Old Knobs with a Cast of ThousandsYou have an old radio — in the case of [The Radio Mechanic], a Stromberg Carlson — and it needs new knobs. What do you do? You can’t very well pop down to the local store and find any knobs anymore. Even if you are lucky enough to be around an electronics store, they aren’t going to have knobs to do justice to an antique radio. You could 3D print them, of course, but there are a number of issues with transferring the old knob to a CAD file for printing. So [The Radio Mechanic] decided to cast them instead.
He printed some fixtures to help with the molding using two-part molding silicone. He mounted the knob on a shaft in a jig, filled the jig with silicone, and lowered the knob into the mix. The next day, he had a good-looking mold.
The next step, of course, is to cast with resin. Admittedly 3D printing would have been faster, but would not have as nice a surface finish. The epoxy resin is clear, but he was hopeful that some caramel pigment would match the original knob color. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. The resulting knob looked translucent, like a root beer barrel candy, rather than the brown sugar color of the original knob.
The knob needed a spring insert to hold the shaft, so he repurposed some from a different kind of radio. Overall, this is the kind of thing we always think we are going to do when we need something and then we rarely follow through. Then again, we rarely have the patience to wait as long as these two knobs took to make.
Of course, a casting guerrilla doesn’t have to make just knobs. You can even add metal powders to do cold metal casting.

Emergence Audio introduce Infinite Upright virtual instrument Described as "a piano in orbit", Emergence Audio's latest instrument loads a collection of piano samples into their innovative Infinite Motion Engine.

Gamma Ray Spectroscopy the Pomelo WayDepending on the circumstances you find yourself in, a Geiger counter can be a tremendously useful tool. With just a click or a chirp, it can tell you if any invisible threats lurk. But a Geiger counter is a “yes or no” instrument; it can only tell you if an ionizing event occurred, revealing nothing about the energy of the radiation. For that, you need something like this gamma-ray spectroscope.
Dubbed the Pomelo by [mihai.cuciuc], the detector is a homebrew solid-state scintillation counter made from a thallium-doped cesium iodide crystal and a silicon photomultiplier. The scintillator is potted in silicone in a 3D printed enclosure, to protect the hygroscopic crystal from both humidity and light. There’s also a temperature sensor on the detector board for thermal compensation. The Pomelo Core board interfaces with the physics package and takes care of pulse shaping and peak detection, while a separate Pomelo Zest board has an ESP32-C6, a small LCD and buttons for UI, SD card and USB interfaces, and an 18650 power supply. Plus a piezo speaker, because a spectroscope needs clicks, too.
The ability to determine the energy of incident photons is the real kicker here, though. Pomelo can detect energies from 50 keV all the way up to 3 MeV, and display them as graphs using linear or log scales. The short video below shows the Pomelo in use on samples of radioactive americium and thorium, showing different spectra for each.
[mihai.cuciuc] took inspiration for the Pomelo from this DIY spectrometer as well as the CosmicPi.

Merlin launches ‘Merlin Connect’ to provide tech platforms with licensed indie musicMerlin developed the new tool in response to growing concerns about artificial intelligence and its impact on artistic creation
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James Blake on why he’s stayed anonymous on other artist’s music: “They take it and make it 10 times worse”Collaboration can be a challenge. Whether it be clashing personalities or different creative visions, compromise is key when two artists work together for the first time.
This was certainly not the case for James Blake and Lil Yachty, who are set to release their joint record Bad Cameo later this year. However, Blake hasn’t always been so lucky.

READ MORE: “Streaming has changed what artists feel like they should release”: James Blake further justifies his new streaming platform, Vault

Speaking to Complex alongside Lil Yachty, Blake has opened up about his past musical regrets. While he insists he “genuinely [doesn’t] regret any song,” there are a few collaborations he made a point of distancing himself from.
“I don’t feel like there’s a song I regret actually putting out, but there’s different levels of feeling completed or like I did a good job,” Blake says. “There were some songs where I got features or did something where I just thought it would be the right thing to do and it just sort of didn’t really feel that great.”
While he avoids naming anyone directly, Blake explains that he has asked to remain uncredited on collaborative tracks he has felt disappointed by. “There were times when… I shouldn’t have been part of a piece of music,” he explains. “There’s no reason.”
“There’s actually been quite a few songs that I have actually taken my name off because I did a session and they just didn’t loop me in,“ he continues. “Six months go by, and suddenly it’s on an album and I’m like, ‘well, I didn’t have any say in how this sounds at all.’”

