GIK Acoustics introduce SlatFusor Series GIK's new SlatFusor panels have been designed to smooth out inconsistencies in a room’s frequency response and decay time whilst avoiding the over-attenuation of mid- and high-frequency content.

The 45 King, producer for Jay-Z, Eminem and Queen Latifah, dies at 62Famed hitmaker The 45 King, who’s produced for Queen Latifah, Eminem, Jay-Z and more, has died at the age of 62.
The producer – real name Mark Howard James – passed away on Thursday (19 October), three days after his 62nd birthday. His death was announced by fellow hip-hop producer, DJ Premier, with representatives confirming the news to Rolling Stone. No cause of death has been revealed.
“His sound was unlike any other from his heavy drums and his horns were so distinct on every production,” DJ Premier wrote. “His vinyl releases of breakbeats are beyond any DJ of the ’80s/’90s Era, practically endless.”
Often hailed as one of the pioneers of New Jersey’s hip-hop scene in the 80s, James received his first big break with the breakbeat track The 900 Number in 1987. The song famously featured a looping baritone sax solo from the Marva Whitney track Unwind Yourself.

The beat was later sampled in DJ Kool’s Let Me Clear My Throat in 1996, and honoured by Questlove as one of the fifty greatest hip-hop songs in 2012.
As a producer, James worked closely with Queen Latifah, a fellow member of his music crew known as the Flavor Unit. He played a pivotal role in producing solo projects for the crew’s members (including Chill Rob G, Apache, and Lakim Shabazz) and was a major driving force behind Latifah’s breakthrough record All Hail The Queen in 1989.
James also had a hand in many rap classics such as Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) and Stan by Eminem.
Tributes from fans and fellow artists around the world have poured in following news of the producer’s passing.
“Legends are never over,” Eminem wrote on X. “RIP Mark Howard James aka The 45 King… I’m forever grateful!”
Queen Latifah said in a statement: “He believed in me before anyone else. He touched every life he encountered. I’ve never met someone like him; he wanted everyone around him to win. His spirit was magic and will certainly live forever.”
Read more tributes below.

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Jay-Z releases statement in response to DJ Mark the 45 King’s passing. pic.twitter.com/DJnDZ18Azt
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) October 19, 2023

Rest In Peace DJ Mark the 45 King
Producer of such hits as Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life" & Eminem's "Stan" — as well as favorites from Rakim, Queen Latifah, Common & many more…
We can't forget "The 900 Number" and the Ed Lover dance. Thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/CB6TtR7GBH
— Andrew Barber (@fakeshoredrive) October 19, 2023

Legends are never over. #RIP Mark Howard James aka The 45 King … I’m 4ever grateful!!! https://t.co/s4ywAw6r03
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) October 19, 2023

Rest easy 45 KING. One of the original architects of production / greatest of all time .
— Alchemist Type Beat (@Alchemist) October 19, 2023

RIP DJ MARK THE 45 KING
ONE OF THE GREATEST PRODUCERS/DRUM PROGRAMMERS IVE EVER HEARD pic.twitter.com/uEW0XUuO1j
— Nicholas Craven (@NicholasCraven_) October 19, 2023

The post The 45 King, producer for Jay-Z, Eminem and Queen Latifah, dies at 62 appeared first on MusicTech.

