Renger Koning releases Felt & Fog cinematic piano for Kontakt (FREE version available)
Developer Renger Koning has released Felt & Fog cinematic piano for Kontakt, along with a free version. We’re almost spoiled for choice when it comes to free cinematic piano libraries; we have things like Dark Mode by SRM Sounds, Cozy Piano from SampleScience, and Venus Theory’s forms:piano. They all offer something a little different, so [...]
View post: Renger Koning releases Felt & Fog cinematic piano for Kontakt (FREE version available)

Cure Audio releases Scream, a FREE recreation of Massive’s iconic Scream filter
Cure Audio has released Scream, a free and open-source plugin that recreates the Scream filter from Native Instruments’ Massive synthesizer as a standalone effect you can use in any DAW. I’m used to seeing plugins that emulate hardware, but here’s a plugin that emulates software. The Scream filter was one of Massive’s iconic modules, known [...]
View post: Cure Audio releases Scream, a FREE recreation of Massive’s iconic Scream filter

Charlie Puth on why musicians shouldn’t write for the feed: “I don’t think anybody should be adjusting their music to the likes of social media”Musicians in the 21st century often feel pressured to chase streams, go viral, and tailor every song to the latest social media trends. But Charlie Puth says he’ll release a track whether fans love it or not.
With nearly 20 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, Puth often shares playful, behind-the-scenes snippets of his music-making – from recording unusual sounds to breaking down chord progressions – giving fans a window into his creative process.
In a recent chat with Rick Beato, the singer, songwriter, and producer explains why, for him, staying true to the music matters more than chasing the feed.

READ MORE: “AI, when done right, isn’t here to replace musicians”: Charlie Puth joins AI music platform Moises as Chief Music Officer

While he occasionally tests songs with fans online, Puth says their reactions – even negative ones – rarely determine whether a track sees the light of day.
“If a hundred people vote in, like, ‘I don’t like that drum snare,’ I played with that a little bit and be like, ‘should I release this?’ I knew damn well I was going to release it. I just wanted to gauge interest… or compare a song, like should this song come out first or should this song come out first?”
Despite how music promotion has evolved, Puth believes the essence of a good song hasn’t.
“The thing that is always going to stay true,” he says, “is that a good song is a good song. I don’t think anybody should be adjusting their music to the likes of social media.”
He also reflects on how record labels used to control every step of the process: “There was a point in time where I was given a list… You’re going to this radio station. You’re going to shake [this person’s hand], say hello to this person because they’re going to give you all the spins.”
Today, while radio remains relevant, its role in a release cycle has shifted.
“It exists, but it comes a little bit later in the cycle now,” says Puth. “Radio’s still a really important thing for every artist. [But] it can come in the beginning, it can come in the middle, it can come in the end, whereas [in the past] it needed to come in the beginning.”
Looking back on his early days sharing music on MySpace, SoundClick, Ustream, and blogs, Puth says the core of his approach hasn’t changed – he’s always documented the process of making music and shared it with fans: “It’s all the same stuff. But the thing that’s remained the same is, if the song is going to resonate with people, it’s going to resonate with people.”
Elsewhere in the chat, the musician also opens up about vocal production and the dangers of overprocessing.
“When you tune the hell out of your vocals, I think it also takes the emotion. I’ve definitely overtuned my vocals in the past on past works,” Puth admits. “If it’s too tuned, in all honesty, if I’m doing the vocal production, I just delete it and re-sing it.”
Watch the full interview below.

The post Charlie Puth on why musicians shouldn’t write for the feed: “I don’t think anybody should be adjusting their music to the likes of social media” appeared first on MusicTech.

Gary Numan thinks AI music hype is short-lived: “It will go full circle and people will want to go back to sharing a human experience rather than just brilliantly copied one”To license your music to AI or not? That’s quickly becoming one of the biggest questions facing artists today.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the debate around generative AI in music is impossible to ignore. Some see it as a powerful creative tool – jazz legend Pat Metheny, for instance, has described it as part of a “wonderful array of tools” available to modern musicians – while others fear it could erode the very human core of songwriting.
Just recently, Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart called AI an “unstoppable force”, arguing musicians should “bow to the inevitable” and license their music to generative AI platforms. Gary Numan, however, isn’t buying it.

READ MORE: “Play an instrument – now more than ever”: Flying Lotus says AI-generated music will make demand to see real musicians go up

Speaking on the I’m ADHD! No You’re Not podcast, Numan took a firm stance against licensing his catalogue to AI and laid out exactly why he thinks the current hype won’t last.
“The thing about AI from my point of view is, when you’re listening to a human, a song written by a human, you’re listening to that person’s experience, and that’s why it resonates with people,” the singer says. “It’s a shared experience, whatever it might be: a love song, one of my silly things about robots, whatever.”
“When you’re listening to AI, no matter how beautiful the music is – and if it isn’t already, it will be – it will be stunning. The artwork I’ve seen is the most stunning artwork I’ve ever seen… The music would be amazing. But what you’re listening to is a learned copy of a human experience. It’s not real.”
Numan reckons AI acts will grab everyone’s attention for a time – much like the ABBA Voyage shows – but that eventually, listeners will yearn for the authenticity of human artists.
“To begin with, the fascination for AI would dominate everything, and everybody will be willing to excuse the fact that it looks amazing and that I don’t care about the human content,” he explains. “[But] I think over time, if we’re around long enough, it will go full circle and people will want to go back to sharing a human experience rather than just brilliantly copied one.”
This philosophy underpins Numan’s approach to his creative process.
“I don’t use AI for anything. I don’t need it to help me write letters. I think I write perfectly well,” he says. “I certainly don’t want it to write lyrics because that’s the very essence of what a song is about. It might be easier. It might be good to do it like that, but fuck it – I’m willing to spend a day or two writing a lyric that means something to me. And it’s really important. Musically, although I struggle and I’m worried all the time whether it’s good enough, it has to be mine.”
Listen to the full interview below.