Without an active line of communication, artists have ran with Blake’s ideas and ruined them, in his opinion. “They take it and made it 10 times worse,” he says. “And then I’ve just been like, ‘actually, I’m good!’”
Blake has had lacklustre collaborative experiences in the past, but his collaboration with Lil Yachty is set to stun. As Complex reveal, the duo ended up working together due to their mutual respect of one another. Lil Yachty reportedly reached out on social media to tell Blake that his Assume Form record was “fucking flawless.” Despite not seeing the message, the pair would cross paths later on.
Blake had equal amounts of praise for Yachty. “I’ve been a fan of Yachty for years,” Blake reveals. “And when I heard his last record [Let’s Start Here], I was like, this is really a turn. Not many artists are brave enough to do something that’s kind of opposite of the last thing they did.”
The duo’s joint record, Bad Cameo is set to be ambient, trippy and deep. “We got a really vulnerable side of Yachty in some of those sessions,” Blake says.
While no release date is confirmed, Bad Cameo is set to drop later this year.
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Brainworx release bx_XL V3 The latest release from Brainworx takes the Mid-Side technology featured in bx_digital EQ, and places it in a mastering-focused limiter plug-in.

Music streaming services come out swinging against Canada’s new ‘discriminatory tax’ that requires them to hand over 5% of their Canadian revenuesCanada’s Online Streaming Act requires streamers to contribute 5% of their annual revenue to a number of programs designed to aid Canadian content creators
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Future of Music Streaming: Key trends and industry shifts [Rob Abelow]Discover how the music streaming industry evolves with five key changes reshaping its future. From price increases to innovative revenue streams, learn what these shifts mean for artists and listeners in this insightful analysis.....
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Why every musician should collaborate: 6 Key benefitsDiscover how collaborating with other musicians can transform your career and unlock new opportunities. From sparking creativity to reaching wider audiences, find out why teaming up may be the best thing for your individual success.....
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The Resurgence of Vinyl: A journey through its modern revivalFred Jacobs covers the unexpected resurgence of vinyl records and why this classic format is thriving in the digital age. by Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media A couple months back. Continue reading
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“I was getting fed up of playing the record in every club around the world”: Michael Gray on the explosion of The WeekendSince the age of 10, Michael Gray had dreamt of becoming a professional DJ. By 12, Gray was already putting in the graft, DJing at under 16 discos with a set of turntables he’d gotten as a birthday gift. When he finally made it big, it seemed his prayers had been answered.
But there’s one downside to being a globally acclaimed disc jockey: partying away until dawn can grow tiresome. As Gray discovered, there comes a time when spinning the same tracks can become dull.

READ MORE: Brain injury survivor says learning to DJ has “reawakened his brain”

In a recent interview with DJ Mag, DJ and producer Gray reflects on the making of his international ’00s club hit, The Weekend. “When I was 18, I started getting into clubs,” he explains. “I was megamixing other people’s records… but by 1990 I thought, ‘Right, I’ve achieved what I want to do mixing other people’s records, now I want to make my own records’.”
“I’d had enough of producing and remixing as Full Intention,” he says. “Major labels, would be coming to us and say, “can you do a remix just like the last one?” When someone starts telling you to do it like the last one, you can see your creativity going out the window! You just become a machine.”

Thankfully, Simon Dunmore offered Gray the opportunity to focus on his own tracks. “I went to Simon Dunmore at Defected [Records] and I said, ‘would you have a listen to some of these tunes?’,” Gray recalls. “He offered me an album deal.”
Gray would go on to work outside of house music for a small stint, flexing his creative muscles producing post-punk group Portobello. The venture would allow him to return to his record after a year – and that’s when he would fully craft The Weekend we know and love. “I just put down this idea that I heard from an Oliver Cheatham record, Get Down Saturday Night,” he tells DJ Mag. “Melodically, that song is so strong… Within about two days, everything just fell into place.”
Though Gray wouldn’t hear any feedback from his label for a short while, he was soon given the green light. “They said, “we’re going to do 3000 white labels and we’re going to ship a load out to Ibiza,’” he recalls.
“I remember Friday afternoon when it came in sitting in my office and the version come in and running out to my wife, I said, ‘oh my god, they’ve done it. This is it!!’” he smiles. “I got into the Top 10, at number seven. We had so much competition: Eminem, Kylie, Beyoncé. From a sales point of view, it did really well.”
Despite all of the excitement, Gray was still a young father at the time. “The joke of it was, I actually could wait for the weekend to begin. At the time, I had twin boys who were one, and the oldest son who was three!” he explains. “There was only 18 months between them… there was no partying. I actually stopped DJing for a year and a half.”
The success of the track also became somewhat of a weight on his creativity. “I went through a period about 2012, I was just getting fed up of having to play the record in every club around the world,” he admits. “Promoters always expect you to play commercial records like that, and you’re like “that’s not what I do! I play new records!’”
Despite the frustration, Gray is still proud of his breakout track’s success. “It wasn’t until about 2017, I noticed really big DJs playing it to huge festivals,” he says. “It’s like it had become cool again. I didn’t think it would span so many generations. Now I’m extremely proud of it.”

