MUSIC TECH NEWS: Revelator & EVEN connect• KLVR battles battery waste • Songhunt adds image-based playlistsThe latest Music Tech News: Revelator and Even have announced a partnership designed to help connect artists with their fans and monetize music.
The post MUSIC TECH NEWS: Revelator & EVEN connect• KLVR battles battery waste • Songhunt adds image-based playlists appeared first on Hypebot.

Huge haul of Avicii’s music gear and personal belongings to be auctioned for charityA massive auction consisting of 267 items belonging to the late Avicii is set to take place this October.
The Avicii Collection auction is being run by Stockholms Auktionsverk, and will take place both online and in Stockholm, Sweden on Tuesday 1 October at 9am ET. All proceeds will be donated to The Tim Bergling Foundation, a mental health charity set up by Avicii’s family under his real name.

READ MORE: Watch never-before-seen footage of Avicii’s last-ever Sweden show

Bergling tragically took his own life in 2018. His song Wake Me Up has earned over two billion streams and is the highest-ever certified dance song by the RIAA. All items in the auction have been donated by Bergling’s family, with belongings such as sneakers, clothing, and instruments to go under the hammer, which have been stored in Stockholm for the last six years.

This auction will not take any reserve or buyer’s commission, so all proceeds can go to the foundation. The auction will be published in full on 6 September, when you’ll be able to view all the items included online, and in The Avicii Collection – A charity auction catalogue. This will be available both digitally and as a limited edition printed version, which you can pre-order now (28€).
“Tim Bergling left behind some incredible things,” states the auction website. “Given Tim’s lack of attachment to material things, his family decided that a charity auction is the most natural solution, with the proceeds directed towards The Tim Bergling Foundation.
“This auction will support the Foundation’s work for young people’s mental health and other causes close to Tim’s heart, such as endangered animals, nature, and climate. This way, Tim’s belongings can contribute to the positive change he always sought to inspire.”
You can find out more at Stockholms Auktionsverk, or read the FAQs page for information on how to bid.
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Get 90% OFF Izotope’s Creative FX Bundle
Izotope’s Creative FX Bundle is now available for $49 at Plugin Boutique, in a deal that wipes 90% off the list price of $497. This means buyers can save a whopping $448 compared to buying the three included plugins individually.  The bundle features Izotope’s  VocalSynth 2 vocal effects suite, Neoverb reverb, and Stutter Edit 2 [...]
View post: Get 90% OFF Izotope’s Creative FX Bundle

Get iZotope’s Neutron 4 Elements absolutely free for a limited time onlyPlugin Boutique is currently running an iZotope Manufacturer Focus Sale until 1 September, where you can get your hands on the AI-powered Neutron 4 Elements plugin for, well, absolutely nothing.
Yes, you read that right – this channel strip plugin is entirely free until the sale ends. But that’s not the only big deal, as you can also grab a range of other iZotope bundles, productions suites, and standalone plugins, with most available for over 50 per cent off.

READ MORE: How to use mix correction plugins for creative sound design

The iZotope Neutron 4 Elements plugin lets users mix in the moment, and hosts an updated Assistant which intelligently suggests processing for your audio that can be fine-tuned to your liking.
You can also dynamically match the tone of your track to a sample or stem using improved tone-matching technology from your own library of references or a collection of presets. You can take a closer look at the plugin in action below:

Elsewhere in the huge sale, you can save £483.50 (91 per cent) on the Creative FX bundle, featuring Vocal Synth 2, the Neoverb reverb plugin, and Stutter Edit 2. The VEA vocal processor is also available for just £10, and a Mixdown bundle for just £94 – a saving of £547 – is also on offer, packing in Neutron 4, along with the Nectar 4 vocal mixing tool and the Insight 2 metering and audio analysis plugin. For fans of the Elements series, you can also grab the RX 11 audio restoration plugin, now for just £37.50, or Ozone 11 for £19.
Last May, iZotope’s parent company, Native Instruments, announced a new tiered subscription model called NI 360. Created as a replacement for the company’s Komplete Now model – which gives users a curated selection of plugins for a monthly fee – NI 360 offers a wider selection of tools from Native Instruments, iZotope and Brainworx.
Find out more and view the full range of deals over at Plugin Boutique.
The post Get iZotope’s Neutron 4 Elements absolutely free for a limited time only appeared first on MusicTech.

