This egg-shaped personal audio chair from Solodome boasts a “flawless acoustic environment equal to pro studios”Let it be known that humanity has officially reached the peak of home audio with Solodome’s latest invention: an egg-shaped personal audio chair that offers its users a “flawless acoustic environment equal to pro studios”.

READ MORE: Apple to reward musicians who mix their songs in Dolby Atmos format

Custom-built in Southern California, Solodome is a personal media chair providing an ideal spatial audio experience without the inconvenience of installing speakers or sacrificing quality by relying on headphones alone.
As its name suggests, both the ‘solo’ and ‘dome’ aspect are key to the experience: The enclosed unit provides an individual media experience that does not encroach on others within the same space, while the dome-shaped furniture features 2 full range dynamic speakers and 2 subwoofers to optimise audio experiences for music, films, gaming and even wellness treatments.
In the words of the creators, Solodome is designed to leave no parallel surfaces for sound to create standing waves. Its natural sound-cancelling properties create a transparent environment that allows the listener to hear the properties of the source audio without the adultering effects of a room and individual speaker cabinets.
All you have to do is sit back, relax, and place your head in the “sweet spot” by the design of the headrest and seat cushions.
The chair’s cosy interior is also lined with durometer foam that dampens the speaker driver, allowing it to perform within its specifications while further diffusing reflective sound. You can feel free to turn things up, as the cave-like shape reduces the volume outside the chair by “more than 90 percent”.
By providing an enclosed acoustic space, Solodome users get a “full-spectrum visceral audio experience” exceeding a multi-speaker room set-up, all in a single unit that requires zero installation (connection is via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm audio jack) and just one power cable. Perfect for audio enthusiasts who lack the space or ability to dedicate an entire room.
Image: Solodome
Users can choose between three different sizes — the Solodome for personal listening, Solodome XL for those who want a little more wiggle room and the Solodome Mini for tiny listeners.
Order yours now at Solodome’s website.
The post This egg-shaped personal audio chair from Solodome boasts a “flawless acoustic environment equal to pro studios” appeared first on MusicTech.

e-instruments release Desolate Guitars Desolate Guitars captures a selection of classic solid, hollow body and baritone guitars plugged straight into a pair of iconic vintage amps.

Why Spotify’s New Payment Model Falls Short For Emerging ArtistsListen on your favorite podcast platform: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Acast This week, Ari discusses his recent Variety article entitled “Why Spotify’s New Payment Model Falls Short For Emerging Artists.” Read the full article on Variety: https://aristake.io/spotify-variety Articles mentioned: Spotify’s article (Modernizing Our Royalty System to Drive an Additional $1 Billion toward Emerging and Professional Artists): https://artists.spotify.com/blog/modernizing-our-royalty-system Streaming […]

AllMusic Loves 2023This year, our editors chose 271 different albums on their respective lists, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the consensus picks were not records by emerging artists but rather institutions that continue to do remarkable work. Peruse these individual lists and you'll find all of these, plus dozens of other records, all giving AllMusic reason enough to love 2023.

How I Play: Stavroz
Belgian electronica band Stavroz joins us this week for our latest edition of How I Play as we explore their intricate live performance setup. The release of their latest EP Kick Up The Dust this fall – available now – came a full year after their last album and features four tracks that range across genres […]
The post How I Play: Stavroz appeared first on DJ TechTools.

Credit Karma co-founder Nichole Mustard stepping down after more than 16 yearsCredit Karma co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Nichole Mustard is leaving the company after 16-and-a-half years, TechCrunch has exclusively learned today. A spokesperson of the consumer fintech, now a subsidiary of Intuit, confirmed Mustard’s departure via email, writing only: “I can confirm she decided to leave the company, her contributions have been significant and we […]
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Hearing Amazônia: MIT musicians in Manaus, BrazilOn Dec. 13, the MIT community came together for the premiere of “We Are The Forest,” a documentary by MIT Video Productions that tells the story of the MIT musicians who traveled to the Brazilian Amazon seeking culture and scientific exchange.