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Forever 89’s Visco is an innovative sample-modelling drum machine but still needs some work€139, forever89.studio
Visco is the first release of Forever 89, a new outfit with talent borrowed from Teenage Engineering and Ableton, which means there are some big expectations. This drum machine boasts eight voices and the ability to model any sample that you load in, essentially copying its sonic imprint and turning it into a synthesised patch.. This offering way more flexibility to edit and warp beyond what’s possible with audio in other drum machines.

READ MORE: Is Sonic Charge’s Synplant 2 the future of sound design or just a new AI gimmick?

Visco also performs impressive spectral warping between sounds and has a fun, tactile interface for speedy sound design and live performance. Despite a basic sequencer and simple effects editing, it’s a fun and exciting instrument with heaps of potential.

How does Visco work?
You can select one of eight tracks to edit via Visco’s main screen, which then displays a unique three-dimensional blob to represent the currently-loaded sound. With time on the Y-axis, frequency on the X-axis and Energy on the Z-axis, you get a clear picture of sounds like kicks and hi-hats based on their shape. When you trigger the sound, the blob moves as if it’s being excited by sound waves.
But it’s not just for show — you can click, drag, attract or repel the blob to edit sounds. Despite a limitation in accuracy, this is possibly the most visceral and hands-on sound design interface we’ve seen. You can even flip the shape horizontally or vertically, essentially reversing the sound, or mirror frequencies to turn things like kick drums into hi-hats.
Visco mixer
How do you add and shape samples in Visco?
There’s a healthy sample library, from classic drum machine hits and percussion, to unusual sounds like beatbox and vocal shouts. Where Visco really shines though, is in the ability to load in a sample and have it instantly transformed into an editable patch. You can load in a collection of static audio hits and then add variations that make them more alive and organic. Although it’s been fine-tuned to work with drums and shorter percussive sounds, musical hits and short vocals can work too.
Experimentation is key, with the instant translation from audio to synth sound making it easy to try out new samples. We find Visco to be superior to competitor Synplant 2 for drums and organic sounds, whereas Synplant fares better at synths and pitched hits.
Alongside the blob there are controls to change the Timescale (length), Frequency, Contrast (emphasises prominent components), and Density (adjusts noise component). There are also ways of adding subtle variation, voicing, plus unique, velocity-dependent transformations. These can be tweaked on a per-track basis, but for instant fun and sonic mayhem, there are five macros permanently mapped to key controls across all tracks simultaneously. It’s instant IDM glitch territory, sounding fluid and alive with minimal effort. We only wish there were even more macros to assign parameters to, so we can get even more creative.
Visco preset sounds
How do you morph sounds in Visco?
Each of the eight tracks houses two different sounds and you can morph spectrally between them using a slider. For example, you could take an electronic kick sound and increase the harmonic detail by blending in live kick, or something more out-there like mixing a timpani hit with a dog bark.
Again, everything’s instant so experimenting never feels a chore. To put it to the test, we load in a chopped funk break to the A slots and are able to recreate a live-sounding beat. We then load electronic drums into the accompanying B slots and morph between the two. The aforementioned macro lets you do this across all sounds at once for a dramatic modulation of the whole kit. Vast possibilities for creative transitions between music tracks or sections are opened up, although it’s a shame you can’t easily export your new blended audio hits.
Visco modulation
How do you program and mix beats using Visco?
Visco has a sequencer with swing, velocity and timing humanisation, plus drag-and-drop MIDI export. It’s useful for quick sketches, but the lack of probability and deeper editing hold it back from being truly effective. There’s a Random button to generate a new pattern, but unfortunately it’s also linked to the Sound page, so it randomises all sounds and settings at the same time. Hopefully an update might allow these randomisations to be separated. It’d also be useful to lock sounds or patterns you’re happy with.
Next up is a modulation page with four ADSR envelopes (with curves), four split-point LFOs and several noise options that can be assigned to a number of destinations. A Scaler such as velocity or modulation wheel control can also be added to further shape the modulation. It’s another way to inject extra movement and interest into your beats, although subtlety can sometimes be a better option unless you want to go full Autechre on the glitchiness.
The only downside here is that there are only eight modulation slots, which is fine for something like a single synth patch, but it would be better to have a few more to control up-to all eight drum tracks in some way.
The final section is the Mix page, which includes a DJ-style high-pass/low-pass filter, clip distortion, amp, pan and width controls for each track, plus sends for the two send and two master effects. Send effects include chorus, an array of reverbs, delay, compressor and fuzz, while master effects include characterful compressors, saturation and a limiter.
Parameters are limited, but thankfully the effects sound great, adding plenty of grit, depth and character to the output. Visco also works as a multi-output plugin, so you can choose to route individual tracks for processing in your DAW.
Visco sequencer
Should you buy Visco?
Forever 89’s Visco is a fantastic instrument that takes a unique approach to sound design. It lets you craft complex, mutating, original sounding drum and percussion tracks with ease. Overall, the whole thing feels very snappy and well put together. That said, there’s still space for improvement with the issues already mentioned, plus we’d like to see choke groups to stop busier beats getting messy.
At full price, it’s too expensive until features are fleshed out further, but as there’s a fully-functional demo there’s no excuse not to try this gem out. This is the most fun we’ve had in the studio for a long time.

