Variety Of Sound Releases FREE epicCLOUDS Ambient Reverb
Variety of Sound released epicCLOUDS, a freeware ambient reverb plugin for Windows. epicCLOUDS can generate soft ambient reverb textures while maintaining signal clarity. It achieves a rich ambient reverb effect without succumbing to common issues such as signal masking. The launch of a new plugin from Variety of Sound is always cause for celebration. The [...]
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How the Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II encourages you to push past creative limitsIt’s often hard to tell whether Teenage Engineering is being serious when it releases a new product. £1,499 computer desks? A choir of eight wooden singing dolls at £220 each? It’s a tough sell. But when its Pocket Operators are among the most affordable synths and samplers on the market, the OP-1 is a bona fide modern classic, and the OP-Z is treasured enough for a person to get it inked on their arm, you can’t help but pay attention whenever something new arrives.
So when the EP-133 K.O.II dropped in November 2023, all eyes were back on Teenage Engineering.
Yes, it looks like a LEGO calculator. Yes, some buyers are reporting genuine fader quality issues, causing ‘Fadergate’ to become a recurring term on Reddit. But, yes, it is a $299 sampler that you can’t help but be tempted by — and that TE is taking very seriously.
Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II. Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
“It was a bit overwhelming — we knew it would be popular, but that popular? I think we had different opinions,” says David Eriksson, co-founder and head of hardware at Teenage Engineering, of the reaction to the K.O.II. He’s speaking to us from Sweden, where TE is based, alongside corporate giants Spotify and IKEA.
“We’re not at all market-driven,” Eriksson continues. “I mean, most big companies on this planet are; they try to predict what might sell well. I think we’re probably the opposite.”
So how did Teenage Engineering decide to create the K.O.II?
Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II. Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
“[A new product] could be something we feel is needed in our studios. This machine is different to what we usually do. We have the Pocket Operators, that are kind of in the same kind of genre — one machine that does one thing really well — but we’ve never done a kind of classic sampler that’s tuned for performing or improvising.”
Inspired by old-school samplers such as the Akai MPC 3000 and E-Mu SP-1200, the EP-133 K.O.II is playful and portable, but certainly has limitations. The 64MB memory, 20 seconds of sample time, and 12-voice polyphony are practically laughable compared to what is capable of our laptops, phones and more expensive samplers. But, as Ricky Tinez quickly realised, such limitations and quirks can prove more creative than they seem.
“[The K.O.II] quickly became, to me, like the number one recommendation to anybody who’s trying to make beats,” says Tinez, a producer, content creator, and Elektron brand manager. Speaking to us from California, Tinez is surrounded by much less gear than you’ll see in the three videos showcasing the K.O.II, but is still palpably enthused to talk studio tech.

He experienced some bugs and hurdles in his videos of the EP-133 K.O.II but seems to have since come to terms with the oddities of Teenage Engineering’s new sampler.
“It’s battery powered, it has a speaker, it samples any sound you want, it has a built-in microphone so you can sample sounds directly there, it plays your samples chromatically, it has drum groups, it has mute groups, it has sample editing, you know, MIDI in/MIDI out, MIDI sequence sequencing, and it’s 300 fucking dollars! That is insanity,” he chuckles.
Eriksson and his team always wanted to keep the K.O.II limited, just like its predecessor, the PO-133 K.O.
“People are still buying a lot of vintage gear for insane money,” he says. “A [Roland] TR-909 today…it’s nuts how much you have to pay for it. And why? It’s because people like that it’s very limited and it has its own sound.
The box for Teenage Engineering’s EP-133 K.O.II. Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
“That was the idea, with both the Pocket Operators and the K.O.II, to make something that has a vibe to it — both how you use it and how it sounds. Of course, it’s sample-based so how it sounds is [up to you], but the way you apply effects and how the signal chain is built up, it still gives it a bit of character.”
Upon first interacting with the K.O.II, you sort of want to just smash the buttons and see what happens. Thankfully, that can be pretty rewarding. It’s preloaded with 300 sounds and has 12 punch-in master effects (that make the backlit screen go wild), so you can start using those calculator-style buttons to quickly lay down a beat. And, of course, you’ve got the microphone to record whatever you want. It really does have character.
“That’s something I really like about the K.O.II,” says Tinez. “You just press sample and you hold the pad, and you’re sampling. There’s no like, ‘Oh, go to this menu, turn this on, blah, blah, blah’, it’s so simple. I’m at a point right now, where I’m like, if [an instrument] slows me down, and it’s not fun to use, it’s just going in the closet. And I don’t care what the price point is. It could be a $50 sampler or a $2,000. Sampler — if it’s fast, it’s fast, and I’m gonna keep it. And if it’s slow, it’s gone.”
But let’s address the elephant in the room. The K.O.II’s build quality has been rightly criticised by plenty of customers online. Fadergate isn’t a myth — some models have arrived defective, with the sampler’s sole slider being unresponsive. But there are also reports of the speaker not working, the unit not booting up properly, and bugs deleting entire patterns (you can see this happening to Tinez in his video on stretching samples on the K.O.II).

