Beat Magazine #249 includes FREE Synthesizer V Studio Core
Buy Beat Magazine #249 and get the Synthesizer V Studio Core plus a free gift from Plugin Boutique. Beat Magazine is a regular source of good articles, useful tips/guides, and excellent freebies. Technically, the magazine costs $6, but the content alone is worth that; the bundled software is the icing on the cake. One of [...]
View post: Beat Magazine #249 includes FREE Synthesizer V Studio Core

LUNA 3.0: the next generation of Universal Audio’s flagship DAW has arrived – here’s everything that’s newLess than a year after the unveiling of LUNA 2.0, Universal Audio has launched the next sweeping update to its flagship DAW. Meet LUNA 3.0…
Touted as a “landmark update” designed to make recording and music production “more intuitive”, LUNA 3.0 introduces a raft of new creative tools, including a faster and simpler way to record new ideas, stem separation, audio-to-MIDI, Moises-powered chord extraction, and more.

READ MORE: AutoTune is now available in FL Studio – even to free users

Launched in 2020, LUNA is now in its seventh year, and is continuously expanding to meet the needs of modern producers. Let’s take a closer look at everything that’s new in the 3.0 update.
LUNA 3.0 – what’s new for free users?

Headlining the new features in LUNA 3.0 is LUNA Play, a new way to record musical ideas on the fly. Universal Audio describes it as “like a voice memo app designed just for making music”, with automatic level setting and UAD plugin presets built right in.
LUNA 3.0 also comes with a number of workflow improvements, including the ability to organise your tracks and route audio to folders, an adaptive grid which adapts to zoom level for streamlined editing, Click Track Automation for “complete control over the metronome”, and the ability to record mono audio sources on stereo channels without the need for additional routing.
There’s also the introduction of Chord, Key and Time Signature rulers, giving you a better understanding of the musical structure of your session.
LUNA 3.0 also introduces four-track stem separation, giving producers the ability to separate stereo mixes into four individual stems for editing, remixing and/or creative sampling. Strip Silence is now available, too, offering the ability to remove silent sections of an audio clip – great for tidying up unwanted noise in a track, or for podcast editing, for example.
There’s also now a Piano Roll, offering “full control” over MIDI via new tools and scale-aware editing.
LUNA 3.0 Studio – everything in LUNA Free, but MORE
Credit: Universal Audio
Priced at a one-time purchase of $199, LUNA Studio is UA’s fully equipped DAW, building upon everything in LUNA Free with extra UAD plugins, LUNA Extensions, and a range of smart tools, including stem separation, lyric transcription, chord extraction and more.
Where the free version of LUNA 3.0 offers four-track stem separation, the paid LUNA Studio ups this to six tracks.
There’s also Audio-to-MIDI, offering the ability to transform audio clips into MIDI to layer virtual instruments and build new parts. In addition, there’s also Lyric Transcription, which automatically transcribes vocals into a time-aligned lyric browser, and Chord Extraction, which detects chords from audio and maps them onto LUNA’s Chord Track.
The third version of LUNA Studio also introduces Celemony Tonalic Elements, Dreamtonics Synthsizer V 2 Core, and Topline Vocal Tune.
UAD Spark Studio – a new way to save while accessing Universal Audio’s entire creative environment
Credit: Universal Audio
Coinciding with the LUNA 3.0 launch, Universal Audio has introduced UAD Spark Studio, a subscription which includes access to LUNA Studio, as well as a complete native UAD plugin and virtual instrument library. This includes an expanding collection of 70 native UAD plugins, with offerings from Neve, Ampex, Lexicon and more, alongside virtual instruments like Minimoog, PolyMAX and Electra 88.
What is Universal Audio saying about the new LUNA 3.0 update? 
“Great songs start with an idea,” says Bill Putnam Jr., CEO of Universal Audio. “And we’ve all been there… when you hear something in your head, hit record, and suddenly the inspiration’s gone or the tech gets in the way. This new era for LUNA makes it easier than ever to capture those ideas and follow them wherever they take you.”
On the new UAD Spark Studio subscription, Putnam Jr. adds: “UAD Spark Studio brings the whole studio together in one place. LUNA, UAD plugins, instruments – it’s all there, so you can spend less time setting things up and more time making music.”
Pricing & availability
A free version of LUNA 3.0 is available, with all of the features mentioned above. The fully equipped LUNA Studio is priced at $199 for a one-time purchase, while a subscription to UAD Spark Studio costs $149 per year upfront, or for $19.99 per month.
Learn more about LUNA 3.0 at Universal Audio.
The post LUNA 3.0: the next generation of Universal Audio’s flagship DAW has arrived – here’s everything that’s new appeared first on MusicTech.

