Arturia’s new PolyBrute 12 boasts a FullTouch MPE keyboard and double the polyphonySuperbooth 2024: In the ever-evolving world of synthesizers, Arturia has once again pushed the boundaries of sonic creativity with its latest release, the PolyBrute 12.
Boasting an expanded 12-voice architecture and the inclusion of a FullTouch MPE keyboard, Arturia’s latest flagship analogue polysynth promises to “bring you direct and tactile connection with your sound like never before”.

READ MORE: Moog introduces the Spectravox semi-modular analogue spectral processor for “unparalleled control over tonal shaping”

As mentioned, at the heart of the PolyBrute 12 lies a 61-key polyphonic aftertouch keybed featuring Arturia’s patented FullTouch technology. Users get three distinct modes: Classic Monophonic aftertouch, Polyphonic aftertouch, and FullTouch.
Particularly noteworthy is the FullTouch mode, which triggers modulation at the slightest touch, allowing for aftertouch expression across the entire key movement range. Whether you’re playing softly or with intensity, the PolyBrute 12 responds intuitively to your touch, offering a level of expressivity that was previously unattainable.
Like its predecessor, the new PolyBrute comes with a touch- and pressure-sensitive Morphée controller to the left of the keybed and a ribbon controller directly above. The 12-voice architecture of PolyBrute 12 combined with its analogue oscillators, filters, advanced matrix and integrated FX, meanwhile, allow for an infinite spectrum of sonic colour to be explored.
Image: Arturia
You can choose between 480 dynamic presets, including exclusive patches from acclaimed sound designers across the world. The synth also features a 96-point digital patchbay for intuitive control over the modulation system: users can easily route any of their modulation sources and controllers to influence dozens of PolyBrute’s 12 parameters at once.
Furthermore, seamless integration with DAWs is facilitated by PolyBrute Connect, which allows for real-time parameter control and easy patch management. Organise your favourite sounds with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, and easily import new presets & sound banks.
As far as aesthetics go, the new PolyBrute 12 is said to be “crafted with the finest materials” – featuring a walnut wood and an aluminium exterior, and a handsome cream colourway to complete the look.
Priced at $4449/ €3999, the PolyBrute 12 is now available to order.
Check out the synth in action below.

Learn more at Arturia.
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EastWest’s Hollywood Strings 2 is scary in all the right ways$499.00 (currently on sale for $399.00), soundsonline.com
Sequels are always tricky. For every Empire Strikes Back there’s a Jaws: The Revenge. Considering that EastWest’s Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition is perhaps the most well-regarded and best-selling orchestral library on the planet, Hollywood Strings 2 certainly has big shoes to fill. Of course, this latest string library from producers Nick Phoenix and Doug Rogers isn’t actually trying to supplant its blockbuster predecessor – it’s trying to extend it.
Where the string component of Hollywood Orchestra had all the pomp and grandeur needed for big screen spectacle, this follow-up is a detail-oriented affair that puts instruments under a microscope. Gone are the lofty acoustics and ambient swells of colour; instead, we have a potent collection of focused, close-up samples.

READ MORE: Is EastWest’s Fantasy Orchestra the one sample library to rule them all?

Straight out of the box, this library has a punchy, physical, damn-near aggressive sound. Each scrape of bow against string feels tangible, the Détaché and Bartok Pizzicato articulations have an unmatched intensity, and the resonances coming from the bass Col Legno patches are enough to rattle your headphones.
EastWest’s goal for Hollywood Strings 2 was to get the listener as close as possible to the instruments. It’s fair to say the team has accomplished this mission. Recorded in EastWest’s Studio 2 — more commonly used for rock bands — and using microphones clipped directly to the body of each instrument, the resulting audio has a detailed dryness that is almost a shock to the ear.
What’s the point of a dry recording? Perhaps the most convincing answer is horror. Scoring projects that need palpable tension and terror have long relied on a close string sound to ramp up the anxiety — the sound of Hollywood Strings 2 is undeniably hair-raising.

