Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios announces four-day residential masterclass featuring Ken Scott, Adrian Utley and SwindleStep into the world of music mastery as Real World Studios, the class-leading recording sanctuary founded by Peter Gabriel, opens its doors for an exclusive residential masterclass.
Nestled amidst the serene West Country setting of the UK, this studio has been the creative hub for iconic artists spanning generations, from the soulful croonings of Van Morrison to the chart-topping melodies of Harry Styles.

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

From 11 to 14 July 2024, participants will have the rare opportunity to soak in the studio’s unique ambiance while learning from a roster of industry heavyweights. Joining the lineup are Beatles engineer Ken Scott, Adrian Utley from Portishead, prog metal virtuoso Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood, and producer-songwriter Swindle, with more names to be announced soon.
According to Real World Studios, each day will be made up of a series of modules in all their recording spaces each hosted by an industry professional. There’ll also be a legend slot hosted by a renowned producer sharing their experiences every evening.
In between the talks and classes, participants will get to enjoy full-board catering from the studio’s resident French chef Jérôme; there will also be time for socialising, with opportunities for you to make new friends and network with like-minded musicians.
Image: Real World Studios
“This masterclass is an amazing and unique opportunity for anyone passionate about music to learn from the best in the industry,” says Bob Mackenzie, Real World in-house engineer [Via MusicRadar]. “Real World Studios has been a hub for musical innovation, and we are excited to open the doors to a wealth of knowledge with enthusiasts eager to take their craft to the next level.”

To learn more and sign up for the masterclass, visit Real World Studio’s website.
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Roland launches the GO:KEYS 3 and 5, two new Zen-Core powered keyboards for the budget consciousRoland has unveiled the GO:KEYS 3 and GO:KEYS 5, two wallet-friendly compact keyboards that feature the Zen-Core sound engine found in flagship performance keyboards like the Fantom and Jupiter-X.
Featuring “intuitive tools for learning and enjoying music” and “deeper features” that help you develop your creative voice, the GO:KEYS 3 and 5 are suitable for both beginners and seasoned music creators.

READ MORE: The Swarm is a super saw synth in a super small package

Firstly, the streamlined GO:KEYS 3 offers a core feature set with a touch-sensitive 61-note keyboard and an onboard stereo speaker system. The bigger GO:KEYS 5, meanwhile, includes the same primary features of its sibling, plus a speaker system with extended bass response, a mic input with vocal effects, and enhanced audio connectivity.
Both keyboards boast a compact, all-in-one design allowing users to play and enjoy music anywhere in their living space. The built-in speakers provide self-contained sound, while support for AA battery power makes for a hassle-free setup. Onboard recording is also available to evaluate progress and share music on social media channels.
As mentioned, both models come equipped with the Zen-Core sound engine, which hosts over 1000 sounds from Roland’s historic library. Players can journey through a universe of sonic possibilities, from acoustic pianos and orchestral instruments to modern synthesizers, guitars, drums, and more.
Image: Roland
The GO:KEYS 3 and 5 are also filled with ready-made chord progressions in various styles so you can experiment with creating melodies and arpeggios over automatic musical backing. You can craft custom chord sequences, remix them with your backing parts, and apply a range of colourful effects.
Players also get a band of virtual musicians at their fingertips, as each keyboard features a wide selection of dynamic accompaniments, which can be controlled with one or two left-hand fingers. To top things off, you can even access a world of additional sounds and accompaniment styles via Roland Cloud, an ever-expanding online hub for Roland creative content. Support for Roland Cloud Connect, an optional wireless adapter that lets users browse, audition, and download Roland Cloud content from a smartphone or tablet, is also included.
Image: Roland
Finally, both keyboards support Bluetooth MIDI and audio/MIDI over USB, which allows players to easily connect to music apps on computers and mobile devices.
The Roland GO:KEYS 3 and GO:KEYS 5 are now available in the US for $349.99 and $499.99 respectively. The former comes in turquoise, dark red, or midnight blue, while the latter is available in graphite or white.

Learn more at Roland.
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Lunacy Audio reveal Beam Equipped with an innovative audio graph interface, Lunacy Audio's latest plug-in makes quick work of transforming any sound using granular processing a range of built-in effects.

Understanding humanoid robotsRobots made their stage debut the day after New Year’s 1921. More than half-a-century before the world caught its first glimpse of George Lucas’ droids, a small army of silvery humanoids took to the stages of the First Czechoslovak Republic. They were, for all intents and purposes, humanoids: two arms, two legs, a head — […]
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3D Printing with (Ersatz) Moon DustWhen the people of Earth set up bases on the moon, you can imagine that 3D printing will be a key enabling technology. Of course, you could ship plastic or other filament at great cost. But what if you could print with something you can already find on the moon? Like moon dust. NASA thinks it is possible and has been doing tests on doing just that. Now [Virtual Foundry] wants to let you have a shot at trying it yourself. It doesn’t really contain moon dust, but their Basalt Moon Dust Filamet has a similar composition. You can see a video about the material below.
It isn’t cheap, but it is probably cheaper than going up there to get some yourself. At least for now. The company is known for making PLA with various metal and ceramic materials. Like their other filaments, you print it more or less like PLA, although you need a large hardened nozzle, and they suggest a prewarmer to heat the filament before going to the hot end.