Guarantee Music Bloggers Won’t Ignore You: Avoid These MistakesDiscover promotion mistakes that guarantee music bloggers won't ignore you. Follow these tips to ensure your songs get the attention they deserve.
The post Guarantee Music Bloggers Won’t Ignore You: Avoid These Mistakes appeared first on Hypebot.

Shure’s new SM4 Home Recording Microphone captures “professional-quality recordings regardless of setup, environment, or experience”Shure has launched a brand new mic for musicians and creatives working from home. The new SM4 Home Recording Microphone aims to “empower” artists to create high-quality recordings, regardless of environment or experience.
The versatile, large-diaphragm condenser mic has been designed to streamline the recording experience, featuring multiple layers of plosive protection and integrated components. The dual-diaphragm capsule design reduces popping noises and keeps sound quality consistent with reduced proximity effect.

READ MORE: Behringer Model 15 finally available after two year delay

The mic also has patent-pending Interference Shielding Technology, protecting recordings from unwanted RF interference noise from wireless devices commonly found in the home, including smartphones, laptops, and Wi-Fi routers.
Elsewhere, a controlled low-end response enables EQ adjustments without introducing unwanted elements, making it easier to achieve “a big radio voice and full-sounding instrument tracks”.
The microphone’s cardioid polar pattern additionally provides a large “sweet spot,” enabling vocalists to move freely without compromising sound quality. It also has a sleek, “low-profile” black look with all-metal construction, and comes with a swivel-mount microphone clamp and zippered carrying bag.

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“The SM4 is designed to reflect the modern workflows of musicians, engineers, and creators who are serious about their craft, helping them overcome the issues that make engineers cringe: plosives, harsh high-frequency response, undefined low-end, and RF interference,” states Steve Marek, Associate Manager of Product Management at Shure.
“If you’re a musician, you want to stay in the creative flow, rather than chasing down problems in your audio setup. No matter what you are recording with the SM4, you need your tracks to be professional quality. If you’re an engineer receiving those tracks, you’ll appreciate how seamlessly they fit into a mix, and the time saved from not having to fix a variety of problems surgically.”
The SM4 Home Recording Microphone is available now for £195 (€229 / $199 USD). Additionally, a bundle option is available priced at £249 (€289 / $269 USD), including a shock mount, magnetic pop filter, and premium carrying case.
For further details, head over to Shure.
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Hexinverter Mutant Rimshot from Erica Synths  Erica Synths' latest collaboration with Hexinverter Électronique sees the company redesign a popular TR-909-inspired drum module.

All you need to know about Fortnite’s next concert event with Karol GThe worlds of gaming and music continue to collide within Fortnite, as the video game has announced another live concert event, this time with Colombian artist Karol G.
Karol G is set to perform as the headliner for Fortnite Festival Season 5, which runs from 16 August until 2 November 12am ET. Off the back of the five-time Latin Grammy winner’s real-life world tour, she’ll be virtually performing a setlist spread across five interactive parts.

READ MORE: “We’re taking power away from corporate networks, and saying, ‘No, we’re gonna reward our fans, not you’”: M. Shadows on Avenged Sevenfold’s new Fortnite-style Season Pass

Her concert event starts on Friday 23 August 23 at 3pm ET, and ends Monday 26 August at 12pm ET. At the end, players can unlock an exclusive Bichota four-String Bass.
There’s also plenty of other chances to unlock further Karol G Instruments (including a keytar) and a Karol G Outfit in the Festival Pass’ Premium Reward Track, where you’ll be able to combat the darkness in a playable concert experience featuring your Festival crew and a special guest list of familiar Fortnite characters.

