Cole Berliner Signs With Drag CityDate Signed: October 2025Label: Drag CityType of Music: Folk, Jazz, ClassicalManagement: Self-managedBooking: Black Rice Booking (Europe)Publicity: Drag CityWeb: coleberliner.com

After making his name as a member of the bands Kamikaze Palm Tree and Sharpie Smile, Cole Berliner has gone solo and The Black Door is his debut solo full-lengther. It also marks his debut for the Drag City Label, though it’s been a long time coming.

“I have been performing since I was a kid, through after school music programs and also through school,” Berliner says. “My first ever band performance that I can remember was in 2nd grade at my school talent show. We were called The Out of Control Fireball Psychics. Fast-forward, I began writing and playing in bands with friends as a high school teenager, and it was around this time that I started experimenting and recording songs and guitar pieces of my own. Around this time/post high school I actually had self-released a couple albums on Bandcamp under the moniker Tongue Splitter.”

The artist says that his sound is based on taking lots of different things and bringing them together. “My sound is kind of a result of this, an amalgamation of everything I’ve been a part of musically or listened to over the course of my life, trying to give each one it’s place in the music while still following the inner light of self-identity,” Berliner says.

“I think it’s also safe to say that I have always liked things with a bit of edge,” he continues. “Even if it’s meant to be soft and beautiful, there has to be some sort of hardness, imperfectness, or sadness.”

While The Black Door is Berliner’s solo debut for Drag City, he’s been working with the label since his band Sharpie Smile signed with them back in 2020.

“My bandmate Dylan and I had met Dan Koretzky in L.A. because we happened to be playing some west coast shows when he was in town,” he says. “Dylan and I both played in White Fence for a while, and I think Tim Presley was the one who connected the dots with us and Dan—Dan ended up coming to a pretty random but awesome show at a strip mall in Santa Ana, and we started talking after that.”

Berliner has had the songs from The Black Door kicking around for a while, but they came to life when he re-started playing them acoustically.

“Somehow, the steel string guitar shifted my perspective back to its original feeling from when I first started writing,” he says. “It was ‘winter’ in L.A., it was foggy and mysterious, lush-green and beautiful.”The post Cole Berliner Signs With Drag City first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

GM joins race to build batteries for AI data centers and the gridGM is developing an entirely new sodium-ion battery chemistry for use in everything from data centers to its own factories.

Pedro Winter appointed Global Head of Creation and Co-Managing Director of Because Music FranceThe founder of Ed Banger Records, launched in 2003, and former manager of Daft Punk is joining Because Music in Paris.
Source

Solana Institute CEO says CLARITY Act must shield open-source developersKristin Smith urged the Senate to preserve developer protections in the CLARITY Act, arguing open-source builders should not be regulated as financial intermediaries.

How the 2020s Chip Crisis Led to a Buggy Saleae Analyzer in 2026For those of us old enough to remember the harrowing days of the early 2020s, alongside another major kerfuffle there was a complete breakdown in global supply chains that led to the 2020-2023 global chip shortage. Unsurprisingly, this pushed many hardware manufacturers into less orthodox approaches, massive BOM changes, and hurried redesigns. One of the results of this era found its way into the hands of the bloke over at the [Playduino] YouTube channel, who was mystified to find two bodge wires in his fancy Saleae logic analyzer.
The reason for popping open the LA was crosstalk between two channels, which was bad enough that it made the unit quite unusable for the intended task. After seeing the cut traces and bodge wires he initially assumed that since he bought it used that the previous owner had modified it, but said person denied having opened it since purchasing it from an official retailer.
This was when he emailed Saleae support to see whether they knew anything. Initially they denied knowing anything about such a modification, but then the CTO emailed back with a long and very detailed confession. As explained in the video, during the aforementioned chip crisis Saleae was forced to rapidly redesign their LAs to use whatever FPGAs and other parts they could still get their hands on.
An initial prototype unit passed their internal tests, so they had a first batch manufactured using PCBs from a different supplier. Despite sending the same Gerber files, the resulting PCBs had ground fill issues that necessitated the observed rework, but due to insufficient testing for crosstalk a total of 406 units made it into the wild.
Sadly he had to return the defective unit for a replacement, making it somewhat hard to let go of such a piece of history. That said, if you want to know whether you’re also one of the lucky remaining 405 LA owners, the CTO provided the affected serial number range: 00200026245 to 00200026675 are affected.

