Apple will let users roll back the Liquid Glass look with new ‘tinted’ optionApple is responding to user feedback on its new Liquid Glass design with a setting that lets users choose between Clear and Tinted appearances. Introduced in iOS 26.1 beta 4, the option gives users more control over interface opacity after complaints that Liquid Glass made some elements harder to read.

Yamaha reveal MODX M line-up Yamaha's latest synth line-up offers recording and performing musicians three compact, lightweight and affordable alternatives to the MODX+ range.

jasl-audio Striking Strings GlissandiSTRIKING STRINGS GLISSANDI. Striking Strings Glissandi (SSG) is created to deliver you unparalleled control over one of the most tension-evoking effects in orchestral music: the strings glissando, also known as a string riser. TAKE CONTROL. Gain real-time control over the pitch, articulations and dynamics of a string orchestra. Customize these parameters independently for more creative freedom, or choose for quick and easy results by linking them together to your modwheel. GLISSANDI IN ALL FLAVOURS. Create glissandi in six distinct articulations. Use the crossfade function to make real-time transitions between articulations, unlocking up to 36 unique glissando combinations. DYNAMICS. Take control of the expressivity with the dynamics slider, curve controller and accent controller. There are three dynamic layers at your disposal: mp, ppp and fff. Use the link button to synchronize the dynamics with the glissando for a powerful -plug and play- glissando tool. CREATE YOUR SOUND. Experience exceptional sound quality, created through a collaboration between accomplished musicians, skilled engineers, and state-of-the-art recording equipment. Customize your audio mix by adjusting the spot, stage and reverb channels and create a sound that perfectly aligns with your preferences. Read More

3 things you might have missed about Spotify’s AI music product plansMBW Explains is a series of analytical features in which we explore the context behind major music industry talking points – and suggest what might happen next.
Source

NIVA and NITO respond to Ticketmaster’s Congressional LetterNIVA and NITO, the two top independent live music trade groups responded to Ticketmaster and Live Nation's Congressional letter on the pending FTC lawsuit alleging collusion with ticket resellers and a failure to aggressively fight BOTS act violations.
The post NIVA and NITO respond to Ticketmaster’s Congressional Letter appeared first on Hypebot.

Blinking An LED With a Single TransistorLet’s say you want to blink an LED. You might grab an Arduino and run the Blink sketch, or you might lace up a few components to a 555. But you needn’t go so fancy! [The Design Graveyard] explains how this same effect can be achieved with a single transistor.
The circuit in question is rather odd at first blush. The BC547 NPN transistor is hooked up between an LED and a resistor leading to a 12V DC line, with a capacitor across the emitter and collector. Meanwhile, the base is connected to… nothing! It’s just free-floating in the universe of its own accord. You might expect this circuit to do nothing at all, but if you power it up, the LED will actually start to flash.
The mechanism at play is relatively simple. The capacitor charges to 12 volts via the resistor. At this point, the transistor, which is effectively just acting as a poor diode in this case, undergoes avalanche breakdown at about 8.5 to 9 volts, and starts conducting. This causes the capacitor to discharge via the LED, until the voltage gets low enough that the transistor stops conducting once again. Then, the capacitor begins to charge back up, and the cycle begins again.
It’s a weird way to flash an LED, and it’s not really the normal way to use a transistor—you’re very much running it out of spec. Regardless, it does work for a time! We’ve looked at similar circuits before too. Video after the break.

[Thanks to Vik Olliver for the tip!]

Wise hints at stablecoin ambitions with new digital-asset product lead hireWise is hiring a digital-asset product lead focused on stablecoins, signaling potential expansion into crypto amid shifting global regulations.

Rock heavyweights Garbage are quitting touring despite a strong following – is being a working musician becoming increasingly unrealistic?Is being a touring musician becoming increasingly unrealistic?
Shirley Manson of rock band Garbage recently made the announcement that the group would be “curtailing” their “headline touring business” in the wake of ‘“untenable” economic circumstances.

