Is Universal Audio’s Anthem more than just virtual analogue novelty?$199 perpetual license
Free for UAD Spark subscribers
uaudio.com
Anthem is a powerful addition to Universal Audio’s vast, growing range of soft synths. In keeping with UA’s reputation in analogue modelling, Anthem stays on brand, with a classic sound palette and design aesthetics.

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Looking back at some of the legendary monosynths of the 1970s and early 1980s, Anthem encapsulates the feel of classic subtractive synth architecture. Although its interface isn’t based solely around one particular synth, you can easily approach Anthem the same way you would an ARP Odyssey, a Moog Prodigy, or a Sequential Circuits Pro One. However, the paraphonic and unison modes coupled with intuitive sequencer and effects sections allow Anthem to overlap slightly into Korg MS-20 territory. But is its virtual analogue prowess alone enough to justify its price?

The Anthem approach
I find Anthem’s interface delightfully simple at first, with a two-oscillator (and single sub-oscillator) sound engine, a resonant low-pass filter section (with secondary high-pass filter), independent filter and amp envelopes, and a basic LFO. Upon closer inspection, though, each section has a few deeper controls that unlock more expression, character, and tonal range.
As an instrument, Anthem provides an impressive level of creative immediacy. If you’re an accomplished keyboardist, you’ll love how realistically analogue Anthem feels to play, with natural-sounding glide and detune. Also, with an easily-accessible MIDI learn function, you can take control of any parameter with ease to help your sounds come alive, but be sure to check the default MIDI CC assignments, as this may save you time.
Alternatively, if you prefer taking a more rhythmic approach using the step sequencer, you’ll be amazed at the range of sounds that is possible with such a limited set of controls. The sequencer section functions in a similar way to a user-programmable arpeggiator, and is MIDI triggered, which lets you quickly transpose basslines into longer progressions with the Retrigger mode activated.
The global sequencer controls allow you to change the feel completely by adjusting the grid divisions, swing, note length, and playing direction of the pattern. Also, a key feature lets you link or unlink the gate, pitch, and velocity sequencer lanes so you can create patterns that are independent in length for interesting polyrhythmic results. However, possibly the most exciting part of the sequencer is the legato slide function that lets you create acid basslines just like the TB-303 or SH-101.
Image: Press
Deeper features and effects in UAD’s Anthem
Once I’ve familiarised myself with the basics, I start to notice that Universal Audio has cleverly worked in more advanced features to give Anthem an edge over the stock analogue synth plugins in your DAW. If you look at the oscillator and filter sections, there are a few dual-purpose controls with an outer and inner pot. The first one that really catches my interest in the sound creation process is the versatility of the waveform controls on each of the two oscillators.
Anthem’s waveform shapes are variable, so you can choose familiar triangle, saw, and pulse waves or a range of intermediary shapes. Then, using the outer ring control and the selector switch below, you can modulate each waveform with either the LFO or the filter envelope. This allows you to animate in your two main sound generators, for subtle or more vibrant, rhythmic results.
The Warp control directly below has the same interface, but here you are either syncing the second oscillator to a hidden, third oscillator by varying degrees, or adding ring modulation. Both warp modes have expansive tonal range, immediately giving your sounds a 1970s sci-fi edge.
The effects section is simple, but it’s been designed to streamline rather than waylay the creative process. Here, you can stack a mono or stereo chorus with a choice of four different modulation effects, as well as spatial effects including classic tape echo, spring, and hall reverbs. As you flip between effects, you’ll notice that your settings are stored, which is a useful touch. Another particularly interesting addition is the LFO Tilt control. This lets you vary the LFO shape, which is especially effective when being automated.

