Tesla Q1 deliveries beat expectations as China helps boost salesTesla said Sunday it delivered 422,875 electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2023, just beating Wall Street estimates of around 420,000 units. The company produced 440,808 vehicles in the same period.
The delivery and production numbers are record results for the EV maker. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Tesla delivered 405,278 and produced 439,701 units. Those Q4 deliveries were also record results, but they missed Wall Street expectations.
It appears that a large percentage of deliveries came from vehicles produced by Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory. The automaker has been issuing price cuts in all markets, including China, where the most recent discounts have caused a price war among competitors. The result is an increase of Tesla sales in China from last year, which suggests the East Asian country is helping to boost Tesla’s global delivery numbers.
Tesla doesn’t break down its delivery and production numbers by region, but according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Tesla collectively sold 140,453 China-made vehicles in January and February. The CPCA hasn’t yet published March’s data. If Tesla’s March deliveries in China match February’s numbers, it would mean more than 50% (or nearly 215,000) of Q1 deliveries came from Shanghai.
 
Tesla’s Q1 2023 delivery and production numbers. Image Credit: Tesla, via screenshot
Tesla started cutting prices for its EVs in China in October. Most recently, Tesla again reduced the prices of Model 3 and Y there in January by between 6% and 13.5%, adding fuel to the fire of a price war in the country. Rivals Xpeng and Nio, as well as international brands like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, also discounted their prices to compete with Tesla cars, which are now up to 14% cheaper than last year. In some cases, they’re almost 50% less expensive than in the U.S. and Europe.
The automaker mirrored similar price cuts in Europe, Mexico and the U.S. over the past few months. This year, Tesla dropped prices for Model Y and Model 3 vehicles in the U.S. by up to 20%, and Model X and Model S vehicles by up to 9%. Last week, Tesla also relaunched its European referral program to try to increase sales before the end of the quarter.
Tesla’s share price rose 6.24% Sunday (in off trading hours) following the automaker’s quarterly production and delivery results.
Tesla needed a strong result after a volatile last few months in trading. At the end of 2022, Tesla’s share price plummeted amid CEO Elon Musk’s overhaul of Twitter. Investors were also concerned last year that the many discounts Tesla implemented across markets — including a $7,500 discount for U.S. buyers who took delivery before year’s end — might indicate low demand from customers.
During Tesla’s Q4 2022 earnings call in January, Musk tried to assuage investors by saying that demand actually exceeded production. At the time, Tesla acknowledged that the price decreases and general inflationary environment might affect the company’s short-term automotive margins, but that the company said it’s more focused on its operating margin.
We’ll know more about how the price decreases globally have affected the overall business when Tesla reports first quarter earnings on Wednesday, April 19. At the end of last year, Tesla said it expects to remain ahead of the long-term 50% compound annual growth rate with around 1.8 million cars for the year.
Tesla Q1 deliveries beat expectations as China helps boost sales by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Bitcoin price turns $28K to support, opening the door for ETH, MATIC, HBAR and EOS to breakoutBTC, ETH, MATIC, HBAR and EOS are likely to pick up momentum if they cross above their respective overhead resistance levels.

Close Up: Royer LabsRoyer Labs

royerlabs.com

25 Years of Modern Ribbon Mics: In 1996, Dave Royer, Rick Perrotta and John Jennings talked about starting a new pro audio company; then, in 1997 Dave Royer designed the first R-121 ribbon microphone in his garage in Fullerton, CA. Royer Labs opened in 1998, and the R-121 quickly became a sought after, award-winning staple of studios and live stages around the world. Before Royer, the only ribbon mics that existed were vintage models from the ‘40s and ‘50s, which were large, heavy and very fragile. The R-121 was the first ribbon mic that could handle high SPLs (sound pressure levels) and it was lightweight and compact. 

Another major advantage Royer discovered was how well ribbons addressed problems with early digital recording systems. Tape systems sounded warm and more natural, while the new digital systems of that time sounded harsh and unforgiving by comparison. The warm, natural response of ribbon mics made engineers feel like they were working with tape again so much that in 2013 Royer Labs became one of the youngest companies ever to win a Technical Grammy, for bringing ribbon mics back and helping digital recording sound better. 

Shortly after the R-121—whose high profile users have included Al Schmitt, Ross Hogarth, Joe Chiccarelli, Arturo Sandoval, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen and others—Royer Labs released the SF-12 stereo ribbon mic, followed by the R-122, the world’s first phantom powered ribbon mic.

