SPL introduce the Venos Less than a month on from the launch of the BiG [Studio], high-end hardware experts SPL have unveiled the latest addition to their ever-growing selection of studio gear.

Has IK just made accurate headphone mixing a reality with ARC On-Ear?€300 (€249 introductory price), ikmultimedia.com
IK has been producing ARC (Advanced Response Correction) systems for some time, using a combination of special microphones and software to measure and compensate for the imperfect acoustic nature of most listening spaces and studios. Most recently, it has built the technology into some of its speakers.

READ MORE: IK Multimedia iLoud Precision 6 MKII review: Take control of your sound in any studio environment

Now, the company has created the ARC On-Ear system for people who are tracking, mixing and mastering on headphones. A combination of a hardware unit and a software application, it’s a rather more user-friendly format than the other ARC products, a little smaller than an Apple TV box and designed to work with both digital and analogue sources.
So what’s the problem it’s designed to solve?
As IK identifies, all headphones have their own characteristics, just like speakers or rooms do. As more people need to work on headphones, be it late at night, on the move or in some other circumstance when away from their full studio, you want to be able to trust that you are hearing an accurate picture of your audio. The ARC On-Ear application that runs on your Mac or PC (though not iPad) contains presets for hundreds of models of headphones that let you ‘correct’ their frequency response curve using settings created by IK. Using a combination of physical modelling EQ and phase alignment for the studio simulation and ambience algorithms and FIR filters inside the device itself, the idea is that you remove the guesswork and need for revisions that can come with having to mix, knowing your headphones are colouring your sound to an extent.
Image: Press
Additionally, the system provides a way to emulate a number of speaker types from studio monitors to smart TVs and smartphones, again using physical modelling. This ‘Studio Simulation’ option, which can be activated independently from headphone correction, lets you choose from a bunch of speaker models (which are not technically named but are pretty clearly identifiable from their icons). You can choose the virtual width of the speaker spacing as well as turn on room ambience if you wish.
The compact size of the hardware means it can be carried easily and used anywhere – there’s a rechargeable internal battery that offers up to four hours of use, powering the internal DAC. When connected to your computer or tablet, it will recharge over USB-C while in general use and with support for sample rates up to 192 kHz, it’s capable of far higher resolution than your computer’s own audio hardware and indeed many audio interfaces. Should you be working with analogue gear, a 3.5-mm input is also available, for which a cable is provided.
The software application is where you make settings but the hardware has physical controls too. Since the correction is handled on-device, it works independently of a computer. One button turns correction on or off, a second switches virtual monitoring on or off and a third Function button can be assigned in the app to perform a number of different actions. The large dial is a digitally-controlled, analogue volume control, while the five lights on the left side represent the five preset slots you can assign in the software.
Image: Press
A couple of my pairs of studio headphones are supported – popular models from AKG and Beyer – and IK says that with more than a hundred already available, more will be added over time. Dialling in the presets for our models results in a noticeable shift in the tone, a flattening of the response that suggests they have been colouring the sound – especially the Beyers in the low end – more than I realised. It’s not a huge difference but it is definitely there.
I dial in a pair of ‘White 90s’ studio monitors – Yamaha NS10s by another name – and instantly recall the notoriously neutral sound of these speakers. The old adage was that if you could make a mix sound good on them, it would sound good on anything. I also switch to a few other models and note the differing responses they offer. This is where you would tweak your mixes accordingly, moving between models to see how the sound translates.
Working on headphones has been considered by some to be something of a necessary evil, whether you’re in a communal space or simply on the move, away from your hardware setup. A really skilled producer who is very familiar with their headphones can account for their quirks when mixing but most people will find it much more convenient to use something like the ARC On-Ear system, especially given its ease of use and fairly accessible price point.
Space View on ARC On-Ear. Image: Press
The ability to not only correct for your headphones’ imperfections but also to physically model a perfectly-tuned space and a set of studio speakers is incredibly useful, making you more confident that the mixing and mastering decisions you are taking will translate well to a multitude of other playback devices. It’s not doing any mixing of course – that is still up to you and still requires skill and patience – but the system is giving you the best shot possible at doing it without needing to be in a professionally kitted-out space.
Is it a complete replacement for mixing in a full studio? Probably not – there’s nothing that compares with the rush of a pair of big, serious speakers pushing air at you – but it elevates headphone-based working to a point where you are much better able to trust it as a process.
The fact that it’s not running as a plugin across your DAW but rather being processed on the device itself means that anything you play through it, even a line out from a mixing desk, is corrected the same way. As such, it’s as adept with analogue as digital sources, and its battery capability and small size mean it’s very adaptable to however you need to work.
Anyone working regularly on headphones will find much to like here, whether tracking, mixing or even making mastering decisions. With ongoing additions to the list of supported models, it could prove to be an invaluable addition to your setup.
Frequency Response View on ARC On-Ear. Image: Press
Key features

