SoundGhost Drift Introducing DRIFT, a tape degradation plugin that brings the warm, nostalgic sound of vintage tape machines into the digital realm, offering music producers and audio enthusiasts an authentic... Read More

Misaligned incentives make the music business a zero-sum game [MIDiA’s Tatiana Cirisano]The goals of music’s major stakeholders – labels, DSPs, and artists – no longer match, turning the music business into a zero-sum game, writes Tatiana Cirisano of MIDiA Research. by. Continue reading
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Warm Audio’s WA-14SP stereo pair recreates “the most truthful studio mic of all time”Warm Audio has launched WA-14SP, a stereo pair package edition of its WA-14 microphone, which was only previously available as a standalone microphone.

READ MORE: The best microphones to buy in 2023: 12 best microphones for rappers and MCs

The WA-14 is modelled on AKG’s C414 EB, a now-rare large-diaphragm capacitor microphone launched in 1976, heralded as “the most truthful studio mic of all time”, according to Warm Audio. This new package duplicates the faithful mic emulation to create a stereo pair.
Warm Audio
Included in the bundle are two WA-14 mics with a brass CK-12 style capsule, a variable pad, and three polar patterns, plus two shock mounts, two hard clips, two durable travel pouches, and a stereo mounting bar. With this setup, it makes it easier to achieve natural sound with “minimal colouration and smooth high end”, says the brand.
The WA-14SP undergoes testing, Warm Audio says, to ensure each mic stays within +/- 1dB of the other, making for dependable performance for stereo recording. The WA-14 mirrors the sonic quality of its EB-circuit inspiration, offering clear mids, controlled bass, and accurate high-end focus, preserving the authenticity of the original performance in recordings.
What is stereo pairing?
Positioned in configurations like X-Y or spaced pairs, dual microphones capture audio from different angles, emulating the natural spatial hearing we experience through our ears. This helps create immersive, authentic recordings, preserving subtleties and spatial cues that a singular microphone could miss. Stereo pairs commonly record instruments, rooms, vocals, and live acts, crafting a lifelike sonic portrayal for a more genuine auditory experience.
More Warm
Warm Audio has delivered an array of fantastic mic emulations recently, which we’ve been lucky enough to test out. In 2022, the company released the WA-47F and WA-CX12, which emulate the classic Telefunken C12 and the Neumann U47. We later reviewed both the “superb all-round” WA-47F and the WA-CX12, praising its “sweet, flattering sound”.
The full WA-14SP stereo pair package is priced at $749. You can also still buy the original by itself for $462 at thomann. Find out more about the new package at warmaudio.com.
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Cherry Audio’s Harmonia plugin “blends the nostalgia” of synths from the 80s and 90sCherry Audio has launched a new virtual synth, Harmonia, which blends together nostalgic elements of both vector and wave sequencing synths from the 80s and 90s.
Harmonia includes all of Cherry Audio’s modern touches, including support for aftertouch, flexible MIDI mapping, and a collection of over 350 “professionally designed” presets.

READ MORE: Cherry Audio’s new The CAT replica goes “way beyond” 1976 original, says original designer

Harmonia has 17 studio-quality effects such as various integrated distortion, modulation, echo, and reverb – all fully modulatable with its eight-slot mod matrix. It uses hundreds of sampled waveforms sourced from various synthesisers, traditional instruments, and voices, as well as an array of quirky lo-fi sounds, according to the developer.

It hosts two sample-based oscillators that can simultaneously deliver up to eight pitches tuned to harmonic series or semitone pitches, and the volume for each pitch harmonic can be fixed or dynamic. Harmonia also uses interpolated harmonic scanning to allow for more melodious sequences through a single modulatable slider.
By varying combinations of waveform selection and harmonic presets, you can craft unique morphed and sequencer-like tones, and also import your own samples. It includes four syncable polyphonic LFOs, a stereo multimode filter, and visual click-and-drag filter and amp envelopes.