The film features performances by Djuena Tikuna, Luciana Souza, Anat Cohen, and Evan Ziporyn, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Fred Harris conducts the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and MIT Wind Ensemble and Laura Grill Jaye conducts the MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble.
The impact of ecological devastation in the Amazon reflects the climate crisis worldwide. During the Institute's spring break in March 2023, nearly 80 student musicians became only the second student group from MIT to travel to the Brazilian Amazon. Inspired by the research and activism of Talia Khan ’20, who is currently a PhD candidate in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, the trip built upon experiences of the 2020-21 academic year when virtual visiting artists Luciana Souza and Anat Cohen lectured on Brazilian music and culture before joining the November 2021 launch of Hearing Amazônia — The Responsibility of Existence.

This consciousness-raising project at MIT, sponsored by the Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST), began with a concert featuring Brazilian and Amazonian music influenced by the natural world. The project was created and led by MIT director of wind and jazz ensembles and senior lecturer in music Frederick Harris Jr.

The performance was part eulogy and part praise song: a way of bearing witness to loss, while celebrating the living and evolving cultural heritage of Amazonia. The event included short talks, one of which was by Khan. As the first MIT student to study in the Brazilian Amazonia (via MISTI-Brazil), she spoke of her research on natural botanical resins and traditional carimbó music in Santarém, Pará, Brazil. Soon after, as a Fulbright Scholar, Khan continued her research in Manaus, setting the stage for the most complex trip in the history of MIT Music and Theater Arts.

“My experiences in the Brazilian Amazon changed my life,” enthuses Khan. “Getting to know Indigenous musicians and immersing myself in the culture of this part of the world helped me realize how we are all so connected.”

“Talia’s experiences in Brazil convinced me that the Hearing Amazônia project needed to take a next essential step,” explains Harris. “I wanted to provide as many students as possible with a similar opportunity to bring their musical and scientific talents together in a deep and spiritual manner. She provided a blueprint for our trip to Manaus.”

An experience of a lifetime

A multitude of musicians from three MTA ensembles traveled to Manaus, located in the middle of the world’s largest rainforest and home to the National Institute of Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, or INPA), the most important center for scientific studies in the Amazon region for international sustainability issues.

Tour experiences included cultural/scientific exchanges with Indigenous Amazonians through Nobre Academia de Robótica and the São Sebastião community on the Tarumã Açu River, INPA, the Cultural Center of the Peoples of the Amazon, and the Museu da Amazônia. Musically, students connected with local Indigenous instrument builders and performed with the Amazonas State Jazz Orchestra and renowned vocalist and Indigenous activist Djuena Tikuna.

“Hearing Amazônia: Arte ê Resistência,” a major concert in the famed 19th century opera house Teatro Amazonas, concluded the trip on March 31. The packed event featured the MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble, vocalist Luciana Souza, clarinetist Anat Cohen, MIT professor and composer-clarinetist Evan Ziporyn, and local musicians from Manaus. The program ended with “Nós Somos A Floresta (We Are The Forest) — Eware (Sacred Land) — Reflections on Amazonia,” a large-scale collaborative performance with Djuena Tikuna. The two songs were composed by Tikuna, with Eware newly arranged by Israeli composer-bassist Nadav Erlich for the occasion. It concluded with all musicians and audience members coming together in song: a moving and beautiful moment of mediation on the sacredness of the earth.

“It was humbling to see the grand display of beauty and diversity that nature developed in the Amazon rainforest,” reflects bass clarinetist and MIT sophomore Richard Chen. “By seeing the bird life, sloths, and other species and the flora, and eating the fruits of the region, I received lessons on my harmony and connection to the natural world around us. I developed a deeper awareness of the urgency of resolving conflicts and stopping the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and to listening to and celebrating the stories and experiences of those around me.”

Indigenous musicians embodying the natural world

“The trip expanded the scope of what music means,” MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble member and biomedical researcher Autumn Geil explains. “It’s living the music, and you can’t feel that unless you put yourself in new experiences and get yourself out of your comfort zone.”

Over two Indigenous music immersion days, students spent time listening to, and playing and singing with, musicians who broadened their scope of music’s relationship to nature and cultural sustainability. Indigenous percussionist and instrument builder Eliberto Barroncas and music producer-arranger César Lima presented contrasting approaches with a shared objective — connecting people to the natural world through Indigenous instruments.

