MPC Live III: Setup, walkthrough, and the Splice integration
Dive into the setup, workflow, and core features of Akai Professional's MPC Live III, and explore its powerful Splice Sounds integration.

Rivian’s CFO is leaving the companyClaire McDonough is stepping down on October 30 to pursue a new opportunity, the company said in a filing on Thursday.

Arturia Pure Sub Arturia Pure SUB is a software bass synthesizer structured around three independent layers: Sub (fundamental), Harmonics, and Texture. Each layer is generated and shaped separately before being routed through a shared filter, effects chain, and output stage. The architecture is designed specifically for electronic bass production, covering 808s, sub bass, Reese bass, and distorted or textured variants. The Sub section controls the fundamental's level, phase, and pitch independently from the harmonic content. Sub Regen is a dedicated function that processes the full signal through filters, distortion, and effects but then replaces only the output's low end with a clean, phase-stable version of the original fundamental, which preserves amplitude consistency on sound systems. The Harmonics section offers two engines: Pressure, which produces low-density harmonic content with a custom waveform editor, and Reese, which generates wide, high-density unison tones. A dedicated Pitch Envelope shapes transient attack and pitch movement independently from the amplitude envelope, and a key-tracked EQ keeps timbre consistent across the register. The Texture section adds a third layer via two modes: Texture, which blends noise samples into the signal using Ring Modulation, AM, or Distortion; and Corroder, which adds Noise, Sine, Saw, or Square sources at fixed or key-tracked frequencies. All three layers can be routed independently to the filter stage. The filter section offers more than 40 modes. Post-filter, the Sub Processor provides 33 modes for distortion, tonal reshaping, and saturation, with a global Amount control and six shaping macros. A 12-slot FX Rack with 18 available effects handles further processing, with saveable presets per rack. The Maximiser at the end of the chain offers Soft (transparent) and Hard (clipped, aggressive) modes alongside EQ, compression, and multiband processing. Modulation covers three envelopes, six flexible modulator slots accepting Envelope, Function, Random, Step Sequencer, and Voice Modulator sources, four assignable macros, a Modulation Sidechain function (one modulation source controls the depth of another), keyboard expression (Velocity, Key Track, Mod Wheel, Aftertouch, Release Velocity), and MPE including Slide. The plugin ships with 300 factory presets and includes in-app tutorials. Features Three independent synthesis layers: Sub, Harmonics, Texture; each routed separately to the filter. Sub section: independent level, phase, and pitch controls; Sub Regen preserves a clean, phase-stable fundamental after processing. Harmonics: Pressure mode (custom waveform editor, low-density) and Reese mode (high-density unison); dedicated Pitch Envelope; key-tracked EQ. Texture: Texture mode (Ring Modulation, AM, Distortion) and Corroder mode (Noise, Sine, Saw, Square at fixed or key-tracked frequencies). 40+ filter modes; Sub, Harmonics, and Texture can be routed independently. Sub Processor: 33 modes, global Amount control, 6 shaping macros, mode and macro randomization. FX Rack: 12 slots, 18 effects, saveable rack presets. Maximiser: Soft and Hard modes; EQ, compression, and multiband processing included. Modulation: 3 envelopes (including dedicated Pitch Envelope), 6 flexible modulator slots (Envelope, Function, Random, Step Sequencer, Voice Modulator). Modulation Sidechain: route one modulator to control the depth of another. 4 assignable macros; keyboard expression: Velocity, Key Track, Mod Wheel, Aftertouch, Release Velocity. MPE support including Slide. 300 factory presets; resizable GUI; in-app tutorials. NKS compatible; MTS-ESP microtuning compatible. https://youtu.be/sKQ2nV0ibE0?si=1l_y10rbRivaX9CN Read More

The Mactini: A Computer That Does Almost NothingRecently [Tucker Osman] brought to life what once was just a meme created by the BBC as it poked fun at Apple’s push for ever smaller devices that also dropped many features along the path towards questionable innovation. This ‘Mactini’ was a super-small laptop, with just a single button that did everything, befitting the overpriced more-money-than-sense status symbol vibe that [Jony Ive] brought to Apple.
The input method suggested in the BBC video involves convoluted patterns using the single button, which would be functional, albeit cumbersome. Even as [Tucker] set out on this mission to make the Mactini real, he had to answer a lot of questions, while sticking to the rules that it had to follow the rough form factor of the original and have the same features.
In lieu of overcomplicating things, he opted to use a 1.69″ ST7789V2-based SPI LCD along with a small RP2350-based board from Waveshare for the brains. Rather than just slapping the LCD example for the Pico board on it as firmware, he actually used DMA to do the screen data copying, freeing up a lot of CPU cycles.
The rest of the hardware was cobbled together from e-waste parts, including an iPad speaker and an audio amplifier from a scrap board. Video was handled using Motion JPEG decoding for a not-horrible-framerate. All of this was put into a 3D printed case that was designed in FreeCAD, to make the Mac that [Ive] could only have dreamed of back in the 2000s.

