“The minute I stopped mixing my stuff I became my most creative”, says dubstep pioneer SkreamBritish producer and dubstep pioneer Skream has sparked a debate on Twitter – now X – on the role of mixing in electronic music production.

READ MORE: INVT and Skream on blending Latin beats with dubstep and garage: “If you’re going to play this game, try to figure out a way to play it right”

Skream’s initial tweet sparked a discussion on the social media platform, with fans expressing their views on mixing in electronic music production. Some argue that mixing is a separate skill and shouldn’t be considered a prerequisite for artists, while others see mixing as an integral part of the creative process.
The Skreamizm producer and Magnetic Man star started the discussion by mentioning that Fred again.. doesn’t mix his own tracks, emphasising that it’s not a criticism but rather a valid approach to music production.
“That isn’t a bad thing.” Writes Skream. “Artwork once said to me ‘if you had a leak in your roof would you fix it?’ I said no and he said, ‘Exactly’. Don’t ever criticise people for making there [sic] product sound the best it can be.”
In the thread, he also shares his personal experience of letting mix engineers handle his music, which in turn has allowed him to focus more on creativity.
“The minute I stopped mixing my stuff (I was always terrible at the mixdown side of things, just wasn’t my strong point) I became my most creative.
“There’s a huge difference between having someone mix your track and someone ghost-produce it, people need to understand.”
“Nobody changes my art though. The mix engineer just enhances the art that’s provided to them by a producer or musician.”
Not all producers share Skream’s view that mixing should be a separate process to production, however. When MusicTech spoke to Flava D at Glastonbury 2023, she gave our readers the advice that you should “mix as you go” as opposed to “leaving it until the end”.
Skream played a rare surprise dubstep set at the Siren stage at Waterworks festival in London on Saturday.
He also just released Skreamizm Vol. 8, which you can check out via Bandcamp.
The post “The minute I stopped mixing my stuff I became my most creative”, says dubstep pioneer Skream appeared first on MusicTech.

How To Sell Sample Packs (And Make Money As A Sound Designer
If you want to make money as a sound designer, learning how to sell sample packs is essential. When I initially ventured into the business of selling samples, I was completely clueless. It took me several years of dedicated learning to grasp the various business models within this domain.  In this article, I intend to [...]
View post: How To Sell Sample Packs (And Make Money As A Sound Designer

Music auditions: The ultimate guide for how to prepare
Veteran educator Renato Milone (Berklee College of Music) shares his in-depth guide for preparing your music auditions for schools, university programs, etc.

Reverie Is A FREE Cello Kontakt Library By Orchestral Tools And Berklee College Of Music
Orchestral Tools (Berlin) and Berklee College of Music (Boston) joined forces to create a YouTube series called Virtual Orchestration. Their latest YouTube video also includes Reverie, a high-quality free cello library for Native Instruments Kontakt (full version). Virtual Orchestration is a series of videos discussing virtual instruments’ role in orchestral music. The series features expert [...]
View post: Reverie Is A FREE Cello Kontakt Library By Orchestral Tools And Berklee College Of Music

How to prepare your music portfolio: 8 tips for what to include
A music portfolio is an invaluable resource for applying to music-focused programs, networking, and more—here are eight tips for how to prepare yours.

What Photography has taught me about musicAndrew Tasselmyer explains how his new found passion for photography taught him how to change his mindset about making music and overall improving his creative process. by ANDREW TASSELMYER of. Continue reading
The post What Photography has taught me about music appeared first on Hypebot.

BPB GIVEAWAY: Dawesome Kult + Oblivium Alpha & Omega Expansion Packs (For 3 Lucky Winners!)
Dawesome, HydraTek, and Spektralisk offer three FREE copies of the Dawesome Kult virtual instrument and a brand-new double expansion pack to one lucky BPB reader! The expansion pack project is called Oblivium, and it’s divided into two individual packs: Oblivium Alpha and Oblivium Omega. It’s a meticulous collection of handcrafted presets that explore dark synth tones. [...]
View post: BPB GIVEAWAY: Dawesome Kult + Oblivium Alpha & Omega Expansion Packs (For 3 Lucky Winners!)

This theremin-inspired synthesiser by Soma Labs is the trippiest thing everSoma Labs has unveiled Flux, a new algorithmic touchless synthesizer inspired by one of society’s most fascinating instruments — the theremin.