Another, often overlooked, benefit of a dry recording is its potential for sound design. Instrumental samples that arrive with baked-in reverb are inherently limited when it comes to creative effects and processing. A highly detailed library like this is a goldmine of raw materials should you want to get experimental with time stretching, pitch shifting, or granulation.
Thankfully, though, EastWest hasn’t locked its users into a dry-only library.in addition to clip-on mics for each section player and the section lead, there are also overheads, mid-fields, a Decca tree and a set of surround microphones. That’s a total of six microphone components, offering plenty of versatility to design the size, proximity and tone of the string sound.
Nor is the library limited to horror or thriller genres; blending in a bit more of the Decca tree and mid-field mics quickly nudges the sound closer to a dramatic feel, while the Harmonics and Flautando articulations offer a beautifully intimate sense of romance.
Mixing microphone signals, flicking through articulations, and navigating key switches is all handled via the Opus Engine. To us, this remains an industry leader when it comes to functionality and user interface.
That all said, there is an undeniably raw edge to the sound and that intense character can make Hollywood Strings 2 harder to work with. The sound is almost too present at times and, in comparison to other EastWest offerings, we spend much more time tweaking the balance of mic signals to sand away some of that roughness.
Hollywood Strings 2 browser
This presents a similar challenge if you want to use these strings with other sample instruments. The company touts the ability to blend this ultra-close string sound with other libraries in the catalogue – and this is certainly possible – but you won’t be able to slot this into an orchestral mix without additional effort.
Another barrier is thrown up by EastWest’s excellent Orchestrator plugin — there is currently no integration for the new string library and this feels like a missed opportunity. Adding this functionality, and some library-specific presets, would really help these strings fit into the larger orchestral line-up.
On the flip side, Hollywood Strings 2 was never meant to be relegated to a supporting role. This library is a diva that thrives in the spotlight — treat it accordingly and you’ll be richly rewarded.
If you’re looking for alternatives, Spitfire Studio Strings Professional is an attractive option that offers a dry acoustic plus a more extensive range of articulation options, all at a similar price point. However, no library we’ve heard of achieves the intense closeness that Hollywood Strings 2 brings to the table.
Hollywood Strings 2 is bold, dramatic, and more than a little scary. More a specialist library than an all-rounder, it sacrifices simplicity in favour of versatility and specificity. While its sound might not suit every project, this is the place to go when you need to make a statement.
Hollywood Strings 2 Opus engine
Key features

140 GB library
6 microphone configurations for each instrument section
5 instrumental sections and a Full Strings patch
116 articulations
Available as part of a Composer Cloud+ subscriptions

The post EastWest’s Hollywood Strings 2 is scary in all the right ways appeared first on MusicTech.

Producer Manager on Points, Payment, Sessions and PublishingThis week, Ari is joined by Laura Jones, a producer manager and founder of Little Underground Management

Slate Digital update VIRTU Online Mastering Slate Digital's online mastering platform is now available to those without All Access Pass or Complete Access subscriptions.

Max Cavalera Discusses Revisiting Metal Classics, '80s Thrash, Unexpected Favorite ArtistsMax Cavalera's latest release is a complete re-recording of Sepultura's 1987 offering, Schizophrenia. He spoke with AllMusic shortly before the release of the album, and explained why he and his brother are re-recording this early material, in addition to several other metal-related topics.

Google mentioned ‘AI’ 120+ times during its I/O keynoteIt ran 110 minutes, but Google managed to reference AI a whopping 121 times during Google I/O 2024 (by its own count). CEO Sundar Pichai referenced the figure to wrap up the presentation, cheekily stating that the company was doing the “hard work” of counting for us. No surprise, of course, that the topic took […]
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SEC tries again for Debt Box suit dismissal with option to refileThe SEC says case dismissal without prejudice is “normally granted” when a plaintiff requests it, but the court has criticized the agency’s current suit.

3D Print a Drill-Powered Helicopter Toy Because It’s Simply FunThese days, you can get a fully remote-control helicopter that you can fly around your house for about $30. Maybe less. Back in the day, kids had to make do with far simpler toys, like spinning discs that just flew up in the air. [JBV Creative] has built a toy just like that with his 3D printer. It may be simple, but it also looks pretty darn fun.
The design is straightforward. It uses a power drill to spin up a geartrain, which in turn drives a small disc propeller. Spin the propeller fast enough and it’ll launch high into the air. The geartrain mounts to the drill via the chuck, and it interfaces with the propeller with a simple toothed coupler. Alternatively, there’s also a hand-cranked version if you don’t have a power drill to hand.
Launching is easy. First, the drill spins the propeller up to speed. Then, when the drill’s trigger is released, it slows down, and the propeller spins free of the toothed coupler, with the lift it generates carrying it into the sky.
Files are available online for those interested. We could imagine this toy could make the basis for a great design competition. Students could compete to optimise the design with more effective gear ratios or better airfoils. We’ve seen similar designs before, too. Video after the break.

