STL Tones ControlHub and Tracer let you capture and recreate any plugin chainControlHub $199 + Tracer add-on $99 + Expansion Packs $49
ControlHub Pro (subscription only, includes ControlHub, Tracer and Expansion packs): $15/month or $150/year
Many producers have go-to processing chains for various studio tasks, assembled from their favourite plugins and hardware.

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However, not all processors are made equal – an EQ that’s reliable when tracking may be less effective when mixing or mastering, for example. As a result, one can spend years – and heaps of cash – building up the ideal collection of effects required for various chains. Or, you could just grab a subscription to STL Tones’ ControlHub plugin and be done with it.
Strip show
At first glance, ControlHub looks like a standard channel strip plugin, with each of its processing stages packed into its own module. Here’s the rundown.
The processing chain starts with the Color module, which takes on the role of preamp and/or tape return, with shelving bass and treble EQ bands. Plus, a distortion generator allows you to blend tube drive and tape saturation style distortions. This feeds a dynamics stage that contains three rearrangeable sub-modules, namely a de-esser, a transient designer and a compressor with a choice of VCA or FET models.
Next is the Master EQ stage that provides three fully parametric bands, as well as high- and low-pass filters with slopes variable from a gentle 6dB/oct, all the way to a brickwall 96dB/oct. EQ curves are drawn as an overlay on a spectrograph that dominates the plugin’s window. You can drag the nodes of the curve as an alternative way of configuring the EQ bands.
The Master EQ is followed by the Effects module containing both a reverb and a delay. There are seven reverb models, each based on different hardware reverbs, and both analogue and digital delay models. It’s unusual to include such processors in a channel strip, although they’re embedded in the strip similarly to how they would be if applied via inserts on an analogue console, and there is an attraction to everything being dealt with within a single plugin.
STL Tones ControlHub spectograph view
The effects sound nice, too, and work well during mixing, but if you already have some premium modelled reverb and delay plugins then there’s a good chance they’ll be more detailed and accurate than ControlHub’s Effects module. So, an unusual module for a channel strip, but we’ll take it.
The chain concludes with a limiter module, balance control and master wet/dry mix setting. If you switch the main visualisation from spectrogram to waveform mode, the gain reduction activity of the limiter is overlaid on the waveform readout, which is handy.
It’s a shame there’s no similar readout for the compressor’s activity, although the waveform is post-compressor so you can at least glean some information about the compressor’s activity from it. With regards to the balance control, this can operate in either L/R or M/S mode, but only weights the signal to one channel or another and can’t go fully 100 per cent one way or another, despite what is shown on the control’s value readout.
Tracer
So far there’s nothing particularly remarkable about ControlHub. It offers a healthy selection of tools that work well for tracking and mixing, and that can also be used for mastering. Still, the inability to re-order the modules takes away some usefulness in this area. But now we get to the plugin’s party trick: tracing. This lets you ‘sample’ either a hardware compressor (or a full processing chain) for recreation within the plugin.
Tracing is a relatively straightforward process and involves playing a special audio file, consisting of various noises, pulses and drones, through a compressor or processing chain, and then importing the captured result into ControlHub for analysis. If tracing just a compressor, the results are made available as an option in ControlHub’s compressor module alongside the built-in VCA and FET models. If tracing a full strip, the results are saved as a complete preset that can be loaded into the plugin when needed.
STL Tones ControlHub tracer
Now, this all sounds very exciting, but it’s important to appreciate the limits of the system. For one, when tracing an entire chain, you have to manually configure the Color and Master EQ modules to give the best-sounding match to the chain you are tracing. In other words, it is still just the compressor that is being measured and recreated, although this tracing is then wrapped in an entire preset.
Perhaps more importantly, the accuracy of a tracing depends entirely on how close you remain to the original, as-traced settings. The further you move ControlHub away from these traced settings, the less accurate the tracing becomes when compared to similar settings on the original compressor.
Trace Hub
The plugin connects directly to Trace Hub, an online resource that lets you share your tracings and download those created by others. In theory, this gives you a near-limitless choice of both common and boutique compressors, not to mention the ability to import ‘signature’ channel strips created by notable and well-known users of the platform.
The problem with this, as we see it, is that every recording is different, and so processors have to be tuned and configured to match the audio being processed. But, as we have mentioned, doing this in ControlHub can reduce the accuracy of the tracing; this is where the Pre EQ comes in.
STL Tones ControlHub tracer
The module is identical to the Master EQ module, and is useful in its own right as a pre-compression EQ, but its primary intended function appears to be for tuning a recording to match it to a traced chain. This isn’t an unreasonable solution and it certainly helps, but it still has a feeling of the tail wagging the dog!
Is the whole tracing thing a white elephant, then? Not at all. Changing the response of the compressor does have an impact on the overall character of results, and even if a tracing doesn’t sound identical to the source it will nonetheless have its own particular character for you to work with, which is definitely a good thing.
We don’t think ControlHub is any time soon going to supersede the detailed yet fixed models of individual processors and channel strips that we’re familiar with, but the plugin is unquestionably a fascinating, effective and exceptionally flexible channel strip in its own right.
Key features

