Google just declared itself a contender in AI design at IO 2026Google says it's designed the app to be accessible to everyone, from teachers to small business owners.

A special day with Miles the Music Kid in The BronxThe Guitar Center Music Foundation recently released details of, "Rising producer and multi-instrumentalist Miles Bonham, known as Miles Music Kid, recently visited two elementary schools in the Bronx in partnership with non-profit Education Through Music. During the visit, he donated 1,000 ukuleles and three DJ decks, provided by The Guitar Center Music Foundation, to help expand access to music education for New York City students."

Watch a video of Miles’ school visit HERE.

“I’m so lucky that I have instruments around my house, and I could just play them whenever I want," Bonham said in a statement. "But some people don’t have that even though they love music just as much as I do. I’m really happy knowing that we are giving these kids all of this musical gear so they can have something to go to whenever they feel like they want to express themselves through music.”

“Myles’ visit demonstrated the incredible impact music can have when students are given the opportunity to engage with it firsthand,” Myka Miller, Guitar Center Music Foundation Executive Director, told MC. “Watching these students light up as they explored instruments, created sounds together, and experienced the creative process in real time was truly inspiring. At The Guitar Center Music Foundation, we believe every child deserves access to music education, and we are proud to support initiatives like this that help open doors for creativity, confidence, and self-expression.”

According to a press release, "During the visit, Miles spent time with students, as he performed a song on the guitar for them and produced a song using their voices and different sounds in the classroom. The donation of ukuleles and DJ equipment introduces foundational tools and gives students new ways to explore creativity and self-expression."

“This was an incredibly special day,” said Bree Bowles, Senior Vice President, Republic Records: Kids & Family and 2026 Co-Chair of Education Through Music, supporting Education Through Music’s “Making Minds Sing!” 2026 Gala honoree Jim Roppo, Chairman and CEO, Republic Records. “Being in the classroom with Miles and seeing how students respond to music in real time is a powerful reminder of why this work matters. Education Through Music is committed to making sure every child has access to music as part of their education, and moments like this truly bring that mission to life.”

“Experiences like this show just how powerful music education can be in a child’s life,” said Dr. Janice Weinman, CEO of Education Through Music. “When students are given the opportunity to create, perform, and connect through music, it not only sparks joy but also builds confidence, collaboration, and a sense of belonging. We are incredibly grateful to Miles, Republic Records, and the Guitar Center Music Foundation for helping us expand access to these transformative experiences for our partner school students.”

For more information about The Guitar Center Music Foundation, please visit http://guitarcenterfoundation.org/.

Photo Credit: Toby TenenbaumThe post A special day with Miles the Music Kid in The Bronx first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Data shows Bitcoin dip buyers waiting for lower prices: Is $70K BTC’s next stop?Bitcoin futures and orderbook data show dip buyers waiting for a BTC price drop below $70,000.

Building a Pip Boy Themed SmartwatchOne of the problems with good science fiction is that it introduces us to all kinds of cool devices that we can’t actually have in real life. [Huy Vector] has tried to fix that a little with this fantastic smartwatch build inspired by everybody’s favorite wrist computer from the Fallout series.
The build is based around a Xiao ESP32-S3 board, which hosts the capable microcontroller and has all that useful wireless connectivity built in. It’s hooked up to a MAX30102 heart rate sensor to collect the wearer’s vital signs, as well as a 1.54″ LCD screen for displaying the fantastic Pip Boy themed interface. Power is courtesy of a small lithium-ion cell tucked in behind the display. A little copper tubing and brass hardware helps tie everything together, with the latter serving as capacitive touch points for controlling the device. A simple leather watch strap completes the build.
It’s a bit of a diversion from the classic Pip Boy design, in that it’s a small smartwatch instead of a chunky device that takes up most of the wearer’s forearm. However, this isn’t so bad in reality—it’s far more practical while still rocking those classic green-on-black graphics that we all love so much.
If you’re craving a more authentic Pip Boy recreation, we’ve featured a few of those, too.

Evan Whikehart named General Manager, North America at IDOL, as Paris-headquartered indie says its annual revenue topped $50m globally last yearWhikehart joins from Secretly Distribution
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Get a free gong texture for Splice INSTRUMENT
Download our free gong texture preset for Splice INSTRUMENT—grab these presets during the drop window and they’re yours to keep forever.