Is UAD Anthem your next go-to soft synth?
Anthem sounds phenomenal and authentic. Its fantastic presets, different voice modes and well-modelled filter let you take a sound from irresistibly smooth and pleasant to raspy and rambunctious in seconds. However, despite the filter’s Drive and Growl controls, I feel that Anthem is missing a distortion processor of sorts, which is well within the UA wheelhouse.
As a perpetual license holder, or UAD Spark subscriber, you can run Anthem as a UADx plugin, but the Native version barely moved the needle on my M2 MacBook Air, so using Apollo DSP isn’t essential. Although Anthem is among the best synth plugins I’ve used for beginners, its $199 price tag, makes it inaccessible for the average user.
Alternatively, if you’re looking at Anthem as an experienced producer, you probably already own either Arturia Pigments or u-He’s Diva, both of which offer far more advanced synthesis capabilities in the same price range. In today’s market, realistic analogue-modelling synth plugins aren’t hard to find. In fact, there are some stellar stock options in the form of Ableton’s Analog, Logic Pro’s Retro Synth, Reason’s Polytone, and Bitwig’s Polymer.
This makes Anthem something of a novelty, and I feel that rather than looking only at the architecture of legendary analogue synths, the developers could have expanded Anthem’s capabilities further with features found in classic virtual analogue synths like the Nord Lead 3, Roland JP-8000, and Access Virus.
I’m hoping that future updates will bring increased sound-shaping options, especially in the modulation department, where Anthem is rather limited.

Key features

Native UADx plugin, VST3, AU, and AAX
Analogue sound and feel
Paraphonic and unison voice modes
Vintage effects
Multi-lane sequencer

The post Is Universal Audio’s Anthem more than just virtual analogue novelty? appeared first on MusicTech.

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TCHAIKOVSKY SPECTACULAR WITH FIREWORKS at the HOLLYWOOD BOWLBy Jonathan Widran and Jessica TaylorAs Gustavo Dudamel’s long tenure as Music & Artistic Director of the LA Phil enters its final year, anticipation was high during the Hollywood Bowl’s Forever Summer schedule for his first appearances as conductor in early August. This meant July was a grand opportunity for the city’s classical music fans to experience the grandeur, grace and adventurous excitement of guest conductors from various countries across the globe, who brought their unique styles and cultural aesthetics to lead the orchestra through the enduring works of many beloved composers. These include Carlos Miguel Prieto, a Mexican conductor making his second appearance at the Bowl (after last year’s Ballet Folklórico de México) leading the annual audience favorite Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks and Tabita Berglund from Norway, making her debut with the LA Phil for a program of Brahms & Grieg. Starting with the lighthearted and lilting, Rome-inspired 15-minute fantasy for orchestra “Capriccio Italien Op. 45,” the multi-faceted Tchaikovsky program presented a high contrast in dynamics between the sweet, graceful and timeless storytelling of Swan Lake (featuring members of the San Francisco Ballet) and the familiar boisterous crescendo of the closing 1812 Overture. During this segment, the LA Phil was joined by the USC Trojan Marching Band as the vibrant fireworks display lit up the sky behind the band shell. Conducting these works, Prieto showcased the range of his refined and sophisticated artistry, also allowing us to feel the joy and passion of his heritage.  

As much as the crowd anticipates and loves the fireworks, nothing on this night was as magical and uplifting as the opportunity to experience the fluid, dreamlike interplay between the LA Phil and the SF Ballet as they presented three of the most compelling segments of Swan Lake – the White Swan Pas de Deux, Act II, Black Swan Pas de Deux Act III and Dance of the Cygnets, Act III. In the Pas de Deux (a dance for two), the male dancer showcases the beautiful ballerina, making her look light and ethereal, particularly during the lifts and spinning pirouettes. He is strong but makes lifting her seem effortless, allowing her angelic nature to shine and making it appear she is floating through the air, then assisting her as she lands with perfection.    The White Swan, the female lead of the ballet symbolizing good, danced with grace and heavenly beauty, transcending to the magnificence of a swan with solo harp accompaniment. Her male counterpart was the prince falling in love with the princess who had been transformed into the white swan. A gentle violin accompanied them as they danced together. In the second Pas de Deux, the Black Swan, representing evil, used her stylish moves to try to trick the prince and make him fall in love with her instead. Contrasting with the gentle movements of the White Swan, the Black Swan’s dramatic dance, full of jumps and turns, reflected her demands for more of the prince’s attention. The orchestra’s blend of softly charming passages and more emphatic, percussive strings perfectly reflected the seduction.  