Channel strip plugin (AU, VST and AAX)
Tracing system for capturing and recreating response of other compressors and chains
Color module emulates tube drive and tape saturation
Dynamics module contains de-esser, transient designer and compressor
Two compressor models included: FET and VCA
Two parametric EQ modules with high- and low-pass filters
Reverb and delay effects module
Limiter module
Licence via subscription or perpetual licence
Contact: stltones.com

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Hush Pro dialogue repair plug-in released Hush Pro is an AudioSuite plug-in that is capable of removing noise and room reflections from speech recordings. 

TMAMG Records is Looking For A Music Booking AgentWHAT THIS ROLE WILL DO

Contact promoters, booking coordinators and talent buyers

Assist in creation and issuance of artist contracts and addendums

Create and maintain artist show files and guest lists

Assist in contract and deposit tracking

Agents are responsible for researching new shows and festivals that can be locally or internationally booked

Book interviews or any projects that the label feels that will help get the artist more paid shows

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Develop an understanding of the booking and financial side of the live music industry

Create and maintain relatationship with promoters, venue personell, etc.

Learn to book headlining and opening act shows for artist in the music industry

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Previous experience preferred (school or professional)

Creative thinker and problem solver

Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills

Acute sense of judgment, tact, and diplomacy

Click here for more info.

Magnestar wants to solve the satellite signal interference problem for the entire space industrySatellites depend on radio frequency spectrum to communicate with each other and with ground stations on Earth, but spectrum is a finite resource that’s prone to interference — an issue that’s only gotten worse as more satellites are launched into orbit. Satellite operators have become increasingly concerned that growing numbers of spacecraft over the same […]

Influence Media, in partnership with Warner Chappell Music, acquires publishing catalog of songwriter Jesse FrasureInfluence Media Partners is a US-based music and rights company founded in 2019 and led by Lylette Pizarro, Lynn Hazan, Rene McLean, and Jon Jashni
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ZAK Sound Deep Waters Reverb plugin built from water sounds designed to create huge and immersive reverbs. Features: 77 audio sources for convolution reverbs. 83 presets divided into four... Read More

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Brian Eno hates the “arsehole chord” – but what exactly is it?Ambient pioneer and David Bowie collaborator Brian Eno has revealed his distaste for a certain chord, which he calls the “arsehole chord”.

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Musicians often are tempted into ending a sequence with this chord, he says in a recent YouTube-based discussion with James Blake, who apparently did so on one of his most popular tracks to date, Retrograde.

“You once accused me of using the ‘arsehole chord”. Could you explain what the arsehole chord is?” Asks Blake.
“There’s a way of resolving things in songs which always disappoints me,” Eno responds. “You know, you have a sort of set-up, and then you think, ‘Don’t go to that one, don’t go to that one.’ And it goes to that one and you think, ‘Oh, God.’”
“That was in my most popular song, Retrograde,” Blake says.
“So it starts with a G major chord which is the nice chord. The bottom G in the right hand, I moved up to an A flat, just to see what that does, and that made it a kind of diminished over a G bass. That was when your head cocked, like a dog listening to a high pitch, and you said ‘That’s the arsehole chord’.”

The two go on to joke about how the awkward moment “impacted” Blake, with the Retrograde producer claiming it cost him a fictional “20k” in therapy fees before Eno explains further his distaste for the chord.
“For songwriters,” Eno says, “I really think they often think, ‘Oh, it’s all majors. I better put in a minor’. Fucking why? You don’t have to put sugar in everything you cook. I used to say, ‘Ban all minor chords,’ just to annoy people – just to make them think differently about what they were doing.”
Check out James Blake’s new album, Playing Robots Into Heaven, via jamesblake.com.
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Arturia update PolyBrute firmware The latest PolyBrute firmware update brings with it a range of new features including additional effects, improved routing, new tuning and layering modes and more.

