Sloppy Drums sample pack from Song Athletics The third addition to the Song Athletics range takes a far more laid-back approach than your usual loop collection.

Fisker loses customers’ money, Robinhood launches a credit card, and Google generates travel itinerariesHey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the notable happenings in tech over the past few days. This week, TC’s auto reporter Sean O’Kane revealed how EV startup Fisker temporarily lost track of millions of dollars in customer payments as it scaled up deliveries, leading to an internal audit that started […]
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A Practical Guide To Understanding How Radios WorkHow may radios do you own? Forget the AM/FM, GMRS/FRS radios you listen to or communicate with. We’re talking about the multiple radios and antennae in your phone, your TV, your car, your garage door opener, every computing device you own- you get the idea. It’s doubtful that you can accurately count them even in your own home. But what principles of the electromagnetic spectrum allow radio to work, and how do antenna design, modulation, and mixing affect it? [Michał Zalewski] aka [lcamtuf] aims to inform you with his excellent article Radios, how do they work?
A simple illustration compares a capacitor to a dipole antenna.
For those of you with a penchant for difficult maths, there’s some good old formulae published in the article that’ll help you understand the physics of radio. For the rest of us, there are a plethora of fantastic illustrations showing some of the less obvious principals, such as why a longer diploe is more directional than a shorter dipole.
The article opens with a thought experiment, explaining how two dipole antennae are like capacitors, but then also explains how they are different, and why a 1/4 wave dipole saves the day. Of course it doesn’t stop there. [lcamtuf]’s animations show the action of a sine wave on a 1/4 wave dipole, bringing a nearly imaginary concept right into the real world, helping us visualize one of the most basic concepts of radio.
Now that you’re got a basic understanding of how radios work, why not Listen to Jupiter with your own homebrew receiver?

SMD Soldering, Without The BlobsHand soldering of surface mount components is a bread-and-butter task for anyone working with electronics in 2024. So many devices are simply no longer available in the older through-hole formats, and it’s now normal for even the most homebrew of circuits to use a PCB. But how do you solder your parts? If like us you put a blob of solder on a pad and drop the part into it, then [Mr. SolderFix] has some advice on a way to up your game.
The blob of solder method leaves a little more solder on the part than is optimal, sometimes a bulbous lump of the stuff. Instead, he puts a bit of flux on the pad and then applies a much smaller quantity of solder on the tip of his iron, resulting in a far better joint. As you can see in the video below, the difference is significant. He starts with passives, but then shows us the technique on a crystal, noting that it’s possible to get the solder on the top of these parts if too much is used. Yes, we’ve been there. Watch the whole video, and improve your surface mount soldering technique!
He’s someone we’ve featured before here at Hackaday, most recently in lifting surface mount IC pins.

Live Review: The Third Mind The Troubador Los Angeles, CA 

Contact: nancysefton@gsmgmt.net 

Web: thethirdmind.net 

Players: Dave Alvin, guitar, vocals; Jesse Sykes, rhythm guitar, vocals; Victor Krummenacher, vocals; Michael Jerome, drums, percussion; Mark Karan, guitar, vocals; Willie Aron, keyboards 

Material: Renowned roots-rocker Dave Alvin has cast his musical net farther than one would expect with The Third Mind. Currently touring on their second album, the band takes '60s folk, blues and pop tunes, and rekindles their improvisatory nature. For example, the legendary "East West" raga-style instrumental by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band is given the same exploratory treatment as the original, and girl group The Jaynetts' song "Sally Go Round The Roses" is given a 10-minute workout! 

Musicianship: Every musician here was a seasoned veteran, including guitarist Karan (who's played in various Grateful Dead offshoots). His smooth-toned flowing lines were a perfect counterpoint to Alvin's overdriven and piercing leads. A veteran of indie aces Camper Van Beethoven, Krummenacher's bass kept the entire ensemble on point. Keyboardist Aron was super tasteful, providing spacey sound washes as much as occasional complex filigrees. Drummer Jerome was a rhythm wizard, upping the game by adding bongos and hand percussion, especially in the quieter moments. In short, a band of master musicians. 

