ESP32 Weather Display Runs Macintosh System 3It seems like everybody takes their turn doing an ESP32-based weather display, and why not? They’re cheap, they’re easy, and you need to start somewhere. With the Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) and modules like it, you don’t even need to touch hardware! [likeablob] had the CYD, and he’s showing weather on it, but the Cydintosh is a full Macintosh Plus Emulator running on the ESP32.
Honey, I stretched the Macintosh!
The weather app is his own creation, written with the Retro68k cross-compiler, but it looks like something out of the 80s even if it’s getting its data over WiFi. The WiFi connection is, of course, thanks to the whole thing running on an ESP32-S3. Mac Plus emulation comes from [evansm7]’s Micro Mac emulator, the same one that lives inside the RP2040-based PicoMac that we covered some time ago. Obviously [likeablob] has added his own code to get the Macintosh emulator talking to the ESP32’s wireless hardware, with a native application to control the wifi connection in System 3.3. As far as the Macintosh is concerned, commands are passed to the ESP32 via memory address 0xF00000, and data can be read back from it as well. It’s a straightforward approach to allow intercommunication between the emulator and the real world.
The touchpad on the CYD serves as a mouse for the Macintosh, which might not be the most ergonomic given the Macintosh System interface was never meant for touchscreens, but evidently it’s good enough for [likeablob]. He’s built it into a lovely 3D printed case, whose STLs are available on the GitHub repository along with all the code, including the Home Assistant integration.

HYBE moves to crack down on bootleg BTS merch ahead of US tour datesLegal filing arrives ahead of BTS's performances at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in April
Source

Sonuscore launch Lux Orchestral Strings Elements Lux Orchestral Strings Elements gives composers a chance to try the library out before purchasing, but comes kitted out with enough features to program a full string arrangement.

Fan’s recordings of 10,000 shows – including Nirvana’s debut gig in Chicago in 1989 – are being uploaded online for freeIn 1984, Aadam Jacobs attended a local gig armed with a small dictaphone. After recording one gig, he recorded another. Then another. Then another. And that collection, which contains recordings of over 10,000 local gigs across four decades, is now being uploaded online for free.
Following Katlin Schneider’s 2003 documentary exploring Jacobs’ archival journey, Brian Emerick, a volunteer from the Internet Archive, reached out to Jacobs. Curious about his collection, Emerick was keen to archive Jacob’s staggering amount of vital music history, which included early recordings of Nirvana, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Björk, and more.

READ MORE: How we remixed Steve Aoki: Tips from Laidback Luke, Dani Thorne and Nostalgix

While Jacobs’ was initially dubious, he eventually gave in. That’s why a mass of volunteers are currently involved in the No Tape Left Behind: The Preservation of the Aadam Jacobs Collection project, regularly uploading every gig Jacobs has ever recorded to the Internet Archive.
It’s a tedious process, with volunteers working their way through boxes of tapes, transforming analogue recordings into digital files one by one, but it’s a vital project to preserve music history. “Before all the tapes started not working because of time, just disintegrating, I finally said yes,” he tells Block Club Chicago.
In his hometown of Chicago, Jacobs has earned himself the title of the ‘Chicago Tape Guy’. That’s because, as his collection slowly grew, his ongoing recording project became somewhat of an ‘open secret’ within the local scene. According to Block Club Chicago, Jacobs went from smuggling his compact Sony cassette recorder into gigs in a backpack, to openly recording each gig.
In fact, members of the sound team would allow Jacobs hook up his console cassette machine to the sound boards, while other venues began letting Jacobs in for free to record the show.
Across Jacob’s 10,000 strong collection, plenty of artists feature. From indie to rock to hip-hop, Jacob has caught acts both big and small on his amateur set up – with one stand-out being Nirvana’s debut Chicago in 1989. The recording captures a then-22-year-old Kurt Cobain performing to a small crowd in local club Dreamerz, two years before Nirvana skyrocketted to global fame with Nevermind.
So far, the No Tape Left Behind… effort has digitised over 5,500 tapes since beginning their work in 2024. It is estimated that it will take a good few years before they finish rooting through Jacob’s boxes of tapes.
While there are plenty of anti-bootlegging laws in place, many artists have enjoyed taking a peek back in time through Jacobs’ recordings. One or two acts have requested for recordings to be taken down, but that’s about it. Jacobs isn’t making a profit either, due to the Internet Archive collection being entirely free, the chances of a lawsuit are pretty low.
Hunt through the archives now at the No Tape Left Behind: The Preservation of the Aadam Jacobs Collection.
The post Fan’s recordings of 10,000 shows – including Nirvana’s debut gig in Chicago in 1989 – are being uploaded online for free appeared first on MusicTech.

