Schematic Sound makes Aurora waveform visualizer plugin FREE and open-source
Schematic Sound has made Aurora, its DJ-style waveform visualizer plugin, open-source and available as a free pay-what-you-want download. Aurora is a VST3/AU plugin that brings the frequency-colored waveform display you see in DJ software like Rekordbox, Traktor, and Serato into the DAW. I used DJ software quite a bit in the past (mostly at friends’ [...]
View post: Schematic Sound makes Aurora waveform visualizer plugin FREE and open-source

Portway DSP launches PINGPAN physics-driven auto-panner plugin (GIVEAWAY)
Portway DSP has released PINGPAN, a physics-driven auto-panner with a ping-pong delay, sweepable filter, and, believe it or not, a playable Pong-style game mode. We are taking a closer look at the plugin and giving away one free copy to one lucky BPB reader. PINGPAN is the debut plugin from Portway DSP, created by developer [...]
View post: Portway DSP launches PINGPAN physics-driven auto-panner plugin (GIVEAWAY)

Fadeouts – lazy songwriting or the perfect space for experimentation? Keith Urban weighs in: “That’s when all the cool stuff starts happening”The fadeout: a space for musical experimentation or just plain lazy?
They feature in some of the greatest tracks of all time – including the Eagles’ Hotel California, The Beatles’ Hey Jude, and Every Breath You Take by The Police – but some might argue that the fadeout is a way for musicians not to have to think of an outro.

READ MORE: Focal’s new flagship Diva Alta Utopia is an audiophile’s dream – and a tight budget’s nightmare

Indeed, repeating a track’s final chorus a few times as the volume slowly decreases means you don’t need to come up with a new chord progression or any major musical change in direction, but fadeouts can provide verdant ground for experimentation, and as the outro solo of Hotel California attests to, they sometimes play host to some of the greatest musical moments ever committed to tape.

And in a new interview with Billboard – in which he talks about Flow State, his new album of yacht rock covers – Australian-American country singer and guitarist Keith Urban waxes lyrical on his love of the fadeout.
“One of the areas I’ve always found that I like to go off script, if you will, is at the end of songs,” he says [via MusicRadar]. 
“People who grew up in that era where there were fades know all about turning the volume up because this amazing thing happened right at the very end of the fade – you could just hear the guitarist do something that was so cool, because typically the session players figure, ‘We’re out by now, they’re not going to use all this, we’re just now playing for playing’s sake.’ That’s when all the cool stuff starts happening.”
Urban explains how some of his biggest tracks saw his band members let loose creatively in a way they weren’t before, and that he was determined to share these sonic gems with the world.
“I’ve found so many times on my records, the reason why Stupid Boy and some of those [songs] had these long outros is what the band would do at those periods was really cool, and I didn’t want it to not be heard,” he says.

So let it be known that Keith Urban is a fan of the fadeout. But what do you think? Should artists seek to conclusively end their songs, or are fadeouts a great place for musical experimentation?
The post Fadeouts – lazy songwriting or the perfect space for experimentation? Keith Urban weighs in: “That’s when all the cool stuff starts happening” appeared first on MusicTech.

Get Solid State Logic SSL X-Limit for $10 at AudioDeluxe
AudioDeluxe is offering Solid State Logic’s SSL X-Limit limiter plugin for $10 in an exclusive deal. SSL X-Limit normally costs $49, so the current $10 price cuts 80% off the regular price. It ends in 13 days, which means it should run until around June 30th. If you already had X-Limit on your wishlist, I [...]
View post: Get Solid State Logic SSL X-Limit for $10 at AudioDeluxe

Focal’s new flagship Diva Alta Utopia is an audiophile’s dream – and a tight budget’s nightmareFocal has unveiled its new flagship wireless active loudspeaker system, Diva Alta Utopia.
Billing the latest unit as its “most advanced wireless, active and connected loudspeaker system to date”, Focal worked alongside British company Naim Audio to combine flagship acoustic engineering, integrated amplification and high-res wireless connectivity in a sleek package typical for the French luxury audio brand.