Is the £225 Omnitronic PM-404F the best four-channel DJ mixer on the market?£225 (street price)
Whether you’re looking to layer techno tools, double up on double drops, or just want to keep all of your decks plugged in at once, sometimes a two-channel DJ mixer won’t cut it. But stepping up to four channels can be an expensive prospect.

READ MORE: AlphaTheta XDJ-AN review: Hate physical controls? You’ll love this!

Enter the Omnitronic PM-404F. The German brand has made a name for itself with its TRM series of affordable rotary and fader mixers. With the PM-404F, Omnitronic seeks to continue its success with a compact four-channel mixer, at a much lower price than its major competitors.
At just £225, the PM-404F is one of the most affordable four-channel DJ mixers on the market. The PM-404F offers two phono/line channels, two line/line channels, per-channel filters, an independent mic channel, and Bluetooth capability.
For comparison, AlphaTheta’s cheapest four-channel mixer is the Pioneer DJ DJM-750mk2, which retails at a cool £1,099, while analogue enthusiasts can get the Allen & Heath Xone 43 for around £590. But Omnitronic isn’t just competing with the big brands — the PM-404F is sure to draw comparisons to its predecessors and other budget four-channel options. I took it into the booth to find out more.
Image: Press
Design and I/O
In typical German design fashion, the Omnitronic PM-404F is sleek, stylish, and dressed in all-black. It’s a remarkably compact unit and is only 12 per cent larger than the Pioneer DJ DJM-250mk2 two-channel mixer.
At 2.85 kg, the PM-404F is fairly lightweight, despite its properly tanky metal chassis. The fader caps and chic paddle switches are its only obviously plastic components, but the fader stems themselves are metal and feel pretty sturdy. The removable crossfader is also simply superb for the price – it’s no Innofader, but has an adjustable curve, reverse switch, and tiny cut-in distance.
Omnitronic has been efficient with the front panel, which is busy but not crowded. The four channels take up the middle, each with a source switch, volume meter, gain, EQ and filter knobs, and fader. To the left are the mic, headphone, and crossfader controls, while the right side has the Bluetooth pairing button, master volume meter, and independent volume controls for the master, booth, and record outputs.
I’m less of a fan of the cue buttons, which are made of a tacky rubber and wobble around their central point of contact.
Omnitronic scores another huge win with the PM-404F’s input and output roster. Users should have no trouble getting connected at home or in the booth, as the mixer offers master and booth output via balanced XLR and RCA (though 6.3mm jacks, the standard for booth outputs, are missing). The front panel has 6.3mm and 3.5mm headphone jacks and an XLR dynamic mic input.
For your main inputs, there are two line/phono channels and two channels with alternating line inputs. All four channels have the option to use the built-in Bluetooth receiver as a source — a win for everyday home listening and DJs that deal with a lot of requests.
Image: Press
Sound quality, EQ, and filters
PM-404F’s line inputs are phenomenally loud. With the master volume and my studio monitors both set to 12 o’clock, the PM-404F is louder than any mixer or controller I’ve ever used. Disappointingly, the two phono inputs are both rather quiet and are attached to channels one and two — meaning you’re stuck on the two leftmost channels if you want to mix on wax.
I also test the PM-404F on the main sound system at a South London nightclub, AAJA. Here, the mixer really surprises me. Its impressive line-level volume and headroom pay off on a properly loud system, and the additional power gives the mixer’s aggressive EQ more breathing room (more on that in a moment). Its sound profile is a bit flat, but tracks sum well enough, and while the low-end doesn’t have half as much attack as more expensive mixers, I can see the PM-404F being a solid pick for use at smaller venues.
The PM-404F has a two-band EQ, the same as Omnitronic’s rotary TRM-202, but without its cousin’s three-band isolator, meaning frequency sculpting is much less flexible.
The low EQ is one of the greediest I’ve ever used on a DJ mixer, eating up all of the bass and a fair bit of the mid-range at full reduction. I am a fan of the high EQ, though, which gives nice shine to percussion or older records.
A two-band EQ isn’t the end of the world, but the PM-404F is a budget mixer that will be bought by those looking to get comfortable with club-style workflows. Omnitronic’s previous four-channel fader mixer, the PM-422P, had three-band EQ but no filter, which I ultimately think is the better setup for beginners. With that said, the PM-404F’s per-channel, bipolar filters are a big plus at this price point; they’re more of an effect than a sculpting tool, with a fixed resonance that adds a noticeable boost, but can still be used for subtler blending.
Image: Jamie Richards
Who is the PM-404F for?
If all you care about is getting four channels as cheaply as possible, the Omnitronic PM-404F could be the DJ mixer for you—but I reckon most people who care enough about DJing to need four channels will also care about what the rest of the mixer can offer. And while the PM-404F is a solid purchase in some regards, and holds its own sound-wise, limited EQ and weak phono preamps leave me confused about this mixer’s place in the market.
The previous generation PM-422P is, to my eye, a better option for complete beginners thanks to its more versatile EQ. Behringer’s DJX900USB comes in even cheaper at under £200 and has a suite of sound effects, though online commenters complain about its build and sound. Those willing to spend a little more can get per-channel filters and three-band EQ with the Reloop RMX44BT, which can be had for around £270.
Still, if your only concern is the number of channels on offer, then fantastic I/O, surprisingly good sound quality, per-channel filters, and a handy Bluetooth feature make the PM-404F a solid value buy.
Image: Jamie Richards
Key features