Digilogue Days 2023 Highlights: Day Two of the music tech conferenceDay 2 of the Digilogue Days conference at Industria studios in Brooklyn, New York was more of the same as Day One: entrepreneurs, executives, and artists mixing it up, sharing knowledge, success stories, and contact information. The second day of panels, keynotes, and workshops ran the gamut from advice on collaborators, ways to get paid, and how to find your audience.
READ MORE: Riot Games’ Brooke Rascoff: “Technology broke down the barrier to entry to music and democratised distribution – AI will do the
The day opened with a keynote discussion between Cierra Brooks (The Cî Agency) and Manny Wellz (Oulala) on the new creator economy, specifically how Wellz draws insights from the types of content that resonates with his fans to ensure he’s adding value to the experience.
Get a lawyer
A panel on building your team as an artist featured Jenna LoMonaco (ONErpm), Justin LaMotte (Black Wax), Rebekah Espinosa (Prescription Ownly), Shardé Simpson (Simpson & Reed PLLC), and Tate Henshaw (Arc Business Management). They discussed the often non-traditional paths they’ve seen to creating a successful artist team, and explained how even though the first person on your team is often a manager, you should seriously consider getting a lawyer.
Music distribution tips
In the middle of the day, Serona Elton, the head of educational partnerships at the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) led a deep dive workshop on how the agency – formed after the passage of the Music Modernization Act, which changed the way digital mechanical licensing works – collects and distributes royalties from mechanical licenses on digital distribution platforms. Then two TIDAL product managers, Ashley Williams and Kara Lee, held a demonstration of the platform’s “Artist Home” dashboard, exploring the new “Fan Data” tab and showing how artists can use demographic information to target their marketing efforts.
Image: Respective Collective
Building audiences
Later in the afternoon, Ashley Hall (The Orchard), Faryal Khan-Thompson (CD Baby), Jason Johnson (Culture Impact Agency), and Soy Kim (Spotify) discussed the ongoing globalisation of music, specifically how language is no longer a barrier to building an audience, using the success of artists like Bad Bunny and K-Pop’s global domination to evidence how the lines between domestic and international markets have been blurred.
A panel on community building and partnerships featured Charleton Lamb (Stem Disintermedia/Tone), Hallie Cross (Save The Music), Paulina Vo (The Digilogue/Highnote), Vanessa Noguera (The Industry in Spanglish/Warner Music Group), and Yudu Gray Jr. (24/7 Artists). Despite acknowledging that “independent artists are looked down upon in the financial world,” the panel discussed the ways in which the communities they built around shared interests helped them overcome limited access to capital, and how leveraging the power of old-school tools like word of mouth and email lists can help manifest your digital community in the meatspace.
Image: Respective Collective
The Future of Music & Technology
The final two panels offered a glimpse into the future and a reflection on the recent past. The Future of Music & Technology panel, featuring Dani Deahl (BandLab), Kathy Baker (YouTube), Megh Vakharia (SymphonyOS/Integral Studio), and Melanie McClain (Blurred Lines), discussed the importance of leveraging all the data you collect about your fanbase, avoiding getting stuck in short-form video, and the challenges of fighting passive listening habits that limit your potential fanbase’s engagement with your music.
And the final panel of the conference collected four attendees from the previous two days, who shared their experiences on the show floor, in one-on-one sessions, and in the main stage lecture hall. The main takeaway? Gratitude for the opportunity to meet and share ideas with hundreds of like-minded people, all seeking a sustainable path to a career surrounded by the thing they love most: the music.
The post Digilogue Days 2023 Highlights: Day Two of the music tech conference appeared first on MusicTech.

Do producers need to be musicians themselves? Tony Visconti weighs inSuper-producer Tony Visconti has offered his thoughts on whether or not producers need to be musicians or understand music themselves to succeed at what they do.

READ MORE: “Don’t just showcase what you can do” in sessions, advises Post Malone producer, Carter Lang

In a new interview with Super Deluxe Edition, Visconti, who’s worked with the likes of David Bowie and Marc Bolan, speaks about the degree to which his musical knowledge has shaped his role as a producer.
“Well, in my case, I am musically trained, and I learned to write scores before I left high school,” Visconti explains. “So I was writing scores at 16 years old. And I was taken under the wing of the head of the music department, a lovely man called Dr. Silberman. And he gave me private lessons as well; my parents couldn’t afford to send me to a university. So this was it.”
“Shortly after I left high school, I was writing arrangements for people, always remembering the lessons of voicings that Dr. Silberman taught me.”
Citing Beethoven and George Martin as his musical idols, Visconti says that while the former was a “very accomplished musician”, he was “never in a recording studio”.
“But George Martin used all of his musical training, and it didn’t hurt, to have that kind of a background,” says the producer.
He adds: “I don’t have to impose that upon people, but when I’m called upon to help them with their backing vocals, that comes from my musical training background, I know a lot about this stuff, without coming down heavy on them, you know.”
“And a lot of people know that I have this and they want it. So it depends. I’m flexible.”
Also in the chat, Visconti discusses how the role of the record producer has changed in the modern age, saying “With the record industry now, they almost bypass producers completely and go with some young person who is a whiz on the laptop and make their own stuff.”
“They make their own videos. And I think that’s very admirable, but it has less dimensions in it than the organic music does.”
On the other side of the debate, joining those who believe producers don’t need to be musicians themselves, is Rick Rubin, who boldly admitted his lack of “technical ability” earlier this year, adding: “I know nothing about music.”
“I know what I like and what I don’t like. I’m decisive about what I like and what I don’t like,” he said. “The confidence that I have in my taste, and my ability to express what I feel, has proven helpful for artists.”
The post Do producers need to be musicians themselves? Tony Visconti weighs in appeared first on MusicTech.

