Releasing Albums still matters in the Digital AgeAs streaming platforms increasingly favor shorter releases, artists like Dua Lipa and Jack White demonstrate that albums are still vital to an artist's career, while genres like electronic music often prioritize singles.
The post Releasing Albums still matters in the Digital Age appeared first on Hypebot.

Bristol’s Machina Bristronica music tech festival was so successful last year it’s coming back for two days in OctoberAfter the runaway success of last year’s event, Machina Bristronica has been expanded to two days and is set to take place 12-13 October. The “festival of knobs, buttons & discussions” returns to central Bristol venue Document, and is once again organised by synth shop Elevator Sounds.
The event will be packed with synth stalls, panel talks, live hardware performances, DIY modular workshops, music production and performance training and the Escher Music Connection showcase, all spread across 4 warehouse rooms and an outdoor stage.

READ MORE: The Softube Console 1 Fader Mk III offers DAW control with traditional “Analog Feel” faders

The live stage line-up boasts an impressive roster of performers including Surgeon, Anthony Rother, Look Mum No Computer, Hainbach, Legowelt and more.
There’ll also be stalls from a wide range of exhibitors, allowing punters to get hands-on with big-name synths and a wealth of smaller boutique modular pieces of gear. There’s also the DivKid stage, which will host interviews with top designers and delving deep into the design process.
If you’re handy with a soldering iron, there are 10 DIY workshops where you can build and keep high-quality hardware with assistance from professional designers. Tickets for these are available separately and places are limited.
Elsewhere, discussion sessions will cover topics such as The Past, Present and Future of Eurorack, Sampling Stories with Dave Rossum, Radio and Community in the Age of Algorithms, and Exploring Magnetic Tape. The Escher Music Connection will see DJ Hodge playing tracks created by Escher Music Connection group members, and Saffron Music, We All Play Synth, and Bleep Klub will also be spinning tunes across the weekend.

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Add in live visuals, installations, merch, a bar and some tasty food stalls to the mix, and you’ve got what looks to be an unmissable electronic music event.
Machina Bristronica will open from 11AM to 10PM on Saturday the 12th, and from 11:30AM to 7PM on Sunday the 13th. Those who wish to continue after the event can attend the Saturday afterparty at Strange Brew with live sets from DMX Crew, True Cuckoo and more. Afterparty tickets are available from Headfirst.
General tickets for Machina Bristronica are now on final release at Resident Advisor, priced at £39.99 for the Saturday, £29.99 for the Sunday, and £59.99 for both days.
More info can be found at machinabristronica.uk.
The post Bristol’s Machina Bristronica music tech festival was so successful last year it’s coming back for two days in October appeared first on MusicTech.

“I love AI but some musicians have this idea that it’s a bad thing”: Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess is a proponent of artificial intelligence in musicAI is a hotly contested topic in the world of music production and technology. While some welcome its ability to speed up their workflow, others have argued that it’s in opposition to creativity, and that legislation is lagging behind, meaning musicians are having their rights circumnavigated by exploitative tech companies.
Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess is a proponent of artificial intelligence, though, as he explains in a new interview with metal.it.

READ MORE: TikTok Music shutting down after just one year

His reasoning is primarily down to how AI is able to speed up his workflow, and mentions Moises – known for its AI track separation – as a company he works with “very closely”.
“It’s a very interesting company,” he says [via Blabbermouth]. “They’re mostly known for their work in track separation, and musicians all around the world use it. Basically the way it works is that you can upload to their system a stereo audio file or even a video, and then when it’s within their system, the system can take it apart…
“It’s like having access to all the individual tracks. It’s kind of a modern-day musician miracle, really, the way that it works. There’s some different companies that work in track separation, but Moises is pretty much the top of the game.”
He goes on: “The reason I bring them up is because I love the technology but also because all the musicians around the world that use this, some of them have this idea that AI is a bad thing, but they don’t even know that Moises is built on AI.”
Rudess says artificial intelligence, because it’s such a divisive topic, is often stigmatised by those who don’t understand it simply for what it’s referred to as.
“I believe more and more that artificial intelligence is a very bad name for this technology,” he explains. “There’s a lot of other ways to think about it. There’s nothing really artificial about it. We should go back in time, really, and change that. It’s leading people down the wrong thought process to think about what’s actually going on with the tool and how these things are put together.”
He does, however, acknowledge that the legalities of AI use in music are “really important to figure out”, and “need to be resolved in a big way”.
“There’s a lot of concern in the music business from people about their rights, how these models have been instructed or loaded in with different songs and styles, and rightly so. People, musicians are concerned. They feel like this is not fair. Maybe their music is being loaded into a computer without their permission. All these kinds of things are really, really important to figure out. [These are] all legal matters which need to be resolved in a big way. It’s gonna take time.”
The post “I love AI but some musicians have this idea that it’s a bad thing”: Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess is a proponent of artificial intelligence in music appeared first on MusicTech.

