You can now access Tracklib samples directly from your DAW thanks to its new free pluginTracklib has launched a new plugin called Connect, which integrates its full catalogue of music right into your DAW.
The launch follows on from Tracklib’s mobile app and desktop app, and it’s completely free to install if you already use Tracklib.  Connect also requires no dragging or dropping, and your chosen samples are instantly matched to your project for an in-context preview. You can adjust pitch or playback speed on the fly.

READ MORE: “Next-gen ZEN”: Roland unveils ZENOLOGY GX – the latest evolution of its ZEN-Core synth system for DAWs

The plugin is available in AU and VST3 formats, so it’s compatible with all major DAWs including Ableton, FL Studio, and Logic Pro X. All Tracklib subscribers can install it at no additional cost from the Tracklib Desktop App on both macOS and Windows.
Andreas Ahlenius, CEO of Tracklib, says: “Tracklib started as an online store for sampling. But with the recent launches of Sounds, our desktop app, mobile app, and now Tracklib Connect, we’re quickly becoming a complete ecosystem for music producers. Our goal is to support producers at every step of the creative process, from inspiration to finished track.”

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Tracklib has been continually expanding since it became available to the public in 2018. Back in 2021, Tracklib announced that it had secured $12.2 million in funding from existing investors, including Sony Innovation Fund and WndrCo, as well as from several new investors.
Its library features over 100,000 vintage songs from 400 labels, spanning artists and genres from Mozart to Isaac Hayes, along with 350,000 royalty-free one-shots and loops. It has been used across hits from Drake, Kaytranada, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar.
In other freebie news, Spitfire Audio has also just launched its “largest free sample library” yet. Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Discover (SSO Discover) is essentially a lite, free-to-use version of the brand’s best-selling Spitfire Symphony Orchestra, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst Studios in London.
To find out more about Connect, head over to Tracklib.
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Epidemic Sound Studio is an AI-powered tool that can soundtrack your videos instantlyWhat if there was a tool which could harness AI to create the perfect soundtrack to your video in seconds, thus saving you hours in the process? Now there is.
Epidemic Sound’s new AI-powered tool, Studio, delivers a first draft of a cohesive soundtrack – complete with both music and sound effects – for your videos, which can then be used as is, or taken for inspiration and refined.

READ MORE: ChatGPT ordered to pay undisclosed damages for violating German copyright laws

Studio uses music from Epidemic’s pool of artists, as well as “Hollywood-grade” ambient noises and foley sound effects, which can subsequently be uploaded to your video editing application of choice.
But how exactly does it work? As Epidemic explains, Studio uses AI and data insights, “informed by contextual patterns” from over three billion daily plays across online platforms, to analyse uploaded content and deliver a “cohesive, legally safe soundtrack seamlessly synced to the visuals”. It also presents alternative music and sound effect options, too.
“We know that soundtracking even a short, one- to three-minute video can take creators up to five hours, which often means sound effects are overlooked,” says Epidemic Sound Chief Product Officer Sam Hall. 
“Studio eliminates this time barrier, enabling creators to harness the full potential of audio to elevate the quality of their content and focus on truly bringing their vision to life. And this is just the beginning; Studio lays the foundation for an intelligent, unified soundtracking hub built on Epidemic Sound’s clean AI music models designed to champion and enhance human creativity.” 

“We believe AI should empower, not replace, human creativity,” adds CEO Oscar Höglund. “Studio embodies that belief, giving creators more time and freedom to focus on their stories while continuing to help artists reach an audience and earn from their craft. 
“Studio is another significant step toward our vision of a world where AI and human artistry work hand-in-hand, unlocking new ways to create, collaborate, and connect people through storytelling.”
Creators are already using Epidemic Sound Studio, too, like YouTuber and videographer Matt Yutoshi, who agrees that a soundtrack can “make or break a video”, but that “getting it right takes so much time”.
Studio now becomes the core Epidemic Sound interface, combining tooling, inspiration and sound design into one seamless soundtrack hub, “while ensuring artists are compensated and their work is distributed through creator content”.
It follows the launch of Epidemic’s soundtracking Assistant and its music adaptation tool, Adapt, which expanded artist remuneration through an additional bonus pool.
Learn more at Epidemic Sound.
The post Epidemic Sound Studio is an AI-powered tool that can soundtrack your videos instantly appeared first on MusicTech.