It's likely that no other dancer or athlete can display elegance in motion as well as ballerinas performing Swan Lake, a notion most perfectly displayed on one of the ballet’s most renowned piece of choreography, “Dance of the Cygnets.” In synch with the high spirits and great whimsy of the orchestra, it featured four ballerinas (white swans) dancing together in unison, breathtakingly imitating the way petite swans huddle and move together with perfection for protection. The swimming effect created as they danced across the stage hid the hard work it takes to move in such perfect synch, much like we don’t see the intense movement of a swan’s legs under the water because they make it look so smooth on the surface. The need for the precise timing between the music and the cygnets’ movements was so great that Prieto would often look over his shoulder to make sure the orchestra was on point with them. While perhaps not the marquee event the Tchaikovsky Spectacular was, the Bowl’s presentation a few nights earlier of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor Op. 15 (the composer’s first performed orchestral work) and Grieg’s Peer Gynt was majestic and inspiring in its own special way. Besides the opportunity to hear these grandeur-filled works, perhaps the greatest revelations of the night were the elated and elegant conducting of the exuberant, internationally acclaimed Norwegian Tabita Berglund and the stunning, flawless and richly complex playing of French piano virtuoso Hélène Grimaud. Bringing much needed, insightful and intuitive feminine energy to a realm whose roles are traditionally filled by male conductors and soloists, Berglund and Grimaud regaled the audience with alternating moments of both softness and extreme intensity as they shared the ageless classical wonder of Brahm’s three movement concerto.Not surprisingly, the highlight of the post-intermission presentation of Peer Gynt was its most famous piece, “Morning Mood,” which Grieg composed to depict the rising of the sun in the Moroccan desert in Act 4 of Henrik Ibsen’s play (also named Peer Gynt). Beginning with subtle clarinets, flutes and a single lyrical oboe, it built on a symphony of multiple violins, which often convey a more solemn feeling, but here were extraordinarily uplifting, like seeing the first sunrise after God created his beautiful earth. Photo credits: Elizabeth Asher, courtesy of the LA Phil.The post TCHAIKOVSKY SPECTACULAR WITH FIREWORKS at the HOLLYWOOD BOWL first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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A Robot Controller With The Compute Module 5The regular Raspberry Pi line is a flexible single-board computer, but sometimes you might find yourself wishing for a form factor that was better designed for installation into a greater whole. This is why the Compute Module variants exist. Indeed, leveraging that intention, [Hans Jørgen Grimstad] has used the powerful Compute Module 5 as the heart of his “Overlord” robot controller.
The Compute Module 5 offers a powerful quad-core 64-bit ARM chip running at 2.4 GHz, along with anywhere from 2 to 16GB of RAM. You can also get it with WiFi and Bluetooth built in onboard, and it comes with a wide range of I2C, SPI, UART, and GPIO pins to serve whatever ends you envision for them. It’s a whole lot of capability, but the magic is in what you do with it.
For [Hans], he saw this as a powerful basis for a robot controller. To that end, he built a PCB to accept the Compute Module 5, and outfit it with peripherals suited to robotics use. His carrier board equips it with an MCP2515 CAN controller and a TJA1051 CAN transceiver, ideal for communicating in a timely manner with sensors or motor controllers. It also has a 9-axis BNO055 IMU on board, capable of sensor fusion and 100Hz updates for fine sensing and control. The board is intended to be easy to use with hardware like Xiaomi Cybergear motors and Dynamixels servos. As a bonus, there is power circuitry on board to enable it to run off anything from 5 to 36V. While GPIOs aren’t exposed, [Hans] notes that you can even pair it with a second Pi if you want to use GPIOs or camera ports or do any other processing offboard.
If you’re looking for a place to start for serious robot development, the Overlord board has plenty of capability. We’ve explored the value of the Compute Module 5 before, too. Meanwhile, if you’re cooking up your own carrier boards, don’t hesitate to let the tipsline know!

Sly-Fi AxisThere's a reason the eq that inspired this plugin has endured 45 years of musical fashion & trends: it does all the right things to sound. But even a stunning classic isn't safe from my meddling tastes. For starters, this eq's curves are a bit tighter than the original. Next, I added a Saturation knob to overdrive a customized op-amp. That knob generates a very creamy, lush distortion, I'll often use the Sat on its own, no EQ'ing. It's fat, and very much a signature Sly-Fi sound. Stepped/fixed controls can be perfect, or they can get in my way, so I added a UBK mode where all freq and gain knobs sweep freely; I love being able to point this magical eq in between the usual frequencies. Last, I put both a classic 'A' and modern 'B' mode on a switch with the UBK mode, so you can choose the one that works best for each track. At the request of Tchad Blake, Axis can now transfer your settings from A or B mode straight to UBK mode for fine tuning. It also sports a phase flip switch, because sometimes things just sound better flipped. Read More

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“We want to take clubbing back to its core”: The Warehouse Project to introduce phone ban – as phone-free shows continue gaining popularityThe Warehouse Project is introducing a phone ban at its upcoming 2025/26 season events, following an influx of artists and venues doing the same.
The club series, based in Manchester, UK, will ban dance floor photography at its Concourse-only shows, in the hopes of fostering a more present environment for attendees. Addressing a highly raised request from music fans who have attended other phone-free events, THP will be sharing photos and videos with the crowd at the end of each night.