The Softube Console 1 Fader Mk III offers DAW control with traditional “Analog Feel” fadersSoftube has officially unveiled the Console 1 Fader Mk III, the latest iteration of its popular fader controller.

READ MORE: “You may never EQ again – if we succeed”: Waves Audio announces new Curves plugins, which it claims can do your EQ for you

The latest member of the Console 1 Mixing System improves on its predecessor with the introduction of “Analog Feel” faders that feature capacitive touch technology. Now, users can set levels, write automation, adjust pan, and select tracks with a console-like experience. The faders also offer haptic feedback that not only feels smooth but also communicates critical mix information in real time.
By combining the traditional analogue console feel with modern DAW control, the Console 1 Fader Mk III streamlines the mixing process and offers a more intuitive hands-on experience.
Users will also benefit from ten high-resolution screens displaying useful information such as track names, numbers, level metres, pan, and colours, ensuring smooth navigation across projects. You can choose between 4 operating modes: Console 1, Pro Tools HUI, Generic MCU, and Apollo Central – allowing for quick DAW setups.
Another noteworthy feature is the Param Mode, which allows you to assign parameters like filters, drive, compression threshold and more to the faders. And with dual USB-C ports, users can daisy-chain up to four units without the need for hubs, reducing cable clutter and increasing modularity for those who require more extensive control setups.
Mounting options are included as well, allowing you to seamlessly integrate the Fader Mk III with the Channel MK III for the ultimate DAW control solution.
The Console 1 Fader Mk III is priced at $999.

In related news, Softube recently launched the Model 77 Dual Layer Synth, a virtual instrument that “perfectly captures” the sound of three legendary Japanese synthesizers from 1977. Check out our review of the plugin to learn more about its features.
More information is available at Softube. 
The post The Softube Console 1 Fader Mk III offers DAW control with traditional “Analog Feel” faders appeared first on MusicTech.

Warm Audio WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato & Pedal76 Compressor Warm Audio bring back the original bold chorus sound with the WA-C1 and true studio compression for your pedalboard with Pedal76.

Kanye West looks to be working on new music – is VULTURES 3 on the way?Ye – Kanye West – has shared a video of himself working on new music to his Instagram account, which uses a familiar sample.
In a video captioned “PRODUCER MAN”, West can be seen using an Ensoniq ASR-10. As sharp-eared listeners have already picked up, he is seemingly utilising a sample from The Moments’ 1971 track, To You With Love, which was also sampled by J Dilla on Last Donut Of The Night.

READ MORE: “I’ve come to realise that the perfect mix doesn’t exist, although Daft Punk might be able to achieve that”: Producer Ben Böhmer on embracing imperfection in music

West has already released two albums this year – VULTURES 1, released in February, and VULTURES 2, released in August – as part of his work as ¥$ alongside Ty Dolla $ign. A suspected third VULTURES album is supposedly also arriving this year.
You can view the video below:

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West has been the subject of much controversy across recent years, both politically and within the music industry. He has been accused by a number of artists of allegedly using samples from their music without permission. This includes Donna Summer’s estate, Ozzy Osbourne, and producer TSVI.
In other news, a group of storage locker hunters recently uncovered a massive collection of Kanye West gear. The team unboxed the contents of their storage locker purchase in a ‘live’ opening video on TikTok back in August, in which they revealed a flight case labelled with the name “Kanye West” and the word “Grammys”.
Among the find was also some pricey AKG C414 microphones, custom in-ear monitors, an Ensoniq ASR-10 with the name ‘Tarik’ written on it (as per the video above, it seems West has another still in his ownership), and what appeared to be stage costumes from a Hollywood Bowl performance.
The post Kanye West looks to be working on new music – is VULTURES 3 on the way? appeared first on MusicTech.