READ MORE: I use FabFilter plugins every single day and can’t recommend them enough – get these essentials right now at 25% off

Garbage are currently on tour in the US, and made the announcement at a recent show in Washington, DC, saying: “We have just decided that the economics have become untenable, so this is kind of the last time that we’ve decided we’re going to get on a bus and just tour all over North America.”
So if Garbage – a band with a considerable following (2.7 million Spotify monthly listeners, for some degree of perspective) – can’t make the economics of touring work, what does that mean for fledgling artists?
Speaking to the crowd at the band’s recent show at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado, Manson elaborated once again on the band’s decision to rethink their approach to touring.
“It has become entirely unsustainable for a band like us to come and tour anywhere except the coasts,” she said [via MusicRadar].
She noted that she and her bandmates are thankful for their 30-year career to date, adding that they have “no complaints”, however she retains her outward stance on the increasing impossibility of touring artists to make it financially viable so that “we all start to understand what exactly is going on in the music industry”.
“You see all these big pop stars, and they’re making billions and billions and billions of dollars and they’re rich and they’re glamorous and they’re amazing.”
Manson makes no specific reference here, but it’s worth noting Taylor Swift – by many accounts the biggest artist in the world right now – raked in over $2 billion in ticket sales.
The problem, Manson continued, is that “most of the music industry is not made of these big pop stars. They’re made of working musicians”.
“This is not a pity party for us,” she went on. “This is an alarm call for all the young generations of musicians who are in our wake, and who we feel duty-bound to speak up for because there’s nobody speaking up for them. There is no governmental body. There’s no fucking real effective union for musicians that fights for young musicians to get paid.”
It’s certainly true that an increasing number of artists are questioning the economic viability of touring in 2025 and beyond.
The Chemical Brothers, for example – an English duo who are arguably one of the biggest names in dance music – said in 2023 that touring was no longer “viable”, adding: “The costs have gone up so much.”
And earlier this year, a fund was set up to help UK touring artists, with Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive of Music Managers Forum saying: “So many artists and their managers work unpaid on loss-making tours for many years in the hope of growing a fanbase, developing their live performance and creating long term careers. They are having to make tough financial decisions to make ends meet.”
Touring is an incredibly complex business with many moving parts, and depending on the scale of the operation, the fees paid to stagehands, booking agents, management and so on needs to be deducted from ticket sales before the artist themselves gets their cut. As the cost of touring continues to rise, in turn, so do ticket prices.
Rounding off her speech at Garbage’s Denver show, Shirley Manson also reflected on the number of parties which take a cut in the music business before the artist gets their piece.
“The fact that they are not even able to sell a record and it’s taken from them by rich motherfuckers on streaming platforms who get paid royally by record labels, who get paid royally by Ticketmaster, who get paid royally by merch companies, who get paid royally – the list goes on and on and on. There’s accountants. There’s lawyers. They’re all fucking getting paid, except for the musician,” she said.
And that’s not taking into account the rising prevalence of ticket touts buying up available tickets and reselling them at hugely inflated prices. According to a study last year by global research firm YouGov, UK concertgoers pay an extra £145 million annually to ticket tours, with nearly half of surveyed fans saying they struggle to identify legitimate resale platforms.
It’s not uncommon for fans to have to pay hundreds to see their favourite artists, so when Live Nation launched an initiative earlier this year offering $30 tickets on over 1,000 gigs in summer 2025, fans were no doubt elated.
The post Rock heavyweights Garbage are quitting touring despite a strong following – is being a working musician becoming increasingly unrealistic? appeared first on MusicTech.

AudioThing Things Fold is FREE on BPB (10,000 Licenses Available)
AudioThing and Bedroom Producers Blog are giving away 10,000 free licenses of Things Fold, a versatile wavefolder plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Usually priced at €19, Things Fold has been around for a couple of years, but this special offer gives BPB readers a chance to grab it for free. We have 10,000 free [...]
View post: AudioThing Things Fold is FREE on BPB (10,000 Licenses Available)

Ticketmaster Shuts Down TradeDesk Amid FTC Lawsuit: What It Means for Fans and ArtistsTicketmaster is shutting down its TradeDesk ticket resale platform following an FTC lawsuit. Learn how this move could change concert ticket resales, impact artists, and reshape the live event industry.
The post Ticketmaster Shuts Down TradeDesk Amid FTC Lawsuit: What It Means for Fans and Artists appeared first on Hypebot.

Get StereoChorus by 23DSP for FREE
Developer 23DSP is offering its StereoChorus plugin for free. The plugin is available for both Windows and macOS in VST and AU formats. If the name didn’t give it away, StereoChorus is a dual-channel modulation plugin that allows you to dial in chorus effects for the left and right channels separately. This can open up [...]
View post: Get StereoChorus by 23DSP for FREE

Behringer scales down its UB-Xa synth (again) with the “travel-ready” UB-Xa MiniBehringer has shrunk its UB-Xa synth once again, with the launch of the UB-Xa Mini. According to the brand, it delivers “big sound in a small package”.
Behringer released its original UB-Xa in 2023, and it later went on to become the best-selling synth at Thomann. Inspired by Oberheim’s OB-Xa, it became somewhat controversial when Tom Oberheim himself claimed there was “no collaboration” between the two brands. Behringer responded to his comments, and said that it “clearly received consent to use the trademark” and had “utmost respect for the pioneer”.