READ MORE: GForce launches official Prophet~5 plugin with original hardware functionality and classic factory presets

Directly inspired by Focal’s iconic Grande Utopia speaker – one of the most prestigious loudspeaker systems in the world retailing at well into six figures – the Diva Alta Utopia adopts the same principles, including four-way architecture, Focus Time Management, a W cone and fine-tuned filtering.
The unit boasts Class AB amplification delivering over 600W of power per speaker, distributed over four dedicated amplifiers to guarantee a precisely controlled supply for each frequency range.
Meanwhile, the Diva Alta Utopia also packs a powerful bass-midrange driver and four W-cone woofers for an “exceptional” bass response. It also features Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology for lossless speaker-to-speaker communication beyond CD quality, with support for up to 192 kHz/24-bit playback.
It also features Focal’s in-house designed Focus Time Management technology, which sees speaker drivers arranged in an arc formation directed to a “sweet spot” listening point.
“It’s mission? To obtain a perfectly consistent and realistic sound image: all sounds reach the ears at the same time. The result? Ultra-precise soundstage and striking realism,” the brand says.
With Diva Alta Utopia, Focal also unveils its new patented PRISM technology, which combines a multi-material substrate with an advanced micro-structuring process, resulting in a “perfect balance between lightness, damping and rigidity”.
Credit: Focal
The speaker system also supports seamless high-resolution streaming, with compatibility with Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz Connect, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Bluetooth 5.3 and UPnP, offering a “single, elegant platform for music, film and connected living”.
In addition, Focal and Naim have designed an app that lets you control the Diva Alta Utopia, as well as other Focal products. Within the app, users can access their music easily, as well as their favourite streaming platforms and radio stations – all in high-resolution.
And true to form, the Diva Alta Utopia is a looker, too, with stylish floating side panels and choice of premium felt or hand-finished lacquered finishes.
These are some of the best loudspeakers in the biz, mind, so they don’t come cheap. Felt-finished options come at £165,000 per pair, while high-gloss options come at £175,000 per pair.
Learn more at Focal.
The post Focal’s new flagship Diva Alta Utopia is an audiophile’s dream – and a tight budget’s nightmare appeared first on MusicTech.

Ankalot releases Xenroll , a FREE and open-source microtonal piano roll plugin
Developer Ankalot has released the 0.4.3 version of Xenroll, a free and open-source microtonal piano roll for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Xenroll is a free and open-source piano roll plugin that allows you to define pitch with an accuracy of one cent. There are 100 cents in a semitone, which means you have 1200 cents [...]
View post: Ankalot releases Xenroll , a FREE and open-source microtonal piano roll plugin

UDO’s DMNO is ingenious in ways that I have not seen before£2,599, udo-audio.com
“DMNO was not conceived as a successor to the Supers, but as a companion to them,” writes Director George Hearn in the introduction to the UDO DMNO’s 113-page ring-bound manual. Indeed, those synths have been the name of the game for UDO up to now, from the inaugural 12-voice Super 6 released in 2019, to the 16-voice Super 8, to the formidable 20-voice Super Gemini released in 2023. If you’re familiar with the Bristol-based developer’s range, you’ll know that they have built a well-deserved reputation for analogue-digital hybrid designs that deal rather brilliantly in stereo imaging as well. How well will the DMNO measure up?

READ MORE: “The Prophet-5 set the standard for how it’s done today… but there are other ways”: Why the UDO DMNO might just change the polyphonic landscape as we know it