Performance: Launching into songs by The Electric Flag ("Groovin' is Easy") and Butterfield ("In My Own Dream"), Dave Alvin was an affable band leader, introducing the songs and then generally letting Jesse Sykes take over on the vocals. As the band would catch fire on each song's jams, she would step back to let the dueling guitarists take over. Her voice is a bit unconventional, it's got a steely high quaver to it while still retaining conviction, like barbed wire dipped in honey. The aforementioned Jaynetts cover was a real showstopper, and the band's take on "East West" was phenomenal, with 'round robin' solos. The one original in the mix, the ethereal Sykes-penned "Tall Grass," featured some beautiful keyboards by Aron. Karan's time with Bob Weir's band made the chestnut "Morning Dew" a shoo-in to cover, and it's psychedelic possibilities were suitably mined, sealed over with Sykes' impassioned vocal. Their last encore song was a BLAZING version of Dylan's "Highway 61," with Alvin singing (most of) the verses. 

Summary: The Third Mind is a delight to anyone appreciating top-level musicianship. It's an absolute joy to see band members actively listening to each other while expanding the jamming potential of classic folky tunes. And I never thought I'd be seeing Dave Alvin using feedback on his guitar leads! 

The best mobile music production apps and gear (2024)
We showcase the top mobile apps and portable electronic instruments that will help you bring your best ideas to life in 2024—even when you're not in the studio.

REWIND: The new music industry’s week in reviewIt was a busy week by any definition; the music industry was no exception, including new stats on TikTok, the UK's solution to the music venue crisis, Tracy Chan's new job, and more.....
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s week in review appeared first on Hypebot.

Getting It Done: Last week in D.I.Y. & Indie MusicLast week, our tips and advice for independent, do-it-yourselfers covered static vs. active music releases, how digital performance royalties work, and more......
The post Getting It Done: Last week in D.I.Y. & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

“Spent months making new versions of everything for this and you wonder why I never play EDM festivals”: Calvin Harris responds to criticism that his Ultra Music set was “underwhelming”Calvin Harris has responded to criticism of his set at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival after people online called it “underwhelming”.
Harris played a headlining set on the main stage during the festival’s final day (Sunday 24 March), where he performed hits such as This Is What You Came For and Outside, but with some added live twists.

READ MORE: Jon Bon Jovi makes unexpected appearance on stage with Armin Van Buuren at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival

Being an artist in the age of social media means you’re bound to come across negative comments on your work. Most creatives will simply ignore, but sometimes it can be hard to let things slide when a lot of time and effort has gone into your craft.
Responding in a thread of comments on Instagram, Harris argued that no matter what he does, his choice on what to perform at EDM festivals such as this one will never please everyone. He also said he spent “months” making new versions of his biggest hits to appease those who aren’t so keen on mainstream music.
“You expect me to play none of my songs? Three songs since 2014, hmm, How Deep Is Your Love – billion streams, This Is What You Came For – billion streams, My Way – billion streams, Slide – billion streams, Feels – billion streams, One Kiss – billion streams, and the other five half a bill and before 2014, another 20, and not cheesy shit, proper fucking songs with real artists and you’d rather I play Fein trap edits today.
“Spent months making new versions of everything for this and you wonder why I never play EDM festivals… At least people I saw [in real life] had a great time and I can be happy with that but fuck, at this point whatever I do is gonna piss you off,” he said.
The original comment he is responding to appears to be deleted, and the commenter has apologised in the thread.

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Calvin Harris responds to comment calling his set “underwhelming”. Says it’s part of the reason he doesn’t do EDM festivals byu/pastrknack inEDM

Harris began his music-making journey with an old Amiga 500 Plus desktop computer left behind by his older brother when he went away to university.
Last August, Harris reflected on how working with limited gear was actually beneficial to his creative process: “There were some songs that I couldn’t put a crash symbol in and a chorus vocal at the same time, it would take up too much memory. So I had to decide, would I put in this riff, or would I put in this hi-hat, you know?” he told BBC Sounds.
“You can do anything now. And all the programmes are so advanced. You can literally go from doing nothing to doing an orchestral piece with 200 tracks, but I think it’s a good idea to impose your own restrictions sometimes, and work to that.”
View all upcoming live dates for Calvin Harris.
The post “Spent months making new versions of everything for this and you wonder why I never play EDM festivals”: Calvin Harris responds to criticism that his Ultra Music set was “underwhelming” appeared first on MusicTech.