AI Detection and Fan-Sourced Feedback: Is Coda Music Streaming’s Savior?Coda Music is a new streaming app offering a human-first platform, ensuring users can enjoy genuine music without AI interference.
The post AI Detection and Fan-Sourced Feedback: Is Coda Music Streaming’s Savior? appeared first on Hypebot.

Is a Song Just a “Data Object?” (Hint: No)An OpEd by Ian Temple of Soundfly about the way we interact with songs as code-based entries in a data library, and what a "song" really could be?
The post Is a Song Just a “Data Object?” (Hint: No) appeared first on Hypebot.

MXGPU: “Saying you can only achieve great-sounding recordings with $10,000 worth of gear is just gatekeeping”Based in Portugal, MXGPU comprises electronic artists Moullinex and GPU Panic, whose 360° “in the round” stage setup has already seen them play shows at Primavera Porto, NOS Alive, Wonderfruit (Thailand), and sold-out Lisbon pop-ups at MAAT and Casa da Música.
While Moullinex is known for his remix of Cut Copy’s Lights & Music, a Beatport no.1 and four solo albums via his label Discotexas, GPU Panic, a Red Bull Music Academy alum, has released on Crosstown Rebels, TAU, and Watergate.
Their debut album Sudden Light came out in September and sonically blends liquid D‘n’B, bright staccato synths, and vocal-driven pop, described as somewhere in between Caribou and Porter Robinson.
Taking an innovative approach to live performance, the duo blend computers, synths, software and modular gear in a specialised rig that incorporates improvisation, live processing of sounds, evolving sequences and much more.

