GIVEAWAY: Win Golden DSP Silkbrush Reverb (5 copies)
Golden DSP is giving five BPB readers a free copy of Silkbrush Reverb, a $59 ducking reverb plugin for macOS and Windows. To enter the giveaway, answer the question at the end of the article in the comments section. We will randomly select five comments and announce the winners on this page on September 25th. [...]
View post: GIVEAWAY: Win Golden DSP Silkbrush Reverb (5 copies)

Transformer Boost from Great Eastern FX Co. The Transformer Boost is a full-range boost pedal powered by a vintage General Electric 2N1175 germanium transistor, and is described by Great Eastern FX Co. as a ‘colour’ or ‘character’ boost pedal.

Linda Perry Brings Let It Die Here to the Grammy MuseumLinda Perry visited the Grammy Museum’s intimate 200-seat Clive Davis Theater on Thursday night to a nearly sold-out audience for a screening of her new documentary, Let It Die Here, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director, Don Hardy, moderated by music journalist Pamela Chelin.

About an hour and a half long, the film takes viewers behind the scenes of Perry’s life over the past few years, from working as a producer for artists such as Dolly Parton and Kate Hudson and scoring music for film and television, to struggling to find her own voice and ultimately writing and releasing her first solo album in over 25 years, Let It Die Here. The album was also written during and in the wake of her mother’s passing, another deeply personal theme explored throughout the film.

The room was captivated first by the film, with tears flowing throughout the audience during the end credits, and then by Perry’s quick-witted, dry humor during the Q&A. At one point, she even brought two fans onstage who had gotten up to use the restroom, playfully questioning them about where they had gone and leaving the entire audience laughing.

The final treat of the night was a three-song acoustic performance. In a stripped-back set using only her acoustic Taylor guitar, Perry performed three original songs from her newest album: “What Lies With You,” “Let It Die Here,” and “Sunday Best.” Her voice was powerful and raw, and the room fell silent as she sang each song with so much vulnerability that she appeared to become visibly emotional throughout the performance. It was as if she were playing for no one but herself, yet her voice and passion clearly touched everyone in the room.

After the event ended, fans gathered in the museum’s lobby, waiting for the chance to take a photo and say hello to Perry, who notably took the time to speak and take photos with nearly everyone.

The documentary premieres on Hulu for streaming beginning September 18, and Perry is scheduled to tour across the U.S. throughout September and October as a special guest opener for Indigo Girls. You can learn more about the documentary, album, and upcoming tour dates on Linda Perry’s website here.

The post Linda Perry Brings Let It Die Here to the Grammy Museum first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Khosla Ventures is opening a New York office this fall — its first outpost outside Sand Hill Road"It's actually allegedly being built out now," said Rabois, who has clearly dealt with a missed construction timeline or two.

Making a Neo Nuvistor Project in 2026For a little while vacuum tubes and semiconductors were fighting a heated battle for dominance, with bipolar junction transistors and 1959’s RCA Nuvistor both allowing you to build a compact circuit with relatively low power usage and no high voltages. Although we now know that semiconductor technology won out overwhelmingly, that doesn’t mean that you cannot build a brand new Nuvistor board in 2026, as [Eric Schlaepfer] AKA [TubeTimeUS] recently did.
Nuvistors saw their most use in small-signal radio frequency applications, like VHF and UHF, with excellent low-noise characteristics that saw them used until the early 1970s in television sets, radios and oscilloscopes, as well as in space probes like the 1960s US Ranger Moon missions, so by that metric they had a good run.
Nothing so exciting is built in this video, sadly, but alongside a breakdown on how nuvistors work, we do see a discrete 555-style timer built using a gaggle of tetrode nuvistors, giving a pretty good idea of what using them in a project is like. Being a vacuum tube at its core, nuvistors still have the heater element, which is what gives vacuum tubes their reputation for being slow to start working and large current draw.
Despite their drawbacks, nuvistors still have a range of benefits compared to modern-day transistors, including being practically immune to electrostatic discharge (ESD) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) all the way up an EMP that will destroy most semiconductor electronics.
That said, the somewhat limited 8-nuvistor implementation of the 555 had to get a few extra pins for the heater supply, which burns up about 7.5 Watt just to allow the circuit to function. Terming it the ‘hollow-state 555 timer’, it works effectively just like any semiconductor 555, just with that extra power cost and of course no significant prospect of making it smaller, barring a semiconductor evolution as with the pixels-sized CRTs in the SED and FED type displays.
We covered the nuvistor before, including a great reference on this device, and its history that was much longer than people often assume today, as well as the vacuum tubes we use every day in for example our microwaves.

Get free industrial drums for Splice INSTRUMENT
Download our free industrial drums preset for Splice INSTRUMENT—grab these presets during the drop window and they’re yours to keep forever.

Rapid Flow release omniGRID Rapid Flow have just launched a new 16-track sequencer plug-in which they say has been designed for “total rhythmic expression, polymetric sequencing, and vintage hardware groove emulation”.

