AI was supposed to kill engineering jobs, but new data suggests they’re the most resilientWhile AI dominates the layoff narrative, engineers as a share of total new hires have actually increased, according to SignalFire data.

MintoTsukino HotelCurrySpiceHotelCurrySpice is a free harmonic spice effect — it does not crush the original signal, but adds a precise "single sting" of harmonics to bring depth and character. Three controls only: SPICE (the amount of seasoning), HEAT (direction from rounded to biting), and TYPE (the harmonic recipe). Features: SPICE 0% — bit-transparent dry signal, true bypass. 4 harmonic recipes: 欧風 (European) / キーマ (Keema) / マサラ (Masala) / hidden 裏メニュー (Secret Menu). A/B comparison stores SPICE, HEAT, and TYPE together. Animated pot character GUI with 8 expressions. Safety peak guard to prevent dangerous output. Made by Minto Tsukino as part of the Minto Shokudo (Audio Tools) series. Free for personal and commercial use. Read More

FTX exec’s wife scheduled for November trial on campaign finance chargesA Manhattan judge ordered that Michelle Bond’s criminal trial start in November after he denied a motion to dismiss the indictment based on claims that prosecutors misled her husband over her charges.

Deezer’s new in-app remix feature lets users speed up and modify tracks by Céline Dion and other artists ‘with full rights compliance’Deezer says every remix is created with the explicit agreement of the artist, and that streams of remixed versions are attributed to the original work
Source

Laser Scanning A Cave With Homebrew GearHow do you measure the inside of a cave? You could do a bunch of hard work with classic surveying gear… or you could just use a laser scanner. [9nl] did the latter, with a scanning rig of his own creation.
The build is based around an Ouster VLP-16 mid-range lidar sensor. It shoots out pulses of light and measures how long it takes them to bounce back in order to determine the range of objects in the vicinity, and thus can be used to great effect for 3D scanning tasks. For [9nl], though, the sensor had a serious limitation. Since it only had a 40-degree field of view, it wasn’t ideal for the desired application of scanning a cave. However, by building a custom rig that could rotate the sensor, [9nl] ended up with a rig that could 3D scan an area through a full 360 degrees. There’s nothing wildly complex involved, just some good old mechanical engineering—putting the sensor on a shaft and spinning it with a belt drive. Then it’s just a matter of processing the data correctly. The hard part is then getting the rig in and out of the cave without breaking anything.
There are plenty of off-the-shelf 3D scanning solutions that can do this work, but few of them come cheap. Plus, rolling your own teaches you a great many things as you hone your solution to your particular needs. Video after the break.

[Thanks to Kovy Jacob for the tip!]

Assignments: Chris RogersonArtistic Director

The Bravo! Vail Music Festival

The Bravo! Vail Music Festival (Bravo! Vail) has announced composer Chris Rogerson as its next Artistic Director. Rogerson assumes the Artistic Director Designate role immediately and the Artistic Director title on September 1, 2026, for an initial three-year term. “Bravo! Vail represents the highest level of music-making in an incomparable natural setting. From its founding in 1987, it has served as a beacon of artistic integrity and a place of limitless artistic possibility,” said Rogerson.

For more, contact powens@bravovail.org.The post Assignments: Chris Rogerson first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Waves V17 now available Waves V17 introduces a range of new features and improvements, including a completely redesigned preset management system, new live sound and post-production enhancements, and Mix Unlock, a premium stem-separation feature within StudioVerse.

Waved Studio is a FREE browser-based wavetable editor
Speight Audio has released Waved Studio, a free browser-native wavetable editor for producers and sound designers. I wasn’t expecting too much when the developer first sent this over (I’ve seen quite a few lackluster browser-based tools for music producers), but Waved Studio is far more advanced than a quick browser toy. I’m not sure how [...]
View post: Waved Studio is a FREE browser-based wavetable editor

Meet Anukari, a strange virtual instrument that is “part synth, part virtual physics playground”A new virtual instrument called Anukari lets users build virtual objects like masses, springs, mallets, and bows, then play them to create kooky sounds.
Described as part synth, part virtual physics playground, Anukari has just launched following a beta testing phase and several years of development. It works as a plugin or standalone instrument, but is said to be “built more like a game”.