Metric Halo MB David's 2BusDavid's 2Bus takes inspiration from David Gnozzi's famous 2bus processing. David is well known for his analog collection and the skills to use it and over the years he developed a quite muscular chain of analog pieces that he found worked the best in a specific combination and with specific settings. Make Believe Studios developed the plugin by capturing his chain and removed the guesswork by giving the user a very friendly interface with a few key controls that do a lot of things under the hood. The processor was ear-tuned by the team and David himself. David's 2Bus is a combination of tape saturation, transformers and different stereo effects all in one. Designed primarily as a 2bus processor, is meant to be used as a first instance on your mixbus: hitting it at the right level is key for this plugin. The two green LED in the metering are not there by chance. Operation is simple: Use the input and output knobs to make sure you hit the right level and get the right amount of tape saturation, bump, and transient control. Then, dial in transformer enhancement with the Texture knob and the two different flavors A and B. Finally, finish it off with a little stereo manipulation. Follow up with your favorite compressor and you're good go to. While originally conceived as a master-bus processor, the plugin doesn't stop there. Engineers around the world are using this "off label", applying much more aggressive settings and extreme stereo effects to single tracks and groups. From vocals to guitars this plugin is as much a creative tool for modern mixing as it is a subtle processing for your entire mix. David's 2bus is the 1st of the signature 'MixbusTv' line of plugins we developed with MH and MB. I wanted to start with what I consider a big part of my sound, a combination of processors that time and time again proved to work on almost every mix. I also wanted to make it simple to use and almost take the guess work out of the equation, just hit the right level and mix into it and your mix will be easier and come together much faster. What I didn't expect is that this plugin turned out to be so versatile and now the biggest engineers out there are using it for creative effects too. -David Gnozzi Key Features Detailed model of David Gnozzi's analog 2Bus chain with tape, transformer and space modeling. Add weight and definition. Control dynamics with analog saturation. Adjust and enhance the spatial aspects of your mix. World-class Signal Processing and Workflow. Adjustable UI size. MH Preset Manager - Provides cross-platform presets. Read More

Splice partners with ElevenLabs on “next-gen AI-powered creative tools”Music creation platform Splice has partnered with AI company ElevenLabs to build a number of “next-generation AI-powered creative tools” which will be released later this year.
Splice has been vocal in recent months of its mission to harness AI to empower music creators, introducing a raft of new generative AI features last month with an emphasis on ensuring fair compensation for original sample creators.

READ MORE: Generative AI’s threat to music sample libraries is existential — Splice thinks it has a solution

And in December, Splice announced it was partnering with Universal Music Group to build “commercial AI tools” for its community of creators.
“In this second wave of AI in music, the creator comes first,” says Kakul Srivastava, CEO of Splice. “We’re building responsible products from the ground up, and our partnership with ElevenLabs gives us access to powerful models to help shape what those experiences can be.”
“Our models deliver studio-grade audio ready for commercial use,” said Mati Staniszewski, cofounder of ElevenLabs. “By embedding them into Splice’s workflow, we’ll bring these capabilities directly to the artists and creators shaping the future of music.”
Elsewhere, Splice, earlier this year, confirmed its acquisition of AI-powered voice production platform Kits AI, further solidifying its commitment to developing and offering creator-first AI tools.
Splice is a leading music creation platform with a vast library of royalty-free samples, sounds and presets. ElevenLabs is an AI company specialising in realistic text-to-speech, voice cloning, and AI audio generation.
Learn more at Splice.
The post Splice partners with ElevenLabs on “next-gen AI-powered creative tools” appeared first on MusicTech.

Novation unveil the FLKey 2 The new FLKey 2 line-up boasts improved hardware alongside even tighter integration with Image-Line's hugely popular DAW software. 

