King ISO speaks to Music Connection About Ghetto Psycho and MoreNebraska rapper King ISO recently spoke to Music Connection writer Adam Seyum about his past, and everything that he's got going on.

See the interview (and don't forget to subscribe) on MC's YouTube channel (@musicconnectionmag) here:

The conversation drops shortly after the release of King ISO's Ghetto Psycho album, via Strange Music.

About the record, he commented, “There are things that happened to people growing up in my community and similar communities. A lot of individuals wind up getting involved in gangs, hustling, or abusing drugs. These things happen when you’re in the ghetto, but it’s not limited to our ghetto. It could be overseas in a third-world country or in a trailer park. We need to have conversations about these traumatic experiences, leading to healing rather than accepting them as the norm. What makes you go crazy? You may go through a mental health crisis, but you’re told it’s normal. It shouldn’t be normal to see fentanyl overdoses, so many shootings, and people dying on Instagram. This shit has created a whole bunch of Ghetto Psychos who don’t know they’re hurting. I’m getting to the root of the problem.”

Photo Credit: Darryl WoodsThe post King ISO speaks to Music Connection About Ghetto Psycho and More first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Bandcamp Friday Returns Today — Waiving Fees to Support Artists​In August, Bandcamp Friday brought in more than $3.5 million for independent artists and labels in just 24 hours.
The post Bandcamp Friday Returns Today — Waiving Fees to Support Artists​ appeared first on Hypebot.

Dynaudio’s new Delta amps arrive Comprising five new models, the Delta series promises to deliver the same reliability, consistency and performance as Dynaudio's renowned loudspeaker systems. 

Heritage Audio transforms its Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor into plugin formBack in 2022, Heritage Audio released its Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor, a reimagined take on the classic optical compressor. The hardware harnessed a vintage sound and pushed it into a modern realm – and now, three years on, its been transformed into a handy, versatile plugin.
The Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor plugin allows for “crystal-clear opto-compression” from the comfort of your DAW. Just like the physical tech, the plugin allows you to toy with sounds reminiscent of the Raytheon double triode tube, enabling you to capture subtle warmth or a full-blown clamour of fuzzy, tube-driven grit.

READ MORE: Shadow Hills OptoMax turns the prized optical section of the popular Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor into its own dedicated plugin

The plugin also has five internal side-chain filtering options, allowing for even more fuzzy experimentation. Whether you’re fiddling with your guitar, bass, drums or vocals, you can unmask sounds to add a little extra space and groove to your tracks.
In terms of controls, the plugin allows you to tweak input gain, ratio, attack, tube saturation, threshhold and more. There are also SC filter options to tweak how sensitive the Tubesessor plugin is to certain frequencies, as well as the ability to flick between different attack/release settings.
The plugin is supported on Mac and PC, as well as being compatible with all major DAWs, including Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One, and more.
In terms of price, the Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor is available for $99, with the option of trialing it out for 14 days totally free. There’s also an option to redeem a free Tubesessor Native lifetime license if you’re a pre-existing i73 PRO owner.
Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor is available now. However, if you already own the i73 PRO, head to Heritage Audio to claim your free license.
The post Heritage Audio transforms its Tubesessor Optical Tube Compressor into plugin form appeared first on MusicTech.

How EVEN’s Direct-to-Fan Platform WorksEVEN’s artist empowerment platform offers a direct-to-fan tool with daily payouts so artists can develop and monetize fan relationships.
The post How EVEN’s Direct-to-Fan Platform Works appeared first on Hypebot.

From Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ to Spotify’s leadership shakeup… it’s MBW’s weekly round-upThe biggest headlines from the past few days – all in one place
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Robot Rocket might be the closest you can get to a Daft Punk-style vocoder sound without a DigiTech TalkerWhen you think of artists synonymous with the vocoder, few spring to mind quite like Daft Punk. The Robots – Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo – employed the technology across their catalogue of hits, and can be heard on Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, One More Time and Get Lucky, to name a few.
Fundamentally, a vocoder is a device which takes human voice input and uses it to control a separate signal, usually from a synthesizer. While Daft Punk used an array of vocoders across their catalogue, the DigiTech Talker was one of them.

