New BGM Cast service from Roland Roland's new music service provides royalty-free music and sound effects for live streamers, and integrates directly with their Bridge Cast audio interface and mixer. 

South Korean central bank charts out future course of payment systems, CBDCThe BOK 2022 Payment and Settlement Systems Report is a forward-looking document with ambitious plans for financial technology in the country.

Snowstorm raises seed and launches open beta to keep the internet freeA Created to ensure open and free access to the internet, Snowflake saw a huge uptick in users during the start of the Ukraine War and has grown even more since then. Started as an open source project by Serene (who goes by her first name only for privacy reasons), Snowflake, which began as a pluggable transport for Tor, has had a makeover into Snowstorm, and now promises faster connections and can run as standalone software outside of Tor.
Snowstorm announced today it has raised $3 million in seed funding, led by Seed Club Ventures, with participation from Cabrit Capital, Keppel Capital, EchoVC and Matt Devost. It is also launching Snowstorm’s open beta.
Snowflake started as an open source project eight years ago to keep the internet free. Serene taught herself how to code when she was nine and was hired by Google while still a teenager. She ended up being the first engineer at Google Ideas, now known as Google Jigsaw, and used her time there to find ways to use large scale infrastructure to help the internet.
Part of Serene’s interest in keeping the internet free is that her childhood was difficult and the internet was a refuge for her. “I also knew that the internet would not say the same, especially as things have changed in the last couple of decades and censorship has certainly escalated,” she said. Serene left Google as a top expert on WebRTC, an open-source project that adds real-time communication to web browsers and mobile apps. She saw that it would be useful for a new kind of decentralized tool that could keep the internet free. So she prototyped Snowflake and integrated it into the Tor browser.
“Basically, at the end of the day when you connect to the internet, you’re connecting to other computers. Your ISP, your internet service provider is also computers that connect to the rest of the internet that you connect through to connect to the rest of the internet. And if people have issues with their ISP or they want privacy, usually traditional VPNs are someone’s computer before you connect to the rest of the internet,” she explained, which means VPNs can be monitored and easily circumvented.
Snowflake, on the other hand, is decentralized and is deployed as a pluggable transport for Tor. Instead of trusting a centralized system or a VPN that can be blocked, it consists of about 100,000 people, from all over the world, temporarily stepping up to use their computers to act as brokers, disguised by domain fronting, so it seems as if it comes from a non-restricted service. Users and brokers are connected by WebRTC. “It’s basically a two-sided user base,” Serene said. “There’s people who need help connecting to the internet and people who can help other connect to the internet.”
Millions of sessions are being established every day, with things kicking off last year during the start of the Ukraine war when users needed to circumvent internet censorship.
Snowstorm is an upgrade on all levels, Serene said. She rewrote Snowflake in Rust, partly to help the speed and partly to help it become cross-platform and system wide, instead of just relying on Tor. One of the challenges with Snowflake was that it had a lot more usage than expected and ran into bottlenecks. “The project itself is a lot of interesting, brilliant people coming together to make this happen. And I just happen to be the initial creator of this project, have an understanding of the architecture and where to go.” So when Snowflake ran into bottlenecks, Serene made improvements—for example, Snowstorm can run system wide and is fast enough to stream videos.
Serene will continue to build Snowstorm using its new funding, but she said she doesn’t want to participate in marketing strategies like YouTube ads. “I would rather focus on building the real thing that actually works and less resources with a small amount of resources that I’ve been able to raise with Snowstorm.”
Serene is also a prolific concert pianist, focusing on music after leaving Google. She is going to Europe this month to play Rachminoff Concerto No. 2 and is endorsed by Borsendorferm. the Austrian piano manufacturer.
“In a funny way, being a musician has enabled me to be a better technologist, and being a technologist has enabled me to be a better musician. I find that they are very intimated connected. Music gives me the energy to do everything that needs to be done.” Serene added that during fundraising, some investors asked how she’s able to run a company with her music career. “My answer is that it is some combination of when someone is exercising every morning to stay health. Do you tell them, how can you have time? So I happen to pay concerts and it makes me very healthy and it’s a lot of energy.”