Get nostalgic synth plucks for Splice INSTRUMENT
Download our free synth plucks preset for Splice INSTRUMENT—grab these presets during the drop window and they’re yours to keep forever.

Fender Studio Pro 8.1 arrives Fender Studio Pro 8.1 introduces AI-powered Studio Assistant feature along with integration with Moises Studio, a native pitch-correction tool and a whole host of improvements to its existing toolset. 

Bram Iron transformerIron Transformer is a saturation/distortion plugin that models magnetic hysteresis, the way iron cores in transformers respond to audio signals. Instead of emulating a specific piece of hardware, it simulates the underlying physics: how magnetic material "remembers" its state and resists change, creating that warm, gluey saturation people chase in iron transformers. It is built only for Linux, and only available in CLAP format. Demo video: https://youtu.be/NzO0QJDGMrI. The parameters for the magnetic model can be controlled in the plugin (also automatable). The parameters can be adjusted to add some subtle character, or loud distortion. The dM/dH graph on the right shows live how the magnetization curve is impacted by the parameters you've set. Its shape determines the character of the effect: Wider curve = stronger hysteresis, more "memory" effect, thicker sound. Larger surface area = more distortion, more harmonics generated. Thin line near center = subtle, transparent saturation. Sharper curves = harder saturation, more aggressive crunch. This plugin works well to add character or warmth to a bunch of different instruments. You can leave feedback in the reviews here or mail me at audio@btertoolen.eu. Read More

Behringer D Mini is available for pre-order in the EU: Minimoog Model D-inspired performance for €99
You can now pre-order the Behringer D Mini in the EU for €99, offering you a Minimoog Model D-inspired performance. If you know anything about Behringer in recent years, you’ll know that I’ve made rather casual use of the word inspired in the header. When I say inspired, I mean cloned to within an inch [...]
View post: Behringer D Mini is available for pre-order in the EU: Minimoog Model D-inspired performance for €99

This limited-time Royer Labs ribbon mic bundle could be the perfect setup for recording your acoustic guitarRibbon mic specialist Royer Labs has announced a limited-time deal on its R-12 Active Ribbon Microphone, in which you can get the mic, plus Royer’s patented RSM-SS24 Sling-Shock mount for just $999, saving you $300 if you were to buy them both separately.
Launched in December, the Royer R-12 pairs classic ribbon warmth with active output, making it a perfect microphone for capturing steel-string acoustic guitar. As Royer explains, the mic is designed to capture the “woodiness” and natural midrange of the guitar, without adding to the brittle top-end often associated with brighter microphones.
Meanwhile, the R-12’s active circuitry means improved clarity, transient response and output – perfect for modern recording setups.

READ MORE: Fender Studio Pro 8.1: Moises Studio integration, a new AI Assistant and everything else you need to know