We’re yet to experience any issues on the loan unit we’ve received for review purposes. Not yet, anyway. But Eriksson and his team were made quickly aware of Fadergate and assures us they have made steps to minimise future mishaps.
“We tried to predict everything that can go wrong, from production to cosmetics,” he says. “We’ve built a lot of fixtures, tools and automation to build these [instruments] and to avoid things like this from happening.
“We’re going to put up online, quite soon, a factory tour to show the machinery we designed to build the K.O.II. There are a lot of robotics that move the fader up and down and push all the keys and calibrate them, plus we have a log of everything. So we know for sure that they work when they go into the box and leave the factory. And then, of course, we could guess that you get transport damage, but not at this rate.”
“And then there were a couple of different mistakes from our side with the packaging dimensions. The size of the box is 10 inches, so some stores thought it was a 10-inch vinyl package and so shipped it without padding. But it was also our little design flaw, we didn’t have any protection, and if something hit the packaging straight on the fader, it would break. Now that’s been changed. So we have new packaging — now, we’ve been throwing it like a frisbee at work, at the walls, like over and over. And now it doesn’t break.”
Back of the Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II. Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
A plethora of customers are still awaiting their replacement units or parts, though, which is no use to those who managed to grab a K.O.II before it sold out. The next batch is expected to be available in the next couple of months — here’s hoping new customers will be able to throw theirs like a frisbee with no issues, too.
Those who are lucky enough to have a working model right now will see a handful of software updates recently implemented by TE. This includes some bug fixes and general quality-of-life improvements, which can be applied by opening the TE browser updater and plugging the sampler into a laptop or phone, which is a neat way to handle updates.
“We have a lot of stuff planned, it’s just we were focusing on stability in the beginning and getting it rock solid,” says Eriksson. He keeps any info on the updates close to his chest, but does mention that TE hasn’t even “turned on the CPU’s crazy power-saving features” yet.
Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II pads. Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Tinez hopes for a threshold level for recording. That way, he doesn’t have to use a paperweight to hold down ‘Record’ as he plays in audio from a synth. But, from his experience at Novation and Elektron, Tinez knows that implementing new features isn’t always straightforward.
“Turning to the audience and the customer and saying, “Tell us everything you want!” just turns into this, like, Homer Simpson car where nothing makes sense,” he explains. “And then navigating it and all that stuff. Because at Elektron, we deal with that, too. If we can’t find a good way to implement [a new feature], UI-wise, we just won’t do it. Because that’s more negative than it is positive and it isn’t helping anybody.”
It’s also kind of difficult to know what you want out of a $300 sampler. You can’t expect features from the likes of an MPC Live II or a Maschine+ to be implemented — you expect a high build quality, still — but sometimes it’s better to learn an instrument as it is. So Eriksson and Tinez believe, anyway.
“I see [the K.O.II] more as an instrument,” says Eriksson. “I mean, that’s why we have fairly good MIDI implementation. I mean, we might need to work on that a little bit to make it even deeper for people with many synths and stuff. But, as I see it, it’s a perfect standalone machine to do full tracks, whether you’re into breakbeat house or more beat-oriented music.
Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II screen. Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
“I mean, I’m personally like still buying vinyl and using my old Technics turntables, and it’s just looking at that old scene where you have your two faders and the crossfader, and you can still do crazy stuff with, like, two stereo tracks. And a lot of people at TE are working to build a computer-less setup in their studios. It’s not that we don’t like computers, they’re great. It’s more that we use those tools at work every day. So once you’re in the studio, trying to make music, you kind of want to get away from a desktop – I mean for mixing mastering, sure — but for just creating, [a computer] is in the way, I think. You end up just testing, you know, 14 new plugins, and then it’s bedtime.
“I’m impressed with people that can throw together track in an hour or two. You have to be so disciplined not to get carried away with the depth you have.”
“I want the machine to play me as much as I’m playing it,” says Tinez. “So I seek those limitations a lot of the time — and the K.O.II definitely has a lot of those limitations. Because when it comes to the creative process, if you have to decide for every single thing, you’ll gain fatigue. By the time you’re done making a track, you’re exhausted. But if a lot of the decisions are kind of set in stone for you to make, you’re like, ‘cool, this is just what I’m gonna work with. And I’m gonna make it work because this is all I got’, you know?”
Almost all of TE’s products — not the Field Desk — are born to be playful. The brand isn’t trying to create the ultimate groovebox or an endlessly-capable synthesizer. It’s trying to make instruments that are genuinely fun to use. Ricky Tinez is fine with that. “It’s refreshing for a company to be like, ‘This is the product. And if you’re not vibing with it, it might not be for you. And that’s okay.’”
Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II. Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Learn more about the EP-133 K.O.II at teenage.engineering.
The post How the Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II encourages you to push past creative limits appeared first on MusicTech.