Jamstik Core is the best MIDI guitar at $650, but I’m still left wanting moreWhen building or upgrading your music production setup, a MIDI or MPE controller is often an essential investment for controlling virtual instruments. With a budget of, say, $600-700, you could get a full-size keyboard with weighted keys and ample controls, or something more futuristic and expressive, like the Embodme Erae Touch MPE controller. Or you could opt for the Jamstik Core MIDI guitar, and shred through your own sound library and the accompanying Jamstik Creator suite of virtual instruments.
The Jamstik Core is the smaller, more affordable version of the Jamstik Standard (previously called the Studio), which we called “an incredible instrument” and “the best iteration of a MIDI guitar.” Like the Standard, the 22-fret Jamstik Core is a MIDI guitar that actually is a guitar. That might sound bizarre to say, but with other MIDI guitars, such as the AeroBand, you’re getting something that looks and plays something like a guitar — not an actual guitar.
Jamstik employs a 6-channel Hexaphonic MIDI pickup in the bridge position, which doubles as a traditional guitar pickup. That means that you can easily flick between sending MIDI to your synths and compatible gear, and to playing through an amp or DI box as a normal guitar. The MIDI data is captured with the Hexaphonic pickup and Jamstik’s per-string processing.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
I’m surprised by the Jamstik Core. It’s quite a capable MIDI guitar for hobbyists, curious music-makers, and lifelong guitarists. However, I quickly find myself wishing for slightly better accuracy and a few features that the Jamstik Standard has.
Playing the Jamstik Core
As a guitar, the Jamstik Core feels entry-level. It’s not exactly a premium build and comes in a variety of basic colourways, but it feels nice in the hands, durable, and has comfortable action. I’m reminded of the £200 Yamaha Pacifica I once had as a teenager, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Still, some budding MIDI guitarists should look to the Jamstik Standard for a more esteemed design. The Core is also smaller than the Standard, with 22 frets as opposed to 24, which may bother players looking to dabble in the higher registers.
Although touted as a MIDI controller, the Jamstik Core is actually equipped with MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression). So, when I play parts with slides, bends, and hammer-ons, the virtual instruments on my laptop respond accordingly — a normal MIDI controller isn’t capable of these additional dimensions of expression. And, crucially, such behaviour makes this truly feel like a guitar, even when you’re playing sounds that aren’t typically capable of slides and hammer-ons.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
The plug-and-play nature of the Jamstik Core means you can start playing these sounds within seconds of picking it up. A single USB-C port transmits all the MIDI data from the guitar straight into your laptop or audio interface. I tested the Core during a trip away from home with only my laptop and no peripheral gear, so this was ultra-convenient.
On the first setup, I had to update the Core’s firmware, install some drivers, and get the Jamstik Creator app running on my laptop. You don’t need the Jamstik Creator app — you can just select the Core as a MIDI instrument in your DAW, and it’ll control your sounds — but the Creator app is a rich bank of sounds and instruments that work exceptionally well with the Core guitar. All in all, this was a surprisingly seamless setup process.
If you happen to pick up the Core for a quick guitar jam, you can plug directly into an amp or DI box via the quarter-inch input just next to the USB-C port. This is positioned naturally at the base of the guitar’s body.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
How accurate is the Jamstik Core?
As mentioned, the Core employs a six-channel hexaphonic MIDI pickup, which is currently the standard for MIDI guitars. This translates a string’s pitch into MIDI data, which allows you to control virtual instruments and MIDI gear. It’s also capable of transmitting the pitch of all six strings simultaneously — hence ‘hexaphonic’.
The first few moments feel like magic when I start playing my soft synths with the Jamstik Core. With near-zero latency, I’m playing a swelling synth pad by strumming bar chords and plucking a piano melody. It’s plenty of fun to scroll through the hundreds of sounds in Jamstik Creator — which include real guitar presets, too. The Core even registers harmonic notes, which isn’t something I expected.
A bonus here is that you can use Creator with any MIDI controller, and as a standalone app or as a plugin in your DAW.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
However, it must be said: the Jamstik Core is not 100 per cent accurate and can be inconsistent. This is most apparent when playing Ableton Live’s stock instruments compared to sounds in Jamstik Creator. I find that the pickups sometimes struggle to detect the lowest notes on the E string, and the softest strums aren’t always picked up, which is frustrating when trying to play monophonic bass synths. The Core either doesn’t pick up the fret I’m playing on, or plays an adjacent note, which takes me straight out of the experience.
That said, content creator RoyZivMusic shreds furiously on the Jamstik Core and seems not to face a similar issue. He also demonstrates a powerful way to use the Core: blending the natural sound of the guitar with a virtual instrument for gritty and experimental tones. In addition, as RoyZiv demonstrates, playing drum parts on this thing is a serious challenge — it’s nothing like triggering drums with a MIDI keyboard or anything similar!

