Waymo is testing driverless robotaxis in NashvilleThis is the typical next step before it launches a commercial service.

20 Years of Music Education in Los Angeles With ETM-LAEducation Through Music Los Angeles (ETMLA) 20th anniversary gala at the Skirball Cultural Center on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Danny Moloshok/Moloshok Photography, Inc.

A passionate gathering of educators, facilitators and supporters joined to celebrate twenty years of Education Through Music-Los Angeles (ETM-LA) at their annual Gala. Raising over $500,000 to help the organization provide future music programming in under-resourced schools, the evening took time to celebrate the positive impact of four of the organization’s musical champions.

A Shining Star Artist Award was presented to the incomparable Diane Warren (17-time Oscar nominee, GRAMMY, Emmy, and two-time Golden Globe Award winning songwriter), with the ETM-LA Student Choir Ensemble (Cantara St. Elementary Choir and Castelar Elementary Rock Band) performing an arrangement of Warren’s Oscar-nominated “Dear Me” (from Grammy-nominated documentary, Diane Warren: Relentless). The ETM-LA Faculty Choir—along with soloists Eden Kontesz, Prez Blackmon (and ETM-LA Alumni Bettina Diaz and Krista Sims, and Zanaida Stewart-Robles and Lydia Lee)—also performed Warren’s “The Journey,” while the ETM-LA Rhythm Ensemble played “I’m Standing With You.”

Education Through Music Los Angeles (ETMLA) 20th anniversary gala at the Skirball Cultural Center on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Danny Moloshok/Moloshok Photography, Inc. Moloshok Photography, Inc. danny@molophoto.com www.molophoto.com-----

Warren’s publishing company, Realsongs is a major corporate sponsor of the foundation. “There is no better way of reaching young hearts and minds than music. What ETM-LA is doing is making that happen for so many who might never get the chance to experience the beauty and power of music,” said Warren. Penning nine #1 and 33 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, Warren entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, was presented the Johnny Mercer Songwriter Award in 2024, and is tied with Lionel Ritchie (an Honorary Chairperson on the ETM-LA Board) for the most No. 1 hits written solely by one person. In addition to charting success, Warren’s songs have been featured in over 150 films.

Emmy-winning Composer Christopher Lennertz and co-Founder Tim Wynn of Sonic Fuel Studios received a Shining Store Corporate Award, recognizing their support of ETM-LA through their donations of studio time and space for student recordings. Their boutique, state-of-the-art, eco-friendly tracking and mixing facility specializes in film and television, and interactive media music, providing full-service recording and production for albums, film and television, and the Sonic Fuel team have experience ranging from rock, pop, jazz and Hip-hop, to musical theater. Lennertz and Wynn shared, “The mission of ensuring every child has access to quality music education at an early age is so vitally important.”

Recognized with the Shining Star Award, Ryan Gonzalez first began as a volunteer before becoming the Band and Orchestra Director at James Monroe High School in Los Angeles, supporting a concert band, orchestra, jazz band, marching band, and serving as Music Department Chair. Co-founding the James Monroe High School Visual and Performing Arts Academy (JMHS VAPA) and Monroe Community of Schools Fine Arts Conservatory (MCOS FAC), the organizations serve over 1,200 students annually. Gonzales’ tireless commitment to his students and community are undeniable, and he has received multiple awards and grants for his department during his tenure (including bursaries from The Milagro, Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, and Arts and Healing Justice Network). In addition to steering the JMHS music department, Gonzales works as guest conductor to the CSUN Wind Symphony and Wind Ensembles, and serves as a middle and high school clinician throughout Southern California.

A surprise Champion Award was presented to The Milagro Foundation for their contribution to ETM-LA’s work. Launched by Carlos Santana, the Award was accepted by Santana’s son Salvador who shared that, ”if we want a brighter future, it starts with educating and investing in the youth, and what better way to do that than through music.”

As a non-profit organization with a mission to provide music to under-resourced schools to enhance academic achievement, creativity, and overall development, ETM-LA was founded in 2006, having since served over 190,000 students with musical education, and providing over 155,000 music classes in the Los Angeles area. The Foundation’s work has also provided over 60,000 hours of professional development for teaching staff.