R-10 “Hot Rod” 25th Anniversary Mic: To kick off its 25th anniversary celebration, Royer has  released the R-10 Hot Rod ribbon mic, which is designed for both studio and live stage use. Their standard R-10 was based somewhat on the R-121 technology but at a lower price point. When paired with their dBooster plug-in—an inline signal booster with two gain settings—the R-10 was also ideal for quiet instruments and vocals. The limited edition “Hot Rod” is fitted with a custom transformer that gives 5dB hotter output and a punchier, more open sound, and comes with a 25th Anniversary trim package that makes it unique from the standard R-10. It features a lowered proximity effect that makes it a perfect choice for close miking instruments and singers. For more bite in the highs without multi-miking, the R-10 Hot Rod takes EQ beautifully. Dave Grohl has used an R-10 on his guitar amp for Foo Fighters gigs for years, appreciating its extreme durability and natural sound.

Quote from John Jennings, VP of Sales and Marketing: “Royer Labs is thrilled to be in our 25th year, and kicking it off with the R-10 Hot Rod is just fun. The innovative guys in our shop cooked this mic up and we love it, with its cool looking trim package and its different sonic personality. It expands on the R-10 in interesting ways, creating a unique  flavor of R-10 with a beefier low end that we think recording engineers and FOH engineers will really like.”

Contact Royer Labs, 818-847-0121

Last week in music industry commentaryCommentators in the thick of the industry last week shared their opinions and thoughts on the government-issued TikTok bans, what makes music ‘good’, and more… US threats to ban TikTok. Continue reading
The post Last week in music industry commentary appeared first on Hypebot.

SSL unveil SubGen plug-in SSL's latest plug-in claims to be the ultimate tool for bass generation and low-frequency enhancement, combining a four-band subharmonic synthesizer with overdrive and compression processors.

ZenDAW Blue Swells: Kontakt ZenDAW announces BLUE SWELLS (Wavetable - Transwave & Additive Sounds) for NI Kontakt in collaboration with Rawl Gelinas. The Kontakt version has a nice GUI to make tweaking easy and... Read More

FTX EU opens withdrawal, Elon Musk calls for AI halt, and Binance news: Hodler’s Digest, March 26–April 1FTX Europe opens withdrawal for European customers, a petition seeks to halt AI development, and Binance is sued by U.S. authorities.