Barroncas played instruments built from materials from the rainforest and from found objects in Manaus that others might consider trash, creating ethereal tones bespeaking his life as one with nature. Students had the opportunity to play his instruments and create a spontaneous composition playing their own instruments and singing with him in a kind of “Amazonia jam session.”

“Eliberto expressed that making music is visceral; it’s best when it comes from the gut and is tangible and coming from one’s natural environment. When we cannot understand each other using language, using words, logic and thinking, we go back to the body,” notes oboist and ocean engineer Michelle Kornberg ’20. “There's a difference between teaching music as a skill you learn and teaching music as something you feel, that you experience and give — as a gift.”

Over the pandemic, César Lima developed an app, “The Roots VR,” as a vehicle for people to discover over 100 Amazonia instruments. Users choose settings to interact with instruments and create pieces using a variety of instrumental combinations; a novel melding of technology with nature to expand the reach of these Indigenous instruments and their cultural significance.

At the Cultural Center of the Peoples of the Amazon, students gathered around a tree, hand-in-hand singing with Djuena Tikuna, accompanied by percussionist Diego Janatã. “She spoke about being one of the first Indigenous musicians ever to sing in the Teatro Amazonas, which was built on the labor and blood of Indigenous people,” recalls flutist and atmospheric engineer Phoebe Lin, an MIT junior. “And then to hold hands and close our eyes and step back and forth; a rare moment of connection in a tumultuous world — it felt like we were all one.”

Bringing the forest back to MIT

On April 29, Djuena Tikuna made her MIT debut at “We Are the Forest — Music of Resilience and Activism,” a special concert for MIT President Sally Kornbluth’s inauguration, presenting music from the Teatro Amazonas event. Led and curated by Harris, the performance included new assistant professor in jazz and saxophonist-composer Miguel Zenón, director of the MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble; Laura Grill Jaye; and vocalist Sara Serpa, among others. 

“Music unites people and through art we can draw the world’s attention to the most urgent global challenges such as climate change,” says Djuena Tikuna. “My songs bring the message that every seed will one day germinate to reforest hearts, because we are all from the same village.”

Hearing Amazônia has set the stage for the blossoming of artistic and scientific collaborations in the Amazon and beyond.

“The struggle of Indigenous peoples to keep their territories alive should concern us all, and it will take more than science and research to help find solutions for climate change,” notes President Kornbluth. “It will take artists, too, to unite us and raise awareness across all communities. The inclusivity and expressive power of music can help get us all rowing in the same direction — it’s a great way to encourage us all to care and act!”

Italian EDM Artist Giacomo “jayover” Uber Works On-the-go With KRKProducer, Writer, and Artist Giacomo Uber, also known as jayover, fell in love with electronic music and music production when he was a kid, and has been pursuing these passions ever since. While working in his Italy-based studio, Area 23, Giacomo has produced and written music for artists such as Gabry Ponte, Don Diablo, LUM!X, Martin Jensen, and JP Cooper, among others, cumulating in around 400 million streams and two gold records. Giacomo’s love for creating music has also translated into his personal career, where he works on his current artistic project, “jayover.”

As someone who is constantly on the move, Giacomo needs the proper tools to help him create his long list of projects, no matter where he finds himself. That is why he turned to the KRK GoAux 4 Portable Studio Monitor System. “I travel quite often, so having portable speakers is great for when I am on the go,” he says. “Usually, when I’m not in my studio, I work on headphones, but that can get tiring after a while. Having small reference speakers like the KRK GoAux helps so much. I use them mainly when I am writing and starting productions; I think those are the scenarios where they really shine.”

Giacomo says that one of his favorite features of the KRK GoAux 4 is the built-in auto-calibration system. “Obviously, hotels and living rooms are not meant to be studios, so the acoustics in these spaces can be a problem,” he explains. “With the auto-calibration system of the KRK GoAux, I can improve the sound of a space in just a couple of minutes! I take them with me quite often, so that’s important. They’re also great for outdoor spaces ― I use them in my garden when I get tired of staying inside my studio. Overall, the KRK GoAux work very well, and having the bag is a plus to carry and protect them!”