Royer’s flagship R-121 is one of the most touted ribbon microphones on the market, and the R-12 features the same 2.5-micron ribbon. Meanwhile, the mic also sports a switchable -15dB pad and a switchable high-pass filter for proximity control.
It also features an internally shock-mounted ribbon transducer and a built-in triple-layer windscreen for the reduction of unwanted handling and wind-related noise.
Credit: Royer Labs
The RSM-SS24 Sling-Shock mount makes this bundle perfect for acoustic recording, as it provides an added layer of isolation, helping to reduce stand and floor noise during recording.
The RSM-SS24 utilises a non-resonant nylon cord and damped tensioning springs instead of elastic bands, offering users a stable, reliable mounting system for pristine recordings.
“Acoustic guitar is one of those sources where players know immediately whether a mic is helping or getting in the way,” says Dave Hetrick, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Royer Labs.
“The R-12 gives players the warmth and natural response people expect from a Royer ribbon, but with the output, clarity and control that make it easy to use in real-world recording sessions. Pairing it with the RSM-SS24 gives customers a complete setup at a strong price.
Of course, the R-12 is great for recording acoustic guitar, but can also be used with a range of instruments, including piano, organ, drum overheads, strings, room miking and more.
The R-12 Bundle is available now via authorised Royer Labs dealers. Learn more at Royer Labs.

The post This limited-time Royer Labs ribbon mic bundle could be the perfect setup for recording your acoustic guitar appeared first on MusicTech.

Fender Studio Pro 8.1: Moises Studio integration, a new AI Assistant and everything else you need to know
Following the introduction of Fender Studio Pro earlier this year – when it replaced PreSonus Studio One – Fender has introduced a sprawling new update for its flagship DAW, bringing workflow improvements, Moises Studio integration, new plugins and loads more.
There’s also an all-new in-DAW Studio Assistant, which is on hand to answer any questions producers have as they arise, and offer technical direction to support their projects. Additionally, 8.1 introduces a new Vocal Tune plugin for native pitch correction right within Studio Pro.

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

The new Moises Studio integration – dubbed the “first of its kind” – means creators can now use Moises’ AI-powered tools, including stem separation and tools for idea generation, without leaving their DAW.

“Anything that keeps me in-DAW versus breaking focus for a web browser, like the new Moises integration, is a welcome addition,” says artist, producer and songwriter Josh Cumbee. “8.1 gives me more tools and a wider ecosystem that supports my workflow, making it as fast and customised as I would ever want it to be.”
On the new Studio Assistant, Max Gutnik, Chief Product Officer of Fender Electronics, explains: “At Fender, we view AI the same way we view any innovation. Its value isn’t in the technology itself, but in how it helps musicians create, learn and express themselves.
“Studio Assistant provides guidance right when players need it, helping remove friction and keep the creative process moving. Our integration with Moises gives musicians powerful new ways to learn songs, practice, experiment and create.
“AI isn’t the destination. Making music is. When technology gets out of the way and helps musicians accomplish more, it’s serving the art. That’s what we aspire to do.”

Elsewhere, Studio Pro 8.1 brings scoring improvements, pitch curves on audio events – which allow producers to draw real-time pitch changes directly onto audio clips – upgrades to native stem separation, improvements in the DAW’s ability to turn audio into MIDI , plus Dolby Atmos headphone personalisation.
Fender Studio Pro 8.1 is available now for all Fender Studio Pro users, including anyone with a Fender Studio Pro+ subscription, a perpetual license or an upgrade purchase within the last 12 months.
Pricing for Fender Studio Pro is as follows:

Perpetual license – $199.99 / £169.99 / €199.99
Pro+ Annual Subscription Plus Perpetual – $179.99 / £159.99 / €179.99
Perpetual license upgrade – $99.99 / £89.99 / €99.99
Monthly subscription – $19.99 / £19.99 / €19.99

Learn more at Fender.
The post Fender Studio Pro 8.1: Moises Studio integration, a new AI Assistant and everything else you need to know appeared first on MusicTech.

Jonas Eriksson releases Annulus, a FREE polyphonic resonator and effects engine
Developer Jonas Eriksson has released Annulus, a free polyphonic resonator and effects engine for macOS and Windows. You should note that, while Annulus is available for free download, it has not yet undergone a public beta or formal testing phase. The plugin is functional, but may contain bugs, and the developer welcomes reports and feedback [...]
View post: Jonas Eriksson releases Annulus, a FREE polyphonic resonator and effects engine

bigBASS from fedDSP bigBASS packs in an array of tools designed to enhance low-frequency content, and is said to be versatile enough to tackle everything from subtle mix-bus duties to huge-sounding kicks and basses. 