Virgin Orbit runs low on cash, ByteDance pushes a TikTok replacement, and Canoo settles with the SECIt’s the weekend, party people, and you know what that means: It’s Week in Review (WiR) time. For the uninitiated, WiR is where TechCrunch recaps all the tech news that took place for the week. It’s like the morning paper, but in digital form, and without all the extraneous stuff unrelated to tech. So…not much like the paper, really, but very much worth a read (in this reporter’s humble opinion).
To get WiR in your inbox every Saturday, click here. And for this edition’s roundup, scroll down. But before you do that, don’t forget to check out TechCrunch’s upcoming events lineup, including the startup-focused Early Stage in Boston on April 20 and our mega-conference, Disrupt, in San Francisco on September 19–21.
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Crash and burn: Virgin Orbit is laying off around 85% of its workforce in order to further reduce expenses after the troubled space company said it was unable to secure additional funding to keep it afloat. The news, which Virgin Orbit filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, comes just two weeks after the company furloughed all employees and entered an “operational pause” in order to find more cash.
Date while filing taxes: There’s a new anime dating sim that does your taxes — and it actually works. Amanda played Tax Heaven 3000, a game produced by MSCHF, the venture-funded creative studio behind projects like Push Party and the Lil Nas X blood shoes. What’s the verdict? If you don’t mind risking sharing your personal information with an anime girl obsessing over the tax process, it’s not the least pleasant way to file your return.
The replacement TikTok: As U.S. lawmakers move forward with their plans for a TikTok ban or forced sale, the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is driving another of its social platforms into the top charts of the U.S. App Store. ByteDance-owned app Lemon8, an Instagram rival that describes itself as a “lifestyle community,” jumped into one of the U.S. App Store’s top-downloaded slots on Monday, becoming the number 10 overall app across both apps and games.
Groupon has a new CEO: Groupon, which shot to fame popularizing the online group buying format, has appointed Dusan Senkypl as interim CEO. As Ingrid writes, Groupon has 14 million active users, but almost consistently for the last decade, the company’s financial position has been in a slow decline — with stagnation in its core business model, little success in efforts to diversify, declining revenues and ongoing losses.
Get your own Lyft: Lyft might once again drop its shared rides offering, just one of several changes the company’s newly appointed CEO, David Risher, could make in a bid to focus on Lyft’s core ride-hailing business and become profitable. Risher told Rebecca in a wide-ranging interview that other features may also be axed, like the Wait & Save option that allows riders in certain regions to pay a lower fare if they wait for the best-located driver.
Twitter’s APIs go paid: After weeks of stalling, Twitter finally announced its new API pricing structures on Wednesday. The three tiers include a bare-bones free level mostly meant for content-posting bots, a $100 per month basic level and a costly enterprise level. Subscribing at any level affords access to Twitter’s ads API at no additional cost.
Hard times, slashed valuations: Manish reports some of the biggest Indian startups are taking a haircut in their valuations — at least in the eyes of their investors, as some backers adjust their estimates amid the weakening global economy. BlackRock has cut the valuation of Byju’s, which is India’s most valuable startup at $22 billion, by nearly half to $11.5 billion, while Swiggy, India’s most valuable food delivery startup at $10.7 billion, has been marked down to a valuation of about $8 billion by Invesco.
Ledger wins big: French startup Ledger has added more money — about €100 million ($108 million) — to its Series C funding round, Romain writes. The company’s main products are hardware crypto wallets that offer a high level of security, shaped like USB keys and featuring a tiny screen to confirm transactions on the device.
Supply chain attack: Multiple security firms have sounded the alarm about an active supply chain attack that’s using a Trojanized version of 3CX’s widely used voice and video-calling client to target downstream customers, Carly writes. The malware is a particularly dangerous sort, capable of harvesting system information and stealing data and stored credentials from Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave and Firefox user profiles.
Canoo settles with the SEC: Electric vehicle startup Canoo has agreed to a $1.5 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a regulatory filing. The SEC began investigating Canoo in May 2021, focusing on the startup’s operations, business model, revenues, revenue strategy, customer agreements, earnings and the departures of certain company officers, including co-founder and CEO Ulrich Kranz.
audio
TechCrunch’s podcasting output was as robust as ever this week, in case you had doubts. The Equity crew talked about AI, crypto, equity crowdfunding and — in a story out of complete left field — former startup founders trying to bribe China. Meanwhile, Found interviewed Angela Hoover, CEO and co-founder of Andi, an ambitious generative AI search chatbox company. And on TechCrunch Live, AtoB co-founder Harshita Arora and Contrary Capital founder and partner Eric Tarczynski discussed red flags investors keep an eye out for, how the VC and startup world reacts to the “girl genius” versus “boy genius,” and the pain points of the trucking industry.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:
Crypto on the upswing: “Crypto-focused venture capital investors are trucking along in their work,” Jacquelyn writes. Many remain confident in their investing strategies despite an enervated first-quarter market for crypto startup fundraising, while others are noticing a sharper decline in investing pace.
AI is the new oil: Being an AI company has become the soup du jour of startup land. Companies are scrambling to either incorporate AI into their existing business model or change up their marketing so whatever they were already quietly using AI to do is front and center. And Y Combinator’s latest class is no different, Rebecca reports.
Substack turns to its writers: Alex writes about Substack’s effort to crowdfund a venture-sized extension round. The platform, popular with writers and known for its email service, has collected more than $5 million in pledges for an extension to its Series B from its community and the internet at large.
A look at Sweden’s startup scene: In the wake of Techstars’ decision to discontinue its Swedish accelerator program, Alex and Anna decided to dig into the country’s startup scene to understand how one smaller venture market is adapting to a changed investing climate.
Virgin Orbit runs low on cash, ByteDance pushes a TikTok replacement, and Canoo settles with the SEC by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Leisure Class Audio SK-8X Drums 600+ raw and processed drums samples from the classic Casio SK-8 keyboard. The Casio SK-8 is well known for its lo-fi sampling capabilities, but it's the sound of the crunchy... Read More

Q&A with boygeniusPHOTOS BY MATT GRUBB

“Supergroup” is an overused term, and it usually applies to epic, classic rock beasts such as Asia. That said, when you bring together the talent and gorgeous tones of indie pop-rock singers and songwriters Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, and the sum of the parts is as effective as it is with boygenius, the trope does seem oddly appropriate. 