Universal launches Beat Galaxy music hub on Roblox, featuring ‘one of the largest song catalogs of any experience’ on the gaming platformUMG partnered with virtual world developer Supersocial to launch the new music hub
Source

Warner’s ADA Worldwide strikes global distribution deal with historical music label OmnivoreOmnivore specializes in historical releases and reissues, as well as previously unreleased vintage recordings.
Source

Quite expected forecast from Armada's CEO. Let's make our own steps to #decentralization.
#MusicIndustry #Music #AI #artists #MusicBusiness #Streaming

Moises’ Music.AI is a “first-of-its-kind” music creation platform for businessesMoises, the brand behind the AI-powered app for music creation, has introduced a new “first-of-its-kind” ecosystem for enterprise-grade AI services called Music.AI.
As the Moises consumer apps grew to over 40 million users, the company had been “quietly” serving enterprise clients. The launch of Music.AI now allows businesses to quickly build and scale AI products and services, rather than sourcing multiple services from varying providers.

READ MORE: Moises’ AI Voice Studio offers a brand new model for creators to license AI vocals

The AI platform can process more than one million minutes of audio daily, according to a press release. It includes a wide range of proprietary AI models as well as “best-in-class” third-party technologies. Customers can combine any of Music.AI’s models without coding so they can save time in implementation and testing to quickly prototype and bring more services to the market.
Music.AI has already been assisting in voice modelling and audio restoration projects. Similar to the technology used on The Beatles’ last single, Now and Then, Music.AI assisted in the production of Elis and Tom, the documentary about Bossa Nova artists Elis Regina and Antônio Carlos Jobim that debuted in the US this September.
Much of the film consisted of behind-the-scenes footage recorded in 1972. These original recordings were restored using Music.AI’s source separation models. The company also worked with Papa Johns to help localise TV commercials and adapt Hispanic translations featuring Shaquille O’Neal.
“Our models are individually capable unto themselves, but we’ve built a one-stop hub with the ability to combine our various modules with those of third parties to create the powerful solutions demanded by top-tier clients,” says co-founder and CEO Geraldo Ramos. “The market for AI-powered music and audio applications is maturing away from point solutions in favour of broader, more capable, scalable solutions like Music.AI.”
Music.AI is currently powering 1700 applications, serving more than 40 Million musicians and producers.The company will announce additional B2B partnerships with enterprise clients in due course.
Find out more at Music.AI and Moises.
The post Moises’ Music.AI is a “first-of-its-kind” music creation platform for businesses appeared first on MusicTech.

Surround mixing on headphones just got serious with OLLO Audio’s S5X€539, olloaudio.com
OLLO Audio is an independent developer of pro audio-focused headphones based in Slovenia. Its latest release is the S5X, a set of analogue, wired headphones boasting clever design and additional software to help you accurately judge surround mixes while listening in stereo.

READ MORE: Universal Audio’s SC-1 and Hemisphere eight-mics-in-one are tempting additions to any studio’s mic collection