The synth has its work cut out by virtue of its own forebears. Its eight-voice polyphony is four fewer than UDO’s previous minimum, its keyboard is the company’s smallest to date, and yet it is marginally more expensive than the Super 6. But the DMNO quickly shows that size and voice count aren’t the only criteria that matter. It’s two-part multitimbral, which the Super 6 is not. It features a raft of effects, including delay, reverb, chorus and delicious distortion. It boasts a brand-new per-voice analogue filter design, dubbed the Dynamic Multi-Core Stereo Filter, and its architecture all but tears up the rule book for a synth of its kind.
The DMNO is excellently built, even packed in a large drawstring canvas bag for shipping. It’s heavy, its buttons and knobs are firm to the touch, and its full-size keyboard is equipped with aftertouch. It’s finished in a lovely, vintage-style cream with dark knobs. If you feel like you’ve seen that finish before, it might be because you have, with the DMNO’s visual identity bearing a striking resemblance to that of vintage Oberheim synths, most notably the 2-Voice. This nod to Oberheim is, if nothing else, a confident statement of intent. But it also helps to explain what the DMNO is all about.
1975’s Oberheim 2-Voice, one of the earliest commercially available polysynths, comprised two identical Synthesiser Expansion Modules and a sequencer; Oberheim’s quasi-modular monophonic SEMs having been designed for possible cumulation into polyphonic instruments, from the 2-Voice to the 4-Voice to the 8-Voice.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
The DMNO’s own two modules are not monophonic, offering four voices apiece in dual mode (or eight in single mode). They are, however, essentially identical, simply delineated with a rather classy symbol of a domino — hence “DMNO” — with a single dot on the left and two dots on the right. Each of these offers two digital, FGPA-based oscillators (that’s Field-Programmable Gate Array, which simply means uber-stable, responsive and artefact-free), a voltage-controlled filter section, and controls for two envelopes and an LFO. There’s also an additional auxiliary envelope and a second LFO, which can ostensibly both be edited via the screen and encoders, but as for the fundamentals, these are upfront and available on each module to be tweaked by hand.
The phrase ‘more than the sum of its parts’ is often bandied around, but here we really will allow it. The DMNO’s Play Modes allow the two modules to be stacked up or switched between any which way via a knob orbited by domino-themed symbols. They can be played simultaneously, or the keyboard can be split between them. They can alternate with each note trigger, or they can be triggered at random. One can be fed into another.
My favourite Play Mode has to be the (excellently-named) Chaos Mode, where randomisation is further augmented with random pitch deviation in either fifth or octave intervals, and with configurable probability, too. It’s a truly brilliant way of squeezing the most from your sound sculpting of the two modules. Add to this a multimode arpeggiator, a sequencer (coming in an imminent update) —and a mixer section where each side can be independently levelled, panned and bussed to a highly flexible delay and reverb send—and you’ve got some serious capacity for dynamic movement.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Each individual module’s oscillators each offer a familiar array of waveforms (including sine and white noise, I’m happy to report), with the addition of six assignable single-cycle waveforms that really do give extra range. The DMNO ships with a range of these ready to go, from harmonically-rich organ-esque sounds to chiming FM-style waveforms, but you can also load your own into a possible 32 slots, which is a marvellous touch.
Another nice touch is the potential to detune the oscillators into ‘super’ versions of any of its waveforms. It does this with six ‘sister’ oscillators, meaning that each single oscillator can actually be seven. Add this to the fact that the Wave/PWM knob allows for interpolation between adjacent waveforms, not a million miles from a wavetable synth workflow, and it’s possible to create impressive complexity from this fundamental and relatively simple component of the DMNO alone.
The filter section of each module is similarly generous with functionality. Almost every filter type you can think of is on offer, from three types of low-pass to all-pass to a fully-fledged phase shifter. These can also be placed in pairs, and in a variety of configurations; in parallel, series or in stereo. Using the accompanying ∆-Cutoff knob to offset the cutoff frequencies of the two filters, I find it once again possible to create immersive, original-sounding results with the simplest of ingredients.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
The DMNO’s screen is a retro green-on-black glass vacuum fluorescent display, faintly reminiscent of the Fairlight CMI and pleasingly spacious and clear. This helpfully brings up readouts of pretty much every parameter on the panel as you move them. The workflow does, surprisingly, take some getting used to, considering how simple the interface is with just four push encoders, and it isn’t hugely clear which is the best way to get to a certain parameter— particularly since often there are multiple. But overall it does its job very well, and really does contribute to the overall feel of playing a classic instrument.
A note on the voice-count: as a keyboard player, I rarely find myself missing voices if the count is eight or over. The DMNO’s binaural mode (which, as you might imagine, uses moving phase relationships between left and right to enhance its sense of stereo spread and spatial positioning), however, in rendering its voices ‘super-voices’ reduces its overall voice count to four, which threatens to feel limiting at times.
But the DMNO is not a synth that trades in voice count, nor does it in physical size. What it does is deliver a tight package of functions that punches incredibly hard, using a choice array of components in some rather ingenious ways that I have not seen before. Its price is certainly at the premium end at £2,599, to the point where it’s not far off that of mammoth synths like the Moog Muse, but I daresay you won’t be left wanting.
It might hark back to Oberheim, but the DMNO’s focus is most certainly on the present— if not the future.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Key features

8-voice polyphonic synth
44-key keybed with aftertouch
2-part multitimbral with two independent synths
FPGA-powered oscillators
Dynamic multi-core stereo VCF per voice
Binaural analogue signal path
Onboard delay, reverb, distortion, chorus
Multi-mode arpeggiator

The post UDO’s DMNO is ingenious in ways that I have not seen before appeared first on MusicTech.