TikTok Music shutting down after just one yearTikTok is shuttering its standalone music streaming service, TikTok Music, this November.
The Byte Dance-owned company says it will now be focusing its resources on its ‘Add To Music App’ feature, which lets users add tracks they discover on TikTok videos directly to a playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music.

READ MORE: PreSonus users rage at Studio One Pro 7 upgrade prices and lack of new feature mentions

“Our Add to Music App feature has already enabled hundreds of millions of track saves to playlists on partner music streaming services,” Ole Obermann, Global Head Of Music Business at TikTok, said in a statement.
“We will be closing TikTok Music at the end of November in order to focus on our goal of furthering TikTok’s role in driving even greater music listening and value on music streaming services, for the benefit of artists, songwriters and the industry.”
The service, which launched in July 2023 and was available in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore and Mexico, will terminate on 28 November, after which all renewals will be cancelled. Users will also have until 28 October to transfer their playlists to other streaming services.
The announcement comes just months after TikTok was forced to pull songs by artists including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, and Rihanna from its platform due to a dispute with record label Universal Music Group.
In January, the music giant accused TikTok of trying to “bully” it into “accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of [its] exponential growth”. In return, TikTok claimed that UMG had — with their “self-serving actions” — “put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters”.
A new settlement was eventually reached in May, which saw both sides working together in a new “multi-dimensional” licensing agreement, and music by artists under the UMG umbrella returning to the service.
In any case, the shutdown of TikTok Music marks the end of a years-long venture into music streaming by owner ByteDance. Prior to TikTok Music, the company operated a similar app called Resso with the hopes of funnelling TikTok users into a new standalone music service. The service was available in India, Indonesia, and Brazil.
The post TikTok Music shutting down after just one year appeared first on MusicTech.

Softube’s Model 77 might be the most impressive Yamaha CS emulation out there€159 (€99 in the current sale), softube.com
The Model 77 is the latest member of Softube’s Model series of classic synth recreations. When one considers the many developers creating plugin versions of iconic vintage synths, Softube tends to be among the best in the game.

READ MORE: Best free plugins 2024: 15 of the best free synthesizer plugins

In creating the Model 77, Softube takes inspiration from three legendary Yamaha polysynths: The 4-voice CS-50, the 8-voice CS-60, and the 8-voice dual-layer CS-80 with polyphonic aftertouch. Rather than throwing a myriad of modern gimmicks into the mix, Softube has captured the essence of the polyphonic synthesis platform of the CS series in a plugin format and even maintained some of its idiosyncrasies.
If you’re new to synths, the interface of the CS-80 – or any of its modern alternatives – can be rather intimidating, which can slow down your creative progress. Even once you’ve grasped the basics of subtractive synthesis, a jam-packed dual-layer synth can come across as a rather ungainly beast.
Luckily for most of us, Softube has considered these factors in designing the Model 77. It’s a classically styled dual-layer soft synth that encourages creating your own sounds but doesn’t require lots of prior experience with synths.
The Model 77’s expansion panel
How do I use the Softube Model 77?
For starters, you’re going to need a MIDI keyboard for this, and preferably an aftertouch compatible one. Like the CS-80, the Model 77 is the type of instrument that prefers to be played rather than sequenced. So, if you aren’t much of a keyboard player, learning a few basic chord progressions could be the difference between having loads of fun with the Model 77 and getting bored rather quickly.
The patch library is relatively modest, with just over 110 presets. However, the browser is easy to navigate and there is a healthy balance of usable modern and vintage sounds, giving you an overall sense of the Model 77’s capabilities. Unlike the CS-80 and many of its recreations, the Model 77 has a relatively straightforward interface.
The two layers are colour-coded, making it easy to differentiate between them. All layer-specific controls can be found on the first row and the expansion panel below the tone selector section. Meanwhile, all other controls are global, as they affect both layers.
The Model 77’s upper layer
With the Model 77 interface design, Softube has made every effort to build a platform that gets you into the CS-80’s unique way of creating sounds. While cornerstone elements like the tone selector and the distinctive envelopes have been preserved, the archaic 1970s terms like ‘Brilliance’ (filter frequency), ‘Touch Response’ (aftertouch), and ‘Sub Oscillator’ (LFO) from the CS-80 have been replaced by appropriate modern terms to avoid confusion.
Very few of us will ever get to play a real CS-80, so to get the most from Model 77, the best we can do is to try and understand its architecture. The approach to programming sounds far more dynamic and open-ended than a simple synth like the Roland SH-101 for instance. Instead of trying to create a finite sound, we are setting the rules for the way the synth interacts with the keyboard.
The use of synthesizers within recorded music was still relatively sparse at the time Yamaha undertook the development of the massive GX-1 and its subsequent CS series. At this time, synths were still seen through a rather limiting lens as tools to imitate existing instruments, like strings and guitars and so on. With this in mind, we can get our heads around the inclusion of the tone selector section. Although it could seem redundant by modern standards, it’s nevertheless a tool to help us get into ‘CS-80 mode’ as it were.