From Universal’s investment in Weverse to Trefuego’s $800,000 copyright infringement fine… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
Source

Electrospinning Artificial Heart ValvesWhen you think about additive manufacturing, thoughts naturally turn to that hot-glue squirting CNC machine sitting on your bench and squeezing whatever plastic doodad you need. But 3D printing isn’t the only way to build polymer structures, as [Riley] shows us with this fascinating attempt to create electrospun heart valves.
Now, you may never have heard of electrospinning, but we’ll venture a guess that as soon as you see what it entails, you’ll have a “Why didn’t I think of that?” moment. As [Riley] explains, electrospinning uses an electric field to build structures from fine threads of liquid polymer solution — he uses polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable polyester we’ve seen used in other medical applications, which he dissolves in acetone. He loads it into a syringe, attaches the positive terminal of a high-voltage power supply to the hypodermic needle, and the negative terminal to a sheet of aluminum foil. The charge turns the PCL droplets into fine threads that accumulate on the foil; once the solvent flashes off, what’s left is a gossamer layer of non-woven plastic fabric.
To explore the uses of this material, [Riley] chose to make an artificial heart valve. This required a 3D-printed framework with three prongs, painted with conductive paint. He tried a few variations on the design before settling on a two-piece armature affixed to a rotating shaft. The PCL accumulates on the form, creating a one-piece structure that can be gingerly slipped off thanks to a little silicon grease used as a release agent.
The results are pretty impressive. The structure bears a strong resemblance to an artificial tricuspid heart valve, with three delicate leaves suspended between the upright prongs. It’s just a proof of concept, of course, but it’s a great demonstration of the potential of electrospinning, as well as an eye-opening look at what else additive manufacturing has to offer.

Google Podcasts is shutting down soon, users urged to move to YouTube MusicGoogle is shutting down its Podcasts app in the U.S. in a matter of days. The company has begun warning the app’s users they will need to migrate their subscriptions to YouTube Music by April 2 to follow and stream their favorite shows going forward. Users who don’t make the move immediately will still have […]
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Austrian Audio extend pro headphone warranties Austrian Audio have announced that five of their high-precision Austrian-made headphone models will now come with a five-year warranty.

Martha Reeves on the Hollywood Walk of FameMotown legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Martha Reeves received the 2,776th Hollywood Walk of Fame star located near La Brea and Hollywood Blvd March 27th.

The ceremony included speeches from the President & CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Steve Nissen, founder of Motown Berry Gordy, Motown’s first artist Smokey Robinson, Motown’s original A&R man William “Mickey” Stevenson, and a surprise appearance from none other than Stevie Wonder. In attendance were Motown songwriter Janie Bradford, “Band of Gold” singer Freda and her sister Scherrie (Supremes) Payne, the Miracles’ Claudette Robinson, and comedian/ventriloquist Willie Tyler and Lester.

The emcee was Variety’s senior entertainment reporter Angelique Jackson. Reeves and her group the Vandellas had hits like “Dancing in the Street,” “Jimmy Mack,” “Heat Wave,” and “Nowhere to Run.” The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.  “Dancing In the Street” which was covered by The Grateful Dead, Van Halen, and Mick Jagger and David Bowie was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1998 Reeves and the Vandellas performed at the Super Bowl halftime show as part of a tribute to Motown for its 40th anniversary along with the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Queen Latifah, and Boyz II Men. Reeves would also perform at  Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration. 

That evening Reeves appeared at the Grammy Museum for an “In conversation with” event.

Retrotechtacular: The IBM 7070If you think of IBM mainframe computers, you most likely are thinking of the iconic S/360 or the slightly newer S/370. But what about the 7070 from 1958? It had transistors! It didn’t, however, use binary. Instead, it was a decimal-architecture machine. You can see a lost video of the machine below.
It was originally slated to upgrade the older IBM 650 and 705 computers. However, it wasn’t compatible with either, so IBM had to roll out the IBM7080, which was compatible, at least, with the 705. Both machines could run 650 code via emulation.

Hardly a personal computer, this beast weighed over 23,000 pounds and cost a cool $813,000. Most companies leased it, though for a mere $17,400 a month. For that price, you got 5,000 words of core memory that could each hold ten decimal digits and a sign bit. The CPU ran at a stately 27 kHz. Hey, this was 1958, after all. One innovation was that card readers and printers connected to the computer through a “synchronizer” that buffered between the relatively fast CPU and the relatively slow devices.
The computer used 14,000 circuit cards containing around 30,000 germanium transistors and 22,000 germanium diodes. We imagine the power bill was worse than the monthly rent.
It seems the film’s audio isn’t present, but the modern narrator gives some context. If you like this old iron, don’t miss the video of the later IBM S/370 or learn how to use an 029 card punch.