Official Avicii subreddit to launch podcast “from fans, for fans” and they want you to be a part of itModerators who run the official Avicii subreddit are launching a podcast in honour of the EDM giant.
The r/Avicii Podcast is “coming soon”, and will explore his life, music and legacy as well as touching on other topics such as mental health, community news, and any notable productions linked to the artist.

READ MORE: Avicii Arena launches merch store where customers “pay with emotions” as part of mental health campaign

In an announcement published on Reddit, the podcast team writes, “Hey dear community, as some of you may remember, there was an attempt some time ago to launch an r/avicii podcast for this community. Due to scheduling commitments and implementation difficulties, it didn’t work out back then, but the desire for a podcast remained.”
They further add, “After many months of planning and developing a concept, we are more than pleased to announce that the first episode of our monthly podcast will be released soon! And we want you to be a part of it!”
The team is looking to collaborate with producers and music makers for the show, as well as fans who may have an interesting story to tell about Avicii or his music. Read the full post below:
Announcement: The r/Avicii Podcast is finally coming! And you can become a part of it! byu/teamraviciipodcast inavicii

Avicii, also known by his real name Tim Bergling, sadly took his own life in 2018. His family have since set up a mental health organisation, the Tim Bergling Foundation, in his memory. His music remains cherished by many, with his huge hit Wake Me Up reaching two billion streams on Spotify last year. It became the fourth dance track to do so.
The subreddit currently has over 25,000 members, and the podcast will be available to stream for free on Mixcloud. An official release date is yet to be confirmed.
If you’d like to participate in the podcast then you can fill out this submission form.
The post Official Avicii subreddit to launch podcast “from fans, for fans” and they want you to be a part of it appeared first on MusicTech.

CES 2024: This device teaches your dog to play the pianoCES 2024: ‘How great is your dog at playing the piano’ might sound like a ridiculous question to you, but it’s one that ZooGears, the Hong Kong-based startup behind this smart instrument for dogs, could very well offer the answer to.

READ MORE: Record label CEOs say “superfans” are the focus for 2024

Advancing the musical prowess of our furry friends is TheButter, a four-key instrument with pads that light up so your pup can ‘play’ it. All you have to do is load your preferred song onto the device via a mobile app. The keys will then light up in a specific sequence, which your dog can now follow, producing the ‘notes’ of the song.
As Dr. Pavlov would have it, you should reward your pup with a treat or prize once they’re done with the session. The idea is that with enough repetition, your pet will end up mastering those tracks as seen in the video below.

