Prime Day is all about Amazon, but these music retailers are also hosting killer deals on synths, controllers and pro audio gearAmazon’s October Prime Day is well under way, and most of the top music retailers are also hosting killer deals on music tech gear in order to compete. And that’s where you can swoop in and grab a bargain…
We’ve seen top deals on synths, controllers, keyboards, plugins and more at Sweetwater, Reverb and Plugin Boutique, and have taken the liberty to collate a few of the best below in this here article, eliminating the slog of deals hunting for you and getting you closer to your new favourite piece of gear, faster.

READ MORE: Akai’s new MPC Live III has launched: here’s everything you need to know about features, pricing, and availability

Take Sweetwater, for example; there’s currently up to 50% off microphones, interfaces, monitors and software in its current Studio & Recording Sale. Highlights include up to $150 off select ADAM Audio A Series studio monitors, $50 off select Focusrite Scarlett USB-C audio interfaces, and an amazing $100 off Universal Audio’s Pro Vocal Plug-in Bundle, which includes the brand’s Classic Leveler plug-in collection, Pure Plate reverb, Oxide Tape Recorder, and more. For the latter, pay just $49 instead of $149.
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Elsewhere, we’ve spotted a number of excellent deals to be had right now over at Reverb, including a cool £200 off this 2010s Access Virus TI2 Desktop Digital Synthesizer, and a sweet 10% off this limited-edition Korg Minilogue Bass 37-Key 4-Voice Polyphonic Synthesizer. Click the button below to browse all the latest deals over at Reverb.
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At Plugin Boutique, Prime Day happens to fall during its Analog Emulation Month, which sees fantastic discounts on a whole host of analogue-inspired plugins. For example, you can get up to 88% off a range of Softube mixing plugins, with prices starting at just £9.
You can also get a ma-hoosive 87% off Solid State Logic’s Greatest Hits Bundle, which includes Native Channel Strip 2, G2 MultiBus Comp, and FlexVerb. Get it now for just £44 down from £355. View all the latest deals at Plugin Boutique by clicking the button below.
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The post Prime Day is all about Amazon, but these music retailers are also hosting killer deals on synths, controllers and pro audio gear appeared first on MusicTech.

Alesis Drums Nitro Ultimate kit announced Alesis' new Nitro Ultimate is a nine-piece kit that’s been designed to offer a complete practice-to-performance solution, and promises to bridge the gap between entry-level and professional electronic drumming.

MIDIpushr MK2 is a FREE browser-based MIDI chord player for your DAW
Alex from Germany, the creator behind MIDI Pusher MK2, has released MIDIpushr, a free browser-based virtual MIDI controller that lets you play and send chords directly to your DAW or hardware synths. Funny timing with this one. Just the other day, while watching the awesome “How to Orchid” marketing video for the Orchid ORC—1 chord [...]
View post: MIDIpushr MK2 is a FREE browser-based MIDI chord player for your DAW

Session Loops releases VocalNet, a real-time AI-powered vocal cloning & transformation plugin
Session Loops has released the updated real-time version of VocalNet, a new AI-driven voice cloning and transformation plugin for macOS and Windows. The plugin enables you to transform vocals in real-time directly within your DAW, and it’s available for instant download with a fully functional 14-day trial, as well as lifetime or subscription purchase options [...]
View post: Session Loops releases VocalNet, a real-time AI-powered vocal cloning & transformation plugin

Splice Instrument first impressions: A sparkling new home for Spitfire Audio’s LABSSplice Instrument is a new sample-based plugin that gives you instant access to expressive software instruments. You don’t even have to know much about music production to get going.