“Cherry Audio has been great at recreating classic vintage synths, but with Harmonia, they show that they’re equally adept at creating new methods of synthesis,” says Joe McGinty, the composer, keyboardist, and arranger known for his work with the Psychedelic Furs, The Ramones, and others in a statement.
“Harmonia is unlike any other synth that I’ve played. Part additive, part sample playback, and part vector synth. You can even get into wavetable sounds. Many exciting presets are included, but I look forward to importing and manipulating my own samples.”
Harmonia is available now for $49.00, and a free 30-day demo is available.
Find out more on the Cherry Audio website. 
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Plamen saturation plug-in by Soundevice Digital The latest plug-in from Soundevice Digital offers a versatile range of multi-band saturation effects. 

SampleScience Releases FREE Virtual Vocaid Plugin
SampleScience releases Virtual Vocaid, a free instrument plugin for Windows and macOS. I will admit I did a double-take when reading the product description for this one. The fine folks at SampleScience are back at it again with a brand new instrument to tickle your fancy. Virtual Vocaid isn’t like your typical synth instruments, however. [...]
View post: SampleScience Releases FREE Virtual Vocaid Plugin

Richie Hawtin unleashes 30 years of techno mastery at Maiden Voyage’s UnfoldAs the clock strikes five at Maiden Voyage festival in North London, an ominous cloud drifts above the Unfold stage in the corner of the Lee Valley Showground-based site.

READ MORE: Watch Aphex Twin’s full Field Day 2023 set in 360 video — for free

The stage is run by the infamous queer techno party of the same name that takes place at FOLD nightclub each Sunday. An event with a Berghain feel that sees droves of hardcore ravers queue around the corner from midday until midnight each weekend, it’s a safe, inclusive space. If you don’t fit the bill, you’re not getting in.
Maiden Voyage’s Unfold stage, as with each club event, is shrouded in mystery. There’s no disclosed lineup – just a series of set times and corresponding question marks. The 5 pm – 7 pm slot, on a sign, reads ‘?????? ??????’. Punters connect the dots: ?????? ??????, it becomes apparent, means Richie Hawtin.
For the first time in the event’s four-year history, the stage is outside under a canopy rather than in the dark depths of FOLD, which sits in the industrial landscape of Canning Town. The legendary producer Richie Hawtin is at the helm, bang in the centre of the 360-degree crowd – a common sight for Unfold regulars; the central stage is designed to invite a more intimate rave experience.
Richie Hawtin at Maiden Voyage
A bulging blob of bodies in black clothing swells uncontrollably to the thunderous techno music. Even though it’s outside, the sound system is clear as day; the kick drums pummel through your chest like the blow of a hammer. There’s no rushing to the front to hear the music here, everyone has room to dance – and dance they do, chucking all manner of shapes to the no-frills techno excellence. Those who aren’t completely losing their minds simply stand at the outskirts, agreeing with one another – this guy really is the GOAT.
As a stern Hawtin, who seems to be the only face in the crowd without a gleaming smile, powers through his selections, it’s clear to see how the role of technology makes for a distinctly singular-sounding set. It’s a hybrid setup, consisting of a Novation Launchpad Pro, two Allen & Heath Xone:K2 DJ MIDI controllers, with the central hub of all this being his own PLAYdifferently Model 1 mixer and Bitwig Studio. The effects, sound effects, his own lashings of synths and drums, along with his prolific selection, brush his performances with a signature, refreshing flavour.
For many of the techno purists at the festival, it’s a relieving breath of fresh air. While DJs at the other stages are brilliant, we notice an overdose of gimmicky edits. Hawtin’s music, however, isn’t messing about. There’s no fun and games to be had here, and there’s no silly donk edits of Girls Aloud. This is a no-nonsense exploration of movement through repetition – refined techno as an art form.