READ MORE: ADDAC System has designed a modular synth that can be played like a guitar

Anukari is visually malleable, and its outputs are shareable on social media. It functions as both a virtual instrument and an effects processor, able to process external audio sources such as vocals, guitars, and other instruments.
Users can shape and change how their object creations behave and place virtual microphones around them. Designed as an alternative to efficiency-based music tools that are popular across the market, Anukari is built for experimentation and discovery instead.
Evan Mezeske, founder and creator of Anukari, is a musician, autodidact, and a former engineering leader at Google with “a long history of playing with tech”.
“I grew up in my granddad’s autoshop surrounded by pistons and crankshafts. Perhaps because of that, I like machines and building things. Translating mechanical things into a simulation tickles that part of my brain that loves mechanical contraptions, and it makes playing Anukari feel different from other synths,” he explains.
“Chips or transistors are very abstract, but with 3D graphics and physics, you see what it’s doing in real time, it’s tactile. ‘It’s jiggling like this and making a sound.’”
See how it works in the videos below:

“I built Anukari for the intrepid sonic explorer. They may simply want to play and discover, or they may be a professional artist or producer looking for inspiration or a new sound to work with. Either way, I want people to push it, try to break it, and to see what surprises emerge in the process. I thought it was cool, and I want to invite others to make cool shit. That’s really our whole mission,” continues Mezeske.
“Lots of people assume Anukari is an audio engine with a cute visualiser on top, but the reality is it wouldn’t work without the graphics. The 3D visuals make the audio happen, not the other way around. Anukari is ridiculously efficient thanks to the way it’s designed.
“My past work at Google involved extremely large-scale systems, coordinating work across thousands of machines that have to cooperate. What I had learned about distributed systems applied to building an audio plugin and coordinating things happening in parallel.”
Anukari currently has an introductory price of $99 ($149 standard). You can find out more or try it for free by heading over to the Anukari website.
The post Meet Anukari, a strange virtual instrument that is “part synth, part virtual physics playground” appeared first on MusicTech.

Gator introduce the Frameworks Studio Mic Boom 2000 The Frameworks Studio Mic Boom 2000 features a weighted base along with locking castors and a counterbalanced boom, allowing for controlled positioning of heavier microphones.

Audiolatry releases Apus, a FREE lo-fi virtual instrument
Audiolatry has released Apus, a free/pay-what-you-want lo-fi virtual instrument for macOS and Windows. I haven’t seen anything new from Audiolatry for a while, so I was happy to get an email about this one. We’ve featured quite a few Audiolatry releases on BPB in the past, including LoQuest last year and Easy Strings in 2023. [...]
View post: Audiolatry releases Apus, a FREE lo-fi virtual instrument

Softube’s new Console 1 Compact brings hands-on mixing to even the smallest studiosSoftube has unveiled the Console 1 Compact, a new downsized version of its acclaimed Console 1 controller designed to bring hands-on mixing to producers and engineers short on desk space.
Described as an ultra-portable and more affordable take on the Console 1 concept, the Compact aims to bring the sound, feel and workflow of a large-format studio console to smaller studios and mobile setups.

READ MORE: Softube’s new Bus Processor plugin brings you the “essence of the legendary 670” for just $99

Like its larger siblings, Console 1 Compact’s layered one-to-one workflow lets you sculpt your mix with control over input, preamps, tape, filters, shape, EQ, compression, and output drive. Each knob or fader corresponds to a specific parameter, and no mapping is necessary. And like the rest of the Console 1 ecosystem, Compact integrates with all major DAWs, including Logic Pro, Cubase, Ableton Live and Pro Tools. Users can also customise channel strips using Softube’s own software alongside supported plug-ins from developers such as FabFilter, Universal Audio and Plugin Alliance.

