Tennessee crypto kiosk ban set to go into effect July 1Crypto ATM operators and businesses hosting the machines have until July 1 to be in compliance with the new law or risk potential fines and prison time.

Versilian Studios Vintage XylophoneFull of classic character and charm, Vintage Xylophone features a deep sampling of two adjustable mallet types, 6 velocities, and 9 round robins of an antique Deagan "Xylorimba" featuring rosewood keys. Captured across 6 mic arrays including everything from state-of-the-art measurement omnis to warm ribbons and ultra low noise condensers, it provides unparalleled flexibility in any mix and context, from cartoons to nature documentaries and anything in between. Vintage Xylophone is also the perfect match to Virtuosity Vibraphone, having been recorded using the same mic arrays and techniques. A Classic Sound Many modern xylophone sample libraries record modern instruments intended for orchestral performances, but many classic records and film/TV scores feature older instruments with a distinct sound and character impossible to achieve with samples of a modern instrument. Worse still, most large orchestral collections treat the xylophone as an afterthought, often only including the hardest mallets or greatly lacking in detail, not to mention often in fixed, wet spaces which don't fit other genres. While recording Musicmakers Volume 2, we found this antique instrument in a dark corner of the beautifully quiet Wild Horse Studio. With time left in our final day of recording, we set out to right the "score" and create a xylophone library of decades past. State-of-the-Art Recordings 6 sets of microphones were used to record the vibraphone at various distances and with various sound qualities. These microphones were hand-chosen for their low noise and high accuracy, over more popular recording mics an order of magnitude or two noisier or higher distortion. In doing so, objectionable post-processing such as denoising could be completely avoided. Up close, the newly-released AEA N28 stereo ribbon mic provides a warm, wide sound while retaining 100% mono compatibility with its coincident Blumlein configuration. For the critical overhead role, two pairs of SDCs provide two contrasting views: the laboratory reference Gefell M221 measurement omnis vs. supercardioid M310 SDC's. Space and precision vs. focus and clarity. Rather than compromise by choosing one or the other, VISAGE lets you mix continuously between the two overheads, creating a "virtual mic" of any pattern between omni and supercardioid, dialing in your perfect overhead sound. The main position is filled by a pair of Gefell UM930's. Among the most expensive and rarest solid state mics in existence due to its unique dual-capsule design, this microphone is extremely low noise (7 dBA) with an articulate, present character inspired by vintage designs. Further out in the room, a pair of Gefell M950 wide cardioids with equally low self noise and spacious but detailed wide cardioid pattern provide the perfect sound for blending with your favorite samples from scoring stages and concert halls. Underneath the xylophone are a pair of TLM 170's capturing the resonance and body of the instrument in a configuration mirroring the overheads. Realism & Flexibility Two mallet choices are provided, yarn and rubber. A hardness knob allows you to adjust the strength of the mallet, based on measurements made of a variety of mallets. When yarn is set to its hardest and rubber to its softest, the effect is almost indistinguishable. In this way a smooth gradient of colors are possible while keeping the sample count "vaguely reasonable". No effort was made to hide the character of the instrument. All inconsistencies in voicing, rattles, and thumps were allowed through. However, great care was taken to ensure a consistent sample set. Each velocity layer was recorded a constant dB distance apart within a range of +/- 1.5 dB. This was then normalized to ensure perfectly smooth transitions. An incredible 9 round robins were recorded of each and every hit, ensuring natural rendering of rolls/tremolo and ostinati. Neighbor-borrowing RR is available if desired. The entire xylophone is chromatically sampled, providing a more accurate sound than instruments sampled using wholetone or diatonic methods. Chromatic sampling allows the slightly different positioning of the accidentals ("black keys") to be audible in the instrument. Both mallets feature 6 Velocities and 9RR for a natural and dynamic feel. Advanced Control Utilizing the new VISAGE 3 engine to its fullest, Vintage Xylophone packs in a range of controls over every aspect of the instrument including but not limited to: Volume, pan, width, solo/mute, purge, and routing for each mic position. Blendable OH microphones (continuous variable pattern control). Full velocity curve control. Dynamic range control. Moveable keyswitch block. Transposition. Range limiting & expanding. Easy-access reverb settings. Fully customizable tuning & temperaments engine. Neighbor-borrowing RR (customizable). Mono aftertouch note-off triggering available. Integration with NKS/NI keyboards. MIRAGE FX control panel Exposes and simplifies Kontakt's internal FX engine. Utilizes the latest FX in Kontakt 7. Modular construction allows updates to VISAGE/MIRAGE FX separately. Complementary Colors Recorded with the same microphone structure and a similar environment as Vintage Xylophone, Virtuosity Vibraphone perfectly complements its sound with a dusty, warm tone captured from a brand-new 3.5-octave vibraphone. Our fan-favorite Tubular Bells II also features a similarly dry, detailed sound suitable for any context and a similar mic setup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqtb0LX5OYg Read More