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After the success of the UB-Xa, Behringer went on to release a smaller version – the UB-Xa D – which it described as a desktop version. This model loses the keyboard, and was crafted after Behringer found that seven out of ten synth fans didn’t have enough space for its original, full-sized version.
Going even smaller, the new UB-Xa Mini is a compact analogue polyphonic synth, with a fully analogue signal path and three VCOs with saw and square waveforms. It captures “the essence” of the UB-Xa, delivering classic ‘80s tones and textures.
It has 27 touch-sensitive keys, and a switchable 12/24 dB analogue filter for tone sculpting, while the LFO with three waveforms modulates pitch, cutoff, and pulse width. There’s also a 16-step motion sequencer with 10 memory slots and a range of play modes including poly, unison, octaves, fifths, ring unison, and ring poly.
Hear it in action in the video below:

As anyone familiar with the Behringer name will know, it’s the brand that never sleeps. Among its other recent launches is the CZ-1 Mini, providing its own spin on the Casio CZ-1 Phase Distortion synthesiser.
Following the same smaller form as Behringer’s Pro-VS Mini, Phara-O Mini, and JT Mini, the CZ-1 Mini takes heavy inspiration from the CZ-1, but with some slight difference in features – where the original CZ-1 polyphonic synth offered eight voices, Behringer’s CZ-1 Mini comes loaded with just three instead.
The UB-Xa Mini is available now for £89. Find out more via Behringer.
The post Behringer scales down its UB-Xa synth (again) with the “travel-ready” UB-Xa Mini appeared first on MusicTech.

Native Instruments introduce Odes Joining the acclaimed Lores and Fables, Odes is described as “a narrative instrument with rhythm at its heart”, and promises to help composers create moving, emotional soundscapes. 

Gold-plated studio monitors? HEDD Audio’s got you covered…HEDD Audio is launching the Type 05 A-Core Edition X, a limited anniversary edition of its acclaimed Type 05 A-Core studio monitor.
There are just 100 pairs available worldwide, with each offering luxurious detailing and upgraded materials. EDITION X commemorates both HEDD’s 10th anniversary and founder Klaus Heinz, as he celebrates 40 years of pioneering loudspeaker design.

READ MORE: How to make better mixes in your bedroom studio

The standard version of the Type O5 A-Core studio monitor was a huge hit at its release back in May, and scored a prestigious 10/10 from MusicTech for its “exceptionally coherent sound”. The Type 05 A-Core model launched at the same time as a Type 07 model, with both said to “distill”  the last four decades of Heinz’s design work.
At the heart of the new, limited Edition X model is a custom ENIG-finished PCB that HEDD says will guarantee unmatched signal purity, stability, and long-term durability. Each pair of the new Type 05 A-Core Edition X monitor has been handcrafted in Berlin, and features luxurious 18k gold-plated details, including Italian-crafted elements such as the backplate, tweeter grille, screws, and knobs.
“Gold has long symbolised the very qualities that define Edition X,” says HEDD Audio. “Its purity mirrors the all-analogue signal path, which delivers uncoloured and unprocessed sonic truth. Its longevity, rooted in gold’s resistance to tarnish, is reflected in Edition X’s ENIG-finished PCBs and premium-grade materials, ensuring decades of consistent performance.”

Edition X will be available this October, exclusively through select HEDD Audio partners. As a tribute to Heinz’s 40 years of innovation, one pair of Edition X conceals a gold-plated, engraved warranty card offering a whopping 40 years of coverage. Beyond this special edition, all HEDD products, including Edition X, come with a standard five-year warranty.
“Materials define components, and components define speakers,” comments Heinz. “With Edition X, we wanted to create a monitor that embodies permanence, purity, and precision – both visually and sonically.”
To find out more, head over to HEDD Audio. 
The post Gold-plated studio monitors? HEDD Audio’s got you covered… appeared first on MusicTech.

Drum Depot celebrates with Pay What You Want sale on all drum sample packs
Marco Scherer is celebrating his birthday in style with a massive Pay What You Want sale on all Drum Depot packs until October 31st, 2025. Several of them start at €0, meaning you can grab them completely free. If you’ve followed Marco’s work (as I have for years), you’ll know he’s one of the most [...]
View post: Drum Depot celebrates with Pay What You Want sale on all drum sample packs