From ElevenLabs’ $11B UMG deal to HYBE Weverse’s data breach… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest headlines from the past few days...
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Thomann is hosting a massive sale on guitars right now – but these synths and drum machines are also discounted…
Thomann’s Guitar Days sale is in full swing throughout the rest of September – but that doesn’t mean guitarists are the only ones having all the fun. Also at Thomann, there are a handful of solid deals for producers and beatmakers across plugins, rhythm boxes, interfaces, modular synths and more.
While footswitches might scare you off from implementing a pedal into your set-up, don’t be fooled. Certain bits of kit slotted into someone’s pedalboard are equally as suited to being rigged up to a synth or midi keyboard – like the Empress Effects ZOIA. The modular synth is branded as an effects pedal, but it can be hooked up to your MIDI and boasts over 80 modules, 64 patches and over 20 effects (including delay, chorus, flanger, overdrive, and more). It’s currently £429 rather than £459 – not bad for a compact, multi-purpose device perfect for the stage and the studio.

READ MORE: New ZERO9 plugins have a gloriously simple UI: “We’ve removed anything that doesn’t need to be there”

Next up, Behringer’s BM-13 pedal emulates Moog’s 1990 phaser pedal, the Moogerfooger MF-103. The 12-stage phase pedal is currently £75 instead of its usual £85, and, while the phase pedal is often paired with a guitar, it works equally as well with a synth. It’s got plenty to offer, offering the same 12-stage design as its vintage counterpart, along with knobs for your drive, output, phaser control, sweep, and resonance. You can also switch between either six or 12 stages of filtering, as well as control your LFO.

Flamma’s FC12 Drum Machine also masquerades as pedalboard exclusive tech, but it’s essentially just a compact, efficient drum machine. At 25% off, it’s now £38 and provides you with 48 drum grooves across its six music styles (pop, rock, funk, blues, metal and jazz). The pedal also has 8 different rhythm types, Dual-EQ presets and a range of speeds from 40 to 240 RPM.
If we’re talking drums and rhythms, Thomann also has a nice deal on Korg’s KR-11. The compact rhythm box has also had its price slashed, now costing £95 rather than £111 – and it’s absolutely rammed with features. This drum machine comes with 126 presets, with editable patterns, a metronome, and 16 velocity-sensitive keys. It’s also got an integrated speaker, which is pretty handy.
While this one doesn’t feature any stompable switches, it does have pedal switch connectivity. Hence the Guitar Days deal.

For those that have a pre-existing collection of physical instruments and pedals, the Electro Harmonix Effects Interface might be up your street. It’s a perfect solution for anyone keen to use their effects pedals within their DAW – and vice versa, if you’re wanting to transform your guitar tone with a computer plugin. It’s a great option for anyone who doesn’t want to invest in countless converters, as the interface processes each signal and transmits it between hardware and software via USB-C. And it costs just £252 rather than £277.

As for software, Roland’s Cloud TR-909 is a virtual replica of the legendary 1983 drum computer of the same name, and is also available in the sale. This one has had a massive 65% discount, now costing £51 rather than £147 – so it’s a great saving. Steinberg’s Cubase Elements 15 is also on sale, going for a nice £51 instead of £82.

To round off, there’s also a RØDE NT1-A complete vocal recording set available. At £129, it’s got a RØDE NT-1 A large diaphragm microphone, Deluxe SM6 shock mount with integrated fabric pop shield, 6 m XLR cable, and even a handy dust bag.

For more information, head to Thomann.
The post Thomann is hosting a massive sale on guitars right now – but these synths and drum machines are also discounted… appeared first on MusicTech.

GIVEAWAY: Win Chimera cinematic presets for the FREE Vital synthesizer
We are giving away free copies of Chimera, a cinematic preset collection for the free Vital wavetable synthesizer. We previously featured Chimera during the Flame Sound Easter giveaway, and here is another chance to add it to your sound design toolkit for free. Chimera was created by HydraTek and released by Flame Sound. HydraTek is [...]
View post: GIVEAWAY: Win Chimera cinematic presets for the FREE Vital synthesizer

KVEIK 1.2 expands its block-based MIDI sequencer beyond drums
Swiss developer BITLANTIS has released KVEIK 1.2, a major update to its block-based MIDI step sequencer for macOS and Windows. KVEIK started as a drum sequencer, but version 1.2 adds a lot more melodic and harmonic functionality, so you can use it to sequence basses, synths, and other instruments from the same interface. Obviously, KVEIK [...]
View post: KVEIK 1.2 expands its block-based MIDI sequencer beyond drums