Karina Magallon goes with the flow: “If you get too rigid, you forget what you’re creating”Ad feature with BandLab Opportunities. [Editor’s Note: MusicTech and BandLab are both part of Caldecott Music Group.]
“Sometimes, things don’t feel real… But then, I’m on a call with you right now, so it is.”
That’s one of the first sentences Karina Magallon says in our interview. She’s fully dressed up, prepared to take the stage when she shows up for our video call. Even her purple eyeshadow, signifying the colour palette of her upcoming album, Island Night pt.2, due late this summer, carries thought and intention. When she steps into her own universe, woven with Latin R&B songs sung in Spanish and English, she embraces her artist persona inside and out.
Stacking vocals in her home studio and sprinkling whistle notes on top, Karina takes a wholesome approach with her musical creations: “It’s kind of like you’re a scientist sometimes, trying different things. And other times, it’s something beyond you, and it’s just your job to translate that into art.”
A natural songwriter, she’s always finding her way to captivating melodies and lyrics, even when she’s asleep. “Sometimes, songs come in a dream,” she says, “It’s special when harmonies, melodies, and lyrics all arrive at the same time.” Not a surprising statement coming from someone who, while still “figuring things out”, is also living her dream.
Image: Press
But Karina wasn’t always this sure of herself and where she’s headed. Although music was always in her life, her upbringing in Houston, Texas, could have easily led to an ordinary career path. “I see myself doing a lot of things on film and television, not just as a songwriter, but also as an actress. I love all things performing, dancing, and singing…When I was younger, I was too afraid to say these things out loud.”
Fortunately, she has a powerful voice with a stunning range to sing about those things now.
As is the case for many singer-songwriters, vocal production is a sacred part of Karina’s creative process. Now living in Los Angeles, she still records most of her vocals in a makeshift vocal booth with a Scarlett Solo audio interface, a Shure SM7B microphone, and a Cloudlifter preamp. When she takes breaks from recording and editing vocals, she turns to her electric piano, guitar, or ukulele to produce the instrumentals for her demos.
Although this paints a picture of a bedroom producer who prefers to make music alone, she thrives on collaboration.
“When the pandemic started, everyone in the world was on the internet. Every networking event was on the internet. So I just started meeting people online,” says Karina, who was completing her music studies at Belmont University in Nashville at the time. “One of my professors was trying to teach us a bit about different areas of audio engineering, but we hadn’t figured out how to connect Zoom to Logic Pro and other DAWs yet. So, he showed us through BandLab.”
Image: Press
That was her first introduction to the platform where she would eventually establish her strongest following. Through those years when all musicians were cooped up at home, Karina spent her time on co-writing sessions over Zoom as well as plotting her career as a songwriting artist.
“A few years later, I started posting on BandLab. I posted my demos and videos just to try it out. I was posting everywhere, but people there resonated with my stuff a lot more than other platforms,” she explains. Since the community on BandLab is made up of people who love creating music, there was immediate interest in Karina’s artistry. Cutting through the noise on each social media platform is an ongoing challenge, but she’s grateful for the exposure she’s gained through BandLab, where music is the ultimate, non-negotiable conversation-starter.
Today, she continues to actively post on the platform to her 31,000 followers, especially now that she’s in the middle of a release cycle with two album singles already out. She also keeps an eye on the Opportunities tab, which she deems one of the most valuable features on BandLab.
“I don’t know all the things about how to promote a song, but I keep trying, and I learn different things. I feel like nobody quite knows either — it keeps changing,” she admits.
Being an independent artist comes with budget concerns, organizational challenges — and juggling it all comes at a cost: “I’m so used to writing music every day that sometimes it’s a little bit painful not to have enough time for it. It comes in waves, the things that I need to focus on creatively, and I think what I’m doing right now is what’s going to allow me to write more.”
Image: Press
When asked about the production process behind her upcoming album, she lights up. Karina is no stranger to writing for sync placements within a limited period of time. In fact, recently, she completed a 10-song custom project for the ESPN Network within a month. But with her album, she took her time, working with her co-producers, Mateo Barragan and 4NALOG, in-person and remotely over a long period of time.
Starting each session with a blank slate, they created one song after the other, blending, in Karina’s own words, “Latin R&B, some bolero vibes, and girly pop.” After a series of upbeat tracks, Karina found herself sitting in front of her piano one day, struggling to finish a gut-wrenching ballad. She had to be patient to get over her tears and see it through: “Not all songs have to be happy, you know?”
First came the chords. Then, she began to imagine various sounds she wanted to add to it. Sometimes she’d experiment with samples: EQ them, pitch them up or down, and add some flanger or phaser effects. Other times, she’d use her voice to produce cinematic textures. “I just go with the flow. If you get too rigid, you forget what you’re creating.”
She points to her single, Divina, which is a stirring track that ends with a wall of sound filled with her vocals, as the perfect example. “I wanted the last chorus to feel grand. When you’re in a choir, not everyone sings the same way. Some people have more straight tones. Some people have brighter voices. So, I tried to add several characters there to really make it feel like a choir, even though it’s just my voice.”
Image: Press
It sounds easy, but Karina is aware of the misconception: “This is one of those careers that you really have to put a lot of effort into for it to be long-term.” That’s why she perceives each step she takes as another forward motion. When she first moved to LA, she had a bunch of day jobs, which she eventually phased out for creative gigs. Now that she’s over the hump, she keeps an open mind about opportunities that come her way, whether it’s an audition to book a new role or a music project for another artist.
“I like to be challenged. Any time I’m creating, I’m happy. I’ve written songs for a long time. I read poetry, songwriting books, and collaborated with many people… Even if a song didn’t go anywhere, I was still getting better every time.”
Finding joy in the process is important, but it’s her ultimate goal that truly motivates Karina: “To be the biggest artist and actress in the world, creating number 1 hits that bring light into people’s lives. That is my calling.”
Ready to catch your big break? Browse career-defining live gigs, record deals, artist features and beyond at BandLab Opportunities.
The post Karina Magallon goes with the flow: “If you get too rigid, you forget what you’re creating” appeared first on MusicTech.