Al Stewart at the Saban Theatre, Beverly HillsMusic legend Al Stewart performed with the Empty Pockets at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, CA on April 21. The Empty Pockets performed a short set before Stewart came out to perform his songs and share stories. Earlier that day the Empty Pockets' Josh Solomon performed the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium.

Al Stewart has worked with the likes of Jimmy Page, Alan Parsons, Rick Wakeman, and his collaborator of 20-years Peter White who performed several songs throughout the night with Stewart. White joined Stewart for “Time Passages,” “On the Border,” and Stewart’s biggest hit “Year of the Cat,” which will celebrate 50 years in 2026. Stewart’s set also included “Sirens of Titan,” “Modern Times,” and “Flying Sorcery.”

Stewart’s career spans six decades and performed at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970, shared a London flat with Paul Simon in the 60’s, bought a guitar from Andy Summers pre-Police, and had known Yoko Ono before she met John Lennon. At the Les Cousins Folk Club, Stewart played with future music icons like Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, and Simon. One story Stewart told was taking lessons from King Crimson’s Robert Fripp.

Rescopic Sound Releases FREE Cosmic Transitions SFX Sample Pack
Rescopic Sound has just released a free expansion of their premium Cosmos sound effects library, and it’s called Cosmic Transitions. It includes 19 originally designed whoosh sound effects provided in 24-bit, 96 kHz as a stereo WAV format. Each audio file contains at least three variations to ensure versatility and variety in sound programming, totalling [...]
View post: Rescopic Sound Releases FREE Cosmic Transitions SFX Sample Pack

Parallel compression: What it is and how to use it
In this in-depth guide, learn about what parallel compression is, how it works, and how you can apply it effectively in your own music.

Parallel compression: What it is and how to use it
In this in-depth guide, learn about what parallel compression is, how it works, and how you can apply it effectively in your own music.

Appeals court upholds Childish Gambino victory in ‘This Is America’ copyright infringement caseRapper Kidd Wes had copyrighted the sound recording, but not the composition, of his 2016 track 'Made In America'
Source

PCB Design Review: HDMI To LVDS Sony Vaio LCD DevboardToday, we revisit another board from [Exentio] – a HDMI/DVI to LVDS transmitter for the Sony Vaio P display. This board is cool to review – it has a high-speed serial interface, a parallel interface, a healthy amount of power distribution that can be tricky to route, and many connectors to look over.
I’ve decided to show this review to you all because it demonstrates a PCB improvement concept we haven’t yet touched upon, that you should absolutely know about when doing board layout. Plus, I get a chance to talk about connector choice considerations!
The board is lovely. It integrates the DPI-LVDS circuit we’ve previously reviewed, but also a HDMI to parallel RGB chip from Texas Instruments, TFP401, a chip appreciated enough that even Adafruit has adapters with it. The fun thing about this chip is that it doesn’t even handle EDID like the usual HDMI to RGB/LVDS chips you get on cheap Aliexpress boards. So, there’s no firmware to take care of – it just receives a HDMI/DVI signal, converts it into parallel RGB, then converts that to LVDS, and off to the display it goes. The downside is that you have to provide your own EDID with an EEPROM, but that isn’t that tricky.
Again, this is a two-layer board, and, again, I like this – fitting tracks to the smallest possible space is a respectable and enjoyable challenge. This board has absolutely done well by this challenge. I do see how this board could be routed in an even better way, however, and it could be way way cleaner as a result. For a start, rotating the chip would improve the odds a whole lot.
The Chip Gets Rotated

When doing silicon layout, engineers generally try and make the resulting chip pinout as sensible as possible. There can be exceptions, of course. This rule means that there’s usually a single easy way to lay out a chip, and a few hard ways. You have to look at the pinout, try to notice the pin groups, and see how they align with your peripherals. Ignore this at your own peril.
The TFP401 chip has HDMI on one side and parallel RGB pins on the other. This board, however, currently has the chip rotated in a way that disadvantages the layout. This is an easy mistake to do initially – thankfully, even when the design is already finished, rotating the chip and rerouting it can pay off!