Education Through Music Los Angeles (ETMLA) 20th anniversary gala at the Skirball Cultural Center on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Danny Moloshok/Moloshok Photography, Inc.
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Moloshok Photography, Inc.
danny@molophoto.com
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Executive Director Victoria Lanier expressed thanks to all of ETM-LA’s supporters. “We’re grateful for our incredible honorees and supporters who help further equity and access for all youth to receive comprehensive music and arts learning as part of a well-rounded education.”

Starting with just two schools and 800 students, ETM-LA now supports 43 schools and over 18,000 students annually, including the communities of Bellflower, Boyle Heights, Burbank, Compton, Chinatown, East LA, Inglewood, Pacoima, San Fernando Valley, and South Central.  Honorary Chairpersons include Randy Jackson, Rickey Minor, John Debney, Mike Knobloch, Lionel Richie, Nia Vardalos, Randy Speedlove, Paul Williams, and Renée Zellweger. Learn more at: www.etmla.org, or by calling 818-433-7600.The post 20 Years of Music Education in Los Angeles With ETM-LA first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Bitcoin holders sell 245K BTC in tight macro conditions: Did the market bottom?Long-term Bitcoin holders sold 245,000 BTC as the price fell under $60,000 last week, but a fresh set of US macroeconomic cues and an uptick in BTC dip-buyers may signal that the market has bottomed.

Upcycling an iPad into a Touchscreen Display for your PCInstalling an RPi Pico board like it’s a modchip. (Credit: Tucker Osman, YouTube)
Although generally iPads tend to keep their resale value, there are a few exceptions, such as when you find yourself burdened with iCloud-locked devices. Instead of tossing these out as e-waste, you can still give them a new, arguably better purpose in life: an external display, with touchscreen functionality if you’re persistent enough. Basically someone like [Tucker Osman], who spent the past months on making the touchscreen functionality play nice in Windows and Linux.
While newer iPads are easy enough to upcycle as an external display as they use eDP (embedded Display Port), the touch controller relies on a number of chips that normally are initialized and controlled by the CPU. Most of the time was thus spent on reverse-engineering this whole process, though rather than a full-depth reverse-engineering, instead the initialization data stream was recorded and played back.
This thus requires that the iPad can still boot into iOS, but as demonstrated in the video it’s good enough to turn iCloud-locked e-waste into a multi-touch display. The SPI data stream that would normally go to the iPad’s SoC is instead intercepted by a Raspberry Pi Pico board which pretends to be a USB HID peripheral to the PC.
If you feel like giving it a short yourself, there’s the GitHub repository with details.
Thanks to [come2] for the tip.

What are parallel chords?
Discover how parallel chords can add depth, emotion, and harmonic interest to your music.

Suno’s revenue opportunity, $1.65bn M&A spending power, and TikTok: 3 things worth knowing from WMG’s latest earnings callElsewhere on the call, WMG's leadership team discussed TikTok, DSP pricing, and more. Here are three things that stood out.
Source

DamyFx Mr. Fuzzy Metal Octave FilterMr. Fuzzy Metal Octave Filter VST3 Plugin. Unleash sonic chaos with the Mr. Fuzzy Metal Octave Filter, the ultimate VST3 plugin for guitarists, bassists, and producers looking to sculpt a powerful, aggressive, and distinctive sound. Inspired by classic fuzz circuits but pushed into modern, metallic territory, Mr. Fuzzy delivers an explosive combination of rich, distorted fuzz with a synth-style octave filter for sonic textures unlike anything you've ever heard. Transform your signal into a dense, harmonic-filled wall of sound, perfect for monolithic riffs, screeching solos, and industrial soundscapes. Whether you're looking to emulate the most brutal sounds of metal or explore new sonic dimensions, Mr. Fuzzy is your secret arsenal. Controls: • Volume: Controls the plugin's overall output level. Use it to balance the volume of the processed sound with the rest of your mix, ensuring your metallic fuzz shines through without overpowering. • Gain: This is the beating heart of the fuzz. Turn the Gain control to increase the amount of distortion and compression applied to your signal. From a warm, raspy fuzz to a fully saturated, aggressive soundwave, the Gain control lets you modulate the intensity of your sonic destruction. • Tone: A powerful, interactive low-pass/high-pass filter that lets you sculpt the tonal character of your fuzz. Turning it to the left attenuates high frequencies, producing a darker, thicker, and doomier sound; turning it to the right boosts high frequencies, bringing forth clarity, sparkle, and a sharper attack—ideal for aggressive riffs and piercing solos. • Pitch: This unique control adjusts the octave filter's reference point. It's not a simple pitch shifter; it affects the frequency at which the filter boosts or attenuates octave harmonics, creating synthesizer-like effects. You can achieve sounds reminiscent of an octave higher or lower that "bends" or "follows" your note, adding depth and strangeness to your sound. • Resonance (Q): Works in tandem with the Pitch control. Resonance increases or decreases the bandwidth around the frequency set by the Pitch control. At a low value, the octave effect is more subtle and diffuse. Raising the Resonance makes the filter more selective and pronounced, creating distinct, resonant frequency peaks that can produce automatic "wahs" or very pronounced, almost vocal-like octave sounds, perfect for dramatic effects and abrasive leads. Read More