Here’s what happened in crypto todayNeed to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, Web3 and crypto regulation.

Mixed Notes June 2026: Leena Punks, ZHU, Paris WYA, and MoreLA ZORRA ZAPATA REIMAGINES A CLASSIC WITH “PALOMA”

Peruvian artist La Zorra Zapata unveils “Paloma,” a haunting reinterpretation of the classic “Cucurrucucú Paloma,” marking the first release from her upcoming covers album. Now based in Mexico City, she reshapes the beloved song into an atmospheric, introspective piece, reflecting her personal journey across cultures and her evolving connection to Latin American musical traditions.

THUNDERCAT RETURNS WITH DISTRACTED

Six years after his last LP, Thundercat has released Distracted via Brainfeeder. Blending humor with introspection, the album explores modern distraction and connection, with contributions from A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, and Tame Impala, alongside a previously unreleased collaboration with Mac Miller.

GLOBAL POP ARTIST PARIS WYA DEBUTS NEW EP MANNEQUIN

Globally raised pop artist Paris WYA has released her new EP MANNEQUIN, a trilingual, emotionally charged project exploring identity, pressure, and self-reclamation. Created with Adrian Cota and Morgan Taylor Reid, the EP reflects her upbringing across Shanghai, Paris, and New York, blending ethereal pop production with diaristic songwriting as she steps into a new creative chapter.

KOKO LOVE RECLAIMS HIS NARRATIVE WITH THE COST OF FREEDOM

Montreal-born artist Koko Love reemerges with The Cost of Freedom, a debut album shaped by reinvention and intention. After shedding his former moniker and keeping the project off streaming for a year, he built momentum through live shows and word of mouth. Now arriving widely, the album reflects his commitment to authenticity, connection, and redefining the path to alternative success.

LEENA PUNKS TEAMS UP FOR RETRO-TINGED SINGLE “HOLD ON ME”

Leena Punks joins forces with REYUS and Lauren L’Aimant on “Hold On Me,” a cinematic progressive house track infused with ‘80s-inspired synthwave textures. Released via Interstellar Recordings, the collaboration blends euphoric production with a striking vocal performance, as the rising London-based artist continues to build momentum with support from major electronic tastemakers.

SOMBR BUILDS MOMENTUM WITH NEW SINGLE AND ARENA TOUR

Fresh off a breakout Coachella debut, SOMBR shares his new single “Potential” alongside a cinematic video and announces a 39-date North American arena tour. The self-written track follows a string of chart successes, as the rising artist continues to blend indie rock and pop while expanding his global reach after a landmark year of performances and accolades.

ZHU RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS WITH CINEMATIC NEW ALBUM BLACK MIDAS

ZHU unveils BLACK MIDAS, a 14-track return to his club-focused origins, shaped by a year spent rebuilding and creating on the road after the Southern California wildfires. Blending deep house and melodic techno, the album features collaborations with Joyia, HNTR, and others, alongside his evolving BLACKLIZT concept and immersive global live performances.

The post Mixed Notes June 2026: Leena Punks, ZHU, Paris WYA, and More first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Adam Baker Reflection: MIDI + Chord ViewerReflection: The chords you're playing, big and bold, on any screen. Reflection came about because I always wanted a plugin with a giant piano and chord viewer that I could see from across the room. My MIDI keyboard isn't in front of my computer, it's next to it, and I'm still (always) learning piano and music theory. None of the existing plugins were big enough for me to see. Once the basic plugin was built, I thought, why not have that broadcast to my iPad? My other app, Grip (for Ableton Live), already had a desktop companion to connect over Wi-Fi, so I reused it for Reflection. And why just one device? A phone and a tablet, or a whole classroom of piano students with iPads, could all show the same thing. Plus, why not be able to teach or share over the web? So, sharing, Jackbox-style, is a part of Reflection too. Reflection has three parts: a free plugin (VST3, AU), a mobile app (iOS, Android in beta), and a desktop app (Mac, Windows). They all have: Real-time chord detection from MIDI. Piano keyboard, grand staff, and equivalent guitar chord notation. Key signature and mode. Tap, type, or (on mobile) speak a chord name to see how to play it. The mobile and desktop apps also have a built-in piano and other sounds, so they work without a DAW. Chord analysis plugins aren't new. What's different about Reflection is seeing the same thing on multiple screens at once: Producer: Stick your phone on your keyboard and see what's playing through your DAW without turning around. Band/jam/collaborators or teachers & students: All of you can see what's being played in your own devices, e.g. to follow a band leader as they play. Either real-time over Wi-Fi in the same room, or over the web. I've got lots of ideas for how to extend this, either into the teaching/learning space, or more for live use, or for production. But starting with the basics and want to hear from producers, teachers, students, and others about what would make Reflection useful to you. Read More