Physically, the unit packs 16 touch-sensitive Analogue Feel potentiometers (with an increase of more than “ten times the resolution” over the Console 1 Mk II generation), a high-resolution smart screen and RGB LED feedback that changes according to the user’s movements between layers and their mixing choices. The goal, says Softube, is to recreate the tactile experience of working with expensive outboard gear while keeping the controller compact enough for even the most crowded studio desks.
Finished in a bead-blasted aluminium chassis with a ‘Nordic Night Sky’ finish, Console 1 Compact also features USB-C connectivity and support for VESA and Softube’s Single Unit Stand mounting solution.
“Console 1 Compact is the perfect travel companion for Console 1 Channel Mk III users, the perfect upgrade for Console 1 Mk II users, the perfect way for Flow Studio users to tighten up the final details of a mix, and the perfect way for Flow Suite subscribers to take advantage of their channels strips and take control of their plug-ins in a truly hands-on way,” says the company.
For more information, visit Softube.
The post Softube’s new Console 1 Compact brings hands-on mixing to even the smallest studios appeared first on MusicTech.

Traxsource to introduce labels to identify both human-made and AI-assisted musicMusic download store Traxsource is introducing human-made and AI-assisted music labels across its platform from 1 July.
Traxsource has partnered with two AI detection companies, SH Labs and SoundPatrol, to support the identification and classification of music submitted to its platform. The system will flag fully AI-generated music for removal and provide the data used to classify the remaining music as either AI-assisted or human-made within the Traxsource classification system.

READ MORE: Is AI seriously in mics now?

The move follows the publication of Traxsource’s Our Position on AI Music statement, released in February this year, in which it acknowledged the legitimate use of AI “as a production tool” to “assist within a larger human-driven creative process”, but stated that entirely AI-generated music “does not belong on Traxsource”.
The AI labels are designed to help listeners make informed decisions based on their individual preferences regarding AI. Traxsource is continuing to actively remove fully AI-generated music daily and has a rebuttal process for content providers to submit disputes if they feel their music has been mislabeled.

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Brian Tappert, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Traxsource, says: “We realise that everything that got us here came from strong convictions and the guts to act on them. Our musical direction, starting Soulfuric, the crazy notion of launching a website selling digital files while the vinyl market was collapsing from online piracy.
“This AI moment feels like one of those all over again. We do not believe AI is going away. Everything we’re doing is about finding a way to live with it, and making sure the value stays where it belongs, with human-created works.”
Marc Pomeroy, Co-Founder and CTO of Traxsource, adds: “We envision a future where shopping for music is like shopping for food today, conventional products right next to certified organic, with the choice left to the consumer. We’re simply using technical means to preserve and uphold organic, human artistry, while keeping the option open for those artists who are pushing the envelope of technology, not wishing to stifle the creative process.”
To learn more about its AI policy, head over to Traxsource.
The post Traxsource to introduce labels to identify both human-made and AI-assisted music appeared first on MusicTech.

FINNEAS says Rick Rubin may have some technical ability after all: “There are many videos of him setting up the mics. He doesn’t ‘know nothing’”Producer Finneas has shared his thoughts on Rick Rubin’s self-confessed lack of technical knowledge, and like many others, he finds it hard to believe that Rubin really knows “nothing about music”.
Rubin said these exact words back in 2023 during an interview with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, when he also said he didn’t know how to use a mixing desk. Finneas, known for his production work with sister Billie Eilish and others, has said he feels Rubin perhaps isn’t being literal when he says he knows nothing.

READ MORE: 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”

Speaking to Billboard, Finneas explains, “He’s made work that I’m really inspired by. I’m a little confused by his kind of… He swears that he knows nothing at all about music, and it’s like, just Google Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash. There are many videos of him setting up the mics. He doesn’t ‘know nothing.’”
He adds: “What I assume he means by that, and I respect this, is similar to what I’ve said before: there are a lot of people that know a lot more than I do. I don’t know the most, but I also don’t know ‘nothing.’
“I think it’s an effective [strategy]. I try to do the same thing, which is, I don’t want to make people feel like it isn’t achievable,” he says. “You don’t want to intimidate somebody out of trying to make something by way of, ‘I have my 10,000 hours, I know so much, you’ll never know as much as I do.’ So I like that.”
Check out the full conversation with Finneas below:

Finneas isn’t the only artist to call Rubin’s confessions into question. Jacob Collier has also shared his own confusion around his claims. In a 2024 interview for the Colin and Samir podcast, Collier said he “doesn’t trust” Rubin’s creative philosophies, adding, “I’d love to sit with Rick at some point and just talk to him and chew the cud and push him.
“[I’d] also welcome to be pushed because all of us need to be examined. Our opinions need to be squeezed and broken and I just think that anyone sitting there and saying ‘This is the wrong way to do it’, like Rick saying art is only pure if it’s made for art’s sake. Absolutely false.”