“Now I’m just a human without any superpowers”: Thomas Bangalter on life after Daft PunkThomas Bangalter has opened up on life after Daft Punk and their decision to call it quits.
The electronic duo disbanded in 2021 in order to explore other avenues within music, and according to Bangalter, they’re happy they laid it to rest when they did. Looking back on their success, he’s happy they had such a fruitful career without “screwing it up” across their 28 year run.

READ MORE: Watch Fred again.. perform with Thomas Bangalter during final night of Alexandra Palace residency

Speaking of his creative partnership with lifelong friend and fellow former robot Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, he shares with The Times, “It was almost performance art where you create these characters and blur the line between fiction and reality.”
Asked if it felt like fame was happening to the robots more than them as people, he responds:  “I think so, yes. The history of music is made of fruitful partnerships and they usually last way shorter than the 28-year run that we had. It was great but staying in character and not spoiling it became very difficult.”
Bangalter goes on to compare the end of Daft Punk to the finale of The Wizard of Oz, when the wizard is unmasked as a fraud, and reiterates that there will be no reunion: “I was one of the robots, but now I’m just a human without any superpowers… I’m really happy that throughout our long run we were able to not screw it up. There are other things to explore.”
Bangalter played a pair of DJ sets without the robot helmet in 2025 and again in 2026, both alongside with Fred Again at shows in Paris and London. Homem-Christo is rumoured to be working on a solo album, and Bangalter has also been developing scores for ballets, with his most recent being Mirage — Ballet for 16 Dancers, a follow on from his 2022 project, Mythologies.
While the pair might not be actively participating in any Daft Punk work, a new video for Human After All, the title track from their third album, was released earlier this year. The video features clips from the duo’s sci-fi film Electroma, edited by their creative director Cédric Hervet.

 
The post “Now I’m just a human without any superpowers”: Thomas Bangalter on life after Daft Punk appeared first on MusicTech.

Imagine Plugins is changing who gets to make pluginsHow much would you pay to have your own signature plugin? One that you’ve built yourself, loads flawlessly in a DAW, and has the look and quality of any other plugin in your library. Traditional plugin development would price that in the ballpark of tens of thousands of dollars – but what if you could pay just $1,000 instead?
That’s the pitch from Imagine Plugins, which launched in May 2026. With drag-and-drop DSP modules and a suite of designs for every dial and fader, this new offshoot of the online music service marketplace, Sound Better, has created a browser-based platform for building plugins without the need to hire a developer, and without asking an AI to build something for you.

READ MORE: How we remixed Taylor Swift: Tips and tricks from Chris Lake and Ely Oaks