Rhodes Announces Limited Edition Electric PianoIconic musical instrument manufacturer Rhodes announced that it has completed manufacturing of its first strictly limited edition MK8/75AE electric piano. The MK8/7AE — anchored on the design of the classic Rhodes MK8 — has been painstakingly created from the ground up and is a stunning accomplishment of technical craftsmanship and aesthetic design. Each of the 75 new instruments, which have been assembled by hand at the Rhodes factory in Leeds, England, are now shipping to customers around the world and represent an important milestone in musical instrument design and the very fabric of broader musical culture.

"Each of these instruments contain the very essence of Rhodes — the legacy of our 75-year history as a brand, and the inspiring craftsmanship of our modern engineers and product designers," commented Matt Pelling, CEO of Rhodes Music. "The MK8/75AE comprises exacting attention to detail and componentry, superior mechanical engineering and an exquisite aesthetic design. We hope these unique instruments inspire many years of music making among our customers."​

​A classic instrument for the ages​The MK8/75AE is the result of a collaboration between Rhodes Chief Product Officer Dan Goldman and famed industrial designer Axel Hartmann, whose work has touched some of the greatest instruments of our time. The MK8/75AE is based on the foundation of the critically acclaimed Rhodes MK8, but reaches even greater heights with its painstaking aesthetic and performance details, such as analogue effects, a special dark matte finish, and gold accented controls and encasement flourishes.

Following its unveiling at Superbooth and The NAMM Show, the MK8/75AE was met with immediate adulation in the musical instrument community with all 75 instruments selling out within 30 minutes. The company has started shipping these instruments to those who managed to secure one. ​

Rhodes is grateful to its community of loyal customers around the world. For more information on the MK8 or the MK8/75AE, or to learn about our new Rhodes V8 plug-in — the only official Rhodes electric piano software — please visit www.rhodesmusic.com. ​

​About Rhodes​For Rhodes loyalists around the world, this is a new chapter in Rhodes history; not a new book. ​ With the Rhodes MK8, we’re returning to the principles, aesthetic, craftsmanship and pride of Harold Rhodes’ originals. We’re paying homage to the past with our gaze fixed firmly on what lies ahead. 

 Jeff TouzeauHummingbird Media, Inc.Email: jeff@hummingbirdmedia.comWebsite: hummingbirdmedia.com

 Hunter WilliamsPublic Relations, Hummingbird Media, Inc.Email: hunter@hummingbirdmedia.comWebsite: hummingbirdmedia.com

15% of the general population in the US are ‘superfans.’ Here’s what that means for the music business.Recent sats published by US market monitor Luminate highlight the impact that superfans are having on the music business
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HarbourView acquires again, snapping up select music assets of artist, songwriter and producer, BlackbearBlackbear co-wrote Justin Bieber's six-time platinum single, Boyfriend
Source

Eplex7 DSP Time-limited plugin bundle: Psychedelic FM Superesonator + Particle Collider SX7 Eplex7 Time-limited plugin bundle: Psychedelic FM Superesonator + Particle Collider SX7 Discounted bundle -38% off is available only in Summer 2023. After the summer the included... Read More

Eplex7 DSP Time-limited bundle: Replikorp 2249 + Hitech SFX1 + Hitech SFX2 instruments Eplex7 Time-limited instrument bundle: Replikorp 2249 + Hitech SFX1 + Hitech SFX2 Discounted bundle -49% off is available only in Summer 2023. After the summer the included... Read More

Flock Audio’s Patch VT is now shipping Flock Audio's latest digitally controlled patchbay is equipped with 64 inputs and 64 outputs, and provides some handy features derived from the flagship Patch XT.

TikTok Music moves much closer to launching in USTikTok Music is on track to become the first new major competitor to Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music in more than five years, and two new announcements confirm that. Continue reading
The post TikTok Music moves much closer to launching in US appeared first on Hypebot.

Recluse Audio is offering all its VST plugins for freeRecluse Audio has made all six of its VST plugins free to download forever.