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Hawtin twists and turns at his mammoth setup, a veteran in his element. How can someone who’s been in the game for so long still feel so fresh? This is the man who has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s, and here he is, deep in a puddle of young ravers, leading the charge. Thirty years after his debut album, Dimension Intrusion, he’s as present as ever, constantly at the forefront of modern electronic music.
It’s only when you get to witness someone like Richie Hawtin live, especially in such an intimate setting as Unfold’s special circular stage, that you feel the power and start to understand why the minimal legend has the status he does.
Hours after Hawtin’s set comes to an end, the Unfold stage still bursts with ferocious kick drums and the outstretched arms of a receptive crowd. Unfold’s mainstay resident, James Newmarch, is bringing proceedings to a close, but the crowd don’t want to leave; the security resort to barking orders at the incessant dancers. In a frenzy of great music, but lots of gimmicks, Unfold and Richie Hawtin combined forces at Maiden Voyage this year to remind London ravers what real techno sounds like.
Check out Richie Hawtin’s music via Bandcamp.
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Looking for a Job in the Music Business? Here is where to start.How do you get a job in the music business? This might be one of the most common questions that Mike Brandvold and Jay Gilbert are asked. On a new. Continue reading
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Can ChatGPT be useful for sound design? YouTuber TAETRO finds outProducer and YouTube content creator TAETRO has teamed up with gear brand ROLI to put ChatGPT to the test in the realm of sound design to see just how useful, or unuseful, it can be.

READ MORE: Waves StudioVerse is a promising AI- and community-powered vision for plugin presets

Just mentioning the words ‘AI’ or ‘ChatGPT’ is enough to raise eyebrows and cause controversy in a room. Despite the exponential growth of the technology over the course of 2023, the topic of using AI in music production remains ever-divisive.
But, as some producers such as TAETRO, are proving, sometimes it can be a useful tool to implement in the studio.
In TAETRO’s video, he uses ROLI’s Seaboard RISE 2 with Equator 2, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to investigate the “synergy” of AI with sound design. At the start of the video, he tells the platform that he’d like to design some sounds in Equator 2 before feeding it the prompt: “I’d like to create a pad sound, similar to the dreamy atmospheric sounds of the Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis”.
With that, ChatGPT lists a bullet-pointed plan of action, offering instructions such as “choose a waveform that’s rich in harmonics, such as a sawtooth or a waveform with some pulse width modulation” and “detune multiple oscillators slightly to add thickness”.
It also lists effects suggestions such as adding reverb “with a decay time of 3-4 seconds” (very specific), and suggests to “consider using the modulation options in Equator to achieve the evolving nature of the Blade Runner pads”.
Elsewhere in the video, TAETRO uses a prompt idea provided by a viewer, in which he asks Chat GPT to tell him how to make a dreamy kalimba sound reminiscent of the PlayStation 1 startup sound. He also feeds it an abstract prompt from another viewer – “a floating sugar cotton inside a glass cathedral” – and again, it lays out listed instructions and breaks down what that prompt really suggests.
As TAETRO concludes in his video, there were little extra elements he added or made decisions about himself, but overall he agrees that ChatGPT set him on the right path each time.
Watch the full video below:

You can try out ChatGPT for yourself on the Open AI website, or view the full range of ROLI products on its official website.
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“You can feel the greatness in the air”: Biako’s LA studio once belonged to Earth, Wind & FireGRAMMY-nominated Biako, an artist, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, is known for his quality offerings of R&B, pop, jazz, and psych-soul. He most notably co-produced Foushee’s 2020 breakout hit Deep End, which topped TikTok and Shazam’s global charts and gained over 230 million streams on Spotify alone. Biako has also featured on the soundtrack for Netflix’s You and released his dazzling debut album, Feelings Happen, in April 2023.

READ MORE: Mixing elements of a project is like “playing Tetris”, says Breauski

Biako’s studio is as impressive as his music. Known as Revival, it’s part of a studio complex in West LA. It was built and used by Earth, Wind & Fire for rehearsals, experiments, and recordings during their ownership from around 1979 to 1985. Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg have also worked in the studio. We were lucky enough to speak to Biako and find out about how he’s using the studio today.