According to ZooGears, TheButter is made from the same materials used for kids, specifically SMMA, SAN, PP, and silicone. These 100% pet-safe, BPA-free, reliable and recyclable materials are scratch-resistant, durable, and made to serve water to your pets safely for years.
Also in development is TheBiscuit, a $299 device that works similarly to TheButter, but with the addition of an automatic food dispenser. Though beware that your status as dog feeder might be rendered void once your dog learns how to hammer out The Beatles’ Let It Be — and those doggie biscuits on their own.
First launched on Kickstarter in 2023, ZooGears was an instant hit and has since earned more than four times its initial HK$ 50,000 goal for TheButter.
The instrument is now available for purchase in the US for $99. Each purchase will also include a companion app that will guide you through your fur kid’s training progress. Because who doesn’t want to witness the glorious journey of the next Paw McCartney, am I right?

Learn more at Zoo Gear’s official website.
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Listen to the full Work Hard Playlist Hard marketing audiobook FREEWith his book “Work Hard Playlist Hard,” author Mike Warner provides proven actionable advice, time-tested through more than 20 years in the music industry. Now, he’s made an updated audio. Continue reading
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“People are having big songs, but big artists are not coming through”: Former Columbia Records UK head says not enough acts are breaking into the mainstreamEx-Columbia Records UK President Ferdy Unger-Hamilton has commented on the lack of artists breaking into the mainstream, saying things are “harder than it ever was”.

READ MORE: MSG withdraws plans for Vegas-style London Sphere

On the latest episode of Cambridge Audio’s Made By Music podcast, Unger-Hamilton admits that “We’re not breaking as many acts as we should be at Columbia, but no one is at the moment.”
“Acts aren’t breaking – big acts that matter. People are having big songs, but big artists are not coming through,” he explains [via Music Radar]. “Central Cee is an exception, you know, Dave is, but he came a long time ago. PinkPantheress has done really well [and] Sam Fender. But it’s harder than it ever was.”
Having worked with some of the biggest names in the industry like The 1975, Ellie Goulding, Foo Fighters, Portishead, Harry Styles, Ozzy Osbourne and Adele, the former Columbia exec and A&R maestro says: “What you want someone like me for is to find you great new acts, and when I’m not doing that it’s like a footballer that’s not scoring goals.”
“That’s what it is and I think it’s a happy thing for everyone because I started to build my own world – I had a publishing company and the other act that’s done really well is on my publishing company… Fred again.., who I signed about seven years ago really as a writer, before he was Fred again..”
Despite the challenges, Unger-Hamilton concedes that there’s still “a lot that’s good about now”.
“As an independent artist or label, you’re not held back by distribution,” he says. “You don’t need a truck, you don’t need to press any records or CDs. You can release music pretty easily — but it’s very hard for anyone who’s not established to get space.”
Asked for his advice to young musicians looking to succeed in the industry, Unger-Hamilton has this to say: “Artist, I just think be really good. Play an instrument – really learn your craft because the people that I’ve known who are amazing, are amazing because they’ve really given their time to it.”

The post “People are having big songs, but big artists are not coming through”: Former Columbia Records UK head says not enough acts are breaking into the mainstream appeared first on MusicTech.

12 challenges to level up your music production skills
Discover 12 music production challenges that can help you learn a new skill, try something different, and push yourself in ways you haven’t before.

152 million tracks had 1,000 plays or fewer on music streaming services last year. 45 million had no plays at all.The number of tracks with no plays on audio streaming platforms jumped by 7.7 million over the past year, according to a new Luminate report
Source

Audacity #Music #AI #Tools

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder On The Dancefloor to return to top 10 after use in SaltburnSophie Ellis-Bextor’s hit Murder On The Dancefloor is expected to return to the Top 10 of the UK’s Official Singles Chart today (January 5) after it appeared in the final scene of the recent film Saltburn.
The film had already been a success in cinemas but its addition to Amazon Prime over the Christmas period helped it to surge in popularity, and with it, the Ellis-Bextor song that was first released in 2001.