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The move allows free access for users to the Pulsar 2.0, Reflections, Auto Visualiser (used on Max4Live), Flanger, Pulsar Vintage, and Rompler.
The plugins, that were originally $40 each, are now completely free of charge to use.
Recluse Audio founder Ryan Devens has also given a walk through of all the parameters of Pulsar, which you can check out below:

 
In more plug-in news, MusicTech has rounded up all of the newest plug-ins available this week.
Starting off with the Scheps Omni Channel 2 by Waves, it offers an extended version of the original strip which was co-designed by Grammy-winning mixer Andrew Scheps, combining compression, EQ, and saturation in one single window.
Next is the Octave Cat by Cherry Audio. This virtual instrument based on the 1976 synth The CAT by Octave Electronics offers over 300 presets, dual panel views, and extended effects capabilities.
Also up for grabs is Diffuse by Daniel Gergely, which is a unique plugin that combines delay, reverb, reverse, freeze, filter, modulation, tremolo, octave, and shimmer effects in a customisable XY pad.
To download Recluse Audio’s VST plugins, you can head over to their website.
The post Recluse Audio is offering all its VST plugins for free appeared first on MusicTech.

Ringo Starr on Beatles AI song: “For all the madness going on around it, it’s a beautiful track”Ringo Starr has shared his thoughts about the upcoming Beatles track, on which John Lennon’s old vocal recordings were extracted and refined using AI.

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In an interview with Variety, the drummer assures fans that the new song, which is suspected to be the unreleased 1978 track Now and Then, sounds “beautiful”, despite the concerns over the use of artificial intelligence.
“It’s not down to AI,” he says. “It’s not like we’re pretending anything. That is actually John’s voice, Paul’s voice and bass playing, George [Harrison] on rhythm guitar and me on drums.
“The two things that are new are Paul’s bass and me on drums… I really worked at it just months ago here. And it works,” he added. “It’s a beautiful song. You know, for all the madness going on around it, it’s still a beautiful track. And our last track.”
News of this hotly awaited song first came to light in an interview with Paul McCartney on BBC Radio 4, where McCartney said that AI had been used to take John Lennon’s voice from old audio and strip it from its instrumental background.
As well as excited reactions from fans, there was also a great deal of “confusion and speculation” about the record. The bassist then made a statement saying that despite the use of AI, the song had not been “artificially created.”
“[It’s] been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project. No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year,” wrote McCartney on Instagram Stories.
“We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it,” he continued. “Seems to be a lot of guess work out there. Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years”
“We hope you love it as much as we do. More news in due course.”
The post Ringo Starr on Beatles AI song: “For all the madness going on around it, it’s a beautiful track” appeared first on MusicTech.

US vinyl record sales increased by 21.7 per cent in the first half of 2023Sales of vinyl records in the US have surged by over 20 per cent during the first half of 2023, according to Luminate’s midyear report.

READ MORE: The music production industry has a gender problem – here’s how we can fix it

The report, conducted by the Californian data analytics service, highlights trends in the music industry from January 2023 up to and including June 2023.
According to the report, 23.6 million LPs were sold in this period, marking a 21.7 per cent increase from 2022’s 19.4 million sales.
Physical album sales overall also saw a notable rise of 13.3 per cent in 2023, with 41.5 million physical copies sold compared to 2022’s 36.7 million.
Notably, direct-to-consumer vinyl sales experienced substantial growth, reaching 2.6 million sales and increasing by more than 26 per cent in 2023.
Leading the vinyl sales of new music are Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Tyler, The Creator, boygenius, and the classic album Rumours by Fleetwood Mac.
Another interesting stat from the report is that EDM fans spend +63 per cent more money on music categories per month than the average U.S. music listener.
While vinyl record sales are increasing year on year, it’s not wholly positive for record labels selling music in the format. In MusicTech’s recent interview with Mad Mats and Tooli, the founders of record label Local Talk, they said that due to rising pressing costs, the worth of distributing vinyl is dwindling.
“I got a statement for one of my other labels,” says Tooli, “and actually sold out a [vinyl pressing run]. It’s quite rare these days that you sell out the first pressing. And by doing the calculations, I made €120. It’s too much work, just to be nostalgic.”
While distribution costs are providing obstacles for many, the ever-rising popularity of the medium is still evident. In September, the world’s first multi-day vinyl festival, Haarlem Vinyl Festival, is expected to welcome a total of at least 15,000 visitors.
To read the full midyear report by Luminate, head to luminatedata.com.
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9 free and affordable apps and platforms every musician needs to useThe number of apps and platforms offered to help create and market music can be overwhelming. But thankfully, music marketing veterans Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert are here to help.. Continue reading
The post 9 free and affordable apps and platforms every musician needs to use appeared first on Hypebot.