We catch up with them to get their thoughts on their dream synths, how they stay creative and whether analogue really does sound better than digital.
Hi Moullinex and GPU Panic! How did you two end up working together?
We began working together in 2016 when GPU Panic joined Moullinex Live to play guitar on tour. From there, we started making music in the studio, and it just felt natural. We kept collaborating and working live, and here we are today.
Your album, Sudden Light, combines countless influences, including the Chemical Brothers, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso. What was a lesson you learned about music-making while creating this album?
The main lesson is that you need to create a lot. There’s always something to try. Don’t judge, have fun and try to find a process you enjoy. Keep things moving, switch between different projects or ideas so you don’t leave a studio session dreading the 10 hours you’ve just spent on a kick drum. If you spread these 10 hours over your entire month, it will hurt less.
Working as a duo is great because sometimes we have to be deliberate about why we do things. Sometimes that helps us decide between ideas or directions. Sometimes the best thing is not to talk at all and just to try.
Image: Ana Viotti
MXGPU’s live show is focused on “high-spec live performance, hardware integration and analogue expression”. Can you tell us more about this?
We wanted to create an immersive experience where we could feel what the audience feels during the show. We are on the dancefloor, in the round, surrounded by the audience who are so close that they can see all the gear and how we are playing. We wanted to bring proximity to our show, avoiding those high and distant stages where a bit of the humanity of live shows is lost.
Tell us a bit about your studio workflows and how you combined them both for MXGPU.
We love gear, but we also love just doing everything on a laptop. The way to achieve what we want ultimately is secondary, but we let ourselves be completely inspired by the methods that a specific piece of gear, plugin or tool gives us. We love to sample our own recordings, to flip things, reverse, change the pitch, the speed, the context. We use a lot of distortion and saturation. We also love to create layers of texture with field recordings and sometimes gate them with percussive sounds to create movement.
Image: Ana Viotti
Our openness to invite the other person to completely flip a musical idea from the other is also very inspiring. You need to let go of your creations! It’s a continuous process where we just keep adding musical ideas and projects to a folder where everything is always ready for the other to jump in.
Your live rig is designed around a blend of analogue and digital gear, real-time improvisation and sequenced modular control. How does this all fit together?
We have a two-sided triangular-shaped stand, and we are facing each other. Each side has some cool gear to make things immediate and very hands-on.
Moullinex’s side has an Ableton session that is the brain of it all. There, we run MIDI sequences, audio tracks to process different instruments and vocals live. It’s all connected via the Tascam Model12, where all the instruments plug in: Moog Minitaur for all the bass, Arturia MiniFreak for poly, Torso S4 for weirdness, Queen of Pentacles by Endorphine.es for live drums, Nyx and Telepathy by Dreadbox for synth voices. Then the entire show is processed by the Eurorack system for a little mastering.
You have the Arturia MiniFreak and KeyStep Pro at the heart of your rig – what is it that makes them so well-suited to the way you perform?
We are very considerate of the size and weight of what makes up our live setup. It all needs to fit into three suitcases, including the stand. The Arturia MiniFreak is a beast for the size and price — such a versatile synth where we can recreate all the sounds that we need from the record, and it also integrates perfectly with the plugin version.
KeyStep Pro is an amazing MIDI and CV powerhouse. It’s very helpful since it’s configured in a way where all the synths are accessible and playable from the hardware. It’s also great for creating some improvised sequences on the fly.
Image: Ana Viotti
Do you plan to keep the collaborative project going into the future? How do you see the live show evolving, and what are your plans for its direction?
Yeah, sure! We’re already jumping on new music and dreaming about how to make the live show evolve and keep it surprising, and remain a great experience for the dancefloor. There’s so much to be done and so many places we want to visit. It’s an ongoing daydreaming process.
What’s been the biggest investment in the MXGPU collaboration?
Probably renting a 40-year-old crane and doing a floating show at dawn in the river in Lisbon.
Do you have a dream piece of gear?
The almighty CS80, first popularised by Vangelis, Stevie Wonder, and so many more. Besides sounding great, it looks great too. Its bigger sibling, the GX1, would complement any living room that had enough space to fit it.
Image: Ana Viotti
What’s a music production myth you think needs debunking?
That analogue sounds better. We think analogue might sound better in some instances, but it really depends on the person engineering. Honestly, saying you can only achieve great-sounding recordings with some $10,000 piece of gear is just gatekeeping. It’s the same with vinyl-only DJs. Your record collection is only as good as your taste..
Who gave you the biggest lesson in your career?
One day, an industry veteran who shall remain nameless entered my studio and said, “Wow, that’s a lot of chords”. That stuck with us; sometimes we see it as a compliment, so we are more detailed than minimalistic. Some other days we strive to use the Occam’s razor principle when producing: that the best solution is probably the simplest one.
 
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Expressive E announce the Osmose 61 The newly released Osmose 61 delivers a larger 61-key version of Expressive E's renowned MPE synth/controller, and comes alongside the announcement ofthe company moving production to a new dedicated factory in Poland. 

ChatGPT ordered to pay undisclosed damages for violating German copyright laws OpenAI’s ChatGPT violated German copyright laws by using hits from successful artists to train its language models, a court in Munich has ruled.
Reports reveal that the case was filed against OpenAI in November 2024 by the collecting society GEMA, which manages the rights of composers, lyricists, and music publishers. It has approximately 100,000 members in Germany, but represents copyrights for over two million rights holders worldwide. While some are describing the result as a “landmark European ruling”, OpenAI itself disagrees with the outcome, and says it “respects the rights of creators and content owners”.