    The group released its debut, self-titled EP back in the fall of 2018 and it’s taken until now to release a full-length album. They’re all super-busy solo artists and, of course, COVID didn’t help. But it’s certainly been worth the wait. The album is as introspective, devastatingly honest and effortlessly cool as the EP teased, and the harmonies raise goosebumps for days. Music Connection discussed all of that and more with the three artists…

Music Connection: Starting with the background of the group, how did the three of you meet? How familiar were you all with each other’s work before meeting?

Phoebe Bridgers: We all met because we toured with Julien Baker. Lucy and I opened for Julien on the same album cycle. Julien was like, “You guys would love each other,” and then we decided to all tour together. The first time that we were in the same space is the first day that we were a band.

MC: You’re all obviously successful individually—how did the notion of coming together first get raised?

Julien Baker: To elaborate on Phoebe’s answer, originally we thought that we would do one track and a cover of something fun, and put out a 45. Just do a limited run for the tour, and then we ended up gelling with each other’s songwriting in a really special and immediate way. We wrote some songs and had an EP, and we were all of a sudden in a band. That’s the first day we were a band, and we didn’t know it. 

MC: The EP came out in 2018, followed by an album of demos in 2020—how did you look back on those tracks when you went away from boygenius? Was it about a moment in time?

PB: I look back on those tracks with a lot of pride. I think how limited we all were at that time, and making space and time for that project, what we created, it’s one of the first magical, greater than the sum of its parts, sort of things that happened to me. It feels like there’s this entity in this band that has been ever present, from the beginning. I’m most proud of this album, and I continue to be the most proud of the next thing that we make. Like, at band practice I’ll be like, ‘Well this is the sickest thing we’ve ever done, this is the coolest thing ever.’”

MC: Were you happy with how the EP was received by fans and critics?

PB: I think so. Because nobody was expecting it, people were pleasantly surprised. I thought it was great to give people an unexpected treat. I think there was a pretense-less reception, and that felt really good. I feel like that’s happening again, because we never made it clear that we would make more music. So, I think people are excited about it.

MC: Why was now the time to get back together and record The Record?

PB: I think COVID really cleared the slate for all of us. When that happened, when our palette was cleared, it was like, ‘What I need is my friends.’ I just think that would have been our first choice thing to do, each individually, if you’d asked. As the first one who said anything, it felt good to have that received with excitement.

MC: Where was it recorded? When? Who with?

JB: We recorded it at Shangri-La in Malibu, California. We recorded it with Catherine Marks, and then another of our friends, Sarah Tudzin, did additional engineering. We’re all fans of Catherine’s work with Manchester Orchestra. My friends who had worked with her told me great things about her. I feel so proud getting to say who played on this record. Barbara Gruska played drums. Melina Duterte played keys and contributed. It’s so neat to be able to pull in all our friends as players. Anna Butterss on bass.

MC: How did you approach your vocal blends when recording? Do the harmonies come naturally? How much work goes into that, particularly when you’re used to working solo?

Lucy Dacus: Yeah, we don’t have to change our voices to sing together. I think it’s just part of why this felt like an obvious thing to do, is that it was naturally nice. 

MC: I think we are historically difficult to mix. There aren’t a lot of bands with three people—of course there are a lot. But I think it’s hard to mix three lead vocalists. It’s not just harmony singing, and it takes a different shape per song. I think when we’re all singing together, it’s like a different member of the band. But yeah, it’s easy to sing together. I think it’s just, it was cool how hard it was, it’s validating. It’s actually kinda hard to recreate what happens with us in the room. And I think we succeeded.

JB: You know what? It is really difficult to recreate what happens when we’re all singing together directly. But it was also so, I feel like it was a massive lesson in extra-lingual musical communication, to have to learn how to mix… Like Phoebe, you having the attention to detail to how our voices are mixed, as three, or as one person with the other. Us being interchangeable, and that being a dynamic to play with. It was fun and taught me a lot. I think I learned a lot from you both, in a musical sensibility. That was a gift. 

MC: Can you pick one song from the album and take me through the songwriting process? Do you write them individually or bounce them around between you? (I read in the press bio that it works both ways, depending on the song)...

LD: Sure. Like we said, some songs we write separately, but for ones that we write together, someone will be like, ‘I have this idea,’ and often one of us will be like, ‘it’s kinda stupid,’ Or pretend that it’ll be on the record but hedging on it’s dumb. Then the other two will be like, ‘No, this is awesome.’ Most of the time. Maybe not 100 percent but 95 percent. 