4-channel DJ mixer
6 line inputs
2 phono inputs
Bluetooth receiver
XLR Mic input
Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA stereo master and booth outputs
Unbalanced RCA stereo record outputs
6.3mm and 3.5mm headphone outputs
Crossfader with adjustable curve and reverse switch
2-band per-channel EQ
Per-channel bipolar filters with fixed resonance
All-metal chassis
Dimensions: 240 x 110 x 338 mm
Weight: 2.85 kg

The post Is the £225 Omnitronic PM-404F the best four-channel DJ mixer on the market? appeared first on MusicTech.

The Story Behind Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song": How a Trip to Iceland Inspired a Rock ClassLed Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" was born from a guitar riff and a surprising Iceland trip. Here's the story behind the band's Viking anthem.

The AI data center boom is colliding with cities scarred by big industry National outcry against data center construction has spread to Philadelphia, where officials suggested possible construction in a neighborhood already impacted by a now-defunct oil refinery.

Roc Nation Wants a Music Publishing InternRoc Nation is looking for an intern to join the music publishing team for the Fall 2026 semester. This position offers an opportunity to learn about the creation, management, and monetization of songs and the creatives behind them. You will work in an office setting in Los Angeles for up to 30 hours per week.

What you'll do: Handle song registration and file organization; Coordinate songwriter sessions and manage associated travel budgets; Research new talent and prepare weekly reports for the department; Assist with publishing company organization and meeting preparation; Build relationships with other internal departments and the publishing administrator.

Apply via interninsider.me.The post Roc Nation Wants a Music Publishing Intern first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

BIS paper finds major gap in Bitcoin onchain transfer estimatesA BIS study found widely used crypto metrics can obscure economic activity, with measurement challenges spanning Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins.

ModulTone ModulTone MS PunchModulTone's MS Punch, Keep the centre punchy and dry the room in the sides. A drum bus where the kick and snare need more crack and the room mics already take up too much space. In Mid-Side mode the mid gets a few dB of Attack while Sustain comes down on the side, so the centre hits harder and the room between the hits gets shorter. Each lane runs its own detector for that: a transient shaper isn't linear, and one set of settings run on mid and side together would shift the stereo image on every hit. Stereo mode links left and right to one detector instead, so the image holds still. Every hit is split into its attack and its body, and the two always add back up to the whole signal, which means the plugin passes audio through bit for bit until you turn something. Then there is timing. Preshift moves a lane's attack ahead of the beat or behind it while the body stays where it was, Humanize nudges each hit by a few milliseconds and up to 3 dB, and Swing delays the off-beats on a 1/8 or 1/16 grid. Shapes include: - Smooth The default. The detector follows the level within half a millisecond and the gain grows evenly with the hit. A preset on Smooth starts at 25 ms Attack Time and 300 ms Sustain Time. - Snap The fastest detector, and a curve that reaches most of its gain early, so the very front of a transient takes the boost. Presets on Snap start at 8 ms and 180 ms. - Bloom A slower detector and a rounded curve that eases in and out, for tails that should swell, like a room or an 808. Presets on Bloom start at 60 ms and 700 ms. - Crush Snap's timing, with the attack gain driven into a soft clipper instead of applied cleanly. The hit gets louder and denser at once. Read More