Hemisphere Mic Modeling Plug-in & SC-1 mic from Universal Audio UA have added a third model to their Standard Series mic range, along with a new plug-in that offers dozens of authentic emulations of classic mic models. 

Settlements giant DTTC acquires blockchain infrastructure developer SecurrencySecurrency will help DTTC increase its role in developing digital asset clearance options. DTTC settled $2.5 quadrillion worth of securities transactions in 2022.

All I want from the internet is Homer Simpson singing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’In a recent New Yorker essay, Kyle Chayka poses a dread-inducing question: when was the last time you had fun on the internet? For his example of pure online fun, he points to a retro Flash gaming site, but I have a more recent answer: the last time I had fun on the internet was […]
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Roland Announces the SP-404MKII Stones Throw Limited EditionRoland has announced the SP-404MKII Stones Throw Limited Edition, an exclusive version of the portable sampler. Co-curated with Stones Throw Records, this unique SP model collaboration is more than just a tool—it’s a work of art. Featuring a high-shine aluminum faceplate with custom artwork, new sound banks crafted by the label’s roster, and a collector’s package with a seven-inch vinyl record and mixtape, the SP-404MKII Stones Throw Limited Edition celebrates the creative spirit of independent music artists everywhere.

Founded by producer and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf in 1996, Stones Throw Records has built an indie music empire by supporting diverse, cutting-edge artists and spreading the word through vinyl, merch, and events. Touchstone releases include albums by Madvillain, J Dilla, Madlib, NxWorries, Knxwledge, Sudan Archives, Mayer Hawthorne, Dâm-Funk, and Aloe Blacc, all widely considered modern musical masterpieces.

Stones Throw and its artists helped create the blueprint for contemporary independent music culture, and the label’s massive influence was spotlighted in the 2014 feature-length documentary Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton. Roland SP instruments have been key creative catalysts for the label's roster and fans, who continue to unlock new musical frontiers using the portable samplers’ fluid workflow and go-everywhere design.

To learn more, visit Roland.com.

SR Studio’s 1073-style preamp achieves a classic analogue sound at an extremely attractive price$599, monoprice.com
Neve’s 1073 preamp is a studio icon. But, today, just one module can set you back thousands of dollars. Thankfully, there are plenty of brands, just like Monoprice, who are offering a more affordable alternative.
Monoprice’s Stage Right range is a dual-channel microphone and line preamp based upon the classic Neve 1073 module. The original preamps first appeared in 1970, with 28 of them built into Neve’s A88 console, which became revered for its full-bodied, expansive ‘British’ sound.

READ MORE: Austrian Audio’s MiCreator achieves no-nonsense stereo recording in a pocket-sized package