READ MORE: Universal accused Udio of “unimaginable scales” of copyright infringement. That lawsuit’s just been settled – here’s what we know

As reported by The Guardian, the case centred around nine German hits, which were “used by ChatGPT to hone its language capabilities”. This includes Herbert Grönemeyer’s 1984 track Männer (Men), and Helene Fischer’s Atemlos Durch die Nacht (Breathless Through the Night).
The presiding judge has ordered OpenAI to pay undisclosed damages for using copyrighted material without permission, and GEMA legal adviser Kai Welp says the organisation now hopes to negotiate with OpenAI on how rights holders can be compensated.
OpenAI can appeal against the ruling, and right now, it’s not happy with the outcome. The company argued that its language models do not store or copy specific songs, but rather learn patterns and generate new outputs based on them. Because its output is generated by users via their prompts, it argued that they “should be held legally liable for it” – this was rejected by the court.
GEMA’s chief executive, Tobias Holzmüller, says, “Today, we have set a precedent that protects and clarifies the rights of authors: even operators of AI tools such as ChatGPT must comply with copyright law. Today, we have successfully defended the livelihoods of music creators.”
OpenAI says in an official statement, “We disagree with the ruling and are considering next steps. The decision is for a limited set of lyrics and does not impact the millions of people, businesses and developers in Germany that use our technology every day.”
It continues, “We respect the rights of creators and content owners and are having productive conversations with many organisations around the world, so that they can also benefit from the opportunities of this technology.”
The post ChatGPT ordered to pay undisclosed damages for violating German copyright laws  appeared first on MusicTech.

“Next-gen ZEN”: Roland unveils ZENOLOGY GX – the latest evolution of its ZEN-Core synth system for DAWsRoland has lifted the lid on ZENOLOGY GX, the next evolution of its ZEN-Core Synthesis System for DAWs – which is powered by the same advanced engine behind classic Roland hardware synths, including FANTOM and JUPITER-X.
Boasting a newly designed interface and “speed-optimised” engine, ZENOLOGY GX integrates seamlessly with Roland’s GALAXIAS instrument player, and offers over 11,000 Roland sounds in one instrument.

READ MORE: Roland Zenology review: 9/10

You can layer up to four instances of ZENOLOGY GX at once, utilising definable key ranges, “sophisticated macro controls”, per-layer effects and creative tools including ARPS (arpeggiators) and CHORDS.
While ZENOLOGY GX comes with a vast selection of presets onboard, you can create your own with near-endless possibilities using 23 oscillator and filter models, over 7,000 PCM waveforms, 11 LFO shapes – including a Step LFO for rhythmic movement.
There’s also over 90 effects, including reverbs, JUNO-106 and CE-1 choruses, SDD-320 Dimension D, and a DJ-FX Looper, to name a few.
ZENOLOGY GX is loaded with nine virtual analogue waveforms, as well as Supersaw, Noise, PCM and PCM Sync options, too.

And you’ve also got the option to export sounds created with ZENOLOGY GX to Roland’s ZENOLOGY Pro software synthesizer, as well as ZEN-Core hardware instruments like FANTOM, JUPITER-X, JUNO-X, RD-88, MC-101, MC-707 and more.
ZENOLOGY GX is available via Roland Cloud, an evolving cloud-based suite of software synthesizers, drum machines, and sampled instruments from Roland. Subscriptions to Roland Cloud come in four tiers: Free; Core ($29); Pro ($99); and Ultimate ($199). To access Galaxias – the super-instrument needed to play with ZENOLOGY GX – you’ll need to sign up to the Ultimate tier.
For more information, head to Roland. 
The post “Next-gen ZEN”: Roland unveils ZENOLOGY GX – the latest evolution of its ZEN-Core synth system for DAWs appeared first on MusicTech.

How a Mastering Engineer Works With (and Without) AIThis week, Ari is joined by Daniel Rowland mastering engineer, producer, and tech innovator to discuss mastering, the future of music and AI.

Milk & Honey expands in UK, adding Bigfoot Music Management and clientsAs a result of the pact, Jeremy Ford, Adam Beyer’s longtime manager, becomes Senior Vice President of Electronic for Milk & Honey globally
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Wyoming's Timber Canyon Studios Opens with Solid State Logic ORIGIN ConsoleAccording to news on Tuesday, "Veteran engineer, mixer, producer and musician Jim Roberts and his wife and business partner, Marie, have launched their new private music production facility, Timber Canyon Studios, in the Laramie Mountains of southeastern Wyoming. The studio’s control room is centred around a Solid State Logic ORIGIN 32-channel analogue mixing console and additionally features U Series DAW controllers, Fusion and THE BUS+ analogue processing units, as well as SSL 500 Series modules."

"The couple, who have known each other since high school, lived and worked in New York for 46 years before relocating their studio to Colorado in 2012. Several years ago, inspired in part by the famed Caribou Ranch in Colorado, they began planning a destination studio that could similarly attract major artists to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The 2,100-square-foot recording studio, designed by renowned acoustician Sam Berkow, incorporates windows throughout the spacious tracking space and control room that offer expansive views of the mountains and herds of pronghorn that roam the 35-acre property."

ORIGIN: pushing the frontier of hybrid workflow"Jim Roberts, whose credits include work with Kansas, Steve Walsh, John Entwistle and Leslie West, among others, jumped at the chance to replace his SSL Matrix with the new ORIGIN console."

“I work in the hybrid world, but I come from an analogue world, and it felt very much like an SSL 4000. It was the right time, right price point, right feature set and right kind of routing, with an eye towards the hybrid workflow that I enjoy now.”

At Timber Canyon, he continues, “I wanted to mix analogue and do the recall in Pro Tools, and I wanted to have a tracking studio.” Having worked on various SSL analogue desks over the years, he says, “I still think there's tremendous value when you're tracking to be able to put your hands on everything at once, including the headphone mixes and the EQ — and ORIGIN has the EQ flavour you want on a board - SSL’s ‘242’ black knob design.”

A host of tools from Solid State LogicRoberts keeps all his SSL audio tools close at hand. “The ORIGIN’s centre section is configurable, so I chose to put the UF8 8-fader DAW controller in the centre section, directly above the analogue stereo group faders. That’s brilliant, because you're right in the sweet spot and you can control both legs of the journey, analogue and digital. And I've got the UF1 DAW controller on a rolling cart, right where I would once have had the tape machine auto locator, off to my right hand. With the integrated UF8 and UF1 directly on hand, I really don’t feel the need for a fully automated console. Then I have THE BUS+ and the Fusion in the left sidecar of the console with a 500 series ‘lunch box’ with two 611DYN modules.”

Choosing an SSL console for its sound quality is a given, but beyond the sonics, Roberts says, “Taking away all those physical switches that you had on the older SSL consoles, all those points of failure, and using logic and a digital matrix to control the analog routing is brilliant and is also infinite in terms of how you can group things and bus things. You can change up your workflow. The number of possible permutations far exceeds anything that I currently do, but it’s very reassuring knowing the console will allow me to take my workflow in any direction I like.”

He also appreciates SSL’s thoughtfulness in maintaining a vintage feel and retaining SSL’s console design legacy with the ORIGIN, while also enabling it to integrate seamlessly into today’s hybrid workflow. “The Unity gain button on each channel, on both sets of faders, makes it easier to break out stems from Pro Tools. A quick button push and everything's at 0 dB, and you can do that across 64 faders if you want to. To me, that shows that they're paying attention to modern workflows,” he says.

Realising the ultimate vision with no boundariesThe past three years, building the studio, a home and accommodation for two or three visitors, has been hard work. “But this was the ultimate vision, where we had no physical boundaries,” he says, noting that his previous studios were retrofits into existing spaces. He and his wife conferred with several architects and acousticians. “Sam sent his proposal, and we looked at each other and said, ‘Let's make this investment.’ Because, A, we want to get it right and, B, it's going to bring an air of legitimacy to the space.”