“A huge step forward for beatmakers and producers”: Novation launches next-generation FLKey 2 range of FL Studio-compatible controllersNovation has expanded its FLkey range of FL Studio-compatible keyboard controllers with the new FLkey 2, with upgraded hardware plus deeper connections to FL Studio tools and workflows.
Available in four configurations – the FLkey 2 Mini 25, FLkey 2 37, FLkey 2 49 and FLkey 2 61 – the new latest launch from Novation is aimed squarely at FL Studio users with a raft of improved features.

READ MORE: Tamber is an “ethically trained” AI tool to aid the creative process – and you can use arm gestures to control it

Hardware upgrades include more responsive pads than the previous FLkey generation, endless encoders, an OLED display which places essential information directly onto the keyboard interface, plus semi-weighted keys on the FLkey 49 and 61.
Credit: Novation
Additionally, all four keyboard controllers feature a suite of powerful creative tools, including Scale and Chord modes, and an arpeggiator function.
Via “enhanced DAW scripts”, the new FLkey 2 controllers offer “deeper connections” to FL studio, including tactile control over essential Channel Rack, Mixer, and plugin parameters, as well as expanded sequencing capabilities for the two rows of RGB-backlit pads.
The new controllers offer “great-feeling” keys and pitch and mod wheels or touch strips, and enable control beyond FL Studio via a MIDI Out port, plus Mackie HUI support. Additionally, FLkey 2 controllers are NKS (Native Kontrol Standard)-ready.
Credit: Novation
Also, each of the new FLkey 2 controllers comes with a collection of software, including a six-month subscription to FL Studio’s Producer Edition; which includes premium instruments and effects from Native Instruments, GForce, Orchestral Tools and Klevgrand; and Novation Play, a virtual instrument designed to work “seamlessly” with FLkey’s controls.
“We’re proud to have worked so closely with Image-Line to deliver the only keyboard controller designed specifically for FL Studio,” says Nicholas Howlett, Novation’s Head of Marketing.
Credit: Novation
“Through this collaboration, we’ve added even more direct hardware access to the features and workflows that are most important to FL Studio’s core user base. We know FLkey 2 will be a huge step forward for beatmakers and producers.”

Pricing & availability

FLkey 2 Mini – $129.99 / £109.99 / €109.24
FLkey 2 37 – $229.99 / £199.99 / €193.27
FLkey 2 49 – $279.99 / £229.99 / €226.88
FLkey 2 61 – $329.99 / £279.99 / €277.30

Learn more at Novation.
The post “A huge step forward for beatmakers and producers”: Novation launches next-generation FLKey 2 range of FL Studio-compatible controllers appeared first on MusicTech.

oeksound introduce Soothe3 Soothe3 is powered by a redesigned algorithm that promises a significant improvement to processing transparency and a wider ‘sweet spot’, as well as introducing support for immersive channel layouts and more. 