Arturia release Pure Sub Designed specifically for bass-heavy electronic music, Pure Sub from Arturia aims to offer an all-in-one solution for crafting hard-hitting sub-basses. 

Box of Bass is a FREE complete bass rig plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux
Box of Rules has released Box of Bass, a free multi-channel bass processing rig for macOS, Windows, and Linux. We recently featured the developer’s Picking Fingers plugin, which changes the character of a bass recording between picked and fingerstyle playing. Box of Bass is a much larger project, designed to turn a single DI signal [...]
View post: Box of Bass is a FREE complete bass rig plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux

Master the drop with Arturia’s new Pure SUB soft bass synthesizerArturia has introduced a new bass synthesiser, Pure SUB, which offers an array of new tools that maintain the “drop-defining” bass quality. The software synthesiser experts focused on weight, impact, and motion with this new design.
A press release from the team ahead of the Pure SUB release reads: “In modern electronic music, from dubstep and drum & bass to the wider world of club and bass-driven production, low-end has become the defining voice.
READ MORE: Dreamtonics’ Instrument X can create a digital orchestra that sounds like real musicians
“Over the past decade, bass has moved from the foundation under the track toward the front of it. It’s not unusual now for a producer to spend hours on a single sub – sculpting harmonics, distortion and movement until the bass is the hook, the signature, the drop.
“With the rise of sound design as a craft, a sound once felt and forgotten is now designed with the care once reserved for the lead. Pure SUB is a synthesiser built for that one job.”

Included in Pure SUB is a three-way split between sub, harmonics, and texture which can “morph timbre through a dual-mode engine built for everything from clean 808s to wide Reese, then blend in noise and texture so the bass cuts through on any system”.
The new kit will also reshape harmonics through more than 40 filter modes. Arturia adds that this will “drive the timbre with the Sub Processor – a bass-focused chain of expert-built modes that distort, texturise and transform in a few moves”.
New motion tools are also featured as part of the Pure SUB kit which offers three envelopes, six customisable modulators and full keyboard expressivity. This includes MPE, layer samples and noise, animation for any parameter, and modulation even to the modulators themselves.
Pure SUB will also have new tools for distorting in the FX rack, a preset randomiser to offer up new ideas with its “instant new sound” option, and a resampling tool that can give every note or bounce a “slightly different” sound.
Pure SUB is available now at a launch price of $/€49. Head to Arturia to get yours.
The post Master the drop with Arturia’s new Pure SUB soft bass synthesizer appeared first on MusicTech.

Master the drop with Arturia’s new Pure SUB soft bass synthesizerArturia has introduced a new bass synthesiser, Pure SUB, which offers an array of new tools that maintain the “drop-defining” bass quality. The software synthesiser experts focused on weight, impact, and motion with this new design.
A press release from the team ahead of the Pure SUB release reads: “In modern electronic music, from dubstep and drum & bass to the wider world of club and bass-driven production, low-end has become the defining voice.
READ MORE: Dreamtonics’ Instrument X can create a digital orchestra that sounds like real musicians
“Over the past decade, bass has moved from the foundation under the track toward the front of it. It’s not unusual now for a producer to spend hours on a single sub – sculpting harmonics, distortion and movement until the bass is the hook, the signature, the drop.
“With the rise of sound design as a craft, a sound once felt and forgotten is now designed with the care once reserved for the lead. Pure SUB is a synthesiser built for that one job.”