Smiarx has released ÆLAPSE, a free tape delay and spring reverb plugin
Smiarx has released ÆLAPSE, a free delay and reverb plugin for Windows, macOS, and Linux. ÆLAPSE combines two classic effects in a single plugin: a tape-style delay and a reverb inspired by spring reverbs. While the reverb has a lovely lo-fi character, it isn’t locked into traditional spring sounds. You can push it into more [...]
View post: Smiarx has released ÆLAPSE, a free tape delay and spring reverb plugin

Strymon’s NightSky gets plug-in version Said to be unlike any other reverb plug-in, the plug-in version of the Strymon NightSky delivers everything that its hardware sibling has to offer, and comes packed with features that will be welcomed by keen sound designers. 

KAMILLE & Spike Stent to receive MPG Awards The MPG have announced that KAMILLE (Camille Purcell) and Spike Stent will receive this year's Inspiration and MPG Icon Awards respectively. 

Behringer launches the BMX, its take on the classic Oberheim DMX drum machineBehringer has finally lifted the lid on the DMX, its clone of the classic Oberheim DMX drum machine. The launch continues something of a hot streak for Behringer, which just last week debuted its Roland Juno-60 clone, the JN-80.
Word of the BMX has floated around the Behringer community for some time, with a prototype teased all the way back in March 2023. Now, the BMX is officially available for preorder, with first units expected to ship in May 2026.

READ MORE: Suno says “accessibility” is the reason for its success — but I think accessibility is the problem with AI music

First launched in 1980, the Oberheim DMX found its way onto a number of classic records – including The Police’s Every Breath You Take and Madonna’s Holiday – and holds its title as the second digital drum machine to be commercially available after the Linn LM-1 (which Behringer also took inspiration from for its LM Drum unit, released in December 2024).
Credit: Behringer
Adhering to Behringer’s general approach to clones of classic gear, the BMX isn’t an exact remake of the DMX, and features a number of modern and updated specs to bring it into the modern era – while keeping the price well below what one would pay for an original DMX unit.
The Behringer BMX features original DMX sounds, analogue filters and 8/12-bit sound engine, with updated specs coming in the way of digital effects, an LCD screen, MIDI support and 24 velocity-sensitive pads, which are notably larger than the buttons on the original DMX.

The BMX features eight-voice architecture with independent level and pan controls for each voice, eight independent analogue outputs for external processing or recording your rhythms as multi-track audio, as well as a 64-step drum sequencer supporting poly-meter, step-repeat, note-repeat, real-time triggering, track-mute and track-solo.
You can also store up to 16 songs and 256 patterns, which can be imported or exported during playback. The BMX also features a Pattern Mode, which allows you to arrange patterns into full songs, and a Song Mode, which can be used to chaining songs together during live sets.
In terms of I/O, the BMX sports MIDI In, Out and Thru via five-pin DIN, USB MIDI, ¼” stereo output, headphone out, three trigger outputs and a sync in/out, plus eight channel outputs and a line input.
The BMX is available now for preorder, priced at $459. For more information, head to Behringer.
The post Behringer launches the BMX, its take on the classic Oberheim DMX drum machine appeared first on MusicTech.

Noizefield releases Audio Plugin Coder (APC), a FREE AI-powered plugin creation tool
Audio Plugin Coder is a free and open-source AI-powered plugin creation tool from developer Noizefield. The plugin is still in active development, is subject to change/improvements, and users should expect bugs. At this stage, APC provides an opportunity to experiment with the concept, test plugin ideas, and, of course, provide useful feedback to the developer. [...]
View post: Noizefield releases Audio Plugin Coder (APC), a FREE AI-powered plugin creation tool

“While the brand’s recent pause was unfortunate, it followed a period of its strongest sales on record”: Vista Musical Instruments acquires Scottish retailer Kenny’s Music[Editor’s note: MusicTech.com and Vista Musical Instruments are both part of the Caldecott Music Group.]
After announcing it was ceasing trading last year and entering into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation, the intellectual property, brand assets and goodwill of Kenny’s Music have been acquired by Vista Musical Instruments.
The acquisition has been completed by Liquidators of Kenny’s Music, Thomson Cooper, with Hilco Global acting as exclusive sales agent.

