Gemini Live first look: Better than talking to Siri, but worse than I’d likeGoogle launched Gemini Live during its Made By Google event in Mountain View, California, on Tuesday. The feature allows you to have a semi-natural spoken conversation, not typed out, with an AI chatbot powered by Google’s latest large language model. TechCrunch was there to test it out firsthand. Gemini Live is Google’s answer to OpenAI’s […]
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Roblox strikes deal with DistroKid – but indie artists won’t be paid any money from itRoblox revenues are forecast to hit $3.5bn across the course of this year
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McDSP Live Pack II bundle goes native A new version of the Live Pack II bundle has arrived, offering support for Waves and Fourier Audio's VST3 host systems as well as all major DAWs.

5 impactful sound design tips from Mad Keys
Veteran producer and instrumentalist Mad Keys shares five essential sound design tips that inspire his creativity.

Cheap DIY Button Pad Uses Neat Punchcard TrickA StreamDeck is effectively a really cool box full of colorful buttons that activate various things on your PC. They’re fun and cool but they’re also something you can build yourself if you’re so inclined. [Jason] did just that for his sim racing setup, and he included some nifty old-school tech as well.
An ESP32 is at the core of the build, listening to button presses and communicating with the PC. However, the build doesn’t actually use regular buttons. Instead, it uses infrared sensors wired up in a matrix. This was an intentional choice, because [Jason] wanted the device to be reconfigurable with different paper card overlays. There are ways to do this with regular buttons too, but it works particularly well with the infrared technique. Plus, each button also gets a Neopixel allowing its color to be changed to suit different button maps.
What’s really neat is that the button maps change instantly when a different overlay card is inserted. [Jason] achieved this with an extra row of infrared sensors to detect punched holes in the bottom of the overlay cards.
Once upon a time, even building your own keyboard was an uphill battle. Today, it’s easier than ever to whip up fun and unique interface devices that suit your own exact needs. That’s a good thing! Video after the break.

UnitedMasters launches new $20-a-year subscription tier that allows artists to keep 100% of royaltiesOnce again, the indie artist services and distribution platform is bringing down the cost of doing business for artists
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Metro Boomin Continues ‘Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes' Grant ProgramLast night, GRAMMY®-nominated, diamond-certified producer and global superstar Metro Boomin descended on Atlanta for the 6th stop of his highly anticipated ‘We Trust You’ tour with Future at the State Farm Center. Metro and Future performed a collection of their top hits, including “Like That” and “Type Shit” from their #1 Billboard 200 album We Don't Trust You, which holds the #1 spot on the Apple Music charts in over 80 countries and was also the most streamed album in a single day of 2024. 

Also, making its 6th tour stop was Metro Boomin's Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes grant-giving tour program, a national, multi-city initiative providing $20,000 in grants and show tickets to selected single mother non-profit organizations in each market of the ‘We Trust You’ tour. 

The first recipient of the night was the Atlanta Mission, an Atlanta-based organization and registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of those experiencing homelessness through customized services offering a path forward amidst challenging circumstances. Followed by the second grant recipient Solomon’s Temple, a holistic emergency and transitional shelter for homeless women and their children, driven by a mission to treat the root causes of homelessness in Atlanta.