Jackboyman VocopawVocopaw is a free Windows VST3 analog-style vocoder in the EMS / Roland VP-330 tradition. Matching analysis and synthesis band banks (8, 16, or 24) extract the Modulator spectrum (sidechain voice bus, with fallback when silent) and imprint it onto a Carrier. Carrier sources include the main audio input, an internal saw oscillator, a pulse-width square, or a three-voice MIDI chord. Per-band envelopes with attack and release, Formant Shift in semitones, a Sibilance / unvoiced HF path, Mix, Output, and a live row of band meters. Bamboo-styled jackboyman UI with tall in/out meters and bypass. Stereo carrier + modulator buses, MIDI input for oscillator pitch. Free VST3 + standalone for Windows. Read More

Roland celebrates 909 Day with free live workshop led by techno pioneer Kevin SaundersonRoland is celebrating 909 Day 2026 with a live workshop in Detroit, led by none other than techno originator Kevin Saunderson.
909 Day is the annual celebration of the TR-909 Rhythm Composer, first introduced in 1983. This year’s event will pair hands-on music-making with a look at the people and culture behind it. Held at the Underground Music Academy in Detroit on Saturday 12 September (tomorrow!) from 3-6pm EDT, the event is completely free to watch online.

READ MORE: “These mixers set the bar for the perfect intersection of performance and value”: Soundcraft unveils new line of analogue mixing consoles

Creators are able to join the Roland Cloud Academy livestream for an interactive session, or check in via a YouTube stream. The free session pairs the original TR-909 with the TR-1000, focusing on the 1000’s next-generation 9X engines, and walks attendees through sequencing, sound shaping, and performance technique.
Saunderson is one third of the Belleville Three, and helped to pioneer Detroit techno as an early champion of the TR-909. The workshop brings that history into the present, putting Saunderson behind the machine in the city where techno took shape.
The 909 Day celebrations are also accompanied by a new installment of Roland’s animated series, The Rhythm Creators, specifically focusing on the TR-909 and narrated by Saunderson.  Take a look below:

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“The 909 was the first drum machine I ever got my hands on, and it inspired me completely,” says Saunderson. “It had me building patterns and rhythms, mixing them into my DJ sets, and then adding basslines through sequencing in the studio with a couple of synths.
“That’s really what turned me into a producer – someone who wanted to make music – not just play it. Everything was raw in the beginning, but I kept developing…kept learning the machine. It became my go-to for every project I was creating at that time. It’s the best drum machine I’ve ever experienced, and one I fell in love with.”
Right now, Roland is also offering a 909 Day discount on the Roland Cloud TR-909 Software Rhythm Composer, currently available for $49 USD (66 percent off its regular $149 price) until 30 September 2026.
Find out more information on all of Roland’s 909 Day activities.
The post Roland celebrates 909 Day with free live workshop led by techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson appeared first on MusicTech.

Amplimood releases Gazer FX, a FREE shoegaze multi-effect plugin
Amplimood has launched with Gazer FX, its first release and a free multi-effect plugin for macOS and Windows. I love using simple multi-effects that let you get some interesting combos quickly without building a long chain. This one definitely fits my workflow; it’s very easy to use and is surprisingly good on synths. Gazer FX [...]
View post: Amplimood releases Gazer FX, a FREE shoegaze multi-effect plugin

The public Beta for Serato DJ 5.0 is here – these are the key new features and upgradesSerato has launched the public Beta for Serato DJ 5.0, bringing major updates to the software across BPM analysis and streaming service access.
Developed with Serato’s users in mind, this Beta introduces highly requested features that refine the user experience and live performance capabilities. Leading the update is Lucid Beatgrids, described as Serato’s most accurate and intuitive beatgrid technology to date.

READ MORE: New ZERO9 plugins have a gloriously simple UI: “We’ve removed anything that doesn’t need to be there”

Lucid Beatgrids is a “rebuilt analysis engine” that delivers “greater precision and reliability across a wider range of music” by automatically detecting fluctuating BPMs during track analysis.  To use it, simply re-analyse a track with a right-click, then select ‘Analyse’ from the menu.
Users can also customise Beatgrids with a new ‘Flexible’ analysis mode, an improved ‘Fixed’ analysis mode and enhanced beatgrid editing controls. Waveform BPM labels also provide greater visibility and aid control when preparing tracks.

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DJ 5.0 also introduces Open Streaming, allowing you to log into multiple streaming services simultaneously to mix tracks across different providers. Streaming providers now also appear as individual crates, with a new provider search dropdown tool also on-hand.
BPM and key data are now displayed for streaming tracks before analysis to make selection and preparation faster. This feature is currently supported in Beatport, SoundCloud, Tidal, and Spotify, but is not yet available on Apple Music.
And, for DJ Pro only, you can now transform any Loop into a Cue Loop – save a loop directly to a Hot Cue, allowing the playhead to jump to the cue point and activate the loop instantly with a single button press.
Serato says that these new features represent a major step toward bridging the gap between legacy and modern DJ performance.
Find out more by visiting Serato’s The Drop, or join the Public Beta now.
The post The public Beta for Serato DJ 5.0 is here – these are the key new features and upgrades appeared first on MusicTech.