While other artists have felt particularly riled up by Rubin, including Pete Townshend, who suggested someone should “occasionally slap” Rubin, others who have worked with him have praised his practices, including Kesha, System Of A Down’s Daron Malakian, and Beabadoobe.
Read more music tech news
The post FINNEAS says Rick Rubin may have some technical ability after all: “There are many videos of him setting up the mics. He doesn’t ‘know nothing’” appeared first on MusicTech.

ADDAC System has designed a modular synth that can be played like a guitarWhat if a modular synth was also a guitar? ADDAC System is answering that question. The Portuguese brand has just announced the Four String Series, which will incorporate physical strings into your Eurorack.
Originating from a desire to incorporate some synth tech into a lap steel guitar, the Four String Series utilises tactile modules and mechanisms to pluck each string. The design allows your Eurorack layout to twang and vibrate the strings from below, with the option to expand and customise as you please.

READ MORE: “If you’re a musician and you support this degenerate shit, you’re disgusting”: SZA calls out the “vultures” training AI on tracks without permission

The most important attachment of the bunch is the base ADDAC120 Headstock and Bridge module. Developed so that your strings can be elevated high enough to accommodate your modules underneath, it allows string gauges up to 0.055, has four locking tuners and costs €210.
While you can pluck the strings yourself from the top, there’s no reason you can’t leave it all to your synth to do the legwork. An ADDAC124 Plectrums module was designed for exactly that reason; designed with little metal ‘picks’, the module can pluck each string independently. Priced at €280, it can send triggers through buttons or via a MIDI input.

The ADDAC124 Plectrums module has two modes: Pluck mode, which will properly twang a string, and Harmonic mode, if you’re after more of a light string tap.
An ADDAC121 Humbucker module has also been developed to capture string sounds. However, it’s not like a conventional humbucker you’d find on a standard electric guitar. Instead, it uses an ADDAC122 Quadrophonic Pickup configuration, with a pickup for every string, to fully capture your experimental sounds. And it also allows for independent string volume control, for maximum configuration.
Elsewhere, there is a Rotary Exciter, which generates a rotating magnetic field to excite strings that are at the same frequency as the motor rotation speed. Another new module, the Ebow slider, was then developed to create a harness and sliding mechanism, making it possible to produce an Ebow effect on any string.
Credit: ADDAC
Other ways of stimulating your strings include the ADDAC126 Rotary Exciter, which generates a magnetic field that can have an impact on strings at the same frequency as the motor’s rotational speed. The ADDAC127 Ebow Slider also offers a unique Ebow-like effect, thanks to its “harness and sliding” mechanism.
An ADDAC125 Strings Mute module is also available, which can help dampen unwanted vibrations. The company likens its sound to a palm mute, but one that your tech can do without having ‘hands’; the attachment uses a servo motor, raising and lowering a piece of foam to dampen the vibration of your strings.
Credit: ADDAC
Though, if you’re keen to get involved, ADDAC System has also considered those who might prefer to play with a bow. As a result, there’s a nifty Bow Arch Attachment, which can be popped onto your headstock. The attachment essentially raises the two middle strings, which should make it easier to play each string individually while wielding your bow.
Of course, all of this sits most comfortably in the ADDAC120F Strings Frame. Sitting at €360, the custom-built frame is designed specifically for the Four String Series and can comfortably accommodate all of the available modules. The frame also has a dedicated power supply and should serve as a great base if anyone hopes to expand or customise their frame.
The Four Strings Series will begin shipping in July. For more information, head to ADDAC System.
The post ADDAC System has designed a modular synth that can be played like a guitar appeared first on MusicTech.