Both organizations were gifted $20K from Metro to help further the work for their important causes as he takes the 'Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes' tour grant program to all 21 markets of his national, multi-city 'We Trust You' tour. Metro officially launched the grant program at the first tour stops in Kansas City and St. Paul. Metro initially launched his ‘Single Moms Are Superheroes’ initiative in 2017, hosting annual give-back activations. In December of 2023, he partnered with St. Louis-based non-profit organization RUNG for Women and presenting sponsor Amazon Access to launch his grant-giving program in honor of his late mother, Leslie Joanne.The post Metro Boomin Continues ‘Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes' Grant Program first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Stemfie, The 3D-Printable Construction SetConstruction kit toys are cited by many adults as sparking great creativity and engineering talent in their youth. LEGO, Meccano, K’NEX, Lincoln Logs—these are all great commercial options. But what about printing your very own construction kit at home? Meet Stemfie.
Fundamentally, Stemfie isn’t that different from any other construction kit you might have seen before. It has various beams and flat plates that are full of holes so they can be assembled together in various ways. It also uses bolts, spacers, and small plastic nuts that can be tightened using a special hand tool. Think of a mixture between LEGO Technic and Meccano and that will get you in the ballpark. It includes neat motion components too, including gears, wheels, and even a large flat spring!
What can you build with it? Well, as every construction kit toy says, you’re only limited by your imagination! However, if your imagination is especially small, you can just use the Stemfie 3D YouTube channel for inspiration. It features everything from a ping pong ball catapult to a rubber-band driven car. Plus, since it’s all 3D printed, you can simply scale up the parts and build even bigger designs. Like a giant catapult that can hurl entire water jugs. Fun!
We’ve seen other projects in this vein before. One of our favorites is [Ivan Miranda]’s giant 3D printed assembly kit that he uses to build big monster toys.

Is Houghton the UK’s best underground dance festival?Against the odds, Houghton has become a gem in the UK festival calendar. After attending its fifth edition from 8 – 11 August, it’s easy to see why Norfolk’s non-stop woodland rave, which runs from 5 pm Thursday to 3 am the following Monday, is so beloved by the UK underground scene.
Arguably, the many challenges that curator Craig Richards and festival producers Gottwood have faced along the way — Houghton 2019 was cancelled on opening morning due to a storm and the following two were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic; even an “unwell” Quarry stage at the 2024 festival can’t go ahead due to flooding — are now a distant memory.
Rather than being defeated, however, the team have triumphantly powered through to create an event that really is in a league of its own. What makes Houghton so special, though? In a nutshell, it’s a combination of several things: the setting, sound quality, visual design, staging, programming and crowd.
[Full disclosure: Houghton invited MusicTech to the festival with a free guest pass. Our writer paid for travel, accommodation and other expenses; no other fees were involved.]
Credit: JakeDavis/@jakephilipdavis/@khromacollective
Set around a huge tranquil lake within the expansive grounds of Houghton Hall — a Palladian-style mansion built in the 1720s for Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole — you’ll struggle to find a more naturally stunning festival location in the UK. With the majority of stages nestled between towering trees festooned with lights that pulse to the music, discovery is a key focus at Houghton; something remarkable, and often jaw-dropping, awaits around every corner.
Among the standouts are woodcarver’s dream The Armadillo which, shaped like its namesake, is illusionary and entirely unique, and 24-hour stage Terminus where, deep into the forest, the DJ arriving behind the decks remains a mystery. Then there’s The Pavilion which, teetering on the water’s edge, hosts marathon sets from huge names like vinyl crate-digger Tini and Ricardo Villalobos. Contrastly, Houghton also boasts many intimate spots, like Trevino’s pop-up record store, and Giant Steps’ igloo-shaped dome which, furnished with fake plants and stacked speakers, becomes packed for a tiny-capacity set from Hunee.
Unlike some festivals where audio quality can be shoddy and bleed between stages, here there’s much consideration to ensure that’s not the case. With the distance measured perfectly, there is no room for poor sound at Houghton; instead, sound systems are impressively strong yet crisp wherever you are.
Credit: Daisy Denham / Khroma Collective
This ties in with the audio-visual aspect of the festival; the vast majority of stages have large screens behind the performance space showing Houghton’s own visuals, meaning there is always plenty to keep the eye’s attention as well as the ears. The most impressive are D&B Audiotechnik’s dedicated A/V farm shed-club Warehouse, and Tantrum, where the screen behind the DJ decks looks as though it’s been split into three rows of retro-televisions.
The expertly -curated programming — albeit niche — is top-tier across the entire weekend. While the majority of UK dance festivals tend to focus on big-name DJs, Houghton deviates. Alongside sets from top selectors like Ben UFO, SHERELLE, Saoirse and Shanti Celeste, as well as a healthy amount of back-to-backs (Call Super B2B Palms Trax is particularly fun), the programme is full of live shows from cult favourites who scarcely perform in the country, let alone the countryside, including Radioactive Man, Wajatta, African Head Charge, Sansibar, Burnt Friedman and a special collaboration between Object Blue and Natalia Podgórska.
The weekend’s runaway highlight, though, is a rare performance from constantly-beaming Japanese electronic artist and video game composer Soichi Terada, who plays his Korg Kaossilator up high for all to see. Performing on the Darren Smart Memorial stage — an industrialist shipping container with royal red curtains flanking the tech set-up — the Ape Escape soundtracker gets the Houghton crowd really moving. From waving their arms in the air as one to joining in with a synchronised dance routine and then pogo-ing on the spot, the audience interaction at his show proves that Houghtoners — a London-centric bunch who varyingly sport Von Dutch and wave BRAT hand fans, are dressed as Star Wars characters (lightsabers included), or barristers in wigs — are perhaps slightly less edgy than you’d imagine. Hell, there’s even a punter carrying a huge mop around. It’s a sight to behold, and perhaps not one you’d expect at this kind of festival, but with flashing neon strobes and a stunning sunset to boot, the joy is unparalleled.
Credit: Jake Davis / Khroma Collective
There’s plenty to enjoy away from the music too: where else would you be able to board a train (if you manage to get a ticket) and tour a sculpture garden full of Anthony Gormley statues (many of which are heads sticking out of the ground)? Alongside art, well-being is an equally prominent focus of Houghton – party hard, but look after yourself.
With a large relaxation tent offering reggae yoga, sound baths and breathwork meditations, The Orchard is a relaxed retreat area designed for escaping the noise from elsewhere. Fittingly, the Pinters stage gives space for festival-goers to relax on deckchairs, legs outstretched on wooden mushroom stalls, while in conversation interviews take place and the likes of London-based rapper, DJ and producer James Messiah share thought-provoking poems.
Suffice it to say, we had a blast at Houghton. With the vast majority of festivals now dominated by corporate sponsorship, as well as copycat line-ups and poor sound quality, Houghton offers a singular yet sustainable vision of the future. For all its high-tech innovativeness, though, there’s a charmingly DIY spirit that runs through it all; if the UK music industry had its own Olympics, Houghton would undoubtedly score golds across the board.
The post Is Houghton the UK’s best underground dance festival? appeared first on MusicTech.

