Get SampleRoll’s SHFT, DRFT, and FLTR bundle for $49 with our exclusive coupon
SampleRoll is offering its SHFT, DRFT, and FLTR effects bundle for $59, combining rhythmic gating, VHS-style degradation, and playable filtering for macOS and Windows. BPB readers can use BPB10 at checkout to take another $10 off the three-plugin bundle, bringing it to $49 instead of the combined $147 list price. The code also works on [...]
View post: Get SampleRoll’s SHFT, DRFT, and FLTR bundle for $49 with our exclusive coupon

Morningdew Media releases MorningDAW, a FREE DAW for macOS, Windows, and Linux
Free digital audio workstations aren’t hard to find these days; we have familiar favourites like Tracktion’s Waveform Free, quirky newcomers like Septabee, and plenty in between. With several newcomers hoping to top the list of the best free DAWs, Morningdew Media is now throwing its developer hat into the ring with MorningDAW. MorningDAW is available [...]
View post: Morningdew Media releases MorningDAW, a FREE DAW for macOS, Windows, and Linux

Hottest toy for Christmas? Nvidia CEO plays with adorable Microduck robots, 20,000 sellThe robots, stomping their little feet and making tiny R2D2 noises, sat, fell down dead for a "nap," and summersaulted on voice command.

Wells Fargo and five others object to OKX-ICE tokenized stock listings: ReportAs of Friday, 22 companies had filed objections as part of the joint venture’s proposed tokenized stock platform under the SEC’s innovation exemption.

Reconstructing the Ancient Chinese Storm of Crows WeaponThe Chinese had been using large crossbows – akin to Greek and Roman ballistae – for warfare for many of the same reasons that European armies loved them. Their single, large arrow was effectively unstoppable, though this also was rather useless against large groups of infantry unless they were so kind to neatly line up. Old Chinese records mention a special kind of ammunition, called a cup arrow, or ‘storm of crows’, which involves launching many smaller arrows instead of a single large one, a feat that [Tod] really wanted to try and recreate.
In itself this doesn’t sound too complex: just grab some arrows, loosely tie them together in a bundle and slap them on the crossbow. Yet with the immense forces applied on this bundle it clearly turns out that the engineering challenge isn’t quite that straightforward, as the arrows love to scatter wildly in all directions or otherwise be rather unpredictable.
Although we can find historical references to multiple bolt siege crossbows being used, details are sparse on how the Chinese engineers addressed these aforementioned issues, so [Tod] tries a range of approaches to try and make it work on his own siege crossbow. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to make it work reliably, but he says he’ll be back with a range of improvements, with the community invited to pitch in their own ideas.
These type of weapons were very commonly used in China and surrounding nations from hundreds of years BCE to around the 16th century CE, when black powder was used to launch projectiles like fire arrows from a Huo Che or the Korean equivalent of the Hwacha, effectively multiple rocket launchers, not unlike the MLRS units seen in militaries today.

GARY CALAMAR NEW ALBUM ODD NUMB3RS AND SLANTED RHYMES NOW OUT ON BIG STIR RECORDSGary Calamar is a film and television music supervisor who has been nominated five times for Grammy Awards. His credits include The Man In The High Castle, Six Feet Under, True Blood, House, Weeds, Entourage, Dexter, Varsity Blues, and 3 Body Problem.  

As a DJ this century, he hosted a lengthy stint on radio station KCRW-FM before moving to 88.5 KCSN-FM in September 2018 with his Sunday 2-4 p.m. shift, The Open Road.

In 2010, Calamar’s first book was published by Sterling, Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again, co-authored by music journalist Phil Gallo, with a foreword by REM’s Peter Buck. It examines the story of the development of record stores.     

Calamar is also a singer, songwriter, and recording artist.

In 2014, Atlantic Records issued Gary’s debut EP, You Are What You Listen To.

Calamar's new album, ODD NUMB3RS and SLANTED RHYMES, is now available via Big Stir Records. The album is a compilation of his previous singles along with 3 new tracks featuring Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh on “I Got An Idea,” and Robyn Hitchcock on "Who Are We Gonna Be Today."

Calamar lives with his wife in Los Angeles, California. They have a daughter, Zoe.

If you are in Studio City, CA, on November 24th at 7:00 pm, Gary will have a record release party at Licorice Pizza. 12230 Ventura Blvd. 