Hey Biako. We’re hearing a rumour your studio was once used by Earth, Wind & Fire. Tell us more.
If only these walls could talk! It was not only used by Earth, Wind & Fire, but also built by them and conceived as a place where creatives from all walks of life can come together under one roof. They rehearsed for their tours here and experimented with all their stage props and visuals in the sound stages, and the recording studios were built by the famous studio builder Jack Edwards, who built Capitol Records. George Massenberg, EWF’s head engineer and builder of all the GML EQs and consoles (one of which was housed in studio B for many years) had his headquarters at the studio during those years that EWF owned and operated here (approx 1979 – 1985). Many artists in their heyday worked here, including Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, Dr. Dre, and Snoop.

Did you ever get to work with anyone from the band?
Verdine White came by a couple of times to reminisce about the good old days. I haven’t actually collaborated with any original members yet, but I feel Maurice White’s spirit in the walls for sure, so maybe we’ve collaborated in the astral realm somehow.
You can feel the greatness in the air, and it always brings out my best work and that of the artists I work with here. They did leave behind an impressive microphone collection, some rare outboard gear, and an EMT 250 plate reverb.

When did you decide to write your debut album, Feelings Happen?
The album, and being a recording artist, was something I stumbled upon by accident. For years I had been working as a touring musician for other artists and paying my dues as an engineer at studios around LA, mixing and eventually producing as I got deeper into the trade. So being an artist wasn’t really part of the grand scheme at the time, but I suffered a painful heartbreak as my last relationship came to an end toward the end of 2017.
Perhaps it was the amalgamation of all my skills as an instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter that finally gave me the ability to translate the emotions I was experiencing and put them into songs. The fact that I had the studio all to myself and the palpable feeling of being in such a legendary space to create also contributed to me rising to that occasion. But at the time, I saw it as a matter of life and death, to get these songs out of me. I know that sounds a bit dramatic but for me, it was true. I had that sense of urgency that artists get stricken with in the middle of doing their daily routine – everything happening around me didn’t matter so long as I could get my idea out of my head and into a song.

Tell us a bit about the studio.
Revival is located inside the infamous Complex Studios in West LA (Culver City and Santa Monica adjacent). I’ve been working predominantly out of studio C, which I was told was Maurice’s favourite room.

What atmosphere do you try to create in the studio, and how does the studio environment help you with your creativity?
The studio itself has a comfy, living room-type feel even though it has a state-of-the-art design. Maybe it’s because of how EWF and countless other legendary artists from the 70s and 80s helped to make the room feel so worn in. I try my best to fill those big shoes and provide that same ambience of elevated creativity combined with a certain warm hospitality that artists have come to know and love about the space.

 
What’s your favourite piece of gear right now?
I just recently bought a Roland GR300 polyphonic guitar synthesizer from the 70s paired with a G808 guitar, and I’ve been loving how rich and fat the synth tones are on it.
Watkins Copicat
What synth or effect can be heard the most on your album?
Definitely the Roland Juno 60 – I wore that thing out! But it’s honestly such a versatile and beautiful synth in all its simplicity. I find that the bass tones, atmospheric sounds, and pads I’m able to get from it are unmatched by other synths of its kind.

What do you love about collaborating?
What I love most about collaboration with other artists or producers is that the result is always surprising because the way they hear or think about music is different from the way I hear or think about music. So, the anomaly of combining ideas is always captivating and exciting for me. I also try to chase that high I get from collaboration with my own music, which I’ve done frequently throughout my album as well.
What’s been the biggest investment in your studio?
My Neve 1084s (vintage) mic preamp and EQ and my EMT 250 reverb.