PB: It keeps my belief strong that y’all are telling me the truth all of the time because of the times that I show something and you’re like, ‘Huh?’ We have honesty with each other and it’s not an insult because I know you believe in my songwriting as good and great and pure. 

LD: I think it’s just that we share taste, and so our hit rate for each other is really high. When we miss, it’s not a big deal. Or, sometimes we’ll have an idea that is good but not right, and taking the time and not being satisfied until we get the thing that we’re most proud of, and not settling for something that functions, I think is a priority that we all have. Phoebe will, say, bring an idea and say ‘I don’t know what to do next,’ and then we’ll all separately learn the chords, play it by ourselves, play in the same room, and we did a couple of writing trips together for this record. We’d have the opportunity to say, ‘Come here for a second, and hear this.’ When we felt there was momentum around something, we’d all convene and affirm the things that felt right and scrap the things that felt wrong. Redirect until we got to a destination that felt good.

MC: Is there a growth in sound, style, lyrics since the EP?

PB: I think the core thing about our friendship has been there since day one. It felt like our lives are hard, but our closeness has been easy to cultivate because we all want it. But yeah, that first day was so easy. I have a lot of social anxiety, like everybody else. Also, a lot of anxiety around creating, especially with new people. Julien and I were talking about how bad we are in writing sessions. Like, meeting someone for the first time and trying to record something meaningful. So just like, the most high-pressure environment to be dissipated in the first second of sitting together. Obviously, we’ve gotten closer and had our lives together now. But I think it’s the same in a lot of ways, from the first day.

JB: I might even say it was nice that when we deliberately carved out time to spend with each other in a mode devoted to writing and cultivating ideas, to learn more about Lucy and Phoebe’s process and ultimate desires—the songwriting vernacular they speak in. Because then it’s that much easier to be like, to receive and say to someone, I see the vision and I care about it as much as you. To have no chain of preciousness. I feel very precious with the things I write and where they are getting finished-wise. Getting to be around each others’ work in infancy still remains informative to me as a writer.

MC: Are there any overriding themes/concepts to the album?

LD: I feel like the theme is us. I feel like we’re representing ourselves pretty well. A pretty recent version of who we are, even though we recorded it a year ago and started thinking about writing it even before then, I feel like we’re showing people the latest version of who we are and what we’re thinking about. A lot of the songs are about each other, so letting people in on that relationship a little bit. And then there’s repeated imagery. Like there’s the ocean—we spent a lot of time at the ocean together, so it felt kinda rife with symbolism or just the actual setting. There’s fire and drowning and cars. A bunch of cars.

JB: Lots of motifs, man.

MC: I read that the song “Leonard Cohen” came from a roadtrip listening to Iron & Wine’s “Trapeze Swinger”—can you elaborate on that experience?

PB: I do this thing where I insist that people connect deeply and immediately with all my favorite things. I think they’d both heard that song before, but I was like, ‘Not in the right way!’ So, I put it on in the car, and it was like, ‘I need you to listen to this right now.’ 

LD: Julien and I both separately noticed that Phoebe got back on the highway in the wrong direction, and that song is 10 minutes long. It’s a highway that doesn’t have that many exits. So, we were just listening and knowing that it was super-important to Phoebe for us to take this in, and once it was finished we reacted about how awesome it was and then we were like, ‘By the way, you’re gonna need to turn around.’ So that added an hour to our drive, which was a really fun hour of the drive, so it’s kind of like, I’m glad that she fucked up because it led to more opportunities to get to know each other. 

MC: Why call the record The Record?

LD: We were thinking about these already existing record titles that we thought it would be funny to use, like The White Album or In Rainbows. But we ended up settling on The Record because people have long been asking for it, like ‘Where’s the record?’ But also, that’s what it is. It’s a record of our friendship. And it’s sort of like a time capsule, reporting from the field, of what it’s like to be with each other. It’s recordings of music, but it’s also recordings of this time in our lives together.

MC: Are there organizational issues that need to be ironed out among the performers and their teams when solo artists come together like this? How complicated is that? Any advice about how to do that smoothly?

PB:It definitely flows less naturally. I think that our friendship is so close and easy that having to commodify it, especially when we commodify a lot of ourselves, is complex and the hardest part of the band is the organization, I think. It just isn’t as fun as the rest of it, which is so fun.

MC: What gear do you each use, both in the studio and on stage?

JB: We used an EL251 vocal mic. 