A Song That Changed My Life: A Place to Bury Strangers on Slowdive’s “Jazz Odeon”The Band Members: Oliver Ackermann, guitar, vocals, bass; John Fedowitz, bass; Sandra Fedowitz, drums.

The Storyteller: Oliver Ackermann

The Song: Composed with swirling, spellbinding sonics, Slowdive’s “Jazz Odeon” unfolds like an ever-evolving auditory drift — waxing and waning, dissolving and returning. Long coveted as a captured live rarity traded on cassettes and limited-run CD-Rs, the track circulated through the close-knit shoegaze community, a ghost signal passing hand to hand. As one of the many shimmery, shivery standouts from the Reading, Berkshire-based band, it solidified Slowdive as preeminent authors of ethereal, dreampop soundscapes.

The Background: Before forming A Place to Bury Strangers, Oliver Akermann was already chasing elusive sonics percolating within his subconscious through his Virginia-based noise-gaze project Skywave. Built on dense, controlled distortion and heavily fuzzed-out melodics, the band gained traction within the tight-knit yet far-reaching avant-garde nu-gaze network.

In this pre-streaming DIY ecosystem, hand-traded cassettes and limited-run CD-Rs shaped an underground culture that valued the thrill of discovery. Music existed in fragile circulation — a landscape of ghosted artifacts where recordings were prized precisely because they could vanish if a tape or dub was lost, mislabeled, or damaged. These songs felt like sonic artifacts; flickering transmissions, unstable and sonically alive.

When Skywave dissolved after Ackermann’s move to Brooklyn, that same instinct for sonic excavation carried forward into a new phase: A Place to Bury Strangers. Here, he shifted from chasing sound to constructing it from the ground up. Through custom circuitry and his pedal effects company, Death By Audio, Ackermann learned to shape feedback, distortion, and chaos into instruments of control — pushing tones to a breaking point or deliberately collapsing them. The result became the band’s signature: a physically overwhelming wall of searing atmospherics.

Now, often described as the “loudest band in New York,” A Place to Bury Strangers revisits their origins with Rare and Deadly (April 3rd, 2026, via Dedstrange), a collection of songs that loops back into that same underground culture of exchange — an archive of accidents, fragments, and hidden gems.

Ackermann reflects on how a Slowdive rarity inadvertently burned itself into the DNA of APTBS today.

The Story: Ackermann first encountered Slowdive’s “Jazz Odeon” not as a formal release, but as a trace — a copy of a copy circulating within the shoegaze exchange culture. For years, it existed in a superposition-like state: a recording that felt both real and unreachable, with elusive sounds that had to be hunted down.

That search ended during a backpack trip through Europe, when a contact at Allison Records dubbed a mixtape of unreleased tracks for Ackermann on the spot. “I was super excited because my friends and I were always chasing down music,” he recalls. “That was one of those tracks I thought I would never be able to get any other way.”

The moment stuck. It wasn’t just about finally hearing the song — it was about the medium. Even years later, Ackermann describes it as something preserved through distortion and duplication. He later re-dubbed it onto his computer so he could DJ the song in clubs. “I still have that twisted dub,” he says. “Everything sounds better on cassette. It still blows me away — the rising and the falling of the track. Beauty and decay combined into a just beautiful, epic performance.”

For Ackermann, “Jazz Odeon” wasn’t just a rarity —it exposed how sound could exist in two states at once: immense yet fragile, soft yet crushing, distant yet intimate. That duality became central to his own approach with A Place to Bury Strangers.

“I always liked that duality,” he says. “It’s what we try to do with our live sound —overwhelming and loud, but soft like a warm blanket of static energy.”

That tension between distortion and emotion became influence and direction. “Different songs and sounds build the sonic universe I want to create in,” Ackermann explains, “and push the boundaries of what’s possible.” Those early encounters with unstable recordings ultimately led him to found Death By Audio, an effects company where he builds pedals that recreate that same unpredictability — tools for other musicians designed to craft new sonics that, if desired, can break apart in meaningful ways.