Included in Pure SUB is a three-way split between sub, harmonics, and texture which can “morph timbre through a dual-mode engine built for everything from clean 808s to wide Reese, then blend in noise and texture so the bass cuts through on any system”.
The new kit will also reshape harmonics through more than 40 filter modes. Arturia adds that this will “drive the timbre with the Sub Processor – a bass-focused chain of expert-built modes that distort, texturise and transform in a few moves”.
New motion tools are also featured as part of the Pure SUB kit which offers three envelopes, six customisable modulators and full keyboard expressivity. This includes MPE, layer samples and noise, animation for any parameter, and modulation even to the modulators themselves.
Pure SUB will also have new tools for distorting in the FX rack, a preset randomiser to offer up new ideas with its “instant new sound” option, and a resampling tool that can give every note or bounce a “slightly different” sound.
Pure SUB is available now at a launch price of $/€49. Head to Arturia to get yours.
The post Master the drop with Arturia’s new Pure SUB soft bass synthesizer appeared first on MusicTech.

Polyend has unveiled a new MIDI controller – and it looks an awful lot like a QWERTY keyboardHit command+K while in Logic to bring up the musical typing keyboard. But what if there was also a physical QWERTY keyboard that doubled as a MIDI controller?
Meet Keys, the new unit from Polyend which works not only as a three-octave piano but also as a fully functional keyboard, too.

READ MORE: Dreamtonics’ Instrument X can create a digital orchestra that sounds like real musicians

Currently being showcased at this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany between August 26-30, Keys features a single piece of aluminium as the bed, with hot-swappable Kailh low-profile switches meaning you can change without soldering. These changeable keys are also backlit.
The company also says it’s looking into making the firmware behind Keys open source. “Alternative layouts, different control modes, custom MIDI tools, sequencers, and other ideas can all be explored through software,” it says.

Keys isn’t tied to the computer, either, with a TRS MIDI output enabling direct connection with external synths, drum machines, or other MIDI hardware. It can also be used as a standalone controller.
 
“Nine rotary controls can be freely assigned to MIDI CCs for controlling software or hardware, or mapped to everyday computer functions like volume, scrolling, and brightness. A built-in display gives you feedback as you make adjustments,” the brand continues.
Polyend says Keys is still in its prototype phase, so “functionality, colour, or hardware could change”. Price, availability, and further details will be announced by the Polyend team in the future.
Learn more about Keys at Polyend.
The post Polyend has unveiled a new MIDI controller – and it looks an awful lot like a QWERTY keyboard appeared first on MusicTech.

Polyend has unveiled a new MIDI controller – and it looks an awful lot like a QWERTY keyboardHit command+K while in Logic to bring up the musical typing keyboard. But what if there was also a physical QWERTY keyboard that doubled as a MIDI controller?
Meet Keys, the new unit from Polyend which works not only as a three-octave piano but also as a fully functional keyboard, too.

READ MORE: Dreamtonics’ Instrument X can create a digital orchestra that sounds like real musicians

Currently being showcased at this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany between August 26-30, Keys features a single piece of aluminium as the bed, with hot-swappable Kailh low-profile switches meaning you can change without soldering. These changeable keys are also backlit.
The company also says it’s looking into making the firmware behind Keys open source. “Alternative layouts, different control modes, custom MIDI tools, sequencers, and other ideas can all be explored through software,” it says.

Keys isn’t tied to the computer, either, with a TRS MIDI output enabling direct connection with external synths, drum machines, or other MIDI hardware. It can also be used as a standalone controller.
 
“Nine rotary controls can be freely assigned to MIDI CCs for controlling software or hardware, or mapped to everyday computer functions like volume, scrolling, and brightness. A built-in display gives you feedback as you make adjustments,” the brand continues.
Polyend says Keys is still in its prototype phase, so “functionality, colour, or hardware could change”. Price, availability, and further details will be announced by the Polyend team in the future.
Learn more about Keys at Polyend.
The post Polyend has unveiled a new MIDI controller – and it looks an awful lot like a QWERTY keyboard appeared first on MusicTech.

Codwaves makes Seaquake techno rumble plugin FREE forever
Codwaves has made Seaquake, its techno rumble generator for macOS and Windows, permanently free to download. The developer confirmed that Seaquake is now free forever, so there is no deadline to claim it. We first featured Seaquake in December 2024, when it was available through a name-your-price offer. The plugin later became a €9.99 product, [...]
View post: Codwaves makes Seaquake techno rumble plugin FREE forever

Reason Free puts 15 legendary Reason devices inside your DAW for FREE forever
Reason Studios has launched Reason Free, a permanent freeware version of the Reason Rack with 15 instruments, effects, and creative utilities for macOS and Windows. Honestly, this may be the biggest freeware release of 2026 so far. Reason isn’t giving away a temporary demo or a handful of filler devices. This is a massively powerful [...]
View post: Reason Free puts 15 legendary Reason devices inside your DAW for FREE forever

Bitwig Studio 6.1 now available Bitwig Studio 6.1 brings some major changes to the Sampler device, kitting it out with new slicing options, two new play modes, automatic tempo and pitch detection, improved multi-sample editing and much more. 