To be clear, while surround headphones do exist, the S5X are not the same. Rather they are “tuned for accurate object positioning in virtualised 3D audio”, according to OLLO. But what does that mean in practice, and can they be used for regular stereo mixing?
Before we get to that, a word on the build. The headphones are beautifully constructed in a combination of wood, metal and plastic. They’re an open-backed design with detachable plugs that terminate in a 3.5mm jack, and a 6.3mm adapter is supplied too.
The ear pads are soft, comfortable and replaceable, should they eventually start to wear out. The headband is, of course, adjustable and the phones feel light when worn, comfortable for the invariably long periods of mixing for which they’ll be employed.
OLLO S5X headphones on desk
You can just plug in and go but OLLO’s whole thing here is the idea of calibration. The headphones are designed to be as flat and neutral as possible to give the most accurate picture of a surround mix when downmixed into binaural (stereo) format. The thinking is that most surround content for games, movies and other applications is in reality experienced on stereo headphones rather than elaborate home cinema systems and as such it’s vital to mix it accordingly.
OLLO takes the idea of calibration very seriously indeed. To demonstrate just how seriously, part of your purchase is the company’s USC (unit specific calibration) plugin which you can download after registering. Then you send them the serial number of your headphones and based on their records of the build and analysis of your specific pair, they generate a calibration file which is emailed back to you. You then load this into the USC plugin, which you insert across the master bus in your DAW, and it calibrates the output for your personal pair of cans. The plugin itself is simple, with on/off and gain controls as well as the ability to hold up to eight configurations, should you own more than one pair.
The company is at pains to point out that this isn’t some kind of enhancement, which some other ‘personalisation’ systems use to magically make everything sound punchier. Nor is it they say for audiophiles expecting a similar result. Instead, it’s a very subtle 0.5 – 1dB change in tolerance where required. Since the headphones are already tuned to be as flat as possible, it’s making very minor tweaks based on the physics of your specific pair. It also works with the Waves NX plugin (for virtual room emulation for headphones), though our experience of trying to get Waves’ own software to authorise properly was frustrating to put it mildly.
So what’s happening here is that when working with a surround project the output from your DAW is being downmixed to binaural format for monitoring in stereo, and passed through the USC plugin to best calibrate it for your headphones. This does of course mean turning the plugin off before doing any actual exporting, or it would be included in the bounces. Most modern DAWs provide at least a few options here, like Logic’s Dolby Atmos with its multiple binaural monitoring modes.
OLLO S5X headphones USC plugin
If any of this sounds like a foreign language, it’s likely that this particular model of headphone is not aimed at your workflow. OLLO points towards its S4X model (€449) as a more conventional mixing tool, with a more mid-focused tuning. The S5X is tuned to have less bass and more high-end presence, which the developers say based on extensive testing offers the most accurate results for object positioning in 3D space.
As such, you would lean towards the S4X for more conventional stereo mixing duties. The S5X however is quite remarkable when fed downmixed surround content. Unless you’re a seasoned pro, it still feels a bit like magic being able to move sounds around in three dimensions and have this translated live to a stereo pair of headphones. But they are indeed extremely accurate, their flat response coping very well with the complexities of working in three dimensions.
When listening to regular stereo mixes they are too upper-mid-heavy and lacking bass but this is precisely because they are tuned for a different use. A good test – and a way to gauge their surround performance on a ready-made source – is to play back an album that has been properly mixed for Dolby Atmos, for example, and where the work has already been done.
We try the 2017 mix of R.E.M’s Automatic For The People since we’re intimately familiar with the original and the results are amazing. The talent lies with the people who mixed it of course, but the S5X does an incredible job of revealing all the detail, much of which isn’t even apparent in the original stereo mixes. Whole melodies appear and there’s just an incredible sense of space that elevates the record to new heights.
OLLO S5X headphones on desk
That’s where you’d hope to end up when mixing your own projects for spatial or surround and, with these carefully-tuned dynamic headphones, you can be assured that the monitoring side of things is taken care of. The goal is accurate translation of what’s on the surround speakers into your binaural mix in real time and on that front they certainly deliver. The sound is incredibly detailed, and separation is spectacular.
You may or may not be the type of user who cares deeply about the fine-grained calibration that the USC plugin offers. Either is fine, honestly. And you can use these without it, though it’s part of the purchase price anyway. While most serious reference phones will do a good job of handling a downmixed surround signal for mixing purposes, the specialised flat tuning on offer here really makes a difference and will be invaluable if you’re doing this kind of work with any regularity. OLLO does offer a 30-day money back guarantee with a few caveats, although you’re not likely to need it.
Key features

Reference class, open-back dynamic headphones with flat frequency response
Hand-picked, left/right matched transducers for better instrument separation
Dynamic Neodymium drivers
30 Ohms
Replaceable earpads with outer diameter of 95 mm
Detachable braided silicone cable with OFC core
Specially tuned for handling downmixed surround audio
USC calibration plugin (AU / VST3)
All components user-replaceable
Front-to-back air pressure equalisation
Works with Waves NX

The post Surround mixing on headphones just got serious with OLLO Audio’s S5X appeared first on MusicTech.

Luminate claims ‘consensus’ but Indies still want delay in Billboard Chart sales data changesLuminate will proceed with changes in how it counts physical sales from independent music stores used to calculate the Billboard Charts despite significant pushback from the independent community. Yesterday, Luminate. Continue reading
The post Luminate claims ‘consensus’ but Indies still want delay in Billboard Chart sales data changes appeared first on Hypebot.

What is MIDI in music (and how do you use it)?
Learn about what MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is, its unique history, and how to use it as a powerful tool for making music.