They recommend printing at 210C and 135% flow rate. The material contains about 60% basalt, and after sintering at a very high temperature, the remaining material is all basalt.
This isn’t the first time we’ve looked at filament that mixes in metal or ceramics. We’ve seen copper-laden filament from Virtual Foundry used to make rocket nozzles.

Wendy Wang at the Whisky A Go Go

Wendy Wang took the Whisky A-Go Go stage Sunday night armed with a guitar and her band. Wendy began her set with an acoustic ballad filled with nostalgia and sung by her soothing voice. As her set continues she integrates ethereal love songs about her pets. "The pluto song" is a dreamy reminiscing about her love for her pet gecko that has since passed on. "Sunlight" is another track dedicated to her pomeranian, that makes you feel as if you're spending a spring evening in the sun with your beloved childhood dog. Wendy and her band transformed the hardened rock venue to a light sunny day filled with nostalgia of early 2000's pop. Similar to the vocal styling of Sza or Bôa's Jasmine Rodgers, Wendy Wang blends dreamy vocals with passionate love letters to create the perfect wistful song. Wendy is a fresh voice and powerful songwriter, who has the potential to be the new sound of this generation of music. 

Primary Wave Music bolsters sync team with new hire and promotionsCompany hiredJulianne Wilson as Senior Director, Creative Sync, and promotes Peter Kurczaba and Derek Pierce to new roles
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2024 Home Sweet Home Automation: [HEX]POD – Climate Tracker and Digital Nose[eBender] was travelling India with friends, when one got sick. Unable to find a thermometer anywhere during COVID, they finally ended up in a hospital. After being evacuated back home, [eBender] hatched an idea to create a portable gadget featuring a few travel essentials: the ability to measure body temperature and heart rate, a power bank and an illumination source. The scope evolved quite a lot, with the concept being to create a learning platform for environmental multi-sensor fusion. The current cut-down development kit hosts just the air quality measurement components, but expansion from this base shouldn’t be too hard.
ML for Hackers: Fiddle with that Tensor Flow
This project’s execution is excellent, with a hexagon-shaped enclosure and PCBs stacked within. As everyone knows, hexagons are the bestagons. The platform currently hosts SCD41 and SGP41 sensors for air quality, a BME688 for gas detection, LTR-308 for ambient light and motion, and many temperature sensors.
On top sits a 1.69-inch IPS LCD, with an OLED display on the side for always-on visualization. The user interface is completed with a joystick and a couple of buttons. An internal blower fan is ducted around the sensor array to pull not-so-fresh air from outside for evaluation. Control is courtesy of an ESP32 module, with the gory details buried deep in the extensive project logs, which show sensors and other parts being swapped in and out.
On the software side, some preliminary work is being done on training TensorFlow to learn the sensor fusion inputs. This is no simple task. Finally, we would have a complete package if [eBender] could source a hexagonal LCD to showcase that hexagon-orientated GUI. However, we doubt such a thing exists, which is a shame.
There are many air quality sensors on the market now, so we see a few hacks based on them, like this simple AQ sensor hub. Let’s not forget the importance of environmental CO2 detection; here’s something to get you started.

The MLC has distributed over $2bn to songwriters and publishers since 2021Nashville-headquartered organization just reached a significant milestone
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The Swarm is a super saw synth in a super small packageFresh synth startup Artium Instruments has launched its debut product, The Swarm.
Tiny but mighty, The Swarm is a handcrafted desktop synthesiser that promises to deliver studio-quality sound. With its 8-note polyphonic SuperSaw oscillator core, full-featured arpeggiator and 4 onboard effects, the synth offers a dynamic degree of control right out the box.

READ MORE: Meet the Vongon Replay, the polyphonic synth “designed to embody vintage character while utilising modernity and versatility of form”

The curated onboard effects are satisfyingly varied. A Freeze Effect records a miniscule sample of audio, before layering and smearing the sample to create an infinite, droning sound perfect to dub over. There’s also a Syncable Delay effect, Stereo Reverb and a 4-voice stereo chorus.
Alongside the native effects, The Swarm also has the ability to plug in and process external audio, seamlessly mixing the external input with the synthetic core.
The Swarm also has a Polyphonic Mode and an Arpeggiator Mode. The Polyphonic mode allows users play up to eight notes simultaneously, while the Arpeggiator Mode offers a monophonic arpeggiator.

The best part about The Swarm is that it’