READ MORE: “I’m doing it for something bigger than me”: Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid is Kevin Parker’s dream synth — he hopes it’ll be yours, too

With a free version available, Splice Instrument is accessible to every DAW user, and the library of free sounds is expanding each month. What’s more, with Splice’s recent acquisition of Spitfire Audio, LABS is now a part of the Splice Instrument library, adding even more value for producers and composers.
From Native Instruments’ Kontakt and SampleTank to Omnisphere and Vienna Ensemble Pro, the range of software instruments that use ROMpler technology is vast, so the Splice Instrument is entering a competitive space. At first glance, you might even be reminded of LANDR Chromatic, which uses a similar approach.
Image: Splice
Why Splice Instrument makes sense
As a platform, Splice already offers integration with DAWs such as Pro Tools, Studio One, and, more recently, Ableton Live in its latest beta (12.3b12). Furthermore, the Splice Bridge plugin lets you access the Splice library within almost any DAW, so it only makes sense that, with this resource, Splice would now offer subscribers a dedicated instrument.
The free version of the Splice Instrument gives you access to hundreds of sounds, with more added each month. However, if you want all the sounds, you’ll need to sign up for the Creator plan ($20/monthly), Creator+ plan ($40/monthly), or the Instrument plan ($13/monthly).
Using the Splice Instrument is as straightforward as it gets. The two main areas are the Discover panel, where you browse and select sounds, and the Play panel, for adjusting the sound you’ve loaded. Naturally, it can’t function without a preset loaded, so when you open the Splice Instrument, you’ll be prompted to select and load one so you can start playing or sequencing from your DAW.
When you load a preset, you’ll notice that each one is, in fact, a sound set with a collection of different articulations or variations of a particular sound. As you cycle through different sounds, you’ll see that the controls are preset-specific, so you only have access to anywhere between two and five parameters to shape the timbral, tonal, and spatial characteristics of each sound.
This seems limited, but the idea is clearly to streamline your workflow and give you nothing more than the essential tools you require to create a compelling performance before moving on to the next element in your song. Although it can sound like one, the Splice Instrument is not intended as a sound design tool — no need to spend an afternoon crafting and refining a single sound.
Instead, as with the Splice library, the Splice Instrument has been designed to appeal to the next generation of artists and producers. With a straightforward interface, you can find sounds and play them expressively, keeping the creativity flowing.
Image: Splice
What makes the Splice Instrument unique?
Within the Play panel, the Dynamics control stands out as the main port of call for adding expression while playing. This macro control, which is assigned to the mod wheel by default, increases the overall scale or stature of the sound. As the Dynamics control is available on every preset, the role it plays is completely different depending on the sound you select.
In the case of an electric piano sound that has been recorded on tape, the Dynamics control introduces saturation for a thicker, more textured sound. Alternatively, when you’re playing a choir patch, the same control increases the number of microphone signals and the natural reverb captured during the recording of the samples.
Because the macro controls in the Play panel change as you load each preset, and the sample range indicator tells you which keys to play, the Dynamics control becomes a surprise package. This means you can get the feel of each sound by playing and experimenting by making timbral adjustments to explore the sonic extent of the instrument.
The relationship between the amount of R&D that went into the creation of the backend of the Splice Instrument and the ease with which you can coax articulate sounds from your MIDI keyboard becomes more evident the further you explore the sound library.
There is an incredible scope of sounds, ranging from your bread-and-butter beat production fare, like R&B keyboard patches, to a composer sound set created in the famous New York apartment used by Philip Glass.
The sound library has been curated in a way that allows you to quickly find functional sounds for the intro, verse, or chorus of the song you’re creating. Meanwhile, there is an impressive range of more niche sounds that will inspire the creative process of a wide range of artists and producers outside the scope of commercial music production and motion picture scoring.
One of the most notable inclusions is that the Splice Instrument gives you access to all of the Spitfire Audio LABS and LABS+ sounds. This provides a sound palette that includes rare acoustic instruments, so you’re bound to find some hidden gems here. Overall, the strength of the Splice Instrument lies in its constantly growing sound library, which is easy to navigate and is brimming with sounds that have both commercial and artistic value.