Q: Besides your radio and music supervision work, over the years, did you ever have plans to record as a solo artist? Were you in teenage bands or ever played in clubs?  

A: NO. I was a big music nerd fan growing up, but it never crossed my mind that I would ever have an album of original songs out. Ever since seeing The Fab Four on my grandparents’ black and white TV in the Bronx in February 1964, I wanted to somehow get involved with this Rock and Roll thing one way or another. Fortunately, I had an older brother, Ronny, who guided me in the early days and turned me on to the great artists of the British Invasion and L.A. scene. My favorite afternoon was going through the racks in a record store.  I always loved wordplay, and I would make up little songs about teasing my brother or mocking my teachers at school, but it never got to the point where I would call myself a songwriter.

I had a friend who taught me a few chords that I tried to wrap my fingers around, and I played, just for fun, in my bedroom. Eventually I got a little better and made some progress. I was playing sloppy versions of “Wild Thing” and “My Generation” and eventually started to write some songs.  I recorded a rough cassette, “Four Dead Presidents”, and slipped it to Gary Stewart at Rhino Records, and he gave me $500.00 to go and properly record my handful of songs. I recorded the songs with Mike Randle and John Would and “released” a cassette, ADVANCE in 1991. I played a few local shows, and I continued to write.

When I was music supervising the HBO show Six Feet Under, I was working with Atlantic Records on the soundtrack, and I played the VP, Kevin Weaver, some of my songs. He liked them, and he offered to have them recorded, and we released the EP, You Are What You Listen To, which got some good reviews and airplay in 2014.

Q: You emerged from the record retail world and had managerial stints at Moby Disc, Rhino, and Licorice Pizza. Looking back, how might the retail experience have influenced your journey in the record and music world?  You did write a book last decade about record stores and shops that coincided with Record Store Day. 

A: I wanted to get close to the music anyway I could, and working at a record store seemed achievable. My first job was part-time at the record department at Gimbels in Yonkers, NY. I was so excited and so into it that they made me a manager after about a month. They eventually closed down that department, and I joined some friends on a road trip to Los Angeles. The weekend I got here, The Talking Heads were doing a free show at UCLA, Nick Lowe was playing at The Roxy Theatre, everybody was raving about a band called The Knack, and I was tuning in to Rodney Bingenheimer on the radio at KROQ. This Yonkers boy was thrilled to be in the land of The Beach Boys and The Byrds. It took a while, but I eventually landed a job as a manager trainee at Licorice Pizza in Pasadena, and I loved it. I eventually managed the Norwalk and West L.A. stores. We did in-store appearances with Madness and ASIA. I was offered an in-store with X early in their career, but I was afraid the punks would tear the store down, and regretfully I passed.

It was later at Moby Disc where I met my producer, John Would, who owned a cassette duplication business upstairs, and we worked on music together. Listening to full albums all day long was a perfect education for the radio and music supervision jobs which came later.

When working at the Rhino store in Westwood, I was introduced to KCRW who had a close relationship to the store. Several of the people I connected with at record stores are still in my life today.

Q: Let’s talk about your Sunday afternoon radio shift, The Open Road, on KCSN- FM (88.5), playing the signature sounds of "Adventurous Pop Music both timely and timeless." How do you program your shift, and what is the intention behind the programming and sequencing? You really don’t do interviews.

A: My wife, Ali, was friends with one of the DJ’s at KCRW, and I was very interested in getting my foot in there. They had a spot for me in the music library a few hours a week, but she made it very clear that if my goal is to get a show on the air, I should forget it. It’s not gonna happen. I got friendly with the then music director Chris Douridas, and he could see I was a serious music guy. One day, as I was entering CD titles in the computer, he mentioned that they were going to be looking for a Saturday overnight person. What? I jumped out of my chair and literally got on my knees and begged him to give me a shot. He did, and I am forever grateful to Chris. 

Being a DJ on the radio is my favorite job. Fortunately, on KCRW and now at KCSN, I get to play what I want to play and don’t have to follow any pre- arranged playlists. I came up with that slogan “Adventurous Pop Music Both Timely and Timeless,” and it’s a good description for what I try to do every week.  There is such a wealth of great music on my personal playlist since I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in The Bronx, and more great artists coming out all the time. I like to have some fun with the music, and let people know about bands coming to town and reflect on current events with fun and creative sets.