Headphone amplifier and DAC at up to 192 kHz
4-hour internal rechargeable battery
USB-C power and audio; 3.5-mm analogue input
Mac and PC companion app
Headphone EQ correction
Physical models of a range of studio speakers
Standalone mode via on-body controls
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 80 kHz
Comes with carry case and cables

The post Has IK just made accurate headphone mixing a reality with ARC On-Ear? appeared first on MusicTech.

Kelly Moran on prepared pianos, the Prophet 12, and why compression is overratedSince studying piano and electronic music from a young age, Kelly Moran’s journey has seen her perfect the art of preparing pianos — placing objects on the strings to radically alter the sonic character of the instrument. A series of experimental releases helped her get signed to the legendary Warp imprint, and then the pandemic intervened, leading her to rethink her approach to creating tracks.

READ MORE: “It’s not as laid-back as everyone thinks it is”: How Tanis scores movies and makes music from her NYC apartment

On her new album Don’t Trust Mirrors, Kelly Moran transforms her prepared piano recordings into hypnotic, loop-driven compositions, blended with rich analogue synthesis. We discuss her unconventional approach to processing, why she sampled every note of her piano into a VST, and why she barely uses compression.
Hi Kelly! Can you tell us about the trajectory of your career to this point? How did you get started in music?
I started playing piano when I was six and subsequently picked up string bass, guitar, clarinet, oboe and singing. I began writing my own music as a teenager and got Logic so I could record and produce. I studied composition, piano and electronic music in college, thinking I would eventually become a professor, then spent my postgrad years as a piano accompanist for ballet dancers, opera singers and classical instrumentalists. I put out some experimental prepared piano records in 2016 and 2017 that got some attention, which led to me getting signed to Warp in 2018. Since then, I’ve been making more records, touring, writing music for other artists, scoring and trying not to lose my mind in the chaos of the music industry.
Don’t Trust Mirrors has just come out on Warp Records. You started writing this in 2019, pre-lockdown. How did that time shape the direction of the album?
In 2019, I was very interested in writing prepared piano music, but I wanted to make it more loop-based and repetitive since my prior album, Ultraviolet, had been very loose and improvisatory. That was the initial goal, but the album ended up spiralling in a few different directions from there. I started writing this music on my childhood piano at my mom’s house in 2019, but when I moved back to the city, I ended up working on a lot of the synth parts at my apartment in Brooklyn.
Prophet 12. Image: Press
You are known for your use of a prepared piano, but can you give us some insight into what exactly that is?
It’s a technique where you put objects between the piano strings to alter the sound of the instrument. It allows you to be creative because you can draw out a new tone from the instrument depending on how you prepare it, so it can be a very personal way of altering the sound of the piano. I like to use metal screws, but you can also use rubber, wood, plastic and other materials. Anyone who attempts this technique should do some research first to make sure they’re not going to hurt the piano with what they put inside it!
Piano preparations. Image: Press
The album’s title track is truly mesmerising. Can you tell us about how you approach layering such different rhythms and textures?
Prepared piano can be a tricky texture to work with, and it takes time to find sounds that will complement it since the preparations make the “attack” of the piano so sharp and you don’t want to use sounds that will clash with that sharpness. For Don’t Trust Mirrors I stuck mainly to sub bass and altering the acoustic piano sounds. My friend, the artist Bibio, added guitar and synth textures to the end of the track. He used textures that complemented the piano so well.
The whole album sounds incredibly natural and organic. How much do you process your sound as opposed to just letting the character of the instruments shine through?
I’m pretty minimal when it comes to putting effects on the prepared piano because it is already so rich sonically; usually, I just play around with delays and reverbs to enhance it! But the other major thing is I employ a ton of EQ — when you prepare a piano, you are triggering different harmonics and overtones, and you don’t necessarily want all of them present, so I always have a few different EQ cuts on each prepared piano stem to get rid of any unwanted resonances.
DTM EQ. Image: Press
I loved playing around with delay to add more rhythm to my prepared piano patterns – the sharp attack of the piano creates some delightful textures.