“It opened my mind to sounds I couldn’t quite place,” he notes, linking the Slowdive dub directly to his work as a sound designer. “It’s important to have that desire to go off on a journey… to see that goals lead to all sorts of other things along the way.”

Ackermann surmises that “Jazz Odeon” was as much a discovery as a threshold — the moment where the creative instinct to seek sound became permanent. “It’s an epic track,” he says. “Let the listener make up their own mind. No spoilers.”

Photo by Heather Bickford

The post A Song That Changed My Life: A Place to Bury Strangers on Slowdive’s “Jazz Odeon” first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Letterboxd, the social platform for film buffs, reportedly looking for new ownerPotential buyers of Letterboxd include Versant, the parent company of CNBC and MS NOW, and Hollywood media company The Ankler, according to Semafor.

The Challenges of 3D Printing Reliable SpringsSprings are great, but making them out of plastic tends to come with some downsides, for fairly obvious reasons. Creating a compliant mechanism that can be 3D printed and yet which doesn’t permanently deform or wear out after a few uses is therefore a bit of a struggle. The complaint toggle mechanism that [neotoy] designed is said to have addressed those issues, with the model available on Printables for anyone to give a shake.
The model in question is a toggle, which is the commonly seen plastic or metal device that clamps down on e.g. rope or cord and requires you to push on it to have it release said clamping force. Normally these use a metal spring inside, but this version is fully 3D printable and thus forms a practical way to test this particular compliant mechanism with a variety of materials.
The internal spring is a printed spiral spring, with the example in the video printed in PETG. You can of course also print it in other materials for different durability and springiness properties. As noted in the video, PLA makes for a very poor spring material, so you probably want to skip that one.
We covered compliant mechanisms in the past for purposes like blasters, including some that you can only see under a microscope.

Finneas on why a Minimoog was the perfect instrument to “encapsulate Millennial cringe” on Netflix’s Beef: “He’s not a musician and he has a $25k synth”A mid-life crisis can come in many forms. Some people sign up for marathons, others get into restoring vintage cars… and some people get really, really into Hot Chip. Netflix’s second season of BEEF shows depicts the third option, with actor Oscar Isaac embodying an amateur 40-something synth enthusiast with more money than sense.
In a new interview with the BEEF Official Podcast, Finneas O’Connell explains how the show settled on the Moog as the ultimate symbol of “Millennial cringe”. When the show composer stumbled upon a vintage $25,000 Minimoog, he was was struck by how pricy it was. Logically, he knew he could “download a plugin” instead… but someone going through an identity crisis might not realise there was a cheaper alternative.

READ MORE: I’ve finally found a pair of closed-back headphones I don’t want to EQ straight away

In season 2, actor Isaac plays the character of Josh, who manages a posh country club with “questionable spending habits”. His biggest spends come in the form of high-ticket music gear that even experienced musicians might be unwilling to splash out on, a trait that both shows how inexperienced he is, as well as how he’ll pay any price to carve out a new sense of identity.
“He bought it because he’s a big Hot Chip fan,” the musician laughs. “He’s an amateur! He only plays it a little bit… but the Moog is super expensive”

Finneas landed on Moogs while synth shopping with actor Isaac himself. When they found the right one, it felt like the perfect way of symbolising a man “someone in their 40s hanging on to the past”, trying to stay hip and young in his “man cave”.
Isaac was keen to get stuck in, even sending Finneas Moog playlists for inspiration – but the musician was a bit reluctant to teach him everything. “Oscar wanted to learn everything there is to know about Moogs,” Finneas recalls. “And I remember being like, ‘Isn’t his character supposed to be bad at the moment?’ Oscar’s kind of excellent at whatever he takes up… so I thought I shouldn’t help him at all… [his character] should just suck at the Moog.”
Despite his role requiring him to “suck” at the instrument, Finneas was often given a run for his money. Isaac would practice his purposefully ‘crude’ pieces and actually sound pretty decent. “He’d sometimes play it better than me,” Finneas jokes.
Taking over the reins from Bobby Krlic’s more “percussive”, Finneas opted for a more sampled, synth-focused approach. He found inspiration in insect noises, sprinklers and even a TikTok video of a girl harmonising with the hum of her desk fan. “I found synths that I could play and make the sound like swarms of bees,” he explains at one point. “I recorded sprinkler systems at a golf course near my house, and used those as the rhythmic component.”