PB: When I’m asked about gear, it’s a pop quiz. When I’m recording, I have really instinctual preferences for mic use and gear but I don’t remember the name of everything so I could be like, ‘that one over that one’ but my brain does not remember any of that shit. But there is a Gibson J-45 from the early 60’s which was signed Glen Campbell and owned by Tony Berg that I use on my record.  It’s very old and it’s just the most beautiful dead-sounding acoustic guitar ever and I don’t ever want to record with anything else. That was a gift to us from Tony to let us use it during the recording session, but we were all so terrified to pick it up. If it breaks, my records just stop being made. On the flip, there is my baritone, a rubber bridge baritone made by Old Style in L.A., and also my Danelectro baritone that I love. The reverb tank at Shangri-La is amazing.

JB: I will say this about the gear—I imagined that Shangri-La would have all these different amps and we would double-mic everything. We just brought in a Fender Double Twin and mic’ed it. There was an entire room of guitars that we didn’t even know about until the last week of recording, and we didn’t use any of it except for the 12-string electric. But a lot of the mixing and the assembling of what we recorded was just like, I don’t want to overuse this analogy, but not trying to photoshop an apple into an orange. Barb uses this old Italian music school practice snare that has a unique and esoteric tone for the song “True Blue.” So that is a fact about the process that relates to even the title being a record of a time in our lives, with the resources available. Part of recording was leaning into the experience of using the tools at your disposal. Trusting the sound, being experimental. 

LD: I used the Glen Campbell guitar like everybody. I tend to use Fender Telecasters because they’re versatile. Hologram pedals. We also used those pocket pianos, the Critter & Guitari ones with the wood buttons. Those are super useful. We used a bunch of Yamaha shitty kids keyboards. Melina had a bunch, Sarah Tudzin had a bunch. Though they are machines, you’d think they’d all sound pretty similar to each other, but they all have their unique sound between models that also are a little bit broken. So, the broken-ness of each of them would sometimes bring a fresh thing to the equation. I also think it’s surprising that we all used the same vocal mic, because we don’t have the same vocal tones. 

PB: Mostly I was on that mic, but some of the stuff that went back and retracted was on a U48 from the late ‘50s/early ‘60s. There’s also the Cooper Timecube, that is heavily featured on everything that I make because it’s fucking amazing.

MC: What’s next, both for boygenius and for you all individually?

PB: We’re going to be touring. We have a bunch of non-music videos and photo shoots that all take creativity and effort, that we’re excited to share. But yeah, this year we all blocked off as a boygenius year. Not everything is announced, but we’ll be around. 

boygenius’ The Record debuted on March 31.Go to xboygeniusx.com for more information.

Contact Chloe Walsh, chloe@theoriel.co

Getting It Done: The week in D.I.Y & Indie MusicLast week, our tips and advice for the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how to utilize LinkedIn best, when the best post-times for social media are, and more… 5 attitudes. Continue reading
The post Getting It Done: The week in D.I.Y & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND: The new music industry’s week in reviewA busy week by any definition, the music industry was no exception, with mind-blowing Spotify stats, TikTok tests music limits, AI songs get rights, and more… Senators introduce concert ticket. Continue reading
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s week in review appeared first on Hypebot.

Hit’n’Mix update RipX RipX now offers greatly improved separation quality along with the ability to display chord symbols for separated guitar layers in any track. 

killihu Plugin List Export for Ableton Live This device displays a list of external plugins and Max for Live devices used in the project. The Export button exports the list to a text file. More info at: https://killihu.vstskins.com/plugin-list-export/... Read More

The Recording ProcessThe recording process is arguably the most important step in accellerating your music career. The listener decides within the first bar if they want to continue listening. A song with great sound quality can make the listener continue listening, even if they’re unfamiliar with the artist, whereas bad sound quality can turn the listener off before the song begins. The following article, excerpted from producer-engineer Frank Demilt’s recent book, The Blueprint: A Bible for Becoming a Successful Performing Artist in the Digital Age, will set you on the right path.

Create Your Session

The first step in recording is to create your recording session. Each DAW has a set of pre-made templates for different recording styles. These pre-made templates are constructed by the makers of each DAW and equipped with the necessary tracks and routing for a seamless recording. Creating your own recording template is also an option, but this can be complicated. The issue is the intricacy that goes into creating your own session. You will need “audio tracks” to record each of your vocal takes, “auxiliary tracks” used for controlling multiple tracks at one time, “efx tracks” for your desired vocal efx, and a “master track” to control the overall volume of your session. Ensuring these tracks are set up properly can be difficult, but creating your own session can be beneficial.