READ MORE: Fred again.. to release more of his live recordings on vinyl with unique artwork for first pressings

Before Saltburn‘s release, Official Charts Company data confirms that Murder On The Dancefloor was being streamed an average of 292,000 times every week. Now, it’s clocked up 1.5 million streams since the beginning of the week, meaning it stands a solid chance of returning to the Top 10. The song peaked at Number 2 when it was first released 22 years ago.
Saltburn stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike and follows Oxford student Oliver Quick (Keoghan) who becomes enamoured with popular boy Felix Catton (Elordi). The two bond and Felix invites Oliver to stay at his family’s ancestral home, Saltburn, over the summer.
Murder On The Dancefloor appears in the film’s final scene, where Oliver is shown dancing naked around the Saltburn house to the song.

“Emerald [Fennell] is a director who uses music like another character [in her scripts]. Obviously, it takes people back to a certain era,” Ellis-Bextor tells Official Charts. “There’s a nostalgia and a mood. But there’s layers [to the song] and what it evokes in you. Some people have come up to me and said ‘Oh my God, I didn’t realise the song was literal! It’s about a murder!’
“I don’t think I would quite take it that far, but it’s a got a little twist. It’s not wholly pure [like the characters in Saltburn].”
She also describes the song’s renewed success as “magical” in an interview with BBC Newsbeat.
“If I’m honest, I don’t think I’ve completely processed it really,” she says. “It’s extraordinary. It’s a song I’ve been singing for over 20 years, I still love singing it. I love the way people react when I do it live.
“But for new people to be discovering it, for it to be making new memories with people is kind of beautiful.”
Meanwhile, Lauren Kreisler, director of Brand & Digital at Official Charts adds: “We love to see the British public rediscovering chart classics, or young audiences discovering them for the first time, even, as happened with Kate Bush topping the Official Chart thanks to Stranger Things.
“The Official Chart has always reflected British popular culture, 10 years ago we introduced streaming data into the Official Singles Chart, and in the streaming era we’ve seen that a memorable song paired with a ‘memorable’ scene can be dynamite for chart success.”
The song has also proved popular on TikTok, with over 38.5 million views of its hashtag and the song being included in a quarter of a million videos. Ellis-Bextor herself also joined the trend, recreating Keoghan’s dance in a TikTok video.

@sophieebtiktok
Heading into 2024 like… Happy Saltburn New Year! Xx #murderonthedancefloor #sophieellisbextor #saltburnmovie
♬ sophs awful edit thats gone viral – sophie

The post Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder On The Dancefloor to return to top 10 after use in Saltburn appeared first on MusicTech.

A look at Stimming’s hardware-driven production setup in 2024
We’re back with How I Play two-time veteran and German musician Stimming (check out his original episode, as well as his most recent How I Play featuring his Instant Mastering Chain). This time we’re taking a look at his intricate production process for his newest album Elderberry, released this fall on Awesome Soundwave. We sat […]
The post A look at Stimming’s hardware-driven production setup in 2024 appeared first on DJ TechTools.

Can the point system help get Songwriters out of poverty?As the number of middle-class musicians decreases, a handful of pioneering record labels offer songwriters a better royalty deal in the form of points that may give them a livable. Continue reading
The post Can the point system help get Songwriters out of poverty? appeared first on Hypebot.

Acustica Audio Offers FREE Grey Compressor Plugin Until January 7th
Acustica Audio offers the new Grey compressor plugin as a free download until January 7th, 2024. Grey is an audio compression plugin that uses Acustica Audio’s Hyper 3 technology to replicate the sound of a classic VCA compressor. Acustica Audio uses a unique type of dynamic impulse response technology to capture the sound of analog [...]
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🎄 New Year GIVEAWAY! 20 Winners, $2,000 Worth Of Prizes!
Bedroom Producers Blog launches the New Year Giveaway with over $2,000 in music production prizes for 20 winners. A huge THANK YOU to the sponsors who made this giveaway possible: Image-Line, UJAM, Cableguys, Techivation, Polyverse, Karanyi Sound, A Sound Effect, AudioThing, and Flame Sound. And another big THANK YOU goes to you, dear BPB readers, [...]
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France plans to tax music streaming & other countries are taking noteMusic streaming platforms, especially Spotify and Deezer, are in an uproar over France’s proposal for a new music streaming tax. This could be a precursor for other countries to do the same, but it. Continue reading
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