READ MORE: All Moog plugins on Plugin Boutique are currently reduced, with 67% percent off Moogerfooger effects

Kenny’s Music enjoyed a near-20-year run following its founding in 2008 by Kenny Graham. Before the announcement that the retailer had ceased trading in October and planned to move into CVL proceedings, Kenny’s had become an integral part of Scotland’s music scene, serving customers in Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Dunfermline, maintaining ties with local artists and fostering music culture in the country.
The retailer announced its plans to enter CVL proceedings despite reporting its “strongest sales ever in recent years”. At the time, in addition to a number of brick-and-mortar stores across Scotland, Kenny’s also operated an online store.
The acquisition of Kenny’s Music by Vista Musical Instruments turns over a new leaf for the Scottish retailer, with a new online store currently in development. Customers can visit kennysmusic.co.uk to sign up to its official newsletter for updates on the brand’s relaunch.
In the meantime, customers can also reach out via the Kenny’s website for personalised concierge services, expert gear advice and professional consultations.
Kenny’s customers will also get access to a range of global brands, including Fender, Martin, Heritage Guitars, Harmony and MONO.
“We’re excited to welcome Kenny’s Music into our VMI ecosystem,” says Vista Musical Instruments CEO Meng Ru Kuok. “While the brand’s recent pause was unfortunate, it followed a period of its strongest sales on record. There is a great foundation here to build upon, and we appreciate Hilco Global’s professionalism in helping us ensure this legacy is reimagined for the next generation of musicians.”
Find out more at Kenny’s Music and Vista Musical Instruments.
The post “While the brand’s recent pause was unfortunate, it followed a period of its strongest sales on record”: Vista Musical Instruments acquires Scottish retailer Kenny’s Music appeared first on MusicTech.

All Moog plugins on Plugin Boutique are currently reduced, with 67% percent off Moogerfooger effectsPlugin Boutique has reduced its full catalogue of Moog plugins, with 67 percent off all of its Moogerfooger effects plugins.
There are currently eight individual Moogerfooger effects reduced, but you can also get your hands on the Moog Mariana bass synth for just £35, or save on three different bundle deals: a complete bundle of all eight for £133, or two ‘build your own’ bundles offering a selection of four (£79) or two plugins (£49).
[deals ids=”3Zm1fbnUW8PUSwLV9b8Fe”]
The full Moogerfooger plugin lineup consists of the MF-101S lowpass filter, MF-102S ring modulator, MF-103S 12-stage phaser, MF-104S analogue delay, MF-105S MuRF, MF-107S Freqbox, MF-108S Clusterflux, and the MF-109S Saturator. These plugins emulate its range of its classic analogue effects pedals, first introduced by Bob Moog in 1999 and discontinued in 2018.

READ MORE: 67 plugins for £99 – save £1,800 (!) on the Waves Platinum Bundle for a limited time only

The plugins were unveiled back in 2022, and Moog said at their launch: “The Moogerfooger S-series plugins have been lovingly recreated to impart the same lush, distinctive tones of the original analogue circuits and can now be used in DAW-based environments. Great for audio engineers, guitarists, sound designers, synthesists, [and] composers — the ultimate creative and versatile tool.”

In other Moog news, the Bob Moog Foundation has announced a fundraising raffle for a Minimoog Voyager XL, which has been signed by musician and tech innovator Thomas Dolby. It’s in excellent physical and technical condition, and is valued at $7,500.
All you need to do is buy a ticket for your chance to win, and all proceeds will benefit the three core projects of the Bob Moog Foundation: Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, and the Moogseum.
To view the full range of Moog plugin deals, head over to Plugin Boutique.
The post All Moog plugins on Plugin Boutique are currently reduced, with 67% percent off Moogerfooger effects appeared first on MusicTech.

Amazon’s ‘Melania’ documentary stumbles in second weekendAfter a better-than-expected opening weekend in theaters, box office for Amazon’s “Melania”fell 67%.