The post Gary Numan thinks AI music hype is short-lived: “It will go full circle and people will want to go back to sharing a human experience rather than just brilliantly copied one” appeared first on MusicTech.

FSK Audio updates Bark24 | Dyn psychoacoustic dynamics processor (+ 2 FREE Copies)
FSK Audio has released Bark24 | Dyn v1.1, a major update to its 24-band psychoacoustic dynamics processor developed in collaboration with Mark Jeffery, the original designer and primary developer of Pro Tools. We’re checking out the update and also giving away two free copies of the plugin. First, the giveaway. To enter the giveaway, sign up [...]
View post: FSK Audio updates Bark24 | Dyn psychoacoustic dynamics processor (+ 2 FREE Copies)

Suno now has: music gen, stems separation, DAW, custom models, voices (beta), your taste...what else? #Music #AI

Wall Street moves benchmarks onchain as S&P tokenizes Treasury indexS&P Dow Jones Indices puts its iBoxx US Treasuries Index on the Canton Network, allowing institutions to access bond benchmark data through tokens rather than feeds.

SoundCloud now lets you share releases exclusively with followersSoundCloud has launched a new feature called Follower Exclusive Releases, letting Artist Pro users share tracks exclusively with their followers, either for a limited time only or indefinitely.
This new feature builds on its ethos of community, and is a way for artists to reward their most loyal listeners by deepening relationships. It means fans can hear tracks before others, DM artists directly, and even engage with music while it’s still in development. Artists can give their followers the first listen to early demos or something finalised as a surprise drop.

READ MORE: Electro-Harmonix partners with MixWave to bring its classic pedals to plugin form

The feature launches with support from Dutch DJ and producer Chris Stussy, who will release his track What makes you feel exclusively to his SoundCloud followers ahead of the full release of his debut album Lost, Found & Forgotten…, arriving 3 April.
“I’ve been using SoundCloud since the start. During my early days I was uploading a lot of podcasts and recorded sets. I sometimes gave away a free download or posted snippets of upcoming tracks I was making.
“For this occasion I’d like to share What makes you feel… as a thank you for everyone who’s been listening to me on the platform all those years. It’s part of the Forgotten side of my album and I’m playing this track a lot as my intro the last couple of months. Enjoy this one, all the best,” he says.

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Follower Exclusive Releases follows on from a number of other SoundCloud upgrades for artists, which launched in 2025. Back in July, it was announced that the platform had partnered with elasticStage, allowing musicians to release their work on vinyl.
In the same month, SoundCloud also rolled out a text feature allowing artists to connect with their fans on a more personal level, and announced the integration of Hook, an app that lets you legally remix songs for social media.
Find out more about Follower Exclusive Releases via SoundCloud.
The post SoundCloud now lets you share releases exclusively with followers appeared first on MusicTech.

The new free Vaults' Prophet-VS-inspired synth by Crow Hill Company and #Community #musicproduction #plugin

A folk musician had her voice cloned by AI – and her recordings claimed by a copyright troll. Welcome to 2026.Gamma-owned Vydia caught in controversy over musician whose videos were claimed against
Source

A folk musician had her voice cloned by AI – and her recordings claimed by a copyright troll. Welcome to 2026.Gamma-owned Vydia caught in controversy over musician whose videos were claimed against
Source

Tiny Moves, Big Depth: An Open-Source Macro Focus SliderWhen taking macro photographs, you often need just a tiny bit of controlled motion — so little that it’s tough to pull off by hand. To address this, [Salveo] designed a small open-source macro photography slider featuring an anti-backlash handle.
Macro photography gives you an extremely shallow field of view, sometimes under 1 mm of depth, in which subjects stay in focus. To combat this, it’s common to capture multiple images while sliding the camera forward or backward, then combine them for a much larger depth of field than a single shot provides. [Salveo]’s slider gives fine control over this focus-stacking process, with the knob even marked to show every 1 mm of linear travel.
The slider is built around a 150 mm linear rail, though it could easily be lengthened or shortened to suit your needs. A T8 leadscrew, paired with anti-backlash nuts, translates the knob’s rotation into smooth linear motion. The knob itself uses a custom-designed anti-backlash mechanism to ensure the slider works cleanly in either direction.
You can grab all the 3D-printable files as well as the full bill of materials from the project page. Be sure to check out [Salveo]’s build video below. Thanks [Tim L.] for sending in this awesome open-source slider. Be sure to check out some of the other macro photography projects we’ve covered, too.

Polymarket odds of US invading Iran this year reach 63% after Trump's postThe President of the United States continues to give contradictory signals of escalating the war and winding it down within a few weeks.

Polymarket took down wagers tied to rescue of downed Air Force officerA Democratic congressman had harsh criticism for Polymarket for allowing users to bet on the date the U.S. would confirm the rescue of Air Force service members shot down over Iran.

Latest SoundBridge update now live SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboration-focused DAW, as well as tackling all of the known bugs.