Q: You were previously heard on KCRW-FM. You did interviews with Brian Wilson, Jeff Tweedy, Wayne Coyne, and film composers Elmer Bernstein, Thomas Newman, Lalo Schiffrin, and Danny Elfman. Reflect on your tenure at KCRW-FM?      

A: I owe a lot to my time at KCRW. I feel I was there during a great time for the station, and it really put me on the map.  The station was the cultural center of Los Angeles, and I was honored to be a part of the team. I learned a lot from DJ’s Chris Douridas, Liza Richardson, and later Nic Harcourt. I was also impressed by their music supervision projects and inspired to try and follow their lead.  I had some great interview guests at KCRW. At KCSN, I don’t do that as much but have had John Doe from X and Robyn Hitchcock sit in with me.

Q:  You have a new album just released by Big Stir Records. It follows your 2014 EP on Atlantic Records. How did this just-issued album come together for Big Stir? I know the endeavor was partially birthed emerging out of your produced Mimosa Music Series at the Federal Bar.

A: Releasing an album was always something that was in the back of my mind, but I didn’t actively pursue it. I didn’t send tapes to record labels or anything like that. When I met Rex and Christina from Big Stir Records at The Federal Bar, they told me about their label, and we found that we had a common love for left-field pop music. They were somewhat familiar with my work as they were fans of the band Eggplant, who had done an early cover of my song, “I Got An Idea”. I casually mentioned that they should put out an album of mine and left it there. I didn’t really think anything would come of it, but they reached out to me a few months later to discuss a release.  

Q: How did the series begin? I know it was first a gathering at your home, and artists like Donovan played in your backyard.

A: When I started The Mimosa Music Series my work as a music supervisor was peaking. I was working on Six Feet Under, Dexter, Weeds, House, True Blood, and others. So, I worked with the record labels to do a showcase series for their artists and invite music supervisors to my house in Laurel Canyon. It was a daytime series so it didn’t conflict with their evening shows. It caught on, and it was fun. We had great artists like Donovan, John Doe, Steve Earle, Roseanne Cash, Robyn Hitchcock, Dave Alvin, Iron and Wine, John Hiatt and many more. The crowds were getting bigger, too big for the house.

My beautiful wife strongly suggested that we move these shows out of the house. Fortunately, The Federal Bar in North Hollywood was very happy to continue the series there. It was great. We had more amazing showcases with free admission, free bagels, and free mimosas. When the pandemic hit, we pulled the plug, but it was a very special time.

Q: Mark Mothersbaugh and Robyn Hitchcock collaborated with you on the album. I imagine you knew them from your radio shifts. How was the creative process with them on the songs they were involved with? Did you have demos that were then brought to fruition?

A: YES. “I Got An Idea” was one of the first songs I ever wrote, and now having Mark Mothersbaugh on the track it feels complete. It came about organically. We live in the same neighborhood in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, and our daughters went to school together, and we shared carpools. Although we are friends, I was nervous about asking him, but thankfully he dug the track, and I am grateful that he wanted to work with me on it.

Robyn is an amazing artist and a beautiful guy, and our paths have crossed many times over the years. One thing I always remember is when I did my very first radio show, I was subbing for someone on the overnight shift. One of the songs I played was Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row”, all eleven minutes. As it turns out, Robyn was scheduled to be a guest on the popular morning show at the station the next day, and he was driving into L.A. from Northern California. He tuned in to KCRW, and he heard me play the Dylan song.

When he was a guest on the morning show, he said on the air that he loved hearing Gary Calamari (sp) play “Desolation Row” last night as he was driving in. And I was ecstatic that Robyn heard me play it. So, we first bonded through the airwaves, and since then I would see him at his shows. We kept in touch and became pen pals. I had him as a guest on my radio shows several times over the years, and he’s played a showcase at my house as well.

I was working on “Who Are Gonna Be Today,” and I was happy how it was progressing. I thought, if I can get Robyn involved, it would take it over the top. He’s a busy guy, but thankfully he found time to work on it with me.

Q: Was there a concept behind the actual album title?

A: My daughter Zoe introduced me to the term “slanted rhymes,” which I was not familiar with but thought it was a cool term, and I thought my songs or “numbers” were a bit odd, so it just came to me.

Q: Discuss with me the other tunes/recordings on the album. 