READ MORE: Knobcon 2023: 1010Music’s Bluebox mixer goes Eurorack

For the uninitiated, a theremin is a no-contact electronic instrument that works via the power of electromagnetic interference. Quite possibly the only instrument that’s played without anyone touching it, theremins create a sound when you move your hands and fingers around its antenna to interfere with the electromagnetic fields.
Like the Theremin, Flux can be played without touching it. The synth features a continual touchless keyboard that offers seamless control over a number of sound parameters — all based on the principles of magnetism.
To interact with the device, the player uses two magnetic ‘bows’ pressed between their fingers. The interface then registers the bows’ movements and positions, thanks to an integrated multipolar magnetic sensor. The X coordinate of the artist’s right-hand bow controls the note’s pitch, while the Z coordinate controls volume. The left-hand bow’s X, Y and Z coordinates control the various synthesis parameters.
Since a magnet has two poles, Flux is able to detect the bows’ angle in addition to their spatial coordinates. This means that flipping the right-hand bow on the Y-axis changes the octave, which allows a range of six continuous octaves without transposing the keyboard. The left-hand bow meanwhile controls the timbres.
In total, users have access to a total of sixteen parameters, which should allow for some pretty dynamic timbre compositions. The synth also sports an even and clearly marked note scale, which makes it much easier to learn and intone than a Theremin.
Image: Soma Labs
According to Soma Labs, Flux will feature a DSP-based engine with different synthesis algorithms covering distortions, complex FX and physical modelling models of non-existent, surrealistic musical instruments. It works in monophonic, duophonic, and polyphonic modes; Staccato-enabling and quantisation modes are also available.
Users can also save and recall presets with the entire states of the synth, including the engine, and all the tunings.
“Flux brings forth the musicality and expression of classical instruments, such as violin or vocals, enriched by new timbres and the flexibility of postmodern instruments, harnessing the power of current technology,” says the brand.
“Flux is a new Soma instrument under development. We hope to start selling Flux at the end of 2024.”
In the meantime, check out this impressive demo of the synth below.

Learn more at somalabs.
The post This theremin-inspired synthesiser by Soma Labs is the trippiest thing ever appeared first on MusicTech.

iZotope RX Elements Is FREE For A Limited Time At KVR Audio
KVR Audio offers the iZotope RX Elements ($129 value) audio repair suite as a free download until September 30th, 2023. Participants will also get a chance to win a free copy of Native Instruments Komplete 14 Ultimate Collectors Edition. RX Elements is iZotope’s entry-level software for noise reduction, audio repair, and audio enhancement. It packs [...]
View post: iZotope RX Elements Is FREE For A Limited Time At KVR Audio

‘Blinding Lights’ and how playlist culture is changing modern songwritingIt seems as though strategy in being interjected into music creation today in a way that may be hindering artistic authenticity. And it seems like playlist culture is the first. Continue reading
The post ‘Blinding Lights’ and how playlist culture is changing modern songwriting appeared first on Hypebot.

Fiedler Audio update Spacelab reverb Spacelab now seamlessly integrates with the company’s Dolby Atmos Composer software, providing immersive audio creators with a reverb that feeds directly into their Dolby Atmos mix.

10 musical patterns you need to know (rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic)
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Stargazer Is A FREE Shimmer Reverb Plugin By Linda Audio (Windows)
Linda Audio releases Stargazer, a shimmer reverb and delay effect in VST2/VST3 plugin format for Windows. Wow, I rarely get blown away after using the plugin for only ten seconds, but that’s exactly what happened when I launched Stargazer for the first time this morning. I plugged in my guitar, played a few notes, and [...]
View post: Stargazer Is A FREE Shimmer Reverb Plugin By Linda Audio (Windows)

FL Studio 21.2 is set to include stem separation tools built into the DAWA new teaser video has previewed stem separation capabilities in FL Studio’s upcoming 21.2 update, letting you extract vocals, drums and instrumentation from any track directly in the DAW.
READ MORE: Group test: Six of the best stem separation tools in 2023
In Image-Line FL Studio’s 21.2, it seems stem separation is included right in the Sample menu. A user-uploaded video runs through the new feature, and it shows an ‘extract stems from sample’ option is set to be added, with options to extract ‘drums’, ‘bass’ and ‘vocals’ specifically, with an ‘other instruments’ option as well.
According to a post on FL forums by Image-Line’s CEO, Scott Fisher, the stem extraction feature will require an internet connection. Fisher explains that by making this an online function, the process becomes “1,000 times faster” by giving users access to ‘terabyte-sized machine learning models.’
“We just wanted to make sure the model was as good as it can be,” the comment reads. “If we can run something like this online (server farm) we can split stems 1000x faster than locally, although we will provide the local option, I am making the point that online connectivity has advantages. We can do things not possible locally. Such as [terabyte]-sized Machine Learning models.”
Responding to a user asking about the DAW’s effectiveness in separating stems from classical music, Fisher says: “The model was trained on contemporary music styles. We can train it for Classical music, but don’t have plans for that in the initial release.”
How effective is the feature? Take a listen below and see for yourself.

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Although there has been a flurry of new stem separation plugins and software released recently, none of the major DAWs have featured such tools. Tracktion Waveform Pro, a lesser-known DAW, is the only other to include it directly in the software.
News of FL’s stem separation tool also comes shortly after the announcement of FL Cloud Beta. Free to use while in beta, the addition of FL Cloud will allow users to search through a huge library of loops and samples right from their workstation.
Find out more at image-line.com
The post FL Studio 21.2 is set to include stem separation tools built into the DAW appeared first on MusicTech.

Full Bucket Music Releases Free Ny Polyphonic Ensemble
Full Bucket Music released Ny, a freeware VST plugin emulating the KORG Lambda ES-50 Polyphonic Ensemble. Ny is yet another impressive hardware-inspired virtual instrument from Full Bucket Music. The developer has already turned numerous Korg instruments into highly convincing software emulations. The list includes classics like the Mono/Poly and some more obscure instruments like the [...]
View post: Full Bucket Music Releases Free Ny Polyphonic Ensemble