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  • Major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope bids to acquire AVIDUS firm Francisco Partners, a major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope, is among private equity firms competing to acquire AVID, otherwise known as Avid Technology Inc.

    READ MORE: “I saw you spreading lies on your Facebook group”: Loopop on Behringer not sending ‘free gear’ to reviewers

    Earlier this year, Francisco Partners backed up the new partnership with iZotope and Native Instruments, which saw the two manufacturers team up to “shape the future of music making and audio production”.
    Another company that is currently bidding for acquisition of AVID is Symphony Technology Group, a private-equity firm focused on technology investments. Earlier in the year, STG made a deal to take Momentive Global Inc, the parent company of SurveyMonkey.
    AVID provides valuable software for the music industry, owning both digital audio workstation Pro Tools and music notation software Sibelius. Its products are widely considered to be industry standard, with Pro Tools likely the most used digital audio workstation in the world.
    Sibelius is also one of the most commonly used scoring softwares in the composition world, and counts the likes of Hans Zimmer among its users.
    Therefore, the potential purchase is a monumental move, especially considering that AVID has a current value of $1.2 billion.
    According to Reuters, AVID started exploring options, including the sale of the company with the help of investment bank Goldman Sachs, earlier this year. Anonymous sources have since told Reuters that a deal could be signed as early as this month.
    The post Major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope bids to acquire AVID appeared first on MusicTech.

    A major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope, Francisco Partners, is among private equity firms competing to acquire AVID.

  • Techivation introduce M-De-Esser plug-in Techivation's latest offering takes an innovative approach to de-essing, employing a spectral shaping algorithm to tackle sibilance and harshness in vocal recordings.

    Techivation's latest offering takes an innovative approach to de-essing, employing a spectral shaping algorithm to tackle sibilance and harshness in vocal recordings.

  • Free Webinars on A2IM’s Health Insurance for Musicians this weekHealth insurance for musicians will be the subject of two free webinars this Wednesday hosted by The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). The indie trade group recently added the. Continue reading
    The post Free Webinars on A2IM’s Health Insurance for Musicians this week appeared first on Hypebot.

    Health insurance for musicians will be the subject of two free webinars this Wednesday hosted by The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). The indie trade group recently added the. Continue reading

  • The life cycle of a Sync placementLearn more about the process of getting music into TV. film and games. A quick but thorough guide that goes from pitching to placement to payment. by Jon Mizrachi of. Continue reading
    The post The life cycle of a Sync placement appeared first on Hypebot.

    Learn more about the process of getting music into TV. film and games. A quick but thorough guide that goes from pitching to placement to payment. by Jon Mizrachi of. Continue reading

  • Layer Engine is a Free Granular Engine Plugin for Windows and Linux
    Independent audio developer Eoin O’Dowd has just released a free/donationware plugin called Layer Engine, and it’s available for Windows 10/11 and Linux. It’s still in development, so the developer suggests following his Gumroad page to be aware of future updates. Anyway, Layer Engine already looks and sounds like a very powerful instrument! It features two [...]
    View post: Layer Engine is a Free Granular Engine Plugin for Windows and Linux

    Independent audio developer Eoin O’Dowd has just released a free/donationware plugin called Layer Engine, and it’s available for Windows 10/11 and Linux. It’s still in development, so the developer suggests following his Gumroad page to be aware of future updates. Anyway, Layer Engine already looks and sounds like a very powerful instrument! It features twoRead More

  • Dutch DJ breaks Guinness World Record with 11-hour setDutch DJ Reinier Zonneveld has broken a Guinness World Record after playing a set that lasted 11 hours and 11 minutes.

    READ MORE: Major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope bids to acquire AVID

    Zonneveld took to the stage at the Karren Maar Festival at the Stadsblokken in the city of Arnhem on Saturday (5 August). A Guinness World Record representative was there to certify the feat.
    Zonneveld’s team told EDM.com that the DJ began just after midday, and ended precisely at midnight, totalling his DJ set to over eleven hours.
    “Karren Maar festival was an extraordinary journey of sound and connection. Playing for 11 hours and 11 minutes allowed me to deep dive into the essence of my music, exploring uncharted territories of emotion and energy,” explained Zonneveld of his reasons for attempting the challenge.
    “It was a humbling experience to witness the support and energy from the crowd, creating a one-of-a-kind atmosphere. I am grateful for the opportunity to have shared this unforgettable experience with everyone present, as we pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in the world of electronic music.”
    Zonneveld often posts videos from his sets on his Youtube channel, so there’s a fair chance that a video of the full 11 hour set might be coming our way soon.
    Other DJ Guinness World Record holders include Nosher Ali Khan, DJ Ghasuray, and Saad Ata Barcha, who in 2021 played the highest altitude DJ set at almost six Kilometers high, and DJ Archie, who holds the title of the youngest DJ ever, at just four years old.