How do I build sounds using the Softube Model 77?
What surprised us more than anything about the Model 77, is how fast and easy it is to create your own sounds from scratch. We start by initialising the two layers in the tone selector and moving our mix slider to focus on the upper layer. To create a monstrous EDM lead, we activate unison mode and set the layer mix back to zero. Any settings can be copied across both layers, so you can quickly duplicate changes you make when stacking sounds.
Once we’re happy with the basic character of the sound, we start experimenting with the different glide modes and adjusting the glide time to add more expression and edge. Also, sounds can be widened with the Pan Spread slider in the Expansion Panel, while the Pitch Bend range and Unison controls allow even more dynamism.
Reverb is the finishing touch to any sound you create, and Model 77’s reverb sounds phenomenal. It might only have a single slider, but this controls the decay time and wet/dry mix all at once, so it’s easy to find a sweet spot. Finally, the Age slider helps add characteristics relevant to a particular era or genre. As this affects the intonation as well as adding subtle variances to the filters, pulse-width modulation, and envelope controls, we keep it at zero for modern EDM-style sounds. However, if we’re trying to create synth wave sounds à la Com Truise, the Age control can give these a more authentic feel.
Another wonderful aspect of the CS-80 that the Model 77 carries is, of course, the aftertouch feature. This adds another expressive avenue to the ways you can play chords and melodies. As you exert pressure on any key played, you engage the aftertouch modulation bus.
The Ring Mod section is also a great tool for giving sounds a retro sci-fi feel with the almost metallic texture imparted onto the sound. With the two sustain modes, you can choose whether you want overlapping notes to decay or be cut off with a last-note priority and you have a choice of portamento or glissando as you move between notes.
The Model 77’s lower layer
Should I buy the Softube Model 77?
The Model 77 is a truly spectacular-sounding synth plugin that is incredibly easy to program. Once you understand the basics of its dual-layer interface, you can dive right into creating authentic sounds with depth and unique textures. But if you’re a non-keyboard player, this isn’t the type of synth plugin that does the work for you.
Don’t expect a wealth of rhythmic sound presets that you can quickly trigger with a single note and layer as you would on Pigments or Omnisphere. Instead, if you approach the Model 77 as more of a traditional musical instrument, you can get an unfathomable amount of expression and detail while playing even the most basic of chords.
For this reason, a decent-quality MIDI keyboard is essential, as we’ve discussed earlier. Instead of watching Bladerunner for the 1400th time, try learning a little about the Yamaha CS-80 and what sets it apart from the other legendary analogue polysynths like the OB-X, the Prophet 5, the Jupiter 8, and the MemoryMoog.
If you’re a synth purist with keyboard-playing ability, you’re in for a real treat. Expect to be blown away by the sheer sonic scope of the Model 77 and its powerful modules for Softube Modular and Amp Room. At the same time, you have an incredible instrument that is compatible with standard aftertouch and polyphonic aftertouch, presenting a vintage approach to synthesis that doesn’t feel clunky or overwhelming.
As we’ve come to expect, Softube’s developers have done extensive research in creating the Model 77. As a result, it not only sounds authentic but delivers a user experience that is relevant both to professional music producers and complete beginners.
Is it better than the other CS-80 plugin options available? That depends — if you’re looking for a plugin that taps into the very source code of the CS-80 and makes it accessible to modern DAW users, the answer is a resounding yes.
Copying layers in the Model 77
Key features

Meticulously modelled on the Yamaha CS-50, CS-60, and CS-80
Dual-layer interface with a straightforward workflow and modern DAW-friendly features
Careful recreation of Voice allocation, Polyphonic aftertouch, Ring modulation, Glide, and Sustain modes
Excellent additions like Unison mode and Reverb
Additional modules for Softube Modular and Amp Room

The post Softube’s Model 77 might be the most impressive Yamaha CS emulation out there appeared first on MusicTech.