Laramie is well located for anyone travelling to the region, Roberts notes, with Denver Airport just a two-hour drive away or a short hop from Laramie’s regional airport. “We're just a few miles from the University of Wyoming and its music department, which was another reason why we picked this location. It's a big music town, with lots of live venues. There's plenty of music going on nearby, let alone regionally or nationally.”

Meanwhile, following the facility’s soft open in September, Roberts and a group of friends are now producing a third full-length record of the band they put together during the COVID pandemic. “That was just a little passion project. We're not going to tour or gig. I also have a second personal project with some friends of mine from around the country. We record cover tunes, and I license them. We put the songs out just for fun; it’s music therapy, which we probably all need!”The post Wyoming's Timber Canyon Studios Opens with Solid State Logic ORIGIN Console first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Universal Audio update UAFX pedals Universal Audio have built up quite the selection of guitar pedals since their UAFX line-up was launched in 2021, and thanks to a free update, the whole family has just gained a range of new features.

Soundtheory's Black Friday Sale This year’s Black Friday sees Soundtheory offer the biggest discounts to date on their popular Gullfoss intelligent equaliser and Kraftur loudness enhancer plug-ins.

Have a Slice of Bumble Berry Pi[Samcervantes] wanted a cyberdeck. Specifically, he wanted a Clockwork Pi uConsole, but didn’t want to wait three months for it. There are plenty of DIY options, but many of them are difficult to build. So [Sam] did the logical thing: he designed his own. The Bumble Berry Pi is the result.
The design criteria? A tactile keyboard was a big item. Small enough to fit in a pants pocket, but big enough to be useful. What’s more is he wanted to recycle some old Pi 3Bs instead of buying new hardware.

The result looks good. There’s a 4.3″ touch screen, a nice keyboard, and enough battery to run all day. If you already have the Pi, you are looking at about $60 and two 3D-printed parts. There is some soldering, but nothing that should put off the average Hackaday reader.
Does it run Doom? From the photo on the GitHub repo, yes, yes, it does. This would be a fun build, although we have to admit, the beauty of doing a build like this is making it your own. Maybe your pants have differently shaped pockets, we don’t know.
Either way, though, you can get some ideas from [Sam] or just clone his already good-looking deck. If we’re being honest, we are addicted to multiple screens. Plus, we want a built-in radio.

Kulshan Studios City Techno Soundset for Moog Sub Phatty59 driving Techno presets, compatible with the Moog Sub Phatty and Subsequent 25 analog hardware synth. This soundbank is 100% Techno-oriented, which means no weird clangs, bleeps, effects, drums, shrieks, or cheesy 70s funk leads. The patches in City come straight out of songs by big name artists of the 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. So this soundset is designed to fully exploit the fat Moog sound to its max. Patches in City are based on sounds from songs by the likes of Argy & Goom Gum, Anyma, Chris Avantgarde, Stephan Bodzin, Tale Of Us, KAS:ST, CamelPhat, ARTBAT, DJ Andy De Gage, Innealla, Boris Brejcha, Luigi Tozzi, Dycide, Tender H, Aura Fresh, Franky Wah, Circuit Breaker, Emmanuel Top, MRAK, Reestar, Ekstendia, Slownoise, and many many more. Only FX used on these sounds outside the onboard FX was Virus TI2 reverb and delay on the plucks, leads, and acid sounds. Sounds in this preset pack are suitable for the Melodic Techno, Deep Techno, Dub Techno, and Minimal Techno genres, and are organized by category into Leads, Plucks, Pads, Acid sounds, and Basses, for quick reference. All patches are royalty-free and delivered instantly via email as a 24-hour download link. Requirements: Moog Sub Phatty, or Subsequent 25 synthesizer. Read More