After the main concert event, you can also play Karol G songs on either the Main Stage or Battle Stage from a featured rotation as part of an after party. A range of Karol G Quests will also go live at the same time as the concert, which enable you to unlock the Love, Karol G Loading Screen and a Karol G-based Banner Icon.
Fortnite has been hosting concerts from the likes of Metallica, Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, and more across its virtual stages over the years. Even Billie Eilish used the platform to tease a 49-second snippet of Chihiro, the third track from her latest album Hit Me Hard and Soft, back in May. Earlier this year, Fortnite also teamed up with Fender to launch the iconic Stratocaster guitar and Precision Bass within the game.
To find out more about the upcoming Karol G concert, head to Fortnite. 
The post All you need to know about Fortnite’s next concert event with Karol G appeared first on MusicTech.

Floating Points is making his own sound system inspired by those he lovesProducer and DJ Floating Points is building his own sound system inspired by the greats he’s enjoyed playing through most over the years.
The project is currently in its early stages, and Floating Points – real name Samuel Shepherd – is working with designer fig. G (Carlos Figueroa) in London to bring his vision to life.

READ MORE: Storage locker hunters uncover Kanye West gear in epic haul – featuring AKG mics, Yeezys, an Ensoniq sampler and more

So far, the sound system integrates parts inspired by the Aztec speakers used in the iconic system at Leeds venue, Cosmic Slop, and also the work of SBS Slammer, a high-end sound system company based in NYC created by Craig ‘Shorty’ Bernabeu. Shepherd has shared a short clip showing the early progress to Instagram, in which he talks through his current design choices.
“Here is a 1:20 scale model of the speaker we’re building,” he begins. “There’s actually a couple of little speakers in there,” he says, demonstrating how the sound will flow out of its conical shape. “I’m trying to make a sound system that is all the bits of sound systems I love.”
In the caption, he further adds, “A soundsystem! Still not sure why I’m doing it… but wanna make a sound combining all the components and systems I have loved playing on over the years.”
You can watch his video below, and also check out sped-up footage of the progress shared by fig.G:

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A post shared by Carlos Figueroa (@fig.g)

It’s no surprise Shepherd has been inspired by the sound system of Cosmic Slop. We wrote about the iconic set up in the venue just last year, in a round-up of the best-sounding clubs and their vintage hi-fi sound systems.
Tom Smith, the founder and owner of Cosmic Slop, is the custodian of the original blueprints from New York icon Paradise Garage. He went to New York and met some of the last people who worked on the system for Larry Levan and built it to Cosmic Slop’s spec. Artist Bradley Zero says, “when you play there, you feel you’re stepping back in time to this paragon of musical excellence.”
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Is Dreamtonics Vocoflex a must-have vocal plugin or just an AI toy?$199 (excluding tax), dreamtonics.com
Available in a bundle with Synthesizer V Studio
It’s getting tough to tell whether an online voice is real or fake, isn’t it? Our era of vocal deepfakes and generative AI vocals is eerie and precarious — but that hasn’t stopped some developers from trying to improve the prowess of music producers with new AI vocal tools. Though we’ve seen software like Voice-Swap capable of transforming and replacing vocals in any song, Japanese brand Dreamtonics has gone a step further with its Vocoflex plugin, with seriously impressive results. But is it actually useful?

READ MORE: DJ Fresh doesn’t want AI to fall in the wrong hands — so he started Voice-Swap

Vocoflex uses AI technology to transform your vocals in real-time and morph between several voices simultaneously. The output may not sound as pristine as something like SoundID VoiceAI or Voice-Swap but its real-time workflow makes it fast and flexible.
Available as a plugin and standalone software, Vocoflex can also be used alongside another Dreamtonics instrument, Synthesizer V, to greatly expand the range of possible voices.
Aside from experimental vocal morphing, Vocoflex can change the voice’s gender, blend multiple targets to create an entirely new voice, create new backing vocals that differ from the lead, or create vocal demos with a more appropriate vocal sound. You can even try it on instruments instead of vocals, which can lead to surprising sound design results. If using it live, then you can switch on a low-latency Realtime mode, with the fastest option being around 35ms. Most will want to leave it off, for a higher-fidelity output.