Bicep’s Matt McBriar recovering after undergoing surgery to remove non-cancerous brain tumourMatt McBriar – one half of Belfast electronic music duo Bicep – has revealed that he underwent surgery last week to remove a non-cancerous brain tumour.
In a statement posted on Bicep’s social media channels, it’s revealed that doctors found a significant tumour on the pituitary gland of his brain following tests. It was caught relatively early, however, and McBriar details what could have happened if it were missed for much longer.

READ MORE: Take a trip down memory lane with Phoenix, Air, Kavinsky and more at the Olympics closing ceremony

“Towards the end of 2023, I got some intense localised headaches matched with a weird fatigue that felt new,” he recalls. “I got several blood tests in spring 2024 which came back indicating that something was wrong, so my GP arranged an MRI followed by a CT scan.
Unfortunately, they told me they had discovered a large, and pretty rare Craniopharyngioma tumour on my pituitary gland. The good news is firstly, it’s almost certainly not cancerous and secondly, I’ve caught it in the earlier stages of damage. I’d been very lucky to get those initial blood tests followed by an MRI.
“Had it been much longer I might’ve lost some eyesight and a load of other problems due to the size and position of the tumour pressing on my optic nerves.”
McBriar says he’s been through “many, many rounds of hospital appointments and tests since”, and underwent surgery on 9 August, which he says “went well”. He is currently recovering in hospital at the time of writing.
“I decided to carry on living life and playing shows as normal and it was personally important to keep my mind busy!” he adds.
He goes on: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the amazon consultants, surgeons, doctors and nurses at the NHS who have looked after me and been so amazing, kind and empathetic.
“The support I’ve received has been incredible, I can’t say this enough. Appointments were arranged with sometimes only hours’ notice and communication incredibly fast and direct. Our healthcare system is very precious and worth fighting for!”
McBriar adds that while he is in recovery, his bandmate Andy Ferguson will be performing Bicep shows solo “until further notice”.