Key features

Windows and macOS, 64-bit VST3 or AU
Sample modelling drum machine for beat-making, sound design and live performance
8 tracks and 32 voices
Edit sounds visually by grabbing, pushing and pulling blob interface
Modify time, frequency, timbre, velocity and create variations
Spectral morphing between sounds
5 Performance macros
4 envelopes, 4 LFOs and a 8-slot modulation matrix
16-step sequencer with MIDI export
2 send effects / 2 master effects
Multi-output plugin routing
Resizable user interface

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Devious Machines unveil Bass Focus Bass Focus promises to add weight and power to low-end sounds, and also improve how mixes translate to smaller speaker systems. 

Behringer revives “hidden techno gem” with the Syncussion SY-1 analogue drum and percussion synthBehringer has unveiled the Syncussion SY-1 – a dual analogue drum and percussion synth for Eurorack, inspired by Pearl’s 1979 Syncussion drum synth. The original was famously used by artists such as Soft Cell, New Order and others.
Pearl’s Syncussion saw a resurgence in the 1990s for use in techno production, and even made its way into the work of Aphex Twin. Behringer’s take on the synth features six oscillator modes and comprehensive MIDI implementation.

READ MORE: “This synthesiser is clearly not a clone”: Behringer releases statement following Tom Oberheim’s response to its UB-Xa synth

The six oscillator modes each offer a different character and timbre. Users can choose from single oscillator, FM, dual oscillator mix, dynamic oscillator mix, FM/noise mix, and pure noise. Each mode can be shaped by adjusting the tune, decay, and filter cutoff controls.
The SY-1 can also be triggered using drum pads, a drum machine – the Behringer RD-8, if you so choose – or any other external triggers. You can also experiment with pitch sweep using speed, range and up/down controls for “dramatic pitch dives and rises”, or use the sample and hold control for random pitch changes with each hit.
Overall, there are 30 controls for all parameters. Take a closer look and check out a demo in the video below:

Among other new launches from Behringer is the 1273 two-channel microphone preamplifier. It has a built in EQ, and was developed with John Price, who previously worked alongside Rupert Neve. The 1273 takes inspiration from Neve’s 1073 which was used across studios during the 1970s and ‘80s. It also shaped the likes of Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks and The Who’s Who’s Next album.
Pricing and availability for the Syncussion SY-1 is not yet available, but you can view further specifications via Behringer.
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Hip Hop for Kids? Snoop Dogg’s TV show and Origin of the Viral Hit “Go Go Go, Who’s Next”Ari is joined by producer and creator of hit kids show “Doggyland,” Claude Brooks, to discuss his journey of building a successful show and the importance of perseverance and consistency. They also touch on how his journey on he collaborated with Snoop Dogg, as well as the impact of social media platforms in promoting his work.