Indossa Sounds launches REAKTR Map Maker, a FREE Reaktor sample map generator
Developer Indossa Sounds has launched REAKTR Map Maker, a free Reaktor sample map generator. Native Instruments Reaktor isn’t something we talk about every week around here, but we do see related releases pop up from time to time. Sound Author’s Pristine FDN-style reverb, and the MRX90 cassette tape emulation are a couple of good examples. [...]
View post: Indossa Sounds launches REAKTR Map Maker, a FREE Reaktor sample map generator

DAWJunkie releases Mini-Menace, a FREE MicroBrute-based synth
DAWJunkie, the developer behind DT-600 Mini, Padness 2 Jr, Knobs, and many more interesting freebies, is back with another: Mini-Menace. Mini-Menace is available in AU, VST, and AAX formats for macOS and Windows. Mini-Menace is a throwback to the modern resurgence of analog synths, with all sounds sourced from the Arturia MicroBrute. It’s easy to [...]
View post: DAWJunkie releases Mini-Menace, a FREE MicroBrute-based synth

Tamber is an “ethically trained” AI tool to aid the creative process – and you can use arm gestures to control itDesigned by artists for artists, new creative suite Tamber is here to reinvent how we use AI in the studio. Powered by “sonic intelligence”, Tamber is able to transform an artist’s most abstract thoughts and ideas into sound, keeping artists firmly in the drivers seat.
Thanks to the input of countless artists, including some who experience synaesthesia (those who can hear colours, taste sound, etc), Tamber acts as an “ethically trained” creative hive mind. Rather than pumping out fully AI-generated tracks, Tamber acts as a “creative nervous system”, able to adapt, respond, and provide unique sounds based on user prompts and emotions.
Say you’re keen to capture the feeling of a sunrise, the feeling of sand between your toes, or the taste of your favourite meal – Tamber can tap into those emotions and conjure up the perfect sound to add to your track.

READ MORE: How Neal Acree created Critical Role’s The Mighty Nein electronic music soundtrack: “To truly embrace the idea, you have to think about how electronic music functions”

The pool of available sounds is also, again, “ethically” gathered. It has a slew of new samples, from jewellers clanking away in an Istanbul bazaar, to the sound of drinks being shaken on a Rio beach, to the sound of bustling cities. “Nothing synthesised, nothing borrowed,” Tamber promises. “Every sound carries the place it came from.”
Backed by $5 million in funding from Adobe Ventures and a network of artist-investors, the creative suite is a transparent and intuitive new way to use AI in the studio, while protecting artists from other tools that may be training off of their work. “I built Tamber because I was sick of watching the music industry get sold tools that steal from artists and defend it by calling it progress,” Zoe Wrenn, founder and CEO of Tamber, explains.
“Artists shouldn’t have to choose between their values and their careers, but that’s the choice they’re being handed right now – use tools built by taking from your peers, or get left behind,” she continues. “There needs to be an alternative, one that’s built with artists, and that is ethically trained and takes its environmental impact seriously.”
Wrenn also adds that, due to Tamber’s pool of contributing artists, users can use it without fear of where all the inspiration input has come from “[It’s a] tool that respects where the sound comes from, and it doesn’t have to hide how it works to feel like magic,” she says. “[It’s a] tool that puts the future of music making back in the hands of the artist.”

Expanding on this, Wrenn also spoke to Billboard, saying: “There was a turning point where all musicians were suddenly expected to create more music at an unnatural speed and to also become content creators. When I looked for tools to help me keep up with that, I found the tools were either blatantly robbing us or just weren’t particularly useful. I believe Tamber is the right solution.”
“We don’t train on any third-party audio at all. A lot of the other music technology and AI companies have, as everyone knows, scraped a whole bunch of stuff and stolen the majority of their training data. We don’t do anything like that.”
While users can use Tamber without fear of “robbing” other artists, the creative suite also supports and adapts to each user’s creative process. The “sonic intelligence” begins to store information on preferences, and learns when it might need to hop in and offer some inspiration.

The tool also has a slew of fun ways to control it. It can be used via a gesture-based interface, which Tamber describes as a “bionic arm for musicians” to shape out ideas in the air to trigger certain sounds. There’s also voice control options.

To hear Tamber in action, Wrenn utilised an early model of the creative tool on her 2020 single, Hailey.
The Mac desktop app is available now, while integration for Ableton and additional DAWS will come later this year. Find out more at tamber.music.

The post Tamber is an “ethically trained” AI tool to aid the creative process – and you can use arm gestures to control it appeared first on MusicTech.