A: I had the idea for “She’s So Mid-Century” and liked the idea of comparing the cool lady in the song with mid-century architecture and pop culture. I had a good start to the song but was stuck, so I reached out to a new friend at the time, trash pop rocker Palmyra Delran and rockabilly queen Kim Lenz to see if they had any lyrical ideas. I thought they had a great sensibility for the song and they came up with some great lyrics.

“The Prince Of Pico Blvd.” This one came to me when I was a DJ at KCRW. I always thought it was cool that some of the great DJs all had a cool radio name like Cousin Brucie, Wolfman Jack, The Real Don Steele. So, I wanted a cool radio nickname too, and I came up with The Prince of Pico Blvd., as that was the street that KCRW was located in Santa Monica. I never really used it on the radio show, but I got a good song out of it.

Q: You produced five soundtrack albums for Alan Ball’s HBO Series' Six Feet Under and True Blood. How was working with Alan Ball and HBO? 

A: He’s the best. Not only is he super smart and a very creative guy. He is very respectful to everyone on his crew. He loves to use a lot of music in his projects. So he keeps a music supervisor busy and is open to ideas and collaboration. It was funny. I started working with him on True Blood after working with him on Six Feet Under.

On Six Feet Under, we used some sophisticated and serious music. When I first started pitching music to him for True Blood, I started thinking in that direction, and he said, “Hey, this is a show about sexy vampires, and let’s have some fun with the music”.

Q: As a music supervisor, it seems this century, how has the role of a music supervisor for movies and television developed? Can you walk us through a typical scenario of getting the job and the various functions working with studios, directors, producers, and suggesting and coordinating licensing for film and TV?    

A: Well, where to begin. I often think that it’s harder to get the job than to actually do the job. There’s a lot of talented music supervisors in town, and we are all competing for the good jobs in film and TV.  In a nutshell, I start working when I receive the initial script and do some internal brainstorming of what style or genre might work overall as well as for each of the characters. Next, we have a spotting where we watch the rough cut with the showrunner or producer as well as the composer, writer, and editor. We go through the show and stop at all potential music spots and discuss what may be right for the scene.

After that, I go back to my music cave and try out different songs against the scene and see what is working. I report back to the showrunner with a handful of song ideas, and a favorite is picked. Then I reach out to the record label and the publisher and request the use and negotiate a fee.

Q: Is there a vast difference in working on a feature movie and a television series? 

A: Yes. It’s case by case, but there is long lead time on a movie. It may be a year or more from when you start on a project and final decisions are made, and the movie gets mixed. On a TV series, once you get started, you are generally on a schedule, and things move more quickly. But these days of miniseries and shows that take a long time between seasons, anything can happen.

Q: You now have Go Music. When did this company formally begin?

A: I named my company GO Music after we wrapped Six Feet Under, which I co-supervised with fellow music supervisor Thomas Golubic, and our company was Super Music Vision. It was a good name but too long for me. When Thomas and I went in different directions, I decided I wanted a name a bit snappier and took the name from a free music paper that I used to pick up as a kid, GO Magazine.

.The post GARY CALAMAR NEW ALBUM ODD NUMB3RS AND SLANTED RHYMES NOW OUT ON BIG STIR RECORDS first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Juniper Studio JS-550AJS-550A is a 3-band program EQ modelled from the real unit in our studio. How it's built: • The EQ: every position of every switch measured on the unit, level and phase, so each step sounds like the hardware, quirks included. The bands combine the way the real unit's do. • The unit's own sound: the transformer (hysteresis, saturation and its low-level behaviour), the amps and the bandpass filter are a physics model fitted from measurements of the hardware. Against the real unit on music, the difference sits 55 to 70 dB below the signal. • Optional NAM layer: a NAM A2 model trained on the difference between the physics model and the real hardware. Switch NAM on in Settings for the hybrid, or leave it off for pure physics. Controls: LF / MF / HF bands with seven frequencies each and gain in the unit's own 2 / 4 / 6 / 9 / 12 dB steps. Shelf or bell on LF and HF. Bandpass filter and EQ IN. Also: Console mode (every instance in the session side by side, drag to reorder, edit several at once, console presets), Stereo / Dual Mono / Mid-Side, Input and Output trims, and factory presets from the studio (drums, bass, guitars, drum bus, mix bus). Latency: just under 2 ms at 48 kHz, so you can track through it. About 2% of a CPU core per stereo instance (NAM off). Free for 30 days, then pay what you want: $10 minimum, $20 suggested. One license works on up to 10 machines. Read More