Stability AI launches new text-to-music AI sound generatorStability AI – the company behind image generator Stable Diffusion – has announced the launch of Stable Audio, a new AI-powered text-to-music audio generator.
The new tool is Stability AI’s first foray into music and can generate high-quality music clips and sound effects of up to 90 seconds in length. It can also respond to detailed instructions on genre, instrumentation, mood, BPM and more.

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Stable Audio was trained on a dataset of over 800,000 audio files from the stock music library AudioSparx. Stability AI says the new platform is “ideal for musicians seeking to create samples to use in their music”.
The examples they gave in a blog post of what the generator can do showed, for example, that it is capable of generating a music sample to any given BPM, something which previous AI music generators created by the likes of Meta and Google have so far not yet been capable of doing.
Stable Audio also has the advantage of being able to create structured musical ideas, thanks to it being trained to account for “audio file duration and start time” in addition to musical attributes like genre and instrumentation. This circumvents an issue many AI generators have had, whereby they have created random sections of a song that start or end in the middle of a phrase.
Stable Audio will generate audio samples of up to 20 seconds for free, while a paid version costing $11.99 a month will let users generate up to 500 tracks a month, each lasting up to 90 seconds.
“As the only independent, open and multimodal generative AI company, we are thrilled to use our expertise to develop a product in support of music creators,” said Emad Mostaque, CEO of Stability AI. “Our hope is that Stable Audio will empower music enthusiasts and creative professionals to generate new content with the help of AI, and we look forward to the endless innovations it will inspire.”
The post Stability AI launches new text-to-music AI sound generator appeared first on MusicTech.

Rupert Neve Designs unveil Master Bus Transformer Rupert Neve Designs' latest all-in-one processor combines EQ, compression and stereo width sections with the latest iteration of the their acclaimed Silk circuitry.

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InMusic protest Serato sale to Pioneer DJ in New Zealand newspaper advertInMusic has protested to the sale of Serato by Pioneer DJ in a New Zealand newspaper advertisement.

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In a post to Reddit, a user has shared a page of Wellington-based newspaper, The Post, which shows an advert written by InMusic, protesting the sale of Kiwi-owned Serato by Pioneer DJ.
According to the ad, which was published yesterday (18 September), USA-based InMusic believes that the sale is going to “buy a monopoly and hurt the DJ community”.
“The move brings under the same umbrella Serato and Rekordbox DJ, which together account for a massive 90 percent of market share in the DJ software business,”, the advertisement quotes from an article published on MusicTech.
Image: Reddit – RuminatorNZ
The advertisement also explains that CEO of InMusic Jack O’Donnell has expressed fears over this purchase, as it means that Pioneer DJ will hold control of most of the “global market for DJ audio equipment”.
It seems as if the key concern is that if there’s no competitors for Pioneer, there will be no incentive for them to innovate and continue growing the market. There’s also concerns over the lack of diversity in the market, and the fear that smaller and independent manufacturers will disappear.
However, some of those in the comments of the Reddit post seem to disagree with InMusic’s stance, instead pointing to the fact that InMusic had the opportunity to purchase Serato, just like Pioneer.
“InMusic had a chance to purchase, they were in the running,” user djdescry writes. “However, they could not agree to the main term of sale: keep the company going as-is. Pioneer was the only company to agree to this term and this is why they were able to acquire.”
Pioneer DJ is yet to comment on the advertisement.
The post InMusic protest Serato sale to Pioneer DJ in New Zealand newspaper advert appeared first on MusicTech.

Live music will drive ‘Funflation’ as consumer spending slows says BoA analysisThere’s good news for musicians and the live music sector in a new report from Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich. According to the analysis, funflation – the post-pandemic. Continue reading
The post Live music will drive ‘Funflation’ as consumer spending slows says BoA analysis appeared first on Hypebot.

Streaming’s problems will not be fixed by royalties alone [Mark Mulligan, MIDiA]After Universal and Deezer’s royalty proposal made headlines, Mark Mulligan of consultancy MIDiA explained that much more needs to be considered to fix the over-arching problems troubling music streaming. by. Continue reading
The post Streaming’s problems will not be fixed by royalties alone [Mark Mulligan, MIDiA] appeared first on Hypebot.