The Jamstik Standard also has a six-channel hexaphonic pickup, but it also boasts onboard digital signal processing (DSP) for extra detail. This is where the step up to the Standard makes sense for those who need reliable, accurate tracking when it matters, like onstage or group recording sessions.
Should you buy the Jamstik Core?
To the point of live performances, the Jamstik Core comes with an obvious limitation: Unless you buy Jamstik’s MFC1MIDI floor controller, you’ll always need a laptop with you when playing the Core. For most home studio music-makers, this isn’t going to be an issue.
If I were seriously invested in using a MIDI guitar as a professional and daily staple, I’d save up for the Standard version. The latter would be more reliable, a more serious size, and come in more premium finishes. But, if you’re tantalised by playing pad swells, lead synths, and blooping arpeggios with a six-string, the Jamstik Core is a powerful entry point, especially for an MPE instrument. I was immediately, and still am, grinning to myself when picking up the Core to play my virtual instruments in a completely new way.
Read more music gear reviews.
The post Jamstik Core is the best MIDI guitar at $650, but I’m still left wanting more appeared first on MusicTech.

Jamstik Core is the best MIDI guitar at $500, but I’m still left wanting moreWhen building or upgrading your music production setup, a MIDI or MPE controller is often an essential investment for controlling virtual instruments. With a budget of, say, $600-700, you could get a full-size keyboard with weighted keys and ample controls, or something more futuristic and expressive, like the Embodme Erae Touch MPE controller. Or you could opt for the Jamstik Core MIDI guitar, and shred through your own sound library and the accompanying Jamstik Creator suite of virtual instruments.
The Jamstik Core is the smaller, more affordable version of the Jamstik Standard (previously called the Studio), which we called “an incredible instrument” and “the best iteration of a MIDI guitar.” Like the Standard, the 22-fret Jamstik Core is a MIDI guitar that actually is a guitar. That might sound bizarre to say, but with other MIDI guitars, such as the AeroBand, you’re getting something that looks and plays something like a guitar — not an actual guitar.
Jamstik employs a 6-channel Hexaphonic MIDI pickup in the bridge position, which doubles as a traditional guitar pickup. That means that you can easily flick between sending MIDI to your synths and compatible gear, and to playing through an amp or DI box as a normal guitar. The MIDI data is captured with the Hexaphonic pickup and Jamstik’s per-string processing.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
I’m surprised by the Jamstik Core. It’s quite a capable MIDI guitar for hobbyists, curious music-makers, and lifelong guitarists. However, I quickly find myself wishing for slightly better accuracy and a few features that the Jamstik Standard has.
Playing the Jamstik Core
As a guitar, the Jamstik Core feels entry-level. It’s not exactly a premium build and comes in a variety of basic colourways, but it feels nice in the hands, durable, and has comfortable action. I’m reminded of the £200 Yamaha Pacifica I once had as a teenager, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Still, some budding MIDI guitarists should look to the Jamstik Standard for a more esteemed design. The Core is also smaller than the Standard, with 22 frets as opposed to 24, which may bother players looking to dabble in the higher registers.
Although touted as a MIDI controller, the Jamstik Core is actually equipped with MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression). So, when I play parts with slides, bends, and hammer-ons, the virtual instruments on my laptop respond accordingly — a normal MIDI controller isn’t capable of these additional dimensions of expression. And, crucially, such behaviour makes this truly feel like a guitar, even when you’re playing sounds that aren’t typically capable of slides and hammer-ons.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
The plug-and-play nature of the Jamstik Core means you can start playing these sounds within seconds of picking it up. A single USB-C port transmits all the MIDI data from the guitar straight into your laptop or audio interface. I tested the Core during a trip away from home with only my laptop and no peripheral gear, so this was ultra-convenient.
On the first setup, I had to update the Core’s firmware, install some drivers, and get the Jamstik Creator app running on my laptop. You don’t need the Jamstik Creator app — you can just select the Core as a MIDI instrument in your DAW, and it’ll control your sounds — but the Creator app is a rich bank of sounds and instruments that work exceptionally well with the Core guitar. All in all, this was a surprisingly seamless setup process.
If you happen to pick up the Core for a quick guitar jam, you can plug directly into an amp or DI box via the quarter-inch input just next to the USB-C port. This is positioned naturally at the base of the guitar’s body.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
How accurate is the Jamstik Core?
As mentioned, the Core employs a six-channel hexaphonic MIDI pickup, which is currently the standard for MIDI guitars. This translates a string’s pitch into MIDI data, which allows you to control virtual instruments and MIDI gear. It’s also capable of transmitting the pitch of all six strings simultaneously — hence ‘hexaphonic’.
The first few moments feel like magic when I start playing my soft synths with the Jamstik Core. With near-zero latency, I’m playing a swelling synth pad by strumming bar chords and plucking a piano melody. It’s plenty of fun to scroll through the hundreds of sounds in Jamstik Creator — which include real guitar presets, too. The Core even registers harmonic notes, which isn’t something I expected.
A bonus here is that you can use Creator with any MIDI controller, and as a standalone app or as a plugin in your DAW.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
However, it must be said: the Jamstik Core is not 100 per cent accurate and can be inconsistent. This is most apparent when playing Ableton Live’s stock instruments compared to sounds in Jamstik Creator. I find that the pickups sometimes struggle to detect the lowest notes on the E string, and the softest strums aren’t always picked up, which is frustrating when trying to play monophonic bass synths. The Core either doesn’t pick up the fret I’m playing on, or plays an adjacent note, which takes me straight out of the experience.
That said, content creator RoyZivMusic shreds furiously on the Jamstik Core and seems not to face a similar issue. He also demonstrates a powerful way to use the Core: blending the natural sound of the guitar with a virtual instrument for gritty and experimental tones. In addition, as RoyZiv demonstrates, playing drum parts on this thing is a serious challenge — it’s nothing like triggering drums with a MIDI keyboard or anything similar!

The Jamstik Standard also has a six-channel hexaphonic pickup, but it also boasts onboard digital signal processing (DSP) for extra detail. This is where the step up to the Standard makes sense for those who need reliable, accurate tracking when it matters, like onstage or group recording sessions.
Should you buy the Jamstik Core?
To the point of live performances, the Jamstik Core comes with an obvious limitation: Unless you buy Jamstik’s MFC1MIDI floor controller, you’ll always need a laptop with you when playing the Core. For most home studio music-makers, this isn’t going to be an issue.
If I were seriously invested in using a MIDI guitar as a professional and daily staple, I’d save up for the Standard version. The latter would be more reliable, a more serious size, and come in more premium finishes. But, if you’re tantalised by playing pad swells, lead synths, and blooping arpeggios with a six-string, the Jamstik Core is a powerful entry point, especially for an MPE instrument. I was immediately, and still am, grinning to myself when picking up the Core to play my virtual instruments in a completely new way.
Read more music gear reviews.
The post Jamstik Core is the best MIDI guitar at $500, but I’m still left wanting more appeared first on MusicTech.

Interloud Audio ShotForgeShotForge [input-recording one-shot sampler, slicer & sample library creation tool]. ShotForge is essentially a re-incarnation of an old classic plugin called "One Shot Recorder" by Devine Machines, which is no longer available. The features are almost identical. Read the included parameter reference for more. Features: automatic sample capture. manual pad-based recording. MIDI pad triggering. pad playback. pitch detection. pitch-based sorting. single-pad and multi-pad WAV export. designed for fast creation of one-shots and pad-based sample sets. Plans: up to 128 pads / sample slots. more compact editor design. *Please report bugs and feature requests to interloudaudio@gmx.de. *Please consider making a donation. The plugin is innovative, the development costly, and the developer hungry. :-) paypal.me/henrydalcke. Read More

Vintage Vault 5 from UVI Said to suit both seasoned musicians who grew up with the originals and newcomers discovering them for the first time, Vintage Vault 5 includes everything from rare prototypes and early polysynths to the powerful workstations of the late 1990s. 

Orra Audio releases Tone Zone, a FREE tonal curve corrector plugin
Orra Audio has released Tone Zone, a free (pay-what-you-can) tonal curve corrector plugin for macOS and Windows. If you’ve used iZotope’s Tonal Balance Control, this freebie from Orra Audio will look familiar. And it’s one of the best freebies for use on the master bus that I’ve seen so far this year. Tone Zone shows [...]
View post: Orra Audio releases Tone Zone, a FREE tonal curve corrector plugin

UAD Sound City Studios plugin is 84% OFF at Plugin Boutique ($39)
Universal Audio’s Sound City Studios reverb plugin is currently 84% off at Plugin Boutique, bringing the price down from $249 to $39 until April 30th. If you’re looking for a natural-sounding reverb plugin, especially for rock and pop, this is a great pick. UAD Sound City Studios is more than a reverb, though. It’s basically [...]
View post: UAD Sound City Studios plugin is 84% OFF at Plugin Boutique ($39)

The New Class of 5-Star AllMusic AlbumsFrom time to time, our editors go over the albums that may have come up in the estimation of the listeners, or made a larger impact on the genre than was initially received upon its' debut. The albums are re-evaluated and some get bumped up to the coveted 5-star rating. We asked our writers to pick out some of their favorites from this recent pass, and to tell us a bit about their reasoning.

BTC recovery fragile, Iran war fallout to 'dominate' markets in 2026: AnalystThe fallout from the Iran war will likely weigh on markets for much of 2026, dashing hopes of rate cuts until Q3 by the earliest, Nic Puckrin said.

Trump officials may be encouraging banks to test Anthropic’s Mythos modelThe report is particularly surprising since the Department of Defense recently declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk.

34Audiovisuals Glitch ShredderGlitchShredder is an audio effects processor that breaks down the input signal into fragments— called segments — and reassembles them in different order, backwards, at the wrong speedor randomly. The result is glitch, stutter, reverse and looping effects ranging from subtle rhythmic artifacts to complete deconstruction of the original sound. Stereo zero-crossing chopper engine for click-free signal fragmentation. Circular buffer with 16 independent segments per channel (L/R). Probabilistic glitch engine with Chaos, Glitch, and Reverse controls. Stutter Sync with 9 rhythmic subdivisions synchronized to host BPM. Real-time visualization with dual-layer waveform oscilloscope. 15-day fully functional demo — no feature restrictions. Activate on up to 2 machines with a single license. Read More

Who had “New OS for the Z80” On Their 2026 Bingo Card?Some might say the venerable Z80 doesn’t need another operating system, but [Scott Baker] obviously disagrees. He has come up with a brand new, from scratch OS called NostOS for the Z80-based RC2014 homebrew retrocomputer. [Scott] describes it as CP/M-like, but it’s not CP/M– in fact, it’s totally incompatible with CP/M–and has a few tricks of its own up its sleeve.
As you might expect of an operating system for this vintage of hardware, it is “rommable” — that is, designed to run from read-only-memory, and fit inside 64kB. It of course supports banking memory to go higher than that 16 bit limit, and natively supports common serial devices, along with the good old WD37C65 floppy controller to get some spinning rust into the game. Of course if you don’t have floppies you can plug in a compact flash card– try that with CP/M– or, interestingly Intel Bubble Memory. [Scott] has a soft-spot for bubble memory, which at one point seemed poised to replace both hard drives and RAM at the same time. We also appreciate that he included drivers for vacuum fluorescent displays, another forgotten but very cool technology. Back in the day, this operating system would have enabled a very cool little computer, especially when you take his implementation of text-to-speech with the SP0256A-AL2 chip. Fancy a game of talking Zork? Yes, he ported Zork, and yes, it talks.
The whole thing is, of course, open-source, and available on [Scott]’s GitHub. Unlike too many open-source projects, the documentation is top-notch, to the point that we could picture getting it in a three-ring binder with a 5 1/4 floppy on the inside cover. If you like video, we’ve embedded [Scott]’s walkthrough but his blog and the docs on GitHub have everything there and more if you’re not into rapidly-flickering-pixels as an information exchange medium.
[Scott] isn’t wedded to Zilog, for the record; this OS should run on an Intel 8080, perhaps like the one in the Prompt 80 he restored last year. 
Thanks to [Scott Baker] for the tip!