The design has been copied many times and we’ve reviewed several of them over the years – such as the diminutive Golden Age Project PRE-73 Jr and Warm Audio’s WA273-EQ, which emulates the design complete with the original console’s EQ section. Neve still offers a range of 1073 products, which feature its exclusive Marinair transformers, not found in any clones.
Though not an exact replica of Neve’s classic units, the SR Studio Stage Right’s front panel is neatly laid out in a conventional manner, without mimicking the quirky nature of the genuine 1073 design. The original (and currently available) Neve units employ an input gain control that allows access to either mic or line levels along various points of the dial. SR Studio’s unit, however, uses a nicely indented, blue colour-coded pot to adjust gain along with a toggle switch to select mic or line operation. It’s a far more intuitive approach and one we welcome as a nod to modernity, rather than slavishly copying the historic design. This pot also controls the input level for the DI (direct input), unbalanced quarter-inch jack socket.
Mic gain range is 20 to 80 dB; more than enough for even the most insensitive, power-hungry microphones, while gain is reduced by 30 dB for line mode. The adjacent, red output control adjusts the level of the output to your recording interface or the next unit in your signal chain to prevent overloading. It’s worthwhile experimenting with the input and output controls, as dialling-in more gain while easing back the output will add more preamp colour to your signal. Driving the gain harder into the input transformer enables the creation of some warmly saturated tones for added grit and edge. Looking inside the unit reveals a neat layout, however the transformers are unbranded. A quick query as to their provenance provides us with the information that they are based upon a Carnhill design.
Besides the switch for mic/line operation, there are push-button switches for phase (polarity invert), 48v phantom power, DI and Low-Z. Low-Z sets the impedance level of the mic/line and DI, with 300 or 1200 Ohms selectable in mic mode. This can be used to select the best impedance match for any given microphone or to simply alter the tonal character for effect; after all, you won’t damage your mics by selecting the ‘wrong’ impedance.
Each channel has a four-step LED output meter, with three green LEDs and a fourth red one labelled ‘clip’. Don’t be alarmed by the clip LED, as in normal operation it should illuminate occasionally on the highest peaks. Only reduce level to prevent clipping if the red LED illuminates too frequently.
Monoprice SR Studio 2-Channel 1073-style Microphone Preamp
On the rear panel each channel has a mic/line input via a combination ¼-inch TRS/XLR socket, which accepts balanced signals from microphones and line-level sources. Balanced output is available from either an XLR connector or the ¼-inch TRS jack; alternatively, the jack outputs an unbalanced signal when using a ¼-inch TS cable. An insert socket is included to facilitate an external outboard device such as an equaliser or compressor. Also on the rear panel is a barrel connector for the supplied 24v AC power supply.
Right from the get-go, it’s clear that Monoprice/SR Studio has successfully achieved its goal of creating a preamp with the classic characteristics of the original 1073. Recording acoustic guitar with an AKG C414 B-ULS shows off this character, which is, as the company says, warm, punchy, sweet and musical. It’s a sound that flatters most audio sources, working particularly well with rock and pop recordings of all types. It’s not the most neutral or transparent of preamps though — the original 1073 never was – yet it imparts a huge, larger-than-life sound that adds power to drum kits, for example.
Bass instruments are well served by the preamp’s firm and muscular low-end response, with none of the weak-kneed flub we remember from the budget, semi-pro consoles prevalent in the pre-digital age.
Be aware though, that unlike the vast majority of preamps available today, this design does not incorporate a high-pass filter. But then neither does Neve’s own, currently available 1073 dedicated mic pre. This lack of filtering needn’t be too much of a problem though, especially if you have a mic with an on-board high pass and, in any case, undesirable subsonic rumble can be subsequently filtered out within your DAW.
Also in keeping with the well-loved sonic signature of the 1073 is the top end response, which is smooth and sweet, coating the treble region with a glossy sheen. It’s not the last word in super-top extension though, as more modern, transparent preamp designs might offer an extra degree of air and sparkle.
Where most ultra-clean mic-preamps can’t compete with this one however, is in the midrange, which is richly detailed with a velvet-like texture; there’s no brittle grain or hardness here. This lends a distinct sense of realism and vibrancy to vocals for example, with none of the indistinct and tonally grey sound of lesser preamps.
As the mid band is so expressive and impactful, it lends itself to a touch of high end boost on certain sources; think of the 16kHz top boost from a classic Pultec-like equaliser to add a sense of air to pristine vocals, for example.
To make pristine, clean sounds more exciting, it’s worth experimenting with the relationship between the input and output controls. Increasing the input gain to work the transformer hard provides colour, with added harmonics, while really driving the output produces rich saturation for that authentic analogue vintage vibe. Try this out with a bass guitar plugged into the DI socket to hear this effect. And if you have an outboard compressor to hand, use the insert function to create a great ready-to-record bass guitar tone.
Monoprice is onto a winner with the well-built and budget-friendly SR Studio mic preamp. It has heaps of vintage analogue character and a real rock ‘n’ roll heart.
Key features

20 – 80dB gain
Switchable 300/1200 Ohm impedance
Switchable phantom power and absolute phase
DI input for instruments
4-step LED output meter
Insert jack for outboard equipment
20Hz – 20kHz frequency response (+/- 5dB)

The post SR Studio’s 1073-style preamp achieves a classic analogue sound at an extremely attractive price appeared first on MusicTech.

TikTok Music just launched publicly in Australia, Singapore and Mexico… without Universal Music’s catalogUniversal's recorded music catalog remains available on TikTok Music in Brazil and Indonesia
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Analyst that double-downgraded Universal Music Group over AI, streaming concerns earlier this year just upgraded firm’s stockWilliam Packer at BNP Paribas Exane has been impressed by UMG's Deezer deal and its work with AI companies
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Waves Kramer HLS Channel Is FREE Until October 21st!
Waves Audio and Gearspace offer the Kramer HLS Channel ($29.99 value) plugin as a FREE download for a limited time. Kramer HLS Channel is a virtual console channel strip plugin with a built-in equalizer and preamp saturation. It emulates the Helios analog mixing console located at Olympic Studios in London. The equalizer has a simple [...]
View post: Waves Kramer HLS Channel Is FREE Until October 21st!