I honestly love a lot of the built-in effects in Logic, especially the delays. I use Delay Designer all the time and just adjust the parameters by ear to make it sound the way I want it to.
I try to be careful about selecting the sounds that surround the piano so they enhance each other and don’t fight on the frequency spectrum. The preparation consists of already processing the sound of the piano, so I try to be very delicate when handling these tones!
Tell us a bit about your studio workflow and the process of starting to build a track.
Usually, I just sit at the piano and improvise until my hands start playing something that feels or sounds good, then I record it and build off that. I have a pair of Rode NT5s that I’ve used to record all my piano music since college.
Rode NT5 mics on piano. Image: Press
You’ve toured extensively and will be headed back on the road in support of the new album. How is your live show constructed, both from a performance and a gear point of view?
I sampled every note of my prepared piano into a VST so I could recreate the sound on a MIDI keyboard onstage when I play. Since most venues don’t let you prepare the piano, this allows me to recreate the sound of my prepared piano and mix it live in a way that sounds faithful to the album. I play it through Kontakt, and I’m always editing it to make it more dynamically sensitive. For shows where I can’t play or prepare a grand piano, I use my VST as my primary performance medium, but I also mix it with some other sounds to make it more dynamic and interesting.
What’s your latest gear or plugin purchase?
I recently bought Particle Reverb by Kentaro, and it was worth every penny. It’s an amazing granular reverb plugin; I use it all the time now.
Here’s my prepared piano instrument in Kontakt with Particle Reverb:
Kelly’s prepared piano instrument in Kontakt with Particle Reverb, photo by press
What’s the best free plugin you own, and why do you love it?
Buffer Override by Destroy FX. I downloaded it for free when I was 18 and still use it all the time. This screenshot is taken from the session for my track Above the Vapours.
Buffer Override. Image: Press
What’s been the biggest investment in your studio setup?
It’s definitely my Prophet 12 synthesizer. I’m not a big gear person, so I invested in something that I know I’d be able to explore for many years and not get tired of. It’s the only synth I own, and I can’t imagine needing another synth for a long time since I can do so much with it.
Prophet 12. Image: Press
The other piece of gear that’s been truly helpful for me in the past year has been the RME Babyface. It’s super lightweight and portable, which makes it easy to bring on tour. I’ve only had it a year, but it looks like it’s been through war since some sound guys felt the need to duct tape XLR cables to it at one of my shows!
RME Babyface. Image: Press
Do you have a dream piece of gear?
I’d love to own my own Yamaha Disklavier someday, but for now, I’m very lucky that I get to go to the Yamaha studios in NYC to use theirs. My dream piano costs over $100,000, so let’s manifest that one day I’ll be rich enough to buy one for myself!
What’s a music production myth you think needs debunking?
I’ve gone most of my life without ever using compression on anything. I think it’s overrated. Perhaps it’s because I am classically trained and try to be sensitive with dynamics when I am performing, so I can’t imagine squishing them with an algorithm in post.
Listen to Kelly Moran’s Don’t Trust Mirrors
The post Kelly Moran on prepared pianos, the Prophet 12, and why compression is overrated appeared first on MusicTech.

How These DIY Artists Won a GRAMMYThis week, Ari is joined by Grammy winners Matt B and Angela Benson to share their path to success working as a married team.

Sonica is a New Music Platform Putting Artists Back in ControlNo hidden fees, no commissions, no algorithms, no AI — Sonica is the latest startup offering artists ethics-aligned streaming with 100% ownership of revenues and rights.
The post Sonica is a New Music Platform Putting Artists Back in Control appeared first on Hypebot.

Great, but #PublMe https://publme.com platform is since 2021 ✌

Suno has acquired Songkick: What it means for ArtistsControversial AI music platform Suno acquired Songkick as part of its new deal with Warner Music Group. But why would an AI music creation tool want to own a struggling concert listing service?
The post Suno has acquired Songkick: What it means for Artists appeared first on Hypebot.

Soyuz are the great mics, sound and look both good #musicproduction

Kalshi raises $1B at $11B valuation, doubling value in under two monthsThe latest funding comes less than two months after Kalshi announced that it raised $300 million at a $5 billion valuation.

Soyuz launch the V1 Until now, the Soyuz range has been occupied exclusively by capacitor mics, but their latest announcement sees them introduce a newly designed dynamic model.