Set Your Input Volume

The second step is to set your input volume on your interface so that your audio is not distorting. If the track is at a good level, the meter will be green; if the track is at a slightly high level the meter will be yellow; and if the track is too high, the meter will be red. While visual cues are good, use your ears, they are your best friends in this process. 

Set The Volume of the Beat

Lastly, before recording, set the volume of the beat you’re using. DO NOT TURN YOUR VOCALS UP SO YOU CAN HEAR THEM OVER THE BEAT WHEN THE BEAT IS AT 0 DB! This will cause your vocals to distort immediately and will make it impossible to create the proper blend when mixing. A rule of thumb I learned in one of my first internships is turn the beat down to -10db. Using this level mark will create more headroom in your recording, allowing for a better sound quality during the mixing process.

Check Your Vocal Distance

Now think about the distance of the microphone from your mouth, as this will relate to the perceived character of the recording. Being close to the microphone produces a tight, warm, breathy, detailed recording. However, this positioning will also enunciate all the sounds of the mouth and create greater vocal pops and sibilance. On the other hand, standing about 10 to 16 inches from the microphone when recording will produce a more natural, open, and less “in your face” vocal, and it is less likely to suffer from excessive sibilance and more natural room sounds to your recording, which are not always desired. This distance will allow for the least amount of natural room sound, less emphasis on mouth sounds, and create a more even recording. Most people don’t realize how important this step is. Microphone type, combined with position, is 80% of your vocal sound. 

Record Voice with efx or Dry?

The last step of the pre-production process is deciding if you want to record with efx on your voice, or if you want to record “dry.” If you record with efx, you have a myriad of plug-in options that allow for digital audio manipulation. If you use plug-ins on your recording track, you will hear a difference in your voice according to what plug-ins you add.

Once the pre-production process is complete, the first vocal you’re going to record is the lead vocal. You want this vocal to be clear, strong, have feeling and be believable. This is the baseline for the rest of your vocal takes. If you’re mumbling, the audience won’t be able to sing along. If your lead lacks feeling, or believability, you won’t keep your listeners’ attention. Your lead vocal is the most important part of your song. A good lead can propel a song to great heights. A bad lead can make a song crash and burn.

Stacks and backing tracks are used to emphasize certain words and phrases throughout the song. For singers using this technique, these will not be in the same tone but rather a harmony note. Generally, for the hook there will be at least two stacks of the lead vocal panned hard left and right to create a surrounding effect, giving the impression of a wider vocal. Not every song needs this technique; you will have to make this decision depending on the style of the song. 

Vocal Harmonies

Whether you are a rapper, a singer, or somewhere in between, harmonies and background vocals are an essential part of the song. These vocals emphasize and support your lead, giving the listener different vocal tones that change their listening experience throughout the song. In the simplest style of vocal harmony, the main vocal melody is supported by a single backup vocal line, either at a pitch that’s above or below the main vocal line. In more complex vocal harmony arrangements, different backup singers may sing two or three other notes at the same time as each of the main melody notes, mostly with consonant thirds, sixths, and fifths. 

As a singer when recording these harmony notes, you will want to stack or double each harmony note, so when it’s time to mix the song, you can pan each note hard left and right to create a bigger and wider sounding vocal mix. Harmonies are not used on every line, and in most cases the number of harmonies grows as the song builds. 

A basic rule to follow is to use harmonies sparingly in the first verse, add a few more harmonies in the first, possibly add more harmonies in verse two, build on the harmony structure from the first hook in the second hook, have a few harmonies in the bridge, and finally end with the final hook having a full assortment of harmonies.

Your last type of vocals are ad-libs. Singers will use vocal runs like “ohs and ahs,” or humming as their ad-libs throughout the song. Sometimes ad-libs won’t appear until the end of the song to create a vocal climax by adding another vocal layer before the song ends. In most R&B songs you will hear the singer add what sounds like another lead vocal track to the last hook and outro, singing different lines than the lead vocal or echoing the lead vocal. This is where the singer can show off their vocal range and ability.

Pitch Correction

If pitch is a problem in your recording, you can use Antares Auto-Tune or a similar pitch correction plug-in to automatically force the vocal pitch to the nearest note or semitone. The first song to use Auto-Tune was Cher’s “Believe.” It happened on the phrase “I can’t break through.” This effect reappeared in the next verse, on the phrase “So sad that you’re leaving.” This pitch correction technology was created so a singer’s notes and pitch could be placed exactly where they need to be and not sound irregular to the listeners’ ear. 