After 6 Years as Road Ornament a Widescreen Sony Trinitron Lives AgainAfter previously adopting a big Sony Trinitron CRT TV that had been trying to hitch a ride along the side of a road in Italy for at least six years, [Happychoice] didn’t give up on trying to fix it, with the second part showing the TV being more or less fully fixed up.
In the first part of this mini-series, the TV had been salvaged and had most of the dirt as well as local flora and fauna evicted before an attempt was made to fix it. Unfortunately despite the insides looking remarkably clean and intact considering its use as a road-side ornament, that video ended with the controller refusing to power up due to issues with the power supply.
In this sequel we get to see what six years of weather exposure means in terms of what components to replace in a CRT TV like this. Unsurprisingly this means mostly replacing most of the capacitors, at least on the power supply board, as well as the neck board for the actual CRT. A couple of MOSFETs also tested open, so they were replaced too.
With those fresh new parts the TV fired right up again, and with a Wii console connected it looks pretty spiffy running games like Persona 4. Fortunately modern CRT TVs like these have a built-in service menu that you can access with the remote, so that you can tweak picture alignment and other settings without having to stick a screwdriver into the back of the TV to fiddle with a potentiometer whilst also keeping an eye on the picture.
Although there are undoubtedly more components on the PCBs and of course one grimy speaker to give some TLC, it does show that as long as the tube itself is intact, it’s definitely worth it to give repairing a shot.

Independence in an interdependent industry.This MBW op/ed comes from Richard Leach, CEO of Curve Royalty Systems.
Source

Rupert Neve Designs introduce three plug-ins RND's debut software release introduces plug-in versions of their Portico II Master Buss Processor, 542 Tape Emulator and 551 Inductor EQ.

LUNA 3.0 & UAD Spark Studio from Universal Audio The latest version of Universal Audio’s DAW software has just arrived, and has been released alongside UAD Spark Studio, an new subscription that bundles LUNA Studio with a comprehensive collection of UAD plug-ins and instruments. 

2B Played Music SlimVerb2 reverb plugin is FREE for a limited time
The SlimVerb2 reverb plugin from the developer 2B Played Music is now free for a limited time. Some of you probably have the original SlimVerb plugin; we’ve covered it a few times through various offers and limited-time promotions. If you liked the original, here’s your chance to upgrade to SlimVerb2 for free. But you’ll need [...]
View post: 2B Played Music SlimVerb2 reverb plugin is FREE for a limited time

AutoTune is now available in FL Studio – even to free usersAutoTune is the quintessential pitch correction software, and it’s coming to FL Studio totally free.
Image-Line – developer of the hugely popular DAW FL Studio – has partnered with AutoTune maker Antares on AutoTune Go, a new plugin designed specifically for FL Studio. And it’s available for all FL studio users – even those on the free tier of FL Cloud.
AutoTune Go is the result of “three decades of vocal innovation”, and features real-time visual pitch display, vocal range auto detection, key and scale selection, and a streamlined design and easy-to-grasp user interface.

READ MORE: BandLab’s mastering capabilities just got an upgrade – here’s what’s new

The plugin boasts four Retune Speed settings, ranging from “subtle, natural correction to fast, tight tuning”. Meanwhile, the key and scale controls can lock vocal performances to Major, Minor and Chromatic scales, while the vocal range can be set manually or automatically with Auto Detect.
“AutoTune has been a defining tool in modern music production for decades,” says Constantin Koehncke, CEO of Image-Line. 
“We are very excited to launch AutoTune Go in FL Cloud. It gives FL Studio producers a fast, intuitive path from raw vocal to finished sound. Available across every FL Cloud tier, it’s built right into the workflow, at no extra cost.”
“AutoTune has always been about giving artists the freedom to shape their voice and create something uniquely their own,” adds Jeff Wright, CEO of Antares. 
“Bringing AutoTune Go directly into FL Studio puts the sound and technology that have helped define modern music into the hands of millions of creators, right where they’re already making music. We’re excited to make AutoTune more accessible than ever.”
You can get FL Studio now at Image-Line.com.
The post AutoTune is now available in FL Studio – even to free users appeared first on MusicTech.

Watch Madlib craft samples in the studio with Soul Surplus
Watch hip hop legend Madlib and the Soul Surplus team as they craft a sample pack and discuss the creative process.