It’s a model that follows the revolution of website builders, where complex code is neatly wrapped up in a smooth GUI and hidden behind the scenes. In fact, users don’t need to know a single thing about digital signal processing to create a functioning plugin.
“We realised we could do for plugins what Squarespace did for web development”, explains Shachar Gilad, one of the founders behind Imagine Plugins. “Creating plugins is quite an involved process. It’s a huge rabbit hole and ends up taking a couple years before you can make anything good. For those who are interested in that, I think it’s fascinating — but many people aren’t. They just want to have a plugin.”
Outside of learning to code C++ or using the plugin development platform, Juce, building a plugin typically requires specialist knowledge. Unlike building a website, audio software involves far greater complexities — for a start you’re working with real-time audio processing, routing pathways that can reach byzantine status, all with the added need to optimise CPU.
Leap-frogging over these obstacles might appeal to many people, especially now as visual-coding languages have become incredibly popular in game development, film and visual effects software, ushering in a whole new group of artists who find the simplified environment far more approachable. The question is whether it is possible to abstract away the complexity of plugin development without sacrificing quality. Drawing upon his background at big audio companies including the likes of Apple and Waves Audio, Gilad believes he might be able to find the answer.
Imagine Plugins free demo product, Vocal Effect. Image: Imagine Plugins
“If you’re an individual or small company wanting to start making plugins, you really have two options”, explains Gilad. “One is to learn digital signal processing, which is the secret sauce of sound manipulation with code; the other path is hiring someone who has that expertise to translate your vision.”
Having had a front row seat during the process of making his own plugins at SoundBetter, such as Butterfly Effect and Halo Effect, Gilad knows just how difficult it can be to bring an idea to the plugin market. “It’s expensive, it’s time consuming, and the process is not that pleasant, especially for a lot of creators in our industry that are very hands on, DIY, and relatively technical. For them to relinquish control and let someone else translate their vision is not a great experience.”
Expensive is  a relative term given that Imagine Plugins’ starting price is still $1,000 per plugin for creators earning under $150k a year, and $5,000 per plugin for professionals earning between $150k-$300k a year. It’s not cheap. But compared to the alternatives, it arguably strikes a fair balance between hiring a developer, and the potential that a creator could sell their plugin in perpetuity.
However, this price point is still a big ask for bedroom producers and many working artists. So, who is Imagine Plugins really aimed at?
“There are a couple different use cases here, but one is folks with a platform”, says Gilad. “They have a large following, they’re educators on music production, they have a large YouTube following, and they want to be able to give something to their users — whether it’s a giveaway, or to share their knowledge, or to commercialise their audience. For them to try to create a plugin is a natural thing for them to do, either to sell, or give to their audience.”
What would have taken weeks and months before hearing the first instance of a plugin now takes less than 60 seconds to compile and run inside Imagine Plugins. It’s impressive considering that it all runs in a web browser, too. Given how much time and money you are saving, the price might be worth it for people seriously considering creating a one-off plugin.
Imagine Plugins signal flow. Image: Press
As with most creative endeavours, the build process starts with a blank canvas where users can select different DSP components from a list and place them on the page. Reverb, delay, EQ, distortion, and more, are the building blocks that will get you started on an effects chain, with room to add deeper interest with effects such as a reverse and granulator.
The trick to creating something unique, and not imagining the same plugin as every other user of the platform, all lies in the routing methods. To that end, the utility components offer Band Split, Mid/Side Split, Mix, Merge, and Polarity Flip, to name a handful. There are modulation components aplenty, too. With each component containing even more parameters that can be tinkered with, mixing, matching, and routing these blocks together can produce huge variation in designs.
“Between several dozen blocks with multiple parameters for each block, you can essentially create infinite combinations,” says Gilad. “We don’t want people to just throw their effects in and then put their name on it, we want people to route them and chain them in creative and interesting ways.”
Of course, a plugin is only as good as the quality of its DSP modules. Most DSP components have been made in-house at Imagine Plugins, or else licensed. “We don’t want to give the exact names of the things that we’re modelling, but I think most engineers can gather what these are”, says Gilad. “Some of them we licensed from who I believe are some of the best DSP engineers in our industry, including analogue models of classic compressors and EQs that you know mixing engineers often reach for”.
While building a plugin, you’re able to audition its sound as you go. Crucially, a plugin can also be downloaded and fired up straight away in your DAW as a VST, AAX or AU plugin for testing before buying.
With lower financial overheads and no need for specialist knowledge, Gilad believes what remains are the creative parts of plugin manufacturing. “I think that the world in general is going to a place where your imagination is the limit.”
If no-code platforms such as this take off, we could see a future where releasing a plugin is just as viable as releasing a sample pack. On the other hand, amongst an already saturated plugin market, do users want to spend $1,000 to throw their hat in the ring? Imagine Plugins isn’t warping the industry just yet — there’s currently very little buzz surrounding the company, and online forum users remain sceptical about the upfront cost. But once some creators and companies catch on, you may soon be downloading an Imagine Plugins compressor or reverb without realising.
The post Imagine Plugins is changing who gets to make plugins appeared first on MusicTech.