Reverb’s End of Summer Sales Event is fighting the Autumn chill with some hot dealsSummer may be over, but there’s no reason to feel so blue about it. In fact, Reverb’s End of Summer Sales Event is here to tackle the Autumn chill, serving up some hot deals across plugins, synths, and keyboards.
While the sale offers up a huge collection of deals from the likes of Qu-Bit Electronix, Electro-Harmonix, WMD and more, M-Vave in particular has discounted a wide selection of its synths and MIDI controllers. A standout comes in the form of M-Vave’s FM-1, the brand’s compact, battery-powered synth inspired by the Yamaha DX7. This tiny 27-key polyphonic synth also comes with a built-in FX engine, 128 factory tones, a seven-mode arpeggiator and a 16-step sequencer – and it’s currently 10%, meaning you can get a pocket-sized creative powerhouse for just £74.97.

READ MORE: This programme turns the Sony PlayStation 2 into a real-time experimental noise synthesiser

M-Vave has a slew of its compact, travel-friendly gear for sale. Elsewhere, you’ll find the M-Vave SK-16 SMC-PAD Pocket Pad, a small MIDI controller with 16 backlit pads that have velocity sensing and aftertouch abilities. That’ll set you back by £37.34, a 10% drop from the usual £41.48 price. Of course, there’s also a larger alternative if you’re willing to size up to the SMC-PAD Launch Pad, which adds eight knobs and 10 assignable buttons for added versatility. That’s also 10% off, costing £57.91.

 
As for MIDI keyboards, M-Vave also serves up a mini and full-sized option, both with USB and wireless connectivity. The 25-key SMK-25 Mini comes in at £56.14, a 20% drop from its usual £70.18 pricetag. On the other hand, the more advanced SMK-37 PRO offers up 37 keys, with an additional 16 RGB pads and eight knobs. This option will set you back by £139.51, dropping 10% from its typical price of £155.02.
Elsewhere, Qu-Bit Electronix offers up a great deal on its Scanned. We awarded this wavetable oscillator a massive 10/10 back in 2019, so this one is definitely worth some consideration – and, with its 10% discount, the £271.89 price is pretty tempting.
Reverb has also sliced the price of Machine Room’s Prodigy Dual VCO, a hand-built dual VCO based on the Moog Prodigy. This bit of kid takes the charm of the original Moog and adds in a slew of modern perks, including cross modulation between its pair of oscillators. And, if that doesn’t sound enticing enough, it’s also 10% off, meaning it’s currently £243.87 instead of £270.97.

Of course, there are also a slew of unique plugins to pick through. One of the quirkiest that we’ve found is Sibilla by Clatters Machines, a DSP digital stereo oscillator and drone machine inspired by mountainous regions of Italy. In fact, it’s literally named after an Italian mountain, Monte Sibilla! If you’re keep to inject some natural awe into your music and capture the feeling of some rugged, towering landscapes, then this could be the oscillator for you. This one costs £292.64, dropped down from its usual price of £325.16.
For more End of Summer deals, head to Reverb.
The post Reverb’s End of Summer Sales Event is fighting the Autumn chill with some hot deals appeared first on MusicTech.

LEGO Group partners with Daft Punk – starting with a fan-designed set based on the duo’s 2007 Alive tour stageThe design started out as a fan submission on the LEGO Ideas platform and has now been greenlit.
Source

UJAM release DETUNICORN UJAM's limited-time plug-in focuses on detuned hypersaw chords and stabs, with six controls for shaping its sound.

Loopmasters’ sampling powerhouse Loopcloud just got a massive update – here’s what’s newLoopmasters has launched Loopcloud 8, the latest and most feature-packed version of its sample subscription and production platform.
Heading up the new features are Inspire and Listen – described as “intelligent tools for idea generation and harmonic matching” – plus Advanced search functionality, and Loopcloud’s first iOS app.
There’s also five new effects, 1,000 fresh presets for Loopcloud’s sound remixing tool Flip, a MIDI refresh with a new preview engine, plus upgrades to DRUM and PLAY, and access to Producertech video tutorials for every subscriber.

READ MORE: Stop sending me vibecoded plugins, I’m begging you

That’s the top-level, but let’s dive a little deeper into what’s new for Loopcloud 8…
Loopcloud 8: what’s new

First up in what’s new for Loopcloud 8 is Inspire, a new platform which offers producers, you guessed it, inspiration for where to start for a track. Simply pick a genre, and Inspire builds an arrangement of samples, chords and drums which can be used as a starting point for an idea.
Of course, inspiration might not only be required at the start of the creative process; you may need a little nudge along the way, and that’s where Listen comes in. It essentially takes a look at your track and uses Loopcloud Intelligence – the platform’s harmonic-matching algorithm – to recommend samples that work with the material you already have.
Music artist and Loopcloud 8 beta tester Saint Evo waxes lyrical on Listen: “[It] has been particularly useful in helping me narrow down sounds much faster based on the direction of a project. I’ve found it equally useful when starting a new idea and when I’m in the final stages of a project looking for that elusive ‘cherry on top’ to complete the sound.”
Meanwhile, Loopcloud 8 features Advanced Search, which uses a prompt-style user interface to allow producers to enter more complex descriptions like “warm analogue bassline” or “vinyl-crackle boom bap drums”, as opposed to just tags.
Credit: Loopmasters
Five new effects also come as standard with PLAY, Loopcloud 8’s sample-based instrument: Gator, a step sequencer with swing, tied runs and randomisation capabilities; a Looper; Utility, which combines gain, pan, width and mono-bass in one effect; Chorus; and a crunchy Bitcrush effect.
Significantly, Loopcloud 8 coincides with the launch of the platform’s first iOS app, which brings Inspire, catalogue browsing, previewing and more to your smartphone. This means you can generate idea starting points, and browse and save sounds on the go, which sync to your Loopcloud account so they’re ready to go when you return to your DAW. “Ideas don’t wait for a studio session, so now neither does Loopcloud,” the platform says.
Flip, which takes any sound and reworks it into something new, has now doubled its preset library to 2,000, which each one built for a specific instrument or sound type. In addition, the platform’s MIDI library now has more than 125,000 files, including around 8,000 drum patterns.
Extra perks
Credit: Loopmasters
Each subscription to Loopcloud 8 also offers access to over 400 hours of tutorials covering production, synthesis, EQ, compression and more, taught by working producers and industry tutors. And if that wasn’t enough, Loopcloud is offering 12 free plugins a year – one per month – to subscribers, with plugins from Baby Audio, Tone Empire, Rhodes, and Beatsurfing.
What is Loopcloud saying about the latest update?
“Loopcloud 8 is built to help producers finish ideas faster, whether they’re searching in their own words, starting with Inspire, or using Listen to find the last sound a track needs,” says Loopmasters CEO Matt Pelling. “This is the most complete version of Loopcloud we’ve released to date.”
Pricing & availability
Loopcloud 8 is available now, priced at £7.95 / $10.95 / €9.95 per month. You can also sign up on an annual basis to get 4 months free. A 14-day free trial is also available.
Head to Loopcloud to learn more.
The post Loopmasters’ sampling powerhouse Loopcloud just got a massive update – here’s what’s new appeared first on MusicTech.

At Head Trip 2026, I spent most of the weekend in Floating Points’ Sunflower Sound System — here’s whyThere were way fewer heads at Head Trip than I expected.
All weekend, I only had to wait in line to get into the Sunflower Sound System twice, and both times were in the earlier part of the day. Despite it being the first time Floating Points’ custom-built hi-fi audio experience had ever landed in North America, as soon as the big headliners hit the main stage, that’s where most of the festival‘s attendees wanted to be.

READ MORE: Head Trip 2026: Tech highlights from the one-time-only electronic music festival

Most people I spoke to either had never heard of Sunflower or wandered in as a “sidequest,” not paying any mind to the pristine sound quality. Of course, enjoying Skrillex, Calvin Harris, and Swedish House Mafia in a row on the same stage is heady as well. Talk about one of the most epic single-day lineups in rave history.
But Sunflower Sound System was a technical and musical marvel. Floating Points, real name Sam Shepherd, went on a decade-long journey around the globe to search for the specific components he needed to build his ideal loudspeaker system, and it was well worth it. Head Trip marketed the sound itself as the headliner, and that was exactly the case.
The music from these eight, 14-foot-tall speaker stacks felt real. Tangible. Avalon Emerson, one of the DJs who played Sunflower at Head Trip and Glastonbury in 2025, shares her thoughts:
“Sound is number one. Either you consciously or unconsciously appreciate it. It affects everybody for sure,” Emerson says. “I respect the desire to build something like this and share it. It is such a different dance music experience, and that variety of experience is sorely needed. I’m very happy that Sunflower came over to the U.S. for this, and I got to play on it.”
Image: Press
Jacques Vincent was very happy Emerson was playing on the system as well. He came to Head Trip “very much” to experience Sunflower, and Emerson and Floating Points were his top two artists to listen to.
“I love Floating Points. Seeing the Sunflower system is a huge deal for me. I want to support whatever he does. Also, he’s a huge music nerd, so I know whatever he does is going to be exceptional,” Vincent says before calling the sound quality “incredible.”
The room also gets a ton of credit for the quality. Head Trip was produced by Goldenvoice, the promoter responsible for Coachella. Coachella has hosted the Yuma tent, its on-site nightclub, since 2013. The festival also hosted two separate runs of Despacio, the custom McIntosh-powered sound system designed by James Murphy, lead singer of LCD Soundsystem, and David and Stephen Dewaele, better known as Soulwax and 2manydjs.
READ MORE: Why festivals are booking hi-fi sound systems on their lineups
Needless to say, Goldenvoice has considerable experience building temporary structures to house sound systems, and, according to Jess Xanthe, the Head Trip experience was better than Dekmantel, the celebrated leftfield electronic music festival in Amsterdam.
Xanthe was one of the few attendees I met who spent the entire weekend in Sunflower. While few of the attendees followed her lead, those who did heard selections from a lineup hand-picked by Floating Points.
Day one featured Mad Professor, Theo Parrish, and “Floating Points and Friends,” exploring the far corners of music. Legendary dub producer Mad Professor busted out his bespoke live setup with a full mixing desk and analogue tape machines to play dub versions of irrefutable hits like Billie Jean and I Shot the Sheriff.
Passively or actively, people have heard these songs thousands of times throughout their lives. But this will likely be the only time they’ll hear them with live remixed basslines and vocals, literally creating an experience that can never be replicated. Then, after that, Theo Parrish was sifting through vinyl for hours, playing everything from funk classics to free-form jazz noise.
Image: Press
Day two was the rave day. Zach Cowie, Ben UFO, Emerson, Eris Drew & Octo Octa all played, with a closing back-to-back featuring Four Tet and Floating Points, as well as Ben UFO and Emerson once again. These lauded club DJs brought their absolute A-game under some extra lights and lasers to spice up the visuals. No set times were released for Sunflower, which may have deterred some people from checking it out, but for those who were there for it, the surprise was everything.
I walked in towards the end of Ben UFO’s set when he closed with a heavy old-school dubstep track. Eris Drew and Octo Octa played a breakbeat tune that had the fattest snare I’ve ever heard. Floating Points closed, playing music that stretched the boundaries of his creation.
Moreover, Emerson told me that all the DJs received a multi-page PDF of exactly how to get the best use of the sound system. Shepherd also curated the gear for the room, which included his custom Isonoe rotary mixer.
“On my DJ Rider, there’s a part that says, ‘I like this mixer,’ but sometimes the clubs have a secret rotary mixer in the back closet that all the other DJs are afraid to use. But I would love to use it if it’s there,” says Emerson. “I have DJed so much. This is like a new toy. It’s like I get to drive a new car.”
Naturally, this excitement influenced everything she played, and when it was her turn after Eris Drew and Octo Octa, she dragged the tempo down from 130 bpm to 90 bpm.
“I’m kind of a long-standing hater of the BPM inflation of everything. I wanted to take the opportunity to play slower,” Emerson says, remembering picks from the Norwegian legend of funky music Todd Terje as well as a new song from the burgeoning alternative electronic artist Oklou. “I play a very different set. It’s stuff that I want to hear on it. One of the cool things about a sound system as a headliner is it can be one rare space for different kinds of music.”
Image: Press
And even though most attendees at Head Trip preferred the sheer power of a full-scale L-Acoustics festival rig on the main stage, Sunflower demonstrated the power that these rare spaces have to bring people together around a specific intention.
When I spoke to Canadian DJ Adam Doubleyou and Kellie Kocher in the Sunflower bar area, they were sporting gear with the Despacio logo. It turns out they met each other at Portola, another Goldenvoice festival, in San Francisco, where Despacio was deployed. That was two weeks before Head Trip. They both came to SoCal specifically for Sunflower and picked up the dance party right where they left off.
“It’s interesting to compare notes to what we consider the gold standard of partying, Despacio, with this iteration of a similar concept,” says Doubleyou. “I’m very glad this is happening, and I hope Goldenvoice brings it back.”
“I like hearing things that are unexpected. That’s why I like Despacio, and I like this. Surprise me. Give me something new,” says Kellie Kocher, who especially appreciates that she could use the restroom and visit the bar without having to leave the Sunflower area and get back in line.
“I was in there holding my bladder forever, and then I came out and realised I could have come out a long time ago!” Kocher says with a laugh.
Image: Press
It might not have mattered that much if she did have to leave because, again, there was practically never a line for Sunflower. A part of me is disappointed by that, especially knowing the lines for Despacio at Portola were so long.
But my disappointment is vastly outweighed by the incredible experience I had. With the vast majority of attendees there for the main stage, the energy within the Sunflower was absolutely incredible. Everyone was there for the same reason. To dance their hearts out to the most pristine-sounding music (and also watch the occasional puppet show). No pushing or shoving. No overcrowding. Just sound and movement.
The post At Head Trip 2026, I spent most of the weekend in Floating Points’ Sunflower Sound System — here’s why appeared first on MusicTech.

“Do I really believe that at the end, I have a result that justifies the effort?” Inside the strict decision-making process of Ableton founder and Monolake musician Robert HenkeAs one of the founders of Ableton – and a successful solo artist in his own right under the moniker Monolake – German musician and pioneer Robert Henke has to be specific about where he spends his time and effort.
Growing up in a family of engineers and raised in the iconic Berlin club scene, Henke bleeds electronic music, and created Ableton in 1999 alongside current CEO Gerhard Behles and software engineer Bernd Roggendorf.
So as a musician with such a stacked resume, he has learned to scrutinise the decisions he makes when it comes to both building products and music composition.

READ MORE: My Forever Studio: Robert Henke’s forever DAW isn’t a DAW

“There is a quality in the decision-making process that is involved here,” he tells MusicTech in the latest episode of the My Forever Studio podcast.
“Every decision for something is a massive decision against a lot of other options because it takes time to build stuff. And that means I scrutinise my ideas a lot before I start building.
“I have a whole notebook full of ideas and sketches of things, but only a tiny fraction of those things I finally decide to throw my energy on, and that means I think a lot about, ‘Does this specific thing I’m attempting to do really help me? Do I really believe that at the end, I have a result that justifies the effort?’”
Elsewhere in the episode, Robert Henke takes us through his creative process when it comes to making his own sample packs, and goes deep on his love for expressive hardware and his fascination with sound technology.
MusicTech’s My Forever Studio podcast – created in partnership with Audient – finds artists, producers and engineers designing their fantasy Forever Studio, in which they can select six items with no regard for cost or limitation to build their dream creative environment.
However, hosts Chris Barker and Will Betts impose some strict rules: they must only choose six items for their studio, and must do so wisely. There will be nostalgia. There will be anecdotes. There may be gags. But there will be no bundles!
Subscribe to My Forever Studio on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and check out all episodes so far via MusicTech.

The post “Do I really believe that at the end, I have a result that justifies the effort?” Inside the strict decision-making process of Ableton founder and Monolake musician Robert Henke appeared first on MusicTech.

SoundMorph releases First Contact, a FREE 1.16 GB cinematic sound effects library
SoundMorph is offering First Contact, a free cinematic sound effects library with over 100 WAV files and 1.16 GB of content. First Contact combines previously unreleased material with selections from Sinematic, Sinematic 2, WATER, Rainscapes, and Robotic Lifeforms 2. We’ve covered SoundMorph before, including the retirement of the original TimeFlux software earlier this year. That [...]
View post: SoundMorph releases First Contact, a FREE 1.16 GB cinematic sound effects library

Cableguys releases TimeStop tape-stop plugin and launches Black Friday sale + GIVEAWAY
Cableguys has released TimeStop, a $16 tape-stop plugin for macOS and Windows, alongside its Black Friday sale. They are also offering two free TimeStop licenses to BPB readers What is TimeStop? TimeStop lets you draw slowdowns directly in your DAW’s automation lanes. You can automate the large Pitch knob to decide exactly where the sound [...]
View post: Cableguys releases TimeStop tape-stop plugin and launches Black Friday sale + GIVEAWAY