The series also has plenty of other experimental usage of samples, like the stress-inducing sauna scene that mingles in the sound of dripping water throughout. In a chat with A24, Finneas adds that he is often gathering field recordings, from the buzz of florescent lights to the whirring of a washing machine. “Then I will look for an excuse to incorporate [the recording] in a way that is inherently unique,” he explains
The score also features a needle drops from elsewhere in Finneas’ career – namely Bad Guy, a track he worked on with his sister, Billie Eilish. The track plays when Finneas actually makes a cameo as “a really douchey version” of himself, and Bad Guy serves as an ironic acknowledgement of his career. “The idea that I’m working out to my own work like that, I’m producing all this music, and then I’m in the gym listening to it… I thought was so funny,” he laughs.

The post Finneas on why a Minimoog was the perfect instrument to “encapsulate Millennial cringe” on Netflix’s Beef: “He’s not a musician and he has a $25k synth” appeared first on MusicTech.

‘The road to true artist development is still a long one. Tenacity wins long-term.’Tom Rose, MD of UK-based GRAPE.VN (formerly Propeller), on radio's significance in the streaming age, the firm's pan-European promo work with RAYE, and its move to offer management, label services and more following a rebrand

Source

LALAL.AI now detects six different stem types from audio or video sources – and works entirely offlineAI-powered stem extractor LALAL.AI has had a glow up. Now, the multi-stem separation plugin can detect up to six different types of stems from any audio or video you load into it – and it works entirely offline.
While the original version only offered vocal and ‘instrumental’ stems, the latest update allows users to pick out specific instrument stems and vocal tracks. The selection includes: vocals, bass, drums, and piano stems, as well as distinctive acoustic and electric guitar stem extraction. And this is ontop of the plugin’s noise cancellation, intelligent removal of background music and vocal cleaning abilities.

READ MORE: I’ve finally found a pair of closed-back headphones I don’t want to EQ straight away

In order to extract your stems, users simply need to drop an audio file into their DAW, load up the plugin and select which stems are desired. Then, the plugin is able to instantly provide you with high-quality stems, with no limit on how many stem extractions you can perform – and it’s all done locally without the need for an internet connection, to help minimise on latency.
Last year, LALAL.AI made it on to MusicTech’s round-up of best stem separation tools. While we particularly took a shining to the plugin’s vocal separation, the new, more specific selection of instrumental stem extraction options is a game changer. It’s also upgraded to operate on Lyra, another marker of the plugin’s nifty evolution.
“Local stem separation is the future of audio production,” Nik Pogorsky, Product Owner & Co-Founder of Lalal.ai, explains, “With the launch of our six-stem VST, we are proving that the calibre of our algorithms can now live entirely on the user’s machine. We specifically engineered the Lyra model to provide professionals with the perfect equilibrium between processing speed and isolation precision. This release reflects the mission of making sophisticated AI invisible and seamlessly integrated into the daily lives of engineers and producers.”
LALAL.AI is compatible with Ableton, FL Studio, Reaper, or any other VST3-compatible DAW, and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The plugin costs £15.99 a month, or £144 for a full year.
For more information, head to Lalal.ai.
The post LALAL.AI now detects six different stem types from audio or video sources – and works entirely offline appeared first on MusicTech.

Saelin Audio releases Shine, a FREE adaptive clarity plugin for vocals and acoustic guitar
Saelin Audio has released Shine, a free adaptive clarity plugin built for vocals and acoustic guitar. I love plugins that speed up my workflow, and this one fits that description perfectly. You drop Shine on your recording track, and it adjusts presence and air in real time based on how you’re performing, without any presets [...]
View post: Saelin Audio releases Shine, a FREE adaptive clarity plugin for vocals and acoustic guitar

Stam Audio announce the SA-4000+ Following some requests to introduce a cleaner-sounding G Series-style compressor, Stam Audio have overhauled their existing SA-4000 design with a new Modern mode.