How to make your own software sample instrument from a hardware synthesizerHardware synthesizers are fun to play and sound fantastic. But they’re not always convenient for producers, especially if your workflow is largely laptop-based or if you’re performing live. The solution? Sample those synths and turn them into readily accessible software instruments to use in your DAW.
READ MORE: Beginner’s Guide: Buying your first hardware synthesizer
Aside from the convenience of having hardware converted into software, working with samplers can expand the sweet sound of your synthesizers. Samplers can bend and warp sounds in new and exciting ways. You could turn a monophonic synth into a polyphonic one, for example. Then, of course, there’s the magical degradation and warping you get when pitch-shifting audio across a keyboard. (If you’d rather skip the hardware and fake a lo-fi aesthetic in the box instead, check out our tutorial on lo-fi effects.)
For this tutorial, you’ll need a hardware synthesizer and a way to record it into your computer. Assuming that’s covered, you’ll also need a software sampler. Native Instruments’ Kontakt is a comprehensive solution and is what will be used here but it’s by no means the only option on the market. There are plenty of others, including TAL-Software’s TAL-Sampler, along with some freeware options – perhaps your DAW’s stock sampler will do the trick, too. We’ll show you the best techniques, and you can adapt them to your desired sampler.
Here’s an example of what you can do with a homemade sample instrument. This house track features a multi-sampled Moog Grandmother playing chords.

Dial in your synth
The first step? Program your synth patch. Sometimes it’s useful to capture a wide, open synth sound for a flexible sample – but you may lose out on the inherent character of your synthesizer. Instead, try dialling in a target sound that you’d want to use in a recording. You can even include effects, such as on our Moog Grandmother, which has a spring reverb for atmosphere.
Image: Moog
Program MIDI notes
Next, in your DAW, draw in a series of MIDI notes that you want to capture. To ensure consistent volume, make sure they all have the same amount of velocity. Leave enough time between notes to fully record any tails.
As for what (or more correctly, how many) notes to capture, that depends entirely on how realistic of a sample instrument you want. Recording every note on the keyboard will give you the best results – if what you want is a sample instrument that sounds exactly like the source. To hear more of the sampler’s sonics, capture only one or two notes per octave. This will result in pitch shifting and can introduce slight artefacts that add some flair.

Record the synth twice to make two velocity layers
Now it’s time to record the synthesizer. As most software samplers support velocity layers, where a different sample is triggered depending on how hard you press down on a key, you can do two separate recordings; the second with a different setting on the synthesizer. For example, run two passes, each with a different filter frequency cutoff amount so that harder presses on the final sample instrument will result in brighter notes.
Feel free to add colour when recording your synthesizer as well. The Moog Grandmother here was recorded through an audio interface with a built-in compressor and saturation engaged.

Edit the captured audio files
Next, using your DAW or a dedicated audio editor such as Audacity, isolate each recorded note into its own audio file. Trim any silence from the beginning of the new file. Also, add a fade-out to the end of each note to address any sudden drops in sound. Be sure to label each file with its velocity layer and note position. You’ll need to know this when mapping out your sample instrument in the next step.

Create a key map and the first velocity layer
In your DAW, create a fresh project and add your chosen sampler to a new MIDI track. Open the sampler and prime it for importing audio files. Access the edit mode and then click on the appropriate button to start key mapping.
The first sample will likely be automatically stretched across the entire keyboard. Pull it back so it occupies the first half of an octave starting with C. Next, drag in the next file and edit the width of the sample coverage. Do the same for the rest of the notes, as in the video below.

Add the second velocity layer
Now it’s time to add the second, brighter velocity layer. In the key mapping section, pull down on each key zone until around the halfway point. This will be the velocity change point. Next, drop the corresponding second layer note into the top area and pull up on the zone until it sits nicely with the first layer.
In the video example below, velocity information at or below 65 plays layer one, while layer two gets triggered by stronger key strokes. Now is the time to save your new sample patch so you don’t lose the key mappings and velocity layers.

Choose sampler effects
For the final step, go ahead and add some internal effects to your new instrument if your sampler software supports it. Saturation is always welcome, as are reverb and delay. Feel free to get creative with your sampler’s editing capabilities. There are envelope settings, of course, but don’t forget about loops and loop points for additional sampler spice.

Learn more music production tips and tricks.
The post How to make your own software sample instrument from a hardware synthesizer appeared first on MusicTech.