If you reroute this kind of board, not only you are more likely to get a functioning board, considering the high-speed signals, you’re also training yourself to distinguish good and subpar chip rotations as you’d be rerouting. In other words, it’s the kind of refactoring that makes you say “wow, that was way easier than the first time around”.
Lift, Clean Up, Rotate, Behold
To do the reroute, just, take the chip, “lift it up” with M and move it off the board. See the grey thin wires? They’re called ratsnest wires, and using them is the best way you can notice rotation issues. Seriously, the ratsnest wires are underrated in noticing such issues before they bite you. Let’s clean the chip’s surroundings up. First, see those capacitor groups? Move them away too, all the power pins are changing their locations anyway, we’ll reposition them later.
Box select the signal traces that previously went to the chip, and press `Shift+Del` to completely delete them from beginning to end – on this board, this is the quickest way to get to a quickly routable space. Every trace that went to the chip is now gone, and every unrelated trace stays. Make sure there’s a healthy amount of space between the chip and the HDMI port, but also between it and the DPI-LVDS converter – more or less the same center position is fine here.
Look at the picture above. Using the ratsnest wires, you can instantly notice which trace groups you will need to flip and which you won’t. In this case, as you might notice, you will need to flip like, three out of four? No matter, because all of them will be easy, even the HDMI pairs.
Speaking about HDMI, before routing, I will replace the THT signal pin HDMI connector with an SMT signal pin one. They’re way, way nicer to layout – the through-hole staggered pins mean that you have to run two of the diffpairs around the connector shell. Plus, they’re cheaper and easier to source too. [Exentio] picked this connector for expected sturdiness and solderability, and that is a valid choice, I’m just prioritizing ease of layout and easier sourcing.
Reroute Time
With HDMI, not only is the order flipped, but the pair polarity is also flipped. Still, there are multiple things you could do here. You could flip the connector onto the opposite side of the board, or use a HDMI connector that’s flipped (harder to source but not impossible), or try to re-route the diffpairs as they are now. I’ll do the last one, since it’s the most fun one.
Here’s my take. This is draft routing, without any calculated trace impedance, because this is a 2-layer board and we’re winging it. Still, I’m trying to give this routing some love – not that HDMI would ever love me back, I just think that this board working on the first try is a good goal to strive for, and HDMI can be sensitive. Pair length is also kind of matched between the pairs – they’re all 23 mm +- 2 mm, good enough. By the way, KiCad 8 has added a new feature where you can check track length by simply pressing 7 (8 for diffpairs) and then hovering over tracks – inter-pair length matching is now the easiest it’s ever felt!

Now, what’s left is three bundles of parallel wires (R/G/B) and four individual tracks (EN/CLKIN/HSYNC/VSYNC) going to the DPI-LVDS chip. Since all four individual tracks are on the DPI-LVDS chip corners, I’ve decided that the parallel RGB pairs will go in the middle and the tracks will go around them. The biggest problem is flipping the bundles – you can do that under the HDMI chip or under the LVDS chip, I did it under the HDMI chip because it felt like there was just enough space there.

Here you can see how the three bundles progressed. They’re nice and tight, with some ground fills between the separate bundles and accompanying the wires. I’ve had to move the first bundle once to make room for flipping the last one, but other than that, things fit surprisingly nicely. The bundles don’t intersect each other’s paths, and that helps. If they did, I would probably consider rotating the DPI-LVDS chip together with the LVDS connector.
There are some other small tweaks too. I’ve moved the EDID EEPROM towards the HDMI I2C header at the bottom, only leaving the HPD pullup near the HDMI connector. The near-connector position is also a valid choice, I just wanted to do via-less routing of I2C as much as possible, and moving the EEPROM helped. Oh, and I’ve moved the LVDS connector to the right a bit – that let me route LVDS better, which, in turn, let me actually connect the DPI-LVDS chip’s 3.3 V pins.
Power Pin Routing
This is the thing you might get stuck on, at some point. The chip has whole four different groups of power pins – one direct 3.3 V input, and three separate 3.3 V inputs that you’re supposed to feed through Pi filters, for a cleaner power supply for all your analog needs. Use the “ (~)` key to highlight all four power nets of the chip – here’s how it will look.

