta Ads to Market Music on Facebook and Instagram includes how to grow an audience, boost streams, and make every dollar count.
The post Guide to Meta Ads to Market Music on Facebook and Instagram appeared first on Hypebot.