How do you use Vocoflex?
You can choose your target voice in three ways. The first, and easiest, is to load up one of the 40 presets that include male and female pop singers, operatic soprano, husky R’n’B, mellow baritone and more. Although they’re high-quality models, there’s a learning curve to get to know the sound of each. You can generally guess if it’s male or female based on the name (e.g. Tenor), but we’d find it more useful if the list was split into low, medium and high registers so you can pick one that best fits your vocal.
The second way to create a target voice is with the Voice Generator, which presents an X/Y pad with gender on the X axis and Tone on the Y axis. You can click Random to generate a new voice timbre, which is linked to the colour of the pad. The new colour is also listed as a hex colour code at the bottom, which you can save and recall later. Once you’re happy, click Apply to generate the target. Easy, right?
Vocoflex interface
The final, and most impressive option, is to load in your own vocal sample. You only need around 10 seconds of audio for the process to work, which is far less than some competing products that require 15 minutes of analysis. Dreamtonics suggests that quality is more important than quantity; you’ll get the best results with clean and dry, solo vocal stems.
Once you’ve chosen a target, the presets and imported voices are shown as curves on the user interface, with several dots representing small portions of the analysed audio, and the Voice Generator showing up as a single node. If you choose more than one node, then the curves or dots are distributed around the screen, with similar voices placed nearer to each other to make morphing smoother. You can then play your vocal, either via a track in the DAW or through a microphone, and Vocoflex will transform it in real-time. It’s truly impressive how smoothly it all works.

To get the best vocal sound, you’ll want a target and main vocal that are as close in register as possible. If you click on the tuning fork icon, you can transpose the output by 18 semitones, and you get a helpful graphic that suggests the most suitable range.
As the voice is synthesised, it offers a novel, alternative way to transpose vocals. To put this to the test, we take our own vocal track and feed a portion into Vocoflex. We then use the generated target on the same vocal part (i.e. on itself) and pitch it down five semitones. If you were to do this using more traditional pitch-shifting effects, and even with something like Melodyne, then you get shifts in formants that alter the voice away from the original. However, amazingly, Vocoflex sounds just like the original singer, just in a lower register, albeit with subtle artefacts.
Vocoflex’s Waypoint system lets you select a number of points for the cursor that can then be jumped to either by hitting a key or via MIDI input. This means you can morph vocals live onstage, where different sections of a song are sung in different voices. Unfortunately, you can’t slide between points, but cursor positions can be automated.
Vocoflex voice generator
When tested against other vocal-changing products such as Sonarworks’ SoundID VoiceAI and Audimee, Vocoflex falls short in terms of audio quality and how natural the voice sounds – much like the difference between real-time and offline stem separation algorithms. At times, it sounds indistinct and is more likely to have subtle audio artefacts if any portion of the original vocal isn’t perfect. But remember — Vocoflex can be used more like an instrument than the VoiceAI and Audimee, so you’re getting a slightly unique product here.
For example, when using SoundID, you need to undertake many more steps to process and re-import the audio — and you’ll probably come up against some trial and error, as you don’t necessarily know what’s going to come out when you hit ‘process’. Vocoflex, on the other hand, is instant. Simply move the cursor and hear the changes in real-time so you can fine tune the output to your liking. It’s also lightning-quick to build your own voice presets.
With that in mind, we would probably only use Vocoflex for a lead vocal if the original recording and performance are of immaculate quality. However, it’s a perfect tool for creating fast mock-ups, or adding harmonies and backing vocals.
Dreamtonics has found a novel, if frustrating, way to help make Vocoflex ethical, given the potential for misuse or copyright infringement. When you register, you have to upload a copy of your ID. This is then used to generate an inaudible watermark in audio you create with the software, which can be traced back to you. It remains to be seen how effective this is, but it’s a step in the right direction for protecting artist rights.
Vocoflex waypoints
You might feel uncomfortable with uploading a copy of your passport or driving licence to access music software, which is totally fair. With Dreamtonics, it’s all handled via a third-party in London (ComplyCube) which specialises in identity verification and uses bank-grade security to encrypt your data. We’ve already seen this as a dealbreaker for potential buyers online, while others aren’t as concerned.
Vocoflex uses incredible technology to make vocal transformation fast and fun. If you’re working with imperfect audio, then you’re more likely to get the odd artefact or unnatural sound, but experimentation with different targets can improve the results. It would improve flexibility if you could go in and alter the generated targets further.
For $199, it’s definitely on the pricey side. However, compared to a tool such as Audimee, which is $25 per month for the Pro tier, you could save money in the long run. Although, as mentioned, the results with Vocoflex might not be as convincing. Voice-Swap, meanwhile, is $10 for the Pro tier. Both are slightly different prospects to Vocoflex, but will be more affordable if you’re just looking to change the timbre of a vocal part.
Overall, the streamlined approach and fast workflow of Vocoflex make this a worthy contender to more cumbersome online voice changing options, particularly for live performers.
Key features