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Forthcoming Bicep shows include sets at the UK’s Creamfields festival, The Brooklyn Mirage, San Francisco’s Portola, and Philadelphia’s Making Time. 
For a full list of upcoming dates, head to Bicep’s website.
The post Bicep’s Matt McBriar recovering after undergoing surgery to remove non-cancerous brain tumour appeared first on MusicTech.

SoundCloud Store launches with Exclusive Artist merch – 100% profits to artistsSoundCloud has launched the SoundCloud Store, where a curated group of its Next Pro artists can design and sell exclusive merchandise, keeping 100% of the profits.
The post SoundCloud Store launches with Exclusive Artist merch – 100% profits to artists appeared first on Hypebot.

The Ultimate Advertising Toolkit for MusiciansAdvertising music is not the easiest task for musicians. With this Advertising Toolkit for Musicians, learn how to boost your music career with top advertising tools to increase your reach and impact.
The post The Ultimate Advertising Toolkit for Musicians appeared first on Hypebot.

Music Expo Programme Schedule announced Returning for its tenth year, Music Expo San Francisco will feature over 30 Grammy-winning producers, engineers, songwriters and music artists along with a whole host of leading technology brands.

Impact Soundworks launches GameVerb, a plugin emulating signature reverbs of classic Nintendo and PlayStation gamesYou’ll no doubt have a selection of reverbs in your production arsenal, but what about one that emulates the signature reverbs of ‘90s Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation games?
Well, that’s exactly what Impact Soundworks is offering with its latest plugin, GameVerb.

READ MORE: How to make a Y2K video game house beat in 10 minutes with free plugins

GameVerb features specific algorithms invented by game programmers of the ‘90s, “painstakingly recreated in modern code” to harness the sound of a host of classic games. And for code-savvy producers – which there’s bound to be a few at the intersection of music and video games – there’s even the ability to enter “Geek Mode” to customise settings in greater detail.
Additionally, there’s a global capability to lower the sample rate or use the five-mode Bit Rate Reduction filter to further sculpt a vintage lo-fi sound.
“We make plugins that we want to use ourselves,” says Impact Soundworks CEO Andrew Aversa. “I love to compose video game music in the style of this era of gaming, and now I can finally get ‘that’ reverb sound for my own music.
“And just like with Super Audio Cart [retro game samples plugin, also by Impact Soundworks], we went above and beyond to make it as editable as possible, so for the mad scientist sound designers and true enthusiasts, you have every control you could possibly want.” 
GameVerb is available now for $49. Visit the Impact Soundworks store for more information.

The post Impact Soundworks launches GameVerb, a plugin emulating signature reverbs of classic Nintendo and PlayStation games appeared first on MusicTech.

The Usual Suspects release Xenia, a FREE Waldorf Microwave II/XT emulation (beta)
Xenia is the latest vintage synth emulation from The Usual Suspects, the developer behind OsTirus, Vavra (Waldorf microQ emulation), and the Access Virus C emulation. The retro-inspired developer has returned to Waldorf to offer a Microwave II/XT emulation, albeit in its beta phase. Xenia (beta) is available in AU, VST, VST3, CLAP, and LV2 formats [...]
View post: The Usual Suspects release Xenia, a FREE Waldorf Microwave II/XT emulation (beta)