    The post Dutch DJ breaks Guinness World Record with 11-hour set appeared first on MusicTech.

    Reinier Zonneveld has broken a Guinness World Record after playing a DJ set that lasted 11 hours and 11 minutes.

  • Roland to open three-storey retail space in Tokyo, Japan later this yearRoland is set to open its first retail space in Japan later this year, which will host three floors each focusing on a series of instruments. It comes after the brand opened its first ever retail store in London last year to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

    READ MORE: Roland launches AI-powered royalty-free sound library for Bridge Cast livestreamers

    Situated in Tokyo, the new space will open its doors 1 October 2023. Just as in the London store, this new space will also run an appointment-based structure, which allows customers to book appointments in advance for personalised one-on-one instruction and testing with Roland product specialists, in what it calls “Demo-on-Demand”.
    Credit: Roland
    “Audience Specific Experience” or ASX retail technology will also feature in the space. This is Roland’s proprietary technology which enables customers to customise stage lighting, audio, and video whilst in-store.
    On the first floor, synthesisers, digital wind instruments, Roland Cloud and DJ-related products will be showcased, as well as accessories, apparel and more. The second floor is set to offer a more relaxed atmosphere, with an assortment of the brand’s best-selling pianos, whilst the basement floor will host a range of Roland V-Drums kits and BOSS products.
    Credit: Roland
    “I am very pleased to announce the opening of the Roland Store Tokyo. Roland was born in Japan, and for more than 50 years we have had a succession of groundbreaking products that have revolutionised the music scene, attracting musicians and music lovers from around the world,” says Gordon Raison, CEO and representative director of Roland Corporation.
    “The purpose of opening Roland Store Tokyo is to give the visitors a genuine experience of connecting with our products and culture in an intimate environment. By opening our store in Harajuku, a centre of music, fashion, art, and fun subcultures, we hope to deliver our vision to as many music lovers as possible, further promoting creativity across our customers.”
    The Tokyo and London stores are part of a wider plan to expand Roland’s global reach. No other news of any further retail stores has yet been announced.
    Learn more at Roland.
    The post Roland to open three-storey retail space in Tokyo, Japan later this year appeared first on MusicTech.

    Roland is set to open its first retail space in Japan later this year, which will host three floors each focusing on a series of instruments. 

  • Major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope bids to acquire AVIDUS firm Francisco Partners, a major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope, is among private equity firms competing to acquire AVID, otherwise known as Avid Technology Inc.

    READ MORE: “I saw you spreading lies on your Facebook group”: Loopop on Behringer not sending ‘free gear’ to reviewers

    Earlier this year, Francisco Partners backed up the new partnership with iZotope and Native Instruments, which saw the two manufacturers team up to “shape the future of music making and audio production”.
    Another company that is currently bidding for acquisition of AVID is Symphony Technology Group, a private-equity firm focused on technology investments. Earlier in the year, STG made a deal to take Momentive Global Inc, the parent company of SurveyMonkey.
    AVID provides valuable software for the music industry, owning both digital audio workstation Pro Tools and music notation software Sibelius. Its products are widely considered to be industry standard, with Pro Tools likely the most used digital audio workstation in the world.
    Sibelius is also one of the most commonly used scoring softwares in the composition world, and counts the likes of Hans Zimmer among its users.
    Therefore, the potential purchase is a monumental move, especially considering that AVID has a current value of $1.2 billion.
    According to Reuters, AVID started exploring options, including the sale of the company with the help of investment bank Goldman Sachs, earlier this year. Anonymous sources have since told Reuters that a deal could be signed as early as this month.
    The post Major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope bids to acquire AVID appeared first on MusicTech.

    A major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope, Francisco Partners, is among private equity firms competing to acquire AVID.

  • Resonance-Sound Latin Trap & Reggaeton Vol.1 for Serum The inimitable vibes of Latin Trap and Reggaeton are an essential part of today's radio. Especially in the summertime the success of the genre blossoms again. Since it is difficult to find... Read More

  • EastWest ComposerCloud+ discount offer Until 10 August 2023, new subscribers signing up for ComposerCloud+ are able to gain access to EastWest's extensive product range for just $149 for the year.