SpaceX valuation balloons to $2.6T, briefly passes AmazonSpaceX's valuation has increased by $1 trillion since its shares started trading on Friday.

How Did They Make View-Master Slides?The basics of producing a stereophotograph of real life places were well-established by the time the View-Master arrived, but producing images of imaginary scenes was a bit more involved. [View Master Travels and Peter Dibble] took a look at how the fairy tale and media tie-in reels may have been made.
Staring with simple dioramas, View-Master eventually developed an entire team to work on fairy tales. One of the most influential members was sculptor [Florence Thomas]. She was instrumental in updating many of the original fairy tale reels from small scale miniatures to 1/6 scale dioramas for the scenes. Unfortunately, the department was eventually cut and all the original miniatures thrown away.
Before VCRs, View-Master was the primary way people could interact with their favorite TV shows and movies when they weren’t being broadcast. TV shows could be photographed while in production in Hollywood with a stereo camera giving great visual detail. Some cartoon and movie reels were less engaging, having been made from promotional images, giving more of a paper cutout appearance rather than “real” 3D. In either case, many of these visual techniques have been lost with little documentation on how they were achieved.
We previously covered [View Master Travels and Peter Dibble]’s History of the View-Master and how you can digitize the disks for posterity.

Cherry Audio recreate the Ensoniq ESQ-1 Cherry Audio's  the new virtual version of the Ensoniq ESQ-1 captures the sound and character of the original hardware while introducing some handy modern extras. 

The music industry is closing in on a billion global subscribers – with Spotify out in frontMIDiA Research estimates that the global subscriber count grew 10.1% YoY in 2025
Source

GForce launches official Prophet~5 plugin with original hardware functionality and classic factory presets
GForce, best known for its virtual instrument emulations of classic gear, has partnered with Sequential to launch an official Prophet~5 plugin.
The Prophet~5, an analogue polysynth, was originally released in 1978 by Sequential Circuits. Heard across records from Genesis, Radiohead, Madonna and Aphex Twin, it introduced a new era of polyphonic synthesis, combining analogue resonance, patch memory and hands-on control. GForce’s plugin version marks the first ever official plugin version.

READ MORE: Imagine Plugins is changing who gets to make plugins

The plugin “faithfully recreates” the distinct character of the Rev1, Rev2 and Rev3 hardware revisions, and captures the sound, response and musicality that made the original instrument a trailblazer, from SSM warmth to the punch of the Curtis filter designs.
Alongside all original hardware functionality, the Prophet~5 plugin also introduces modern enhancements. It includes newly redesigned X-Modifiers and dual layer architecture with Layer, Split and Alternate modes with up to 10 voices per layer.
It also offers two selectable FX slots for Chorus, Phaser, Filter, Distortion, Tremolo and Compressor, plus dedicated Delay, Reverb and Pan Spread effects. There are also over 460 professionally designed presets, including the original 38 factory patches from 1978.
Additionally, there’s full MPE support, comprehensive MIDI CC mapping throughout, a patch browser with tagging and search functions, plus a resizable interface.
Learn more in the walkthrough below:

David Gibbons, CEO of Sequential, says, “The Prophet~5 holds a special place in Sequential’s history and in the wider story of modern music. GForce Software approached the instrument with real care, and no one comes closer capturing the character and musicality of the hardware. We’re excited to see their plugin introduce a new generation of musicians and producers to the Prophet~5.”
The Prophet~5 plugin is priced at £99.99, but right now you can get it for an introductory price of £69.99 until the end of July. Find out more via GForce.
The post GForce launches official Prophet~5 plugin with original hardware functionality and classic factory presets appeared first on MusicTech.