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The ban follows the likes of Pikes Ibiza and also artists such as Ghost who have already implemented such policies. Even pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter has considered doing the same. After attending a Silk Sonic show where no phones were allowed, Carpenter told Rolling Stone that she’d “never had a better experience at a concert”.
The Warehouse Project founder, Sam Kandel, has shared his thoughts on the move (via Mixmag): “We want to take the clubbing experience back to its core, which is being in a room with like-minded people feeling connected through music,” he says.
“We also want people to have a piece of the night to remember it by and share with friends, which is why we are sharing our amazing content with everyone at the end of the evening.”

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Recently, Beyoncé producer Raphael Saadiq also weighed in on the rise of phone bans, citing his experience after mandating phones be locked away at some of his No Bandwidth: One Man, One Night, Three Decades Of Hits shows.
“Taking the phones away just made it so I can give people the same opportunity that I had as a young [person] going to the Oakland Coliseum and watching The O’Jays,” he told Tonya Mosley of NPR.
“I mean, I could see them walking up the stairs. I could see the lights on their shoes. I could see the lights on the amps. I paid attention to so much detail. Now, when you have phones in front of you, you see people stiff, and nobody’s moving in the crowd.
“It looks like it’s robots. It’s not really real people. So when there’s no phones… I just – I like it,” he said. “The testimonies I heard, people said they got a chance to hug, kiss, dance with each other.”
The Warehouse Project’s 2025/26 season kicks off on 4 September at Amber’s in Manchester, with Annie Mac’s Before Midnight event taking over its usual Depot Mayfield location the following day. View the full event calendar over at The Warehouse Project.
The post “We want to take clubbing back to its core”: The Warehouse Project to introduce phone ban – as phone-free shows continue gaining popularity appeared first on MusicTech.

Grow Spotify Streams with the Power of Super ListenersYour most valuable Spotify fans aren't just streaming, they're fueling your growth and income. Here's a guide on how to attract, retain, and activate super listeners to level up your audience and grow Spotify streams.
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A rare Daft Punk skateboard made by the duo’s long-time creative director is listed for sale at $15,000A super-rare Daft Punk-branded skateboard is listed for sale on Ebay, which was created by the duo’s long-time creative director Cédric Hervet.
The skateboard is listed for a rather hefty price tag, just shy of $15,000, and is one of only 25 of this kind that were produced – it’s the 11th one out of the run, to be exact. It’s in mint condition and is still in its original box.

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The seller originally purchased the board in LA at a Maxfield pop up store. It was created in 2017 for the limited release, and as reported by EDM.com, came out of Hervet Manufacturier: the design studio co-founded by Hervet after his work with Daft Punk.
Hervet was involved in vital art direction for the pair, including the album artwork for their iconic Random Access Memories album. He also co-wrote and co-produced Interstella 5555, the accompanying film to their Discovery record, and also co-wrote and edited Daft Punk’s 2006 Electroma film.

In other Daft Punk news, former Kraftwerk percussionist Wolfgang Flür was sadly tricked into working with an impersonator pretending to be Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter on his Times album, which was released in March this year.
Flür was a member of Kraftwerk from 1973-1987, and has been releasing solo music since 2015. He had previously teased a collaboration with Bangalter in the years prior to its release, but after it officially landed, reports claimed that the collaboration was not with the real Bangalter, and that Flür had been tricked.
Things continue to remain quiet in the official Daft Punk camp. Ever since their retirement in 2021, the world has continued to hope that the two will team up once again; in 2024, former collaborator and session drummer Quinn claimed the duo are sitting on an unreleased album. He told student-run media organisation alt.news 26:46 that the pair began working on what would have been their fifth album in 2018.
You can view the full listing for the Daft Punk skateboard via Ebay.
The post A rare Daft Punk skateboard made by the duo’s long-time creative director is listed for sale at $15,000 appeared first on MusicTech.

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