    Until 10 August 2023, new subscribers signing up for ComposerCloud+ are able to gain access to EastWest's extensive product range for just $149 for the year.

  • Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal is overkill for guitarists, but fun for the studioAs part of the latest releases in its UAFX line-up, Universal Audio has launched the Max Preamp and Dual Compressor. This pedal has two separate channels of compression, each with three different flavours of compression to choose from. And just for good measure, UA has thrown in an emulation of one of its own preamps for a touch of drive and colouration.

    READ MORE: Universal Audio’s Galaxy ‘74 is a remarkable tribute to the revered Space Echo

    The format of Max is consistent with other UAFX pedals, featuring two footswitches, six rotary knobs and three small selection switches. The back panel features stereo in/out sockets, a 9v power jack, a USB-C socket for firmware updates, plus a tiny button for pairing the pedal with its app via Bluetooth. As with other models in this line-up, the Max pedal is relatively big and heavy, so should stand up well to abuse on stage.

    Sounds
    Compression in a guitar pedal is an interesting concept. Because a clean guitar has a significant transient and can be tamed by compressor, it is frequently used by funk guitarists and country players to smooth out their volume. However, a distorted guitar is already inherently compressed due to the way overdrive occurs, so compressors are less important as part of the signal chain for a rockier sound. However, in a production context, anything that doesn’t naturally distort is likely to need some compression. We begin with drums and load up a relatively dynamic loop with lots of toms to hear the impact of the compressors.
    We route our DAW’s audio to the pedal, and notice immediately how hot the signal is coming in above the Max’s threshold. The colour-changing LEDs on each channel are extremely helpful when setting the threshold. Although it only has three colours (green: on, yellow: gentle compression, red: heavy compression), when combined with our ears, it makes setting the input gain relatively easy. This gain structure means we have to use the output knob around 3 o’clock to get the signal back up to unity.
    Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal. Image: Universal Audio
    The 1176 emulation should sound excellent given UA’s history with the unit (its founder Bill Putnam Snr designed it). Happily, it compresses well and responds as expected, catching the early transients and controlling the fast dynamics, but it doesn’t have quite the warmth that we get from our analogue units.
    The second emulation has a warm valve tone that one expects from the Teletronix LA-2A original. But when we stack the compressors, the sound really comes to life. An 1176 into an LA-2A is one of our favourite signal chains because of the way one smooths out the transient and the other the tail of the audio, respectively.
    The ability to do this in a single unit is extremely useful. The LEDs again help identify the threshold point of the second compressor in the chain whilst our ears do the rest. The ability to have everything laid out physically in one unit and jump between them is a really efficient way to work.
    By default, the pedal has its compressors running in series, but the UAFX smartphone app allows access to additional controls that affect the operation of the pedal including the option to run the channels in parallel, or to flick between two settings. There are also some other controls in here including the EQ response of the preamp, but these are all set-and-forget controls.
    Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal and app. Image: Universal Audio
    The MXR Dyna Comp emulation adds a lot of sustain but really emphasises the transients of the sound, so needs something after the signal to control these – given its history as a guitar effect, this would normally be a guitar amp. It sounds horrible on drums and vocals but creates a distinct, squashed clean sound when applied to a guitar.
    The preamp section, based on the UA 610, adds some welcome distortion, but doesn’t quite flatter the drums. When applied to some vocals and guitar though, it adds pleasing harmonic overdrive and a bit of grit to the sound prior to the compression stage.
    Max is an interesting concept as a guitar pedal. For most guitarists, it’s complete overkill. However, as a studio tool, it’s much more useful.
    The ability to have hands-on control of compression settings is a productive way to work, but the UA plugin emulations of the studio limiters are just as good. If we’re using hardware, we’d prefer to have genuine analogue units to truly embrace their inherent flaws and characteristics.
    Key features

    2 independent channels of compression
    3 different styles of compression
    Tube mic preamp emulation
    Can be run in series or parallel
    LED compression level indication
    Full stereo operation

    The post Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal is overkill for guitarists, but fun for the studio appeared first on MusicTech.

    The Universal Audio UAFX Max pedal boasts three compressor emulations for a hands-on experience with beloved old-school tools

  • DDJ-REV5: a scratch-style controller, sans motorized jogwheels – for $1099
    While last week’s turntable/DVS controller announcement was a huge surprise to many, today Pioneer DJ is launching something more expected: a budget-friendly scratch controller, the DDJ-REV5. It slides in naturally at a slightly lower price point than its bigger-brother DDJ-REV7, which runs at $1,999 new and has motorized jogwheels. The DDJ-REV5 has a lot of […]
    The post DDJ-REV5: a scratch-style controller, sans motorized jogwheels – for $1099 appeared first on DJ TechTools.