If you were left on a deserted island, what one item would you take with you to make music with forever?
I’d probably want to have a portable tape machine to capture all the sounds on the island to sample. You can always make instruments on the island by gathering materials like wood, gourds, and other materials to play with, but without having something to record them on, you’d never be able to capture the magic. And if one day someone stumbles upon the island, they’ll find the tapes and hopefully share them with the world.
What is your top piece of production advice?
Just because it’s your idea, doesn’t make it the best idea in the room. Listen and humble yourself to what is happening through you and others around you. You are not the creator – you’re the receiver of the idea from the ether, so make sure you can be a proper vessel for the idea to blossom. The song is king. Get out of your own way and allow it to fulfill its own destiny.
See more footage of Revival via the studio complex’s Instagram.
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Is Spitfire Audio Jupiter by Trevor Horn a knockout or cop-out?Not many people can be credited with helping define the sound of a decade. Trevor Horn can. Working with 80s icons like Grace Jones, Yes, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood to realise some of their most enduring records, Horn’s energetic brand of synth-pop laid down a blueprint that still influences myriad music makers today.

READ MORE: Universal Audio launches the new Apollo Twin X USB audio interface

Now, the man who helped popularise digital sampling has teamed up with Spitfire Audio to create his very own sample library, Jupiter. There are plenty of fantastic retro sounds that will interest producers and composers alike, but software missteps may give buyers pause.

Worldbuilding
Jupiter is built on 208 unique samples split across five categories; bass, synth, drums, piano, and effects. Flicking through the unprocessed sounds is like encountering old friends – the booming drums, the ultra-defined bass guitars, the characterful, slightly zany stingers; it’s pure 80s ear candy.
Of course, these ‘Core’ recordings are just the start. Thankfully, Spitfire has also included a number of variations on the original samples. There’s a ‘Reflect’ version that sports an oh-so-80s gated reverb; a ‘Calibrate’ version that uses uncalibrated saturation tape; an ‘Alias’ version that brings down the bit-depth and clock-rate to intentionally introduce artefacts into the sound. Finally, a ‘Dimension’ version runs everything through vintage modulation devices like the classic Roland Dimension-D chorus module.
Effects section
If you’ve previously used Spitfire’s Polaris or Mercury libraries, then the basic premise remains unchanged – take any two samples and dynamically blend them together using oscillation or automation. Plus, a host of time- and frequency-based effects processors can be applied to each sample individually, or on the combined output.
Planetary presets
Jupiter boasts some standout presets, with percussion arguably offering the most authentic taste of Horn’s production style. From the thumping sound of a LinnDrum sampler, to deliciously over-the-top pitched percussion patches, all the way synth stabs that you can feel in your gut, many of these sounds are a pure joy to play with.
Bass is easily the co-star of this show. Trevor Horn is an accomplished bassist, and his personal collection of guitars have been sampled with acute attention to detail. There’s plenty of punchy resonance, should you need to bring a little funk to your mix, but there’s also a number of beautiful, Twin Peaks-esque tones that feel quite unique to this collection.