Leapwing Audio introduce LimitOne LimitOne uses two algorithms to combine processing in the frequency and time domains for a fresh approach to limiting.

Lisa Bella Donna Incorporates Found Sound with Austrian Audio MiCreator StudioLisa Bella Donna is one of the most visible and prolific figures in the world of synthesizer-based composition working today. Across dozens of full length releases, she has explored a vast array of evocative sonic landscapes created with a unique combination of intuitive modular composition techniques and natural found sounds.

Her latest release, Hysteresis, dives even deeper into these possibilities across a diverse quartet of compositions that range from the gently hypnotic chimes of Gardens of Windfall to the pulsing rollercoaster of the title track. A key component in the creation of Hysteresis was the natural inspiration provided by Bella Donna’s home in Appalachia, which she incorporated through purposeful field recording. One of her favored microphones for capturing these natural sounds in-the-moment was the Austrian Audio MiCreator Studio.

Hysteresis is available now on Lisa Bella Donna’s Bandcamp and all streaming platforms. For more information, visit: lisabelladonna.bandcamp.com

For more information about the Austrian Audio MiCreator Studio, visit: austrian.audio/micreatorThe post Lisa Bella Donna Incorporates Found Sound with Austrian Audio MiCreator Studio first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

BNY nears crypto custody for ETFs after SEC softens SAB 121 stanceBank of New York Mellon will not be held to SEC accounting practices for client crypto custody after a review.

ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbotChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth used by more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies. That growth has propelled OpenAI itself into […]
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ESP32 Powers Custom Darkroom TimerDeveloping your own film is an unabashedly analog process, which is one of the reasons people still gravitate towards it. After spending all day pushing buttons and looking at digital displays, spending some quiet time in the dark with pieces of paper and chemicals can be a way to decompress. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a bit of modern digital convenience.
Specifically, [John Jones] wanted a timer that offered more features than his old school analog model, so he decided to build one himself. He took the long away around to make sure the end result would be a tool he could rely on, which meant getting a custom PCB made, 3D printing a case to fit in with his existing workspace, and designing a control panel that he could operate in the dark.
The PCB plays host to an ESP32 development board and an I/O expander that connects up to the array of LEDs, switches, and buttons on the front panel. The bottom-half of of the 3D printed enclosure is pretty simple, but the control panel is quite a piece of work.
Borrowing a trick from the flight sim community, [John] switched over to a clear filament after laying down the first few layers of the panel. This essentially created an integrated light diffuser, and with the addition of a few red LEDs, he had very slick backlit labels on his panel with relatively minimal effort.
We’ve covered custom darkroom tools in the past, from this relatively simple enlarger to an automated system that will develop the film for you.

Firebird’s latest deal is with Hills Artists, the management home of LANYLos Angeles-based Hills was launched in 2018 by Rupert Lincoln
Source

3D Printing On Top Of Laser Cut Acrylic[Julius Curt] needed to mark acrylic panels with a bit more clarity than the usual way of rastering the surface, so they attempted to 3D print directly to an acrylic sheet, which worked perfectly. The obvious way to do this was to bond the acrylic sheet to the bed with glue temporarily, but another way was tried, and it’s much less messy and precarious.
The bond between a 3D print and acrylic is very strong
The first step was to create a 3D model which combined a constraining ‘fence’ to contain the acrylic panel with the required artwork floating above. It was easy enough to run the print long enough to build the fence, then pause the print mid-way to add the pristine panel and restart after a quick re-prime and wipe.
There were a few simple takeaways from the video below. First, to ensure sufficient tolerance between the fence and the panel, consider the layer width (plus associated tolerance when printed) and the laser kerf of your machines to ensure a not-too-sloppy fit. Secondly, that hot nozzle won’t do the acrylic surface any favours during travel moves, so enabling Z-hopping is essential!
Another use for this simple technique is to fully incorporate an acrylic sheet within a print by pausing at an appropriate height again, dropping the panel in, and continuing the print. A degree of overlap will lock the panel tight, with the plastic bonding very firmly to the acrylic, as [Julius] demonstrates in the video.
It’s always a delight to see how techniques can combine to create the desired effects. Here’s how to use a color laser printer and toner transfer paper to apply designs to a 3D printing front panel. Whilst we’re thinking about the multitude of uses for hacking with acrylic, what about not doing that and using corrugated plastic instead?