    While last week’s turntable/DVS controller announcement was a huge surprise to many, today Pioneer DJ is launching something more expected: a budget-friendly scratch controller, the DDJ-REV5. It slides in naturally at a slightly lower price point than its bigger-brother DDJ-REV7, which runs at $1,999 new and has motorized jogwheels. The DDJ-REV5 has a lot of […]

  • Curve Finance opens bounty after exploiter's return deadline expiresCurve Finance is extending a $1.85 million bug bounty offer to anyone who can identify the exploiter of its stable pools.

    Curve Finance is extending a bug bounty offer to anyone who is able to identify the exploiter who stole $61 million from its pools on July 30.

  • Paramore at the Kia ForumPhotos by Zachary Gray

    Paramore are currently on the second leg of their North American tour in support of their seventh studio album This Is Why. During the final of two shows at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles, they invited Bethany Cosentino and Rico Nasty to share the stage with them.

    Following a set than spanned their greatest hits such as "That's What You Get", "Decode", "Rose Colored Boy", and "Last Hope", Paramore invited Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino on stage to perform "Big Man, Little Dignity" which features on their latest album, This Is Why. Joining the likes of PinkPantheress, and Lil Uzi Vert, they invited their "brand new friend" Rico Nasty on stage for "Misery Business."

    rico nasty came out for misery business at the paramore concert, this SHIT HAD MY CREMAING pic.twitter.com/N4ZTlz1nHV— Pooh Sheistenberg (@CultureSwine) July 21, 2023

    Setlist 

    You First

    The News

    That's What You Get

    Playing God

    Caught in the Middle

    Rose-Colored Boy(With snippet of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody)

    Running Out of Time

    Decode

    Last Hope

    Big Man, Little Dignity(with Bethany Cosentino)

    Liar

    Crystal Clear(Hayley Williams song) (Intro “Lovers or Friends”)

    Hard Times(With snippet of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”)

    Told You So

    Figure 8

    The Only Exception

    Crave

    Baby(HalfNoise cover)

    Misery Business(with Rico Nasty)

    Ain't It Fun

    Encore:

    Still Into You

    This Is Why

    Excerpted by Tyler Damara Kelly

    Photos by Zachary Gray Paramore are currently on the second leg of their North American tour in support of their seventh studio album This Is Why. During the final of two shows at The Kia Forum in …

  • Taking another look at venture debtSilicon Valley Bank’s nosedive has soured many on venture debt, and for early-stage companies, it bears being cautious. As an option for growth-stage companies with more predictable cash flow, however, things may be a little different. TechCrunch+ spoke with David Spreng, founder and CEO of Runway Growth Capital and author of “All Money Is Not Created Equal” to help to clear up some of the misconceptions that surround debt.
    Even though the interest on venture debt is usually astronomical, venture debt’s main advantage is that it doesn’t require startups to give up any equity. Not diluting shares in order to raise money can have a huge impact on the economic outcomes, and raising money through a bank loan is usually much easier than raising a round of venture capital.

    Silicon Valley Bank: Here’s a timeline of the bank’s failure

    Though taking on debt isn’t always the best option, there are some circumstances you may find yourself in where it makes the most sense.
    Venture debt is a way of borrowing money, usually between $1 million and $100 million, without any tangible assets to secure it. This is where it differs from a business loan. You might be able to get yourself an unsecured business loan early on in your company’s life, but it’ll be for a relatively small sum of money and the interest rates on it will be on the high side. In some cases, founders have to supply a personal guarantee when they take one out. A secured loan, on the other hand, takes tangible assets as collateral. Startups might not have a whole lot by the way of tangible assets, but they could have other valuable assets. This is where venture debt comes in.
    Venture debt is borrowing that’s secured against your intangible assets: predictable future revenue, your IP, and your future VC backing, for example. There are effectively two types of venture debt: early stage and late stage. Early-stage debt tends to be offered on the basis of a startup’s VC backers. Spreng’s own shop, Runway, on the other hand, provides only late-stage debt. It’s for companies that are on the verge of profitability but need an injection of funds to help them obtain the growth they need in order to reach it.

    Ultimately, you need to remember that whether you raise funds through equity or through debt, all money has a cost.