Dreamtonics’ Instrument X can create a digital orchestra that sounds like real musiciansAs orchestras take on more and more popular applications, producers may often want to work with the real thing instead of using sample packs. Japan’s Dreamtonics is working to close that gap with Instrument X. This plugin uses AI to control the human elements of playing orchestral instruments such as breath pressure and bow friction, adding a more dynamic contrast than adjusting volume or applying stock effects. Dreamtonics calls the process “Neural Acoustics Modelling”.
Beyond individual adjustments to the playing style, Instrument X also employs “3D Sound-Field Control.” This function allows instruments to be placed in mockups of different microphone configurations, such as spot, Decca Tree, and ambient pairs.

READ MORE: The best new music plugins this week, free and paid

“While it may sound incredibly difficult to transcend the static constraints of traditional sample playback to achieve a fluid, organic performance, the ‘AI-driven’ synthesis is actually the straightforward part,” says Kanru Hua, Founder and CEO of Dreamtonics. “The true challenge lies in deep-customizing this technology to satisfy the exacting, high-end demands of real-world composition and production experts.”

By approaching modulations to the sounds with Neural Acoustics Modeling, there is no need to take up huge amounts of space on a hard drive with different sample packs. The technology alters the sound waves themselves with the different notation options instead of triggering different static audio files. Moreover, the UI is modelled after standard DAWs, making the workflow transition seamless. The new adjustment options are simply parameters to experiment with.
Dreamtonics has released 11 different packs related to Instrument X. There is the free standalone version and DAW plugin, and the other 10 range from $99 to $649, offering Instrument X with software instruments, software instrument packs on their own, and a complete collection.
Learn more at Dreamtonics.
The post Dreamtonics’ Instrument X can create a digital orchestra that sounds like real musicians appeared first on MusicTech.

A colouring book for Ableton: meet Stencils – the tool designed to help you master musical arrangementArrangement is one of the most important parts of music production. It’s how every artist fits their sounds together into one cohesive piece of music. And LA-based music education brand Color With Live has developed a new tool, Stencils, which helps users master the concept of arrangement.
Imagine having access to the Ableton project of a Skrillex song. All the tracks are laid out for the drums, vocals, bass, etc, and all the clips are in the arrangement view. With a stencil, the key difference is that there are no sounds in the clips. You get to fill in the sounds yourself, like a colouring book for Ableton. 

READ MORE: Core Sampler is “the sampler Pro Tools should already have” – this is how it works

This creates room for experimentation. Simply put your chosen sounds in the associated clips, follow the instructions, such as when to cut the low frequencies, and the final product will be a complete song because the arrangement is based on a track that’s worked on dancefloors around the world. Each stencil also clearly labels drops, breakdowns, and other sections to help users get a feel for what each part looks like in a session.
“Producers download Serum packs to practice sound design and MIDI packs to practice music theory. We were blown away that nothing like that existed for arrangement. The advice is always to pick apart your reference tracks, but there’s nothing visual to check your work,” says Kevin Rea, co-founder of Colour With Live. “Our mission isn’t for our stencil to be a crutch that you rely on for every song, but instead something that you can learn from and then apply to future productions.”
Rea and his fellow co-founder, Grant Hunter, came up with the idea for Stencils because, like many young producers, they have to work full-time on top of working on their music. After coming home from a long day, they wouldn’t know where to start when they were staring at an empty Ableton window. Stencils allowed them to get their creativity flowing and finish songs.
Now, they have created over 250 Stencils in a variety of genres such as UK Garage, Dubstep, Tech House, Drum & Bass, Techno, and Hip-Hop. For a limited time, they are offering a free pack of three Stencils based on Flip It by Levity, Fisher’s rework of World Hold On by Bob Sinclar, and Dimension’s Once In A Lifetime.
View the full stencil library and learn more at Color With Live.
The post A colouring book for Ableton: meet Stencils – the tool designed to help you master musical arrangement appeared first on MusicTech.