“It’s still our quest to one day have Despacio here”: In Ibiza, Soulwax discuss the future of their famed sound systemSpeaking at International Music Summit Ibiza 2026, Soulwax revealed the history of Despacio, the sound system and event co-created by them and LCD Soundsystem‘s James Murphy, and the ambitions they have for its future.
READ MORE: Inside James Murphy and Soulwax’s Despacio – the world’s greatest sound system
“We’ve done it everywhere in the world, but it was made to be in Ibiza,” says Soulwax’s Stephen Dewaele, who is joined onstage by his brother and bandmate, David Dewaele, and interviewer Gabriel Szatan. “It’s still our quest to one day do Despacio here.”
The duo elaborated further on the Ibiza roots of Despacio during their interview at IMS Ibiza 2026, recalling how it all started from a recording session on the White Isle in the early 2010s. “When we came here to record, we brought James [Murphy] with us. And we got the idea of like, “Why don’t we make a sound system that’s really [focused on] playing music at a little slower tempo?” This idea, says David, was heavily inspired by the Balearic DJs Jean-Claude Maury and Alfredo Fiorito, and the iconic Ibiza club, Privilege.
Despacio launched at the Manchester International Festival in 2013, and quickly gained a cult following after appearances at major festivals including Sónar, Coachella, Glastonbury, Portola, and at venues such as London’s Roundhouse.
“It seemed fresh to us because it was a reaction to what we were seeing everywhere else in the world,” explains Stephen. “It was just like, a lot of big clubs with Funktion-One sound systems and seven people on the lineup — everyone would play an hour, or an hour and a half [DJ sets]. If you’re an 18-year-old kid now, and you hear about Despacio, you would say, ‘Ah, so it’s three middle-aged dudes playing vinyl back to back on an audiophile system!’ But for us, back in 2012, that was kind of the antithesis of what we were experiencing every week, and it’s amazing that there is much more awareness for [audiophile] sound and vinyl and all that stuff now.”
The impact it has now, 12 or 13 years on, is much bigger than it had in the beginning,” adds David. “When we do it now in the States, it’s a thing that people come up to us and they’ve had one of the biggest experiences of their lives, and it’s huge for them, whereas that wasn’t the case in 2012.”
Discussing the current setup for Despacio, the duo explains how Coachella and Portola, festivals run by California events brand Goldenvoice that have hosted Despacio in recent years, are now well-adapted to the sound system. “A big percentage of the people who come into Despacio end up staying for eight hours,” says Stephen, adding that the tent Goldenvoice provides is acoustically treated. “We know by now how to tune that tent to make it sound really good.”
When an audience member asked if the Despacio team are looking for a permanent place for the sound system, Soulwax expressed enthusiasm for the idea. “We would love it…I’m not going to speak for James [Murphy], but I think he would love that as well.”
Soulwax’s interview was a keynote speech at IMS Ibiza this year. The conference, which is owned by Beatport, also saw panels on the state of the electronic music business, workshops by AlphaTheta, and more interviews with artists such as Suzanne Ciani, Pete Tong, Vintage Culture and more.
The post “It’s still our quest to one day have Despacio here”: In Ibiza, Soulwax discuss the future of their famed sound system appeared first on MusicTech.

Techivation releases Tilt EQ, a FREE linear phase tilt equalizer with a Drive saturation control
Techivation has released Tilt EQ, a free linear phase tilt equalizer for macOS and Windows. Before we check out the plugin, a quick look at the download process. To get this into your DAW, you’ll need to create a free Techivation account (email and password), which also unlocks the rest of the developer’s freebies in [...]
View post: Techivation releases Tilt EQ, a FREE linear phase tilt equalizer with a Drive saturation control

Alience with Sol8music

ALIENCE may speak in a novel dialect, yet its' core is still perceived as the universal language, which is music.

https://explore.publme.com/post/11/alience-with-sol8music

#Upcoming #Artist @Sol8

Chris Slanton's ideas about the World around.

Chris Slanton is the electronic pop artist and producer. Around 7 years ago his official music video "That Was Never The Way..." was released at VEVO. We hope that wasn't a prediction.

https://explore.publme.com/post/52/chris-slantons-ideas-about-the-world-around

#Upcoming #Artist @letthe

Alice MassLove invites you to dance.

Childish fantasy and a catchy beat: Alice MassLove invites you to dance with her kitten in her new song.

Imagine uncontrollable children's laughter and the patter of feet accompanied by a cat's purr! Young Alice gives the world the pure magic of childhood in her dance single "Miliy Kotik (Sweet Kitten)."

https://explore.publme.com/post/51/alice-masslove-invites-you-to-dance

#Upcoming #Artist @alicemasslove