Who is the Splice Instrument for?
The strength of the Splice Instrument lies in the easy access it provides to an ever-expanding landscape of beautifully recorded and curated sounds. This makes it useful to any user with a demand for new sounds in their workflow.
As we’ve mentioned, this makes it a particularly exciting prospect for pop-adjacent music producers, as well as composers for film, TV, and video games. Besides these avenues, the Splice Instrument is also extremely useful for hip-hop beat makers and electronic music producers. While its simple workflow lets you maintain creative fluidity, the range of sounds means you’ll always be able to find something usable.
Compared to alternative options, the Splice Instrument does have some unique benefits. While LANDR Chromatic gives you a similar style of online library-driven plugin interface starting at $8.25 per month, it doesn’t have the depth of sounds offered by Spitfire Audio. On the other hand, Audiomodern Soundbox is a really affordable option that gives you a slightly more involved plugin interface with seven soundpacks for 99 Euros, but the library isn’t on the same scale as Splice’s, of course.
Meanwhile, existing Splice subscribers are the most likely to immediately adopt the Splice Instrument, as you can do so with little extra cost involved. With Spitfire Audio, Splice has strengthened its position considerably, giving it a major advantage over competitors. This makes the Splice Instrument a valuable music production resource that allows you to create quickly and efficiently as a complete beginner or a seasoned professional.
The post Splice Instrument first impressions: A sparkling new home for Spitfire Audio’s LABS appeared first on MusicTech.

The Collective lives on: former ICON Collective staff have started new educational programsOn May 30, 2025, students arriving at ICON Collective in Los Angeles to continue their music production studies were hit with a blow. A piece of paper hanging on the locked front door delivered an abrupt message: the school had been shut down.
“Dear Students,
As of Thursday, May 30th, 2025, ICON Collective has officially ceased operations. The building is closed and no further classes or administrative functions are taking place. We understand this news may come as a shock and we are deeply sorry if you’re learning about it for the first time here.”

READ MORE: Daniel Ek just stepped down as CEO of Spotify — now what?