I’d describe these as annoying, but they’re still routable. First, break apart the nice cap groups for the four rails – they’re nice visually, but they’re not great for power delivery. Remember – one capacitor per IC power pin is the platonic ideal, and each of these capacitors has to actually be placed close to a power pin, with a short path to ground too.
I started with the 3.3V feed, and then placed a couple of ferrites to nearby power rails. Then, I went through each of the power rails, starting with the simplest, pulling power tracks where it seemed viable. In the end, I could place all the ferrites near the actual 3.3V supply point. A 3.3V power plane could be fun on this board, and would probably be very much called for if we wanted to do FCC testing for this board, but for now, it’s not required.

Long story short, here’s the “rest of the owl” pictures. Remember – for power tracks, wherever you can make them thicker, make them thicker. They will drop all that less voltage, and they will look like dedicated power tracks, too. Also, don’t forget about GND! Highlight the GND net, then make sure that each GND point has a via directly near it, going to the bottom layer ground plane, with ground now even more abundant than before.

After this layout was done, there were only cosmetic fixes left. Things like trace keepout that I’m still maintaining, feeding 3.3 V everywhere it was called for. I suppose I would add a 5 V to 3.3 V linear regulator footprint onto this board, just because it would make bringup much easier, but it’s such a small change that it could even be bodged onto this PCB later with little hassle. This board is, all things considered, wonderfully hackable already.
Closing Statement
Here’s the end result of the board re-layout. It’s even cleaner than before, with improvements to both high-speed tracks and power distribution, and I hope it’s been a fun example about rotating your chips properly, something you could reasonably overlook on a board of yours.

As an outro to this review, here’s some good news. That DPI-LVDS board we’ve reviewed last time? It works! Which means that the DPI and LVDS parts of this HDMI-LVDS board should also work. Nothing is fundamentally broken to the best of our perception, [Exentio] has designed a working RPi config, and, as such, one of the more challenging parts of the Sony Vaio rebuild design is now complete – we only need to tinker with the backlight now.
As usual, if you would like a design review for your board, submit a tip to us with [design review] in the title, linking to your board files. KiCad design files strongly preferred, both repository-stored files (GitHub/GitLab/etc) and shady Google Drive/Dropbox/etc .zip links are accepted.

Apple just ranked one of Burial’s albums as one of the best records of all timeApple has teased a list of its 100 greatest albums, and one garage classic has made the cut – Burial’s 2007 LP, Untrue.
Just the bottom 10 from the list have been released so far, but the full 100 list will arrive on 22 May. Burial’s album currently sits at #94, ahead of Rage Against the Machine’s landmark self-titled debut, Travis Scott’s Astroworld and Eagles’ Hotel California.

READ MORE: Point Blank Producer Analysis: Learn the Techniques Behind Burial’s Signature Sound

Apple says its top 100 is a “definitive list of the greatest albums ever made. Assembled with the help of artists and experts, it’s a love letter to the records that have shaped the world we live and listen in.”
So, what’s Apple’s reasoning on selecting Untrue? Well, the streaming platform describes the record from Burial (whose real name is William Emmanuel Bevan) as “gritty but still gentle” and “an instant touchstone of UK electronic music”.
It further adds, “The album’s second track, Archangel, is perhaps one of the most recognisable songs in electronic music, with its pitched-down soprano sample consisting of the lines ‘Holding you/Couldn’t be alone/Couldn’t be alone/Couldn’t be alone.’ (Bevan apparently wrote and produced the song in 20 minutes, following the death of his dog.)
“On much of Untrue, Bevan sounds like he’s attempting to triangulate the sound of isolation after dark. He wrote and produced the record nocturnally, insisting on getting to work long after the sun went down. Tracks like In McDonalds and Homeless are indicative of that approach: They evoke something quietly desperate, both in their titles and their spare compositions; the result is electronic music that’s deeply human and affecting.”

Burial has not released any full-length albums since Untrue, but has released a scattering of EPs and singles throughout the years. He has collaborated with the likes of Four Tet, Massive Attack, Thom Yorke and more.
Check out more from Apple’s 100 Best Albums, and look out for the full list on 22 May.
The post Apple just ranked one of Burial’s albums as one of the best records of all time appeared first on MusicTech.