LoRa Repeater Lasts 5 Years on PVC Pipe and D CellsSometimes it makes sense to go with plain old batteries and off-the-shelf PVC pipe. That’s the thinking behind [Bertrand Selva]’s clever LoRaTube project.
PVC pipe houses a self-contained LoRa repeater, complete with a big stack of D-size alkaline cells.
LoRa is a fantastic solution for long-range and low-power wireless communication (and popular, judging by the number of projects built around it) and LoRaTube provides an autonomous repeater, contained entirely in a length of PVC pipe. Out the top comes the antenna and inside is all the necessary hardware, along with a stack of good old D-sized alkaline cells feeding a supercap-buffered power supply of his own design. It’s weatherproof, inexpensive, self-contained, and thanks to extremely low standby current should last a good five years by [Bertrand]’s reckoning.
One can make a quick LoRa repeater in about an hour but while the core hardware can be inexpensive, supporting electronics and components (not to mention enclosure) for off-grid deployment can quickly add significant cost. Solar panels, charge controllers, and a rechargeable power supply also add potential points of failure. Sometimes it makes more sense to go cheap, simple, and rugged. Eighteen D-sized alkaline cells stacked in a PVC tube is as rugged as it is affordable, especially if one gets several years’ worth of operation out of it.
You can watch [Bertrand] raise a LoRaTube repeater and do a range test in the video (French), embedded below. Source code and CAD files are on the project page. Black outdoor helper cat not included.

10th Annual Christmas Songwriting Competition Opens for EntriesAspiring songwriters have a festive opportunity to share their original holiday music. The 10th Annual Christmas Songwriting Competition is now accepting submissions for original Christmas or holiday songs, offering both recognition and a chance to break into the music industry.

Participants can submit songs they’ve written or co-written—the kind of originals that could one day stand alongside classics like “Last Christmas” by Wham! or Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

The competition offers several rewards. The top winner will receive a Christmas Songwriting trophy, a memento for the mantel, and potentially a songwriting contract with a major music publishing house. Additionally, the top 15 finalists will see their songs featured on a Christmas/Holiday compilation CD, which will be promoted to radio stations across the United States and Canada—providing valuable exposure for emerging songwriters and artists.

Last year’s winners demonstrated the spirit of collaboration in holiday music. Ben Winship and Tim O’Brien (pictured) took top honors for their playful entry “Santa Ate a Gummy.” The duo reflected on their success, saying,

“This is a great honor to win the top prize… we are thrilled to have been selected.”

Second place went to Austria’s Karin Bachner and Tobias M. Hoffmann for “In The Mood For Christmas,” while Jan Edwards, Lucy LeBlanc, and Corey Lee Barker claimed third with “Mingle Neath The Mistletoe.” All three winning songs were co-writes, emphasizing the collaborative nature of creating holiday music.

Songwriters looking to enter have until December 23 to submit their work. For more information and entry details, visit Songwriting.net’s Christmas competition page.

For inspiration, listening to past Christmas classics can spark ideas:

The next holiday hit could be yours—the stage is open for new voices this season!The post 10th Annual Christmas Songwriting Competition Opens for Entries first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Extrasensory VEX Expressive MIDI ControlTurn any MIDI device into an expressive control instrument. Works with any VST, AU, or hardware that responds to MIDI. VEX is a MIDI FX plugin that transforms plain controller moves into rich, performance-grade modulation. Insert it on a MIDI track, feed it data from any controller, and route the output to your synths, samplers, and FX. Instead of drawing static automation or fighting stiff knobs and faders, VEX lets you shape how control signals behave over time—smoothing, curving, exaggerating, or "playing" parameters as if they were instruments of their own. Use it to breathe life into filters, reverbs, delays, granular engines, or any parameter that accepts MIDI CC, aftertouch, or other control data. Read More

Get the Wave Alchemy Reverb Bundle for only $20 until December 7
Wave Alchemy has unleashed a massive deal on its Reverb Bundle, which is now just $20 at Plugin Boutique until December 7. I was blown away (much like everyone else) with Wave Alchemy’s free Magic7 reverb. It’s a fantastic emulation of the legendary Bricasti M7 reverb and an absolute killer freebie. If you liked that [...]
View post: Get the Wave Alchemy Reverb Bundle for only $20 until December 7

Jorja Smith’s label FAMM seeks share of royalties from viral track ‘I Run’ amid AI allegations, calls for industry ‘guardrails’ to protect artistsLabel claims the track was created using AI trained on the British singer's music
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