Then again, they can’t all be hits and the more pedestrian pads and leads are something of a weak point. That isn’t to say there aren’t a number of gems here too, but as you flick through the library’s 300 presets, you’re bound to stumble across a fair number of humdrum options that could be found in just about any generic 80s-themed software synth or sample collection.
However, that mixed bag of presets is ultimately not a deal breaker, as when the sounds are good they are sublime. Hell, the bass and drums almost justify the price of admission alone.
Exploring Jupiter
The real shortcoming here is the plugin user interface; specifically, its search functions. Housed within the Solar instrument, Jupiter is the second in what appears to be a series of upcoming sample collections. Users who own the excellent Mercury library have access to all those samples from within the single instrument and can combine sources from both libraries.
Sound bay search
This is awesome, in theory, but Solar’s search menu is simply too cramped and cluttered to effectively accommodate multiple libraries. If the Spitfire Audio team continues adding sample collections to this instrument, sooner or later, they will need to prioritise a complete revamp of its search function.
As it stands, even browsing through the Jupiter library in isolation is a frustrating experience. Your only means of navigation are a set of search tags which are squashed into a little side panel. How many search tags, you might ask? The answer is two. Jupiter’s 300 presets are categorised as either ‘Long’ or ‘Short’. By comparison, the Mercury library is furnished with 11 descriptive search tags, and the neglect given to this new library is both perplexing and disappointing.
Additionally, all of Jupiter’s presets share a single, unhelpful description: ‘a preset utilising complex signal chains across both channels.’ So, if you’d like to find your way to a lead or bass patch, the only option is to doomscroll your way down, auditioning sounds as you go.
Preset description
This leads to the second glaring issue – the search function currently has a bug that frequently turns its results into a rectangle of blank space with no sounds or presets whatsoever. Flick from the ‘short’ tag to the ‘long’ tag: blank space. Open up the preset menu after trying out a sound: blank space. Click on the ‘Core’ tag in a sound bay: blank space. Currently, the only way to fix this is to scroll back to the top of the search menu – at which point, you restart the slow, painful search for an appropriate sound.

This issue was repeated across a number of DAWs and on both macOS and Windows. Of course, all software suffers from occasional bugs, and this one will undoubtedly be fixed, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that this library has been released unfinished. It’s a surprising misstep given the quality we’ve come to expect from Spitfire Audio.

A Horn of Plenty?
Leaving those frustrations aside, there is much to like and even love in the sound of Jupiter. Horn’s flair for synth-pop production comes through and, suitably, this library will have just as much use in the hands of songwriters and producers as it will with composers looking to make those retro, synth-wave scores that are still so en vogue.
Moreover, despite being firmly rooted in nostalgia, the collection is actually surprisingly versatile and has lots of potential for atmospheric scoring and even sound design. This is thanks in part to Horn including a selection of experimental sounding samples, but also to Solar’s eDNA interface which offers deep and very powerful synthesis capabilities.
Ultimately, Horn’s samples win the day here and keep Jupiter afloat. It features some truly special sounds that will add much to a song or score – nevertheless, some uninspiring presets and a laborious search experience diminish what could easily have been a knockout.
Key features

300 presets
208 samples
eDNA interface
Integrates the Mercury sample library
45.59 GB download size
Price: £99.00 / $129.00
Contact: Spitfireaudio.com

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Streaming Fraud is More Serious (and Inventive) Than You ThinkThis week, Ari is joined by Andrew Batey and Morgan Hayduk, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Beatdapp.

DeepMind partners with Google Cloud to watermark AI-generated imagesIn partnership with Google Cloud, Google Deepmind, Google’s AI research division, is launching a tool for watermarking and identifying AI-generated images. But only images created by Google’s own image-generating model. The tool, called SnythID and available in beta for select users of Vertex AI, Google’s platform for building AI apps and models, embeds a digital […]

New Music Critique: OnoleighOnoleigh  Contact: michelle@pitchcandypr.com

Web: onoleigh.com

Seeking: Label, Booking, Film/TVStyle: Country-Pop, Americana

Nashville-based artist Onoleigh brings an interesting slant to her work. For example, on “Why Can’t We Dance” her naturally country voice delivers a country-sounding  song but with an electronic-pop treatment, along with some heavy-sounding rock guitar licks. And the song’s subject is impressive. It’s an anti-love song in which she proclaims to her suitor, “Make the rough edges round.  I just don’t wanna be in love!” Onoleigh gets melancholy and serious on “Tightrope” whose fiddle and twangy pedal-steel whine underscore a beautiful duet with a male singer. On the downtempo ballad “Walls,” she pays tribute to her surroundings with “You wrap yourself around me like a friend.” An artist to watch.

How indie artists can unlock the massive Brazilian music marketWith a population of 214 million, the Brazilian music market is great for artists to find new fans. Learn more about how you can get started regardless of the genre.. Continue reading
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