READ MORE: “Never thought I’d be saying this, but thank you Fortnite”: Daft Punk fans hail “closure” with Fortnite collab

Now out of production, genuine DigiTech Talker units command a hefty price on the second-hand market, but thanks to a new plugin from fledgling app brand Bjango, you can now harness a similar vocoder sound for a fraction of the price.
Robot Rocket is a new plugin which “delivers the distinctive sound of a classic 90s vocoder”, and Bjango says it “captures the sound” of the original Talker.

The plugin has two distinct modes: Retro and Modern. Retro has three settings: TalkBox, “probably the sound you’ve heard the most”; NuVo, which increases intelligibility by letting more sibilant sounds pass through; and TazMania, which replaces the synth input with white noise, “which sounds like robotic whispering”.
Modern mode, on the other hand, offers users more controls to “push Robot Rocket into new soundscapes”, with a quality setting which can be adjusted to sound smoother and more intelligible.
There’s also a shift control for pitch-shifting the voice input, as well as low and high pass buttons which have been “carefully tuned” to match the original Talker.
To help keep your vocals intelligible even while sounding like a robot, Robot Rocket has a voiced vs unvoiced detection option, which means it automatically “switches between the synth output and white noise for sibilant sounds”, injecting white noise when it picks up on any “S” and “T” sounds in your vocal lines.
Robot Rocket is available now as an Audio Unit 3 plugin, and is priced at launch at $29, until 12 October, when it’ll rise to $39. There’s also a 30-day free trial, so you can use it for a few weeks before making up your mind.
For more information, head to Bjango.
The post Robot Rocket might be the closest you can get to a Daft Punk-style vocoder sound without a DigiTech Talker appeared first on MusicTech.

Splice Instrument is the new home of Spitfire Audio’s LABS
Splice releases Instrument, a free virtual instrument that is the new home for Spitfire Audio LABS. Spitfire Audio’s LABS has gone from being the people’s champion to a topic of much contention in recent times. The once seemingly universally adored LABS, a regular source of outstanding free instruments, generated a massive shift in public opinion [...]
View post: Splice Instrument is the new home of Spitfire Audio’s LABS

Synth Picnic pop-up events With more and more traditional music retailers closing their doors, and online-only sales dominating the music industry, Molten Music Technology founder and SOS contributor Robin Vincent has taken it upon himself to offer an alternative solution.

AmateurTools releases Plucks, a FREE and open-source plucking synth plugin
Plucks is the latest release from AmateurTools, and one that delivers a welcome dose of nostalgia for old-school Fruity Loops fans. Fruity Loops users might recall Image-Line’s Plucked!, a physical modeling synth that utilizes mathematical formulas to simulate the sound of a real string being plucked. AmateurTools’ take on this Fruity Loops classic is a [...]
View post: AmateurTools releases Plucks, a FREE and open-source plucking synth plugin

Want to play your reverb like an instrument? Temperance Lite, the world’s first “musical reverb” plugin by Eventide gives you ultimate control over every noteEventide Audio has launched Temperance Lite, a groundbreaking plugin that introduces what it calls the world’s first “musical reverb”.
Unlike traditional algorithmic or convolution reverbs, Temperance Lite lets you control reverb resonances using the familiar 12-note chromatic scale. Users can choose which notes bloom or fade within a space, giving them unprecedented tonal control over reverb.

READ MORE: Best reverb plugins 2025: Our favourite free and paid-for reverb plugins

Temperance Lite employs modal reverb technology, a decades-old concept previously impossible to run in real time due to computational demands. Now, using modern processing power, the plugin gives each frequency its own “tuning fork,” from deep 20 Hz rumbles to shimmering 20 kHz highs. Users can adjust the loudness and decay of each note, effectively shaping the musical character of a space.
Key features include the Temper Knob, which emphasises or de-emphasises specific notes, and three world-class spaces:

Bright Room – based on the SP2016 reverb, ideal for vocals, instruments, and drums.
Large Studio – recreated with input from acoustics pioneer Dr. Ralph Kessler.
Synthetic Space – entirely in-house, showing off the creative potential of modal reverb.