Real-time vocal transformation and morphing, fine-tuned for singing
Plugin (VST3, AU, AAX) and standalone
40 target vocal presets
Import your own vocal a capellas for analysis
Morph between presets by dragging a cursor around the interface
Change genders or blend and create new vocalists
Set Waypoints to perform vocal switches via key presses or MIDI
Vocal Generator can generate a new vocal timbre at random
Edit the gender and tone of the Vocal Generator on an X/Y pad
Low latency Realtime mode
Watermarking feature to help reduce unethical use

The post Is Dreamtonics Vocoflex a must-have vocal plugin or just an AI toy? appeared first on MusicTech.

Overloud Studio Sessions FREE is a Reverb Collection for the Free REmatrix Player
Overloud has made the Studio Sessions Free reverb collection available as a freebie. All you need to get it up and running is the free REmatrix Player. The REmatrix Player IR loader is a free plugin for Windows and macOS in AU, VST, AAX, and standalone formats.  Overloud describes Studio Sessions Free as a collection [...]
View post: Overloud Studio Sessions FREE is a Reverb Collection for the Free REmatrix Player

Is your company AI-washing? Rippling founder Parker Conrad thinks it might be.Right now, there’s a mad scramble to capitalize on AI.
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Over half of TikTok’s biggest global tracks of the summer are independently distributedOn Monday (August 19), TikTok revealed its Top 10 Songs of the Summer for the US and globally
Source

Arizona crypto PAC-backed candidate ekes out narrow victory after recountDemocratic candidate Yassamin Ansari, supported by more than $1 million in crypto super PAC funds, claimed victory in an Arizona congressional primary.

Pulling Hydrogen out of the WaterIn theory, water and electric current will cause electrolysis and produce oxygen and hydrogen as the water breaks apart. In practice, doing it well can be tricky. [Relic] shows an efficient way to produce an electrolysis cell using a few plastic peanut butter jars and some hardware.
The only tricky point is that you need hardware made of steel and not zinc or other materials. Well, that and the fact that the gasses you produce are relatively dangerous.

To that end, [Relic] includes an “I don’t want to explode switch” in the system by routing tubes of gas through a second jar filled with water so that the water will block its return.
Of course, we’ve seen the same setup created with a battery, two coils of wire, and some test tubes, but this can certainly produce more hydrogen faster. Like most of these designs, you can scale them by adding more steel parts. The more surface area, the more gas you’ll produce.
We’ve seen a number of similar generators before, but each one is a little different. If you want to get really fancy, you can turn to automation.