Nowadays, the technology has become a sound of its own. Artists today are using the technology to hide their singing abilities, and as an effect to create a more melodic sounding vocal performance. Beginning with T-Pain, who has been on record saying that he first began using Auto-Tune to manipulate his voice to use it more as an instrument and bend his voice in unnatural ways, Auto-Tune has become popularized in the music industry in a different way than it was intended. 

Once all the vocals are recorded and pitch-corrected, you can begin to clean up the vocals before proceeding to post-production. This “rough mix” is constructed to give the mixing engineer an idea of the final sound you’re going for.

For the experienced artist, the recording process is far more intricate than what has been mentioned above. The more experienced recording artist should set their focus on details rather than the broad strokes.

Speak Coherently to the Engineer 

As an experienced artist you are more than likely working with an engineer during your recording sessions. While this is great, you should know what is going on during the recording process. Knowing this process will allow you to speak coherently to the engineer. Nothing causes a misunderstanding between an artist and the engineer faster than the artist asking for something and the engineer not understanding. 

Be Prepared

The artist should be prepared when going to the studio. First, have a reference track of what you would like your track to sound like. Second, have a basic understanding of technical music language to assist in speaking with your engineer. Third, understand the recording process, being in a music studio with an engineer is different from your bedroom. There are protocols that come with working in a studio; following these protocols can ensure a better session. Finally, vibe and energy are a thing. Just as you, the artist, like to have a specific vibe when recording, an engineer is the same. It is just as much the role of the artist to make the engineer feel comfortable as it is the engineer’s job to make the artist feel comfortable.

Abide by the rules!  

Each studio has its own set of rules that must be abided not only by the artists who are booking time but by the staff as well. While most studios will give you a run-down of these rules prior to booking, it is always better to ask. Will an engineer be provided? Can you smoke in the studio? Can we add more time if needed? Is mixing included? Asking these questions allows you to have the right mindset going into the session. Some artists would prefer working with their own engineer, for chemistry reasons. Most studios will allow you to do this, but will provide an on-staff engineer if any problems occur. A lot of artists like to smoke during recording, but not all studios will allow this, as smoke negatively affects the studio equipment and thus can cause you fines for smoking in the room. 

Full mixing is usually not included in recording sessions, and while you will leave with a rough mix and your session files, you will have to book a separate mixing session. Lastly, remember that time is an issue. If you only book two hours, you only have two hours. Studios are a business. Just because you only recorded half a verse has no effect on the studio. USE YOUR TIME WISELY! 

Creating the right energy in the studio is arguably one of the most important aspects when going into studio sessions. Each artist is different, they have different likes, needs, and wants when recording. Creating this energy can be the difference in creating your next hit single and sitting at the studio desk with writer’s block. You may think the energy is easy to create by manipulating the vibe in the room, but it goes far deeper than that. You must create the right energy with your engineer. While the hardest part may be the technical language barrier, the easiest part is respecting the engineer. It is his or her job to get the best sound possible, and this becomes infinitely easier if the artist is working with the engineer rather than talking at them. Ask the engineer for help, ask for their opinion, tell the engineer what you’re looking for and how you like to work. All of this is extremely helpful and helps the engineer better assist you in creating the best product. 

And finally…

Recording is an excruciating process. It can be tedious. It can be frustrating. It can be difficult. But it can also be exhilarating. It can be euphoric. It can be relaxing and calming. It all depends how you approach your session. Go in with the right headspace and with the right understanding and you will create the best possible product. Go in with an ignorant mindset and there is a chance you will have nothing usable from the session. If you were able to create anything. •

FRANK DEMILT (@frankademilt) is a veteran of the music industry. Since 2013, Demilt has worked in some of the top music studios in New York City, New Jersey, Miami, and Atlanta alongside the industry’s top Grammy- and Emmy-winning and -nominated artists. Beginning as an engineer at Soul Asylum Studios in Atlanta, he has since worked in various sectors of the music business. Recently, Demilt was named head of Artist Development, Sync Manager, and lead A&R at Water Music Publishing. He’s also helped launch the creative agency Sloppy Vinyl, a premier artist development and entertainment company in New Jersey. His recent book can be purchased at The Blueprint: The Bible For Becoming a Successful Performing Artist in the Digital Age (Amazon).