The NoteScape Visualiser provides a real-time display of sustained and decaying notes, visually mapping the musicality of the reverb. The plugin also comes with 15 factory presets including 5 Tutorial presets to get you started, along with range sliders to isolate specific frequency bands.
“I’ve been dreaming of a musical reverb for 40 years,” says Eventide engineer Tony Agnello. “In 1985, I met Isaak Vigdorchik, who believed that Cremona violins’ plates were sanded to ring out at the 12 notes of the musical scale. Isaak said, ‘Anthony, the notes are in the wood!’ Years earlier I had developed the SP2016’s reverb algorithms and, with reverb still on my mind, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if the notes were in the room?’ But that would require modeling a room in exquisite detail and the processing power required might never be attainable.”
“Now the processing power is at hand,” Agnello adds. “Eventide’s passionate and brilliant developers have made my dream come true. Now, for the first time, any space, real or imagined, can be crafted with the artist’s musical intent.”
Temperance Lite is free to download from Eventide Audio until December 31, 2025, and is compatible with 64-bit AAX, AU, and VST3 on macOS 10.14+ and Windows 10+, requiring at least an SSE 4.2 processor on Windows.

Learn more at Eventide Audio.
The post Want to play your reverb like an instrument? Temperance Lite, the world’s first “musical reverb” plugin by Eventide gives you ultimate control over every note appeared first on MusicTech.

New York State senator proposes tax on crypto mining energy useThe legislative proposal introduces a tiered tax system for energy used by crypto miners in New York, charged by kilowatt-hour used.

Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill to Release Videos Filmed at The Cutting Room, NYCOn Thursday, Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill announced the release of "three live videos, filmed at The Cutting Room in NYC in May 2025. Out today is the first video, 'A Thousand Times,' followed by 'Come to Me' (Oct 9th) and lastly, 'Is Anybody Here?' (Oct 14th)

"The three songs are live versions of tracks off their critically lauded debut album, Long After The Fire, produced and engineered by Paul Allen," a statement reads. "The album comprises songs written by John's late brothers, Barry and Bill Cowsill. It's a love letter of sorts and a beautiful one at that."

"Vicki Peterson of The Bangles (whose work includes #1 hit 'Walk Like An Egyptian' and several other Top 10 songs, such as 'Eternal Flame,' which is the biggest single by an all-female band in history) teams up with John Cowsill, drummer/vocalist for The Beach Boys for over 23 years and original member of the platinum-selling family band, The Cowsills, to lovingly present their debut Americana album comprised of songs written by John's late brothers, Barry and Bill Cowsill titled, Long After The Fire."

See the first video here:

Photo by Pamela SpringsteenThe post Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill to Release Videos Filmed at The Cutting Room, NYC first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Building A Desk Display For Time And Weather DataJust about every laptop, desktop, and smartphone in your life can tell you the date, time, and current weather predictions. However, sometimes it’s nice to have simple data displayed on a bespoke device. That’s what inspired [Mario] to create ESPTimeCast. 
As you might have guessed by the name, the project is designed around the ESP32 and ESP8266 microcontrollers; either one is up to the task of running the show here. Both come with Wi-Fi connectivity out of the box, which makes it easy for them to hook up to the Internet to query NTP servers for the time and weather data from OpenWeatherMap. The data is then displayed on an LED matrix display, made up of four 8×8 LED modules and driven with the aid of the MAX7219 IC. Configuration is handled over a simple web interface hosted on the device itself. All the parts are wrapped up in a 3D-printed housing that would be very fitting in any home that appreciates the magic of late 60s/early 70s decor.
Hackers love building clocks, weather stations, and other useful information displays. We’ve seen a great many examples over the years. If you’re cooking up your own neat project in this area, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Department of Energy cancels $7.5B of clean energy projects in mostly blue statesThe Trump administration canceled over 300 awards related to clean energy on October 1. The states most affected by the cuts voted for Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris.