Attorney Chooses Music Over Law & Invests In Audient ASP4816-SEMusic producer, Thomas Shea favours a ‘scattered workstation approach’ to his home studio. “I like to work in different places. I just like the variety,” he says. With the ASP4816-SE a significant part of his music production arsenal, he acknowledges that his way of doing things “is unusual.”

Not as unusual as his back story, however. Tom originally trained as an attorney and practised law, until one day 16 years ago he had an epiphany! He decided he was going to become a music producer. “Lightning struck me. I closed down my law practice,” he says. He went about finding local musicians, taught himself songwriting, made connections and bought himself some recording gear - he was well and truly hooked!

The Audient brand first came to his attention when looking for a replacement audio interface. His first purchase was the latest iD44. “I liked the quality, the test measurements, the form factor and the metal construction.”  Now he uses that as a headphones amplifier with his ASP4816-SE, and has since picked up an iD4 as well.

Shea shares what he particularly likes about the console. “First, the sound.  I am one of those producers who likes a very clean sound and the ASP4816-SE really delivers on this.  Second, the build and finish quality is excellent.  I am very fussy about things like that.  The quality of the faders and knobs, the beautiful aesthetic redesign and the flawless finish are very satisfying to me.  It is a pleasure each time I see it.“

He continues, “Third is the functionality.  I am constantly pleased with the way the console functions are designed.  The layout and functions make sense and are easy, relative to its many capabilities.  It seems to me other consoles are overly complex and confusing to use.  Not the ASP4816-SE!”

Tom Shea can be found on many global music services. He’s currently working on a new album, with a few songs already in final production stages. 

Read more here: audient.com/news/2024/02/26/tom-shea/

Visit audient.com

Sales from K-Pop stars including Jungkook and Seventeen pushed HYBE’s revenues to over $1.6bn in 2023South Korea-based entertainment giant HYBE has published its earnings for Q4 and FY 2023
Source

How jazz samples can inspire your next track
The musicians behind the Signature sample label discuss the importance of jazz in today's music.

REZZ breaks down new track ‘Can You See Me’ and gives studio tourFuture bass producer REZZ has given fans a glimpse into her red-lit creative lair in Toronto, where she makes her music.

READ MORE: “There’s 800 ways to skin the DJ cat”: Deadmau5 on the why DJing is more than just a live performance

From the depths of her converted shed studio, with Medusa’s decapitated head overseeing the process, the Canadian DJ unravels how she created her new track Can You See Me? in a new clip posted to YouTube.
In terms of equipment, REZZ’s mixing station is stripped-back, with eight-and-a-half-inch JBL studio monitors, a Focusrite Scarlet Solo sound card, and Sol Republic headphones. She’s also working on Ableton Live. It’s a setup she calls “minimal,” but it is clearly effective.
She starts the track breakdown with the drums: “The drums in my opinion have a very industrial feel, which is sort of the vibe that I’m going for this project,” she explains. “For the clap and the snare… there’s two layers. It gives it that punch, and then the layer underneath has this sort of reverb. [It makes an] atmospheric sounding snare clap.”

FabFilter’s Saturn saturation plugin also helped REZZ fine-tune the track’s drums. “I use a preset on it called Basic Saturator,” she explains. “It makes the kick sound fatter, and there’s a slight distortion to it.” As she plays the drum track, you can hear the ‘fat’ quality – it feels impossibly atmospheric, like an ominous wasteland.
As REZZ explains, the key ingredient when constructing Can You See Me?’s haunting sound was layering. Much like the drumming tracks, the vocal tracks are also layered to heighten the unsettling, twisted sensation of the track.
After playing a set of whispered vocals in isolation, REZZ explains “I felt like I needed some atmosphere, some reverb, so I created a different version to layer it.” The multiple vocal layers vary from light, ghostly whispers, to frazzled, scratchy howls of “Can you hear me?”.  The contrasting whispers and more frantic vocals add an unnerving quality to the track, an undercurrent of panic.

“I’m not really notorious for using any of my own vocals on my tracks,” REZZ goes on to explain. “This is what I consider to be the first debut of my vocals on a track. and I’m actually super stoked about how it sounded!”
Pitching down and twisting previous sounds used on the track served as the finishing touch. With industrial samples, and rehashing previous drum samples, amping up the BPM to 156 for the climax, the track is a whirl of disorienting mental horror. At times throughout the creation process, REZZ admits she was thinking “am I literally all right or should I be in the psych ward?”
While REZZ is incredibly DIY-minded, she’s a lover of presets. In her eyes, they help artists create their own sounds, giving them a foundation to build upon. “This is a Serum preset – there’s nothing wrong with using presets, I like to use a preset and then I like to edit it afterwards, sort of make it my own,” she says.
REZZ is always ensuring tracks are wholeheartedly ‘her own’, taking a hands-on approach to her mixing. “I always mix as I go,” she asserts. “The only time I ever get someone else to mix or master my tracks is if it’s a collaboration with someone and I trust their judgement, like deadmau5… He’s such a genius with mixing and mastering. I just, like, let him do it.”
The track comes as the second taste of REZZ’s 14th March release, Can You See Me?. Considering REZZ has said the record is set to be her “heaviest yet”, we’re sure the record will have many other treats in store.
Subscribe to REZZ on YouTube.
The post REZZ breaks down new track ‘Can You See Me’ and gives studio tour appeared first on MusicTech.

Lumina Delay by Mountainroad DSP Rather than relying on knobs and buttons, Lumina Delay allows users to plot delay taps and control their parameters using an intuitive visual interface.

More than 100 Focusrite RedNet units were used at the Super BowlThe Super Bowl Halftime Show has become arguably the biggest live entertainment moment of the calendar year. And for a big show, you need a big rig.
A big rig was exactly what was powering Usher’s spectacular halftime show, run by California audio-visual equipment hire service ATK Audiotek at Super Bowl LVIII, held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on 11 February. The show saw an attendance of 70,000 and was watched by a whopping 123 million people. No pressure, then.

READ MORE: Yes, Alicia Keys’ Super Bowl performance was fixed afterwards – but why do we care?

The vast audio rig was shared recently by Focusrite, who interviewed ATK Audiotek’s Kirk Powell, Engineer-in-Charge at the Super Bowl.
In the revealing chat, he emphasises the significance of the Focusrite RedNet setup, stating, “This is our ninth year using Focusrite RedNet with our Dante Audio-over IP network at the Super Bowl. This year we are employing over 100 RedNet units, which is the largest Focusrite setup used on a Super Bowl to date.”
The extensive RedNet infrastructure, featuring components such as RedNet D16R MkII, RedNet A16R MkII, RedNet D64R, RedNet MP8R, and RedNet AM2 units, ensured fluid connectivity across a range of interfaces and made for effective clock management during the event.
Speaking to Focusrite, Powell highlights the challenges of designing and installing the audio system, particularly regarding rigging and cable management due to the unique ceiling structure of Allegiant Stadium. He explains, “Flying the P.A. Allegiant Stadium’s ceiling structure is cable-based, just like SoFi Stadium, which restricts options for placing clusters and similar components due to weight restrictions and rigging points.”
Despite these challenges, Powell notes, “The system worked out really well. Also, with renowned mixers Dave Natale and Alex Guessard handling FOH duties, the audio for the performances sounded great.”
Read more news via MusicTech.
The post More than 100 Focusrite RedNet units were used at the Super Bowl appeared first on MusicTech.

Nero rediscover stack of old CDs full of original WAVS and unreleased music from 2004-2010Drum and bass trio Nero have found a mighty stack of old CD-Rs in an attic, which just so happen to contain the original WAVS of their music from 2004-2010, plus a bunch of their unreleased tracks from the same era too.
A picture of the CDs was shared by the outfit on X, and show the words “old Nero bits” sprawled on one of them in marker pen. It seems there have been no official plans yet revealed as to what they might do (if at all) with these unreleased treasures.

READ MORE: “Thank you GarageBand”: PinkPantheress named Billboard’s Producer Of The Year

The outfit are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, and are due to release a new album, titled Into The Unknown, later this year. It will mark their first full-length release in nearly a decade, with their 2015 album, Between II Worlds, being their most recent LP.
Of course, these newly uncovered CDs were made during the era which saw them release some of their biggest hits including Guilt and Promises, both from their 2011 album, Welcome Reality. When contacted by EDM.com about any potential plans for the CDs, Nero said they’re “still figuring it out.”

Just discovered a stack of old CD-Rs in the attic. Amongst them are the original WAVS of all of our released DnB from 2004-2010 as well as loads of unreleased tunes from that era. pic.twitter.com/NtVp05pvtZ
— Nero (@NeroUK) February 15, 2024

In the meantime, their latest singles from this new and upcoming era, Truth and Blame You, are out now.  Check them out below:

In other news of unreleased music, an upcoming documentary that follows the career of Brian Eno has been announced, and the official soundtrack (created by Eno himself) will feature three previously unreleased recordings. Overall, it is made up of 17 tracks that span Eno’s career, from his early solo works to his acclaimed collaborations and recent compositions.
A former session drummer for Daft Punk also recently alleged that the duo have unreleased fifth album “in limbo”, though they are yet to provide official comment on this.
The post Nero rediscover stack of old CDs full of original WAVS and unreleased music from 2004-2010 appeared first on MusicTech.

“Thank you GarageBand”: PinkPantheress named Billboard’s Producer Of The YearWhen PinkPantheress arrived on the scene in 2021, it was clear she had a spark. Despite recording and mixing tracks from the comfort of her own bedroom, her dreamy approach to music quickly breached the UK top 40.
Three years on from her debut singles, Just For Me and Pain, Billboard are honouring PinkPantheress’s self-made magic, crowning her as their Producer Of The Year. The 22-year-old star is Billboard’s second-ever Producer Of The Year, following on from the first winner in 2023, Rosalía.

READ MORE: Yes, Alicia Keys’ Super Bowl performance was fixed afterwards – but why do we care?

In light of the award announcement, PinkPantheress has attributed one thing to her success. Taking to X, she simply writes: “Love you GarageBand.”

love u garageband https://t.co/0L7P3xmmVl
— pinkpantheress (@pinkpantheress2) February 15, 2024

While she hasn’t allowed many peeks behind the curtain, she has previously shared snippets of her GarageBand work in collaboration with Apple. PinkPantheress took to TikTok to explain the process behind Central Cee collaboration Nice To Meet You. The video shows her using GarageBand as well as Logic Pro.

@pinkpantheress
me and cash collaborated with apple to show y’all how we made nice to meet u #fyp #newmusic
♬ original sound –

Aged only 22, PinkPantheress has previously been named Best Female Act at the MOBOs, as well as the BBC’s Sound of 2022.
Speaking to the BBC in 2022, PinkPantheress explained why her DIY, self-produced approach allows her to flourish. “I sing more confidently when I know no-one can really hear me, “ she said. “There’s something about it being really late and dark and relaxing and silent that’s more inspiring than a busy, sunny day. Especially for my music.”
Billboard’s Editorial Director Hannah Karp says she is “thrilled to honour PinkPantheress as one of the most exciting young producers on the rise”.
“Women are still seriously under-represented among the producers making today’s top hits, so we’re grateful to our partners at Bose for helping spotlight talented artists like PinkPantheress who are producing and inspiring a new generation of women to get behind the boards, in addition to wowing fans their fans as performers on stage,” she comments.
The Billboard 2024 Producer of the Year Award will be presented at the Billboard Women in Music Awards on 6th March.
Tickets to attend currently range between $95-$285, and fans can watch the show on 7 March at 5pm PT/8pm ET at Billboard Women in Music.
The post “Thank you GarageBand”: PinkPantheress named Billboard’s Producer Of The Year appeared first on MusicTech.

This AI-based music synthesizer might just change how you make musicOn today’s episode of ‘wacky instruments you’ve probably never asked for’, we have SPIN, an AI music synthesizer that lets you make compositions with the language model, MusicGen.
Developed by designer Arvind Sanjeev, the machine – which kinda looks like a cross between a turntable and a Novation Launchpad – offers a tangible interface for co-composing music with AI.

READ MORE: Supreme’s 2024 collection features a Roland JU-06A and TR-08 in white

Simply enter the desired mood, genre, sounds and bpm, and listen to the music come alive on an LP record. A DVS (Digital Vinyl System) lets you slow down, zoom in, scratch and listen between the notes. You can use it to create new compositions, as a simple sound synthesizer, as a scratch tool, or to play generative music in the background.
Beneath its wooden hood, SPIN takes the input prompts via button presses through an Arduino Mega. This is sent via serial to a Raspberry Pi that prompts the MusicGen API, which spits out an mp3 file that’s then loaded onto the DVS.
For the turntable, a transmuted Numark PT-01 and a timecoded control vinyl record were used. The xwax DVS package for Raspberry Pi, meanwhile, reads the vinyl timecode through a Behringer audio driver, and all output is played via stereo speakers.
Of his process, Sanjeev explains: “There are a lot of amazing generative music experiments, from Dadabots’s relentless death metal streaming AI on YouTube to Holly Herndon’s experiments around voice transplantations.”
“But I realised we hit a tipping point when I stumbled upon the Riffusion music model; I was taken aback by its depth and realism, including its new update that adds lyrical voices to the output. Inspired by this, I wanted to build a platform to let me further explore and combine never-before-heard combinations of music and sounds. This laid the seed for building SPIN.”
Check out the synthesizer in action below.

Learn more at Arvind Sanjeev’s website.
The post This AI-based music synthesizer might just change how you make music appeared first on MusicTech.

Bandsintown integrated directly into Spotify to “boost concert and festival discovery worldwide”Live event discovery platform Bandsintown has now been integrated directly into Spotify in an effort to “boost concert and festival discovery worldwide, empower more artists, and enhance fan experiences”.
Fans can now find their favourite artists’ event listings via their artist page and also in the ‘Now Playing’ View, available when listening to a track. Upcoming live shows will also be available in the dedicated Live Events Feed.

READ MORE: Spotify introduces new TikTok-style vertical feed for discovering new music

Bandsintown data reveals that 150,000 more concerts took place in 2023 than in 2022, meaning artists and venues face rising costs and increased competition. Bandsintown and Spotify are aiming to “bridge the gap and ensure every artist gets their deserved spotlight”, with Spotify having increased impressions for live events across its platform by 10x in the last 12 months alone.
The free Bandsintown for Artists platform is already used by over half a million musicians, and it gives artists full control of their event listings. Artists can simply link their Spotify profiles and publish their shows on Bandsintown to expand their reach to listeners.
“Bandsintown is on a mission to help artists get discovered and sell out shows. With Spotify on board, we are bringing artists and fans closer in a world where every show counts, and every fan matters,” says Fabrice Sergent, co-founder and managing partner of Bandsintown.
“Our partnership with Bandsintown reinforces our commitment to help artists connect with and monetize their fan bases,” adds Jon Ostrow, Associate Director of Growth & Discovery, Live Events at Spotify.
“With more concert listings and data directly sourced from artists, this integration gives artists more control to update their tour schedules on Spotify and ultimately improves the fan experience of discovering and purchasing tickets.”
Find out more, including how to set up your Bandsintown for Artists account, over on the official Bandsintown website.
The post Bandsintown integrated directly into Spotify to “boost concert and festival discovery worldwide” appeared first on MusicTech.

Session Organ EKX for Toontrack EZKeys 2 The latest EZKeys 2 add-on captures Hammond’s iconic B-3 organ and also offers a modelled Leslie 122 rotary cabinet. 

Benn Jordan vs TuneCore: “23 albums nuked overnight with no warning”Benn Jordan‘s music, under his alias The Flashbulb, has been taken off streaming platforms, allegedly due to “streaming fraud” – and he is not happy.

READ MORE: Benn Jordan is done with making gear videos and reviews, cites “super toxic” community as cause 

Speaking to his audience via his Gumroad page, Jordan recounts the experience of finding his music removed from digital streaming platforms (DSPs): “Last Friday (10 February, 2024), I randomly pulled out my phone in the studio to reference one of my soundtracks for a composing collaboration. ‘Huh. My phone is bugging out,’ I complained.
“Then I noticed dozens of notifications: various listeners letting me know their feelings regarding my removal of all of my music. ‘What… the… fu?’
“And just like that, poof. I was erased from Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Deezer, YouTube Music, and virtually everywhere music is sold or streamed. I logged into TuneCore (my primary digital distributor since 2007), and without warning or any communication, they removed a total of 23 albums.”
Taking to Twitter, Jordan posted screenshots of his TuneCore artist page and a conversation with TuneCore, which claims Spotify had “identified and removed a high amount of streams” from his royalty calculation due to “evidence of abnormal streaming activity” on his releases. It also claims to have conducted “an additional internal investigation” and confirmed the evidence.

On what fucking planet is it okay to ban an artist with 1.6 million annual listeners without any communication?
Is this literally what happens when you criticize the way streaming platforms treat musicians?
You had one job, @TuneCore. pic.twitter.com/PZJYtRNXg4
— Benn Jordan (@bennjordan) February 10, 2024

“An ‘internal investigation’ has confirmed ‘evidence’ of streaming fraud on Spotify,” Jordan writes on X/Twitter.
“Therefore, The Flashbulb and my other music has been permanently removed from all platforms. 23 albums nuked overnight with no warning or communication.
“Give me a fucking break TuneCore.”

An "internal investigation" has confirmed "evidence" of streaming fraud on Spotify.
Therefore, The Flashbulb and my other music has been permanently removed from all platforms. 23 albums nuked overnight with no warning or communication.
Give me a fucking break @tunecore. pic.twitter.com/AmCiybhYj4
— Benn Jordan (@bennjordan) February 12, 2024

After TuneCore’s CEO, Andreea Gleeson, responded to inform him his enquiry would be handled after the weekend, Jordan responded: “I guess the guy who deletes 23 albums without warning or communication works weekends and the support staff that deals with the artist(s) and label affected doesn’t.
“Good thing my 300k monthly listeners don’t listen to music on weekends.”

I guess the guy who deletes 23 albums without warning or communication works weekends and the support staff that deals with the artist(s) and label affected doesn't.
Good thing my 300k monthly listeners don't listen to music on weekends. https://t.co/16IQBgt34V
— Benn Jordan (@bennjordan) February 12, 2024

Jordan has provided MusicTech with a folder of his correspondences with TuneCore, along with his streaming history across multiple platforms including Spotify. One item mentioned that the removal of his music could amount to $500,000 worth of losses.
He later said that TuneCore’s support had “finally” reached out to him and accused him of fraud, and he is now having to meet with legal counsel as a result.
Gleeson has responded to the backlash: “Thanks for the candid feedback and totally agree that we need more and deeper weekend support. This is something we are actively working on expanding.”
Jordan also tells MusicTech: “Whether this is malice related to my Spotify criticism or simply negligence, this is dystopian for reasons much larger than myself or my loss of income. While being erased from existence and gaslit is among one of the worst things that can happen to an artist, if there was one fight I was born to fight, it’s this one.
“I have millions of listeners and my music is on over 300,000 active playlists. These listeners pay a fee to listen to this music, and now it seems to be unavailable even if they downloaded it. The streaming music industry is so broken that it can no longer provide the simple transaction it spent billions of dollars trying to replace.”
The “Spotify criticism” Jordan alludes to includes a variety of video essays posted to his YouTube channel, such as How Money Laundering W/ Spotify Works, and Why Spotify Will Ultimately Fail. In his correspondence with TuneCore, he states that he has “never been involved in any type of streaming fraud. In fact, I’ve done extensive journalism to expose it.”

MusicTech has reached out to TuneCore for comment.
Jordan is offering his entire discography for download at a ‘pay what you want’ price tag. “Pay what you want. Seriously,” reads the message on Gumroad. “If you’re broke, pay the minimum and enjoy the music. If you’re generous, this will certainly help me out as I’ve just had a significant portion of my income cut off and may be entering an expensive legal battle.”
Read more at The Flashbulb Gumroad page. 
The post Benn Jordan vs TuneCore: “23 albums nuked overnight with no warning” appeared first on MusicTech.

Reflex Acoustics Release FREE Dynamic Range Meter Plugin
Reflex Acoustics releases free Reflex Dynamic Range Meter plugin for macOS and Windows. Reflex Dynamic Range Meter is a free plugin that allows users to visualize the dynamic range of their track across the frequency spectrum. Music means different things to different people, and I’m a firm believer that the process of learning and creating [...]
View post: Reflex Acoustics Release FREE Dynamic Range Meter Plugin

dSONIQ update Realphones headphone correction suite dSONIQ have recently announced the release of Realphones 2.0, a new and improved version of their headphone correction and room simulation software.

Music Subscriber Market Share Report 2023 shows global growth [MIDiA]Mark Mulligan and the team at MIDiA have released their latest music subscriber market share report, and it shows continued global streaming growth...
The post Music Subscriber Market Share Report 2023 shows global growth [MIDiA] appeared first on Hypebot.