A statement published by ICON owners cited financial difficulties for the shutdown, leaving hundreds of students with unfinished educations and dozens of instructors and staff without jobs.
However, after the school closed, ICON’s community proved that the commitment to music the school curated will live on. Different goodbye events popped up. Students, staff, and alumni started a massive Instagram group chat, and within weeks, new educational programs were available to any aspiring producer who sought to follow the same path as SLANDER, NGHTMRE, Jauz, Mindchatter, Kayzo, Sullivan King, Pauline Herr, Wenzday, SIPPY, Lumberjvck, Skellytn, and numerous alumni who have gone on to play the biggest events, organise their own festivals, and earn Platinum records.
Two of such programs are Resident Artist House and Futureproof Music School.
“I saw a true community of people really creating and working towards a craft. Not working towards a degree or a piece of paper,” says Vito Finamore, director of Resident Artist House and the former director of student services at ICON Collective.
“It was full of people who were dedicated to their art and were encouraging each other in the best way, both the teachers and the students,” says John von Seggern, former Director of Educational Technology at ICON and founder of Futureproof Music School.
Here’s how these new programs are building on ICON’s community through individual educational philosophies.
John von Seggern. Image: Press
Resident Artist House
Resident Artist House (RAH) is a platform for “real artist development,” which the directors of the program describe as such:
“Real artist development goes back to the core of what artistry is and what music is. It’s the expression of human emotion through vibration. It’s not a product. It’s not a franchise,” says Chevy Bhorntus, Director of RAH and former Chief Operating Officer at ICON Collective.
Bhorntus mentions he knows A&Rs who have been laid off from major labels, as business models are shifting towards investing in artists based on metrics.
Finamore remembers when it was the opposite. “When a label used to sign you, they invested in you. They genuinely had a passion for what you were doing,” he says.
The directors of RAH, all of whom are working music professionals, will invest in the artists who sign up and provide individual guidance on whatever element of their journey needs attention. Whether it’s related to music production, performing, branding, or anything else.
Resident Artist House. Image: Press
To that end, RAH is not the place for an aspiring artist who is still learning the basics of Ableton Live:
“The ideal person for us is someone who has been making music. They are passionate about what they’re making. They’ve had a reasonably decent response from their immediate circle, but they need help taking the next steps,” says Bhorntus.
There are two tiers through which artists can move forward with RAH. The Ground Floor provides access to the community. For $10 per month, users can join weekly live streams to engage with the directors and other artists, get feedback on their music, and attend in-person events in locations like their current home base of Apex Art Studios in North Hollywood.
The second tier, called Full Development, essentially hires the RAH directors as the artist’s personal team. Manager. Branding specialist. Mastering engineer. This tier requires an application to ensure the artist is ready for this phase, and if they are, “We have the ability to go big,” Bhorntus says.
“It’s not one size fits all. It’s not ‘Come and learn how to produce music.’ We’re the next step,” Bhorntus adds. “We are offering the ability to work in custom with every artist on what they need.”
Protohype. Image: Press
Futureproof Music School
Futureproof Music School was developed by Seggern and Protohype, the prominent bass artist, former instructor, and alumnus of ICON. Their goal is to create sustainable music careers by providing educational options that keep up with the constantly changing music industry.
As the former Director of Educational Technology, Seggern oversaw ICON’s online program, handling all the logistics such as filming courses and organising mentor sessions.
Futureproof follows a similar model, except it isn’t tied to a specific curriculum like ICON was. For $99 a month, students get access to a monthly mentor session with a professional producer and the full library of courses, which includes topics such as “How To Make Dubstep” and “How To Promote Your Music In 2025: Facebook Ads.”
However, after running ICON’s program, Seggern has built Futureproof in a way that is much more adaptable. One example of this methodology involves filming simpler courses with relevant information that can be updated as new techniques arise. At ICON, he produced videos that had an extremely high quality visually, but were very difficult to alter once they were complete.
“We’re trying to make a structure that can stay flexible and move quickly instead of getting out of date rapidly,” says Seggern.
With such a large library, students will sign up and select their own goal for their music career. Then, Futureproof’s proprietary AI system, Kadence (which Seggern developed), will lay out a custom lesson plan based on the courses available, but also provide guidance outside of their offerings.
“It’s future-proof because it can create a roadmap for any goal,” Seggern says. A test goal he delivers to Kadence is “I want to be a world-famous breakcore DJ, but I don’t know anything about music, and I just started learning FL Studio.”
“If I put that in, it does a bunch of AI-powered research trying to figure out how I can become a breakcore DJ in 2025. I’ve also told it certain information sources, like music industry sites and blogs to search. Then it’ll set you a goal for the end of the year,” Seggern says. “Maybe your goal should be releasing your first EP. That’s a pretty good goal, considering you’re starting from not knowing anything. The intention of the program will be to achieve the goal that you set when you joined. Instead of the goal being some arbitrary thing that we made up.”
Futureproof also embraces Kadence within its courses. Seggern designed it to help by offering tips on mixes and similar advice for producing. Plus, it has a deep memory attached to every student’s activities at the school. The more they participate, the more personalised the advice. But don’t worry, Seggern ensured that students can’t cheat with Kadence.
“I put a thing in there not to help the students with quizzes,” Seggern says. “The homework is mostly making tracks. Kadence can’t make tracks. You have to make them yourself. But it can tell you if you’re more or less on the right track for the assignment you’re doing.”
The post The Collective lives on: former ICON Collective staff have started new educational programs appeared first on MusicTech.

Classical Highlights for September 2025What is in the current batch of new classical albums deemed by our reviewers as worthy of a listen? Start with the vocal ensemble Gesualdo Six (pictured) who put together another outstanding program on the new album Radiant Dawn. Find this and many more in our September classical review roundup.

Activist investor pushes Polygon tokenomics overhaul amid POL price slumpActivist investor calls for Polygon to scrap 2% inflation and launch buybacks to rescue POL’s price and restore investor confidence.

Lucid Motors sets record as Gravity sales pick up and tax credit expiresThe company has seen EV deliveries increase for seven straight quarters, even though it's still way off the ambitious goals it promoted when it went public in 2021.

Guitar Center partners with Schecter to launch exclusive SC-6 six-string bassTwo instrumental powerhouses, Guitar Center and Schecter Guitar Research, have teamed up to produce the Schecter SC-6 Six-String Bass, a piece that boasts unique clarity and a dynamic range, the ideal guitar for musicians looking to push the boundaries of their sonic comfort zone.

Exclusively available at Guitar Center stores in the U.S. and online at guitarcenter.com, the SC-6 has a Nyatoh body with a natural satin flamed maple top that offers rich resonance alongside a durable and easy-to-navigate rosewood fretboard. Available for $799.99, the SC-6 is easy on the eyes and houses Schecter Diamond 6ST Active Bass Pickups paired with the powerful 18V active 3-band EQ for a striking and flexible tone. 

“The SC-6 marks a major step in bringing extended-range basses into the spotlight for a wider audience,” said Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Guitar Center, in a press release. “By partnering with Schecter, we’re able to deliver a bass with boutique-level features at an affordable price, giving passionate players and aspiring performers access to the tools they need to push their music further.”The post Guitar Center partners with Schecter to launch exclusive SC-6 six-string bass first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

2G Gone? Bring It Back Yourself!Some parts of the world still have ample 2G coverage; for those of in North America, 2G is long gone and 3G has either faded into dusk or beginning its sunset. The legendary [dosdude1] shows us it need not be so, however: Building a Custom 2G GSM Cellular Base Station is not out of reach, if you are willing to pay for it. His latest videos show us how.
Before you start worrying about the FCC or its equivalents, the power here is low enough not to penetrate [dosdude]’s walls, but technically this does rely in flying under the radar. The key component is a Nuand BladeRF x40 full-duplex Software Defined Radio, which is a lovely bit of open-source hardware, but not exactly cheap. Aside from that, all you need is a half-decent PC (it at least needs USB-3.0 to communicate with the SDR, the “YateBTS”  software (which [dosdude1] promises to provide a setup guide for in a subsequent video) and a sim card reader. Plus some old phones, of course, which is rather the whole point of this exercise.
The 2G sunset, especially when followed by 3G, wiped out whole generations of handhelds — devices with unique industrial design and forgotten internet protocols that are worth remembering and keeping alive. By the end of the video, he has his own little network, with the phones able to call and text one another on the numbers he set up, and even (slowly) access the internet through the miniPC’s network connection.
Unlike most of the hacks we’ve featured from [dosdude1], you won’t even need a soldering iron, never mind a reflow oven for BGA. 

‘We’re in the business of working with people who change the way other people feel.’Peter Edge, RCA's Los Angeles-based CEO, on building careers in an age of shortened attention spans, why "premium" artists are winning in a crowded marketplace, and more
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Tubesessor plug-in from Heritage Audio The latest Heritage Audio device to be treated to a software counterpart is the Tubesessor, an optical valve compressor that offers the company’s take on the Tube‑Tech CL‑1B.

How Bands and Music Venues Can Market Live Shows Like the ProsEven the best live performances can fall flat if nobody knows they’re happening. Whether you're a band gearing up for a new release or a venue building your calendar, effective marketing is what turns a good show into a packed house. Learn how bands and music venues can market shows like the pros.
The post How Bands and Music Venues Can Market Live Shows Like the Pros appeared first on Hypebot.

Soniccouture Sun DrumsVintage Drums For Modern Beats. Sun Drums is a sister instrument to Soniccouture's acclaimed Moonkits - focusing purely on sticks, not brushes - with the same studio, the same vintage desk & mics, the same softer, dynamic drumming style. Featuring a huge collection of vintage & modern drums, Sun Drums is built with a modern, dry sound in mind - from classic breakbeats to booming hip-hop or just fat pop drums: 100+ VELOCITY LAYERS. BEAT TOOLS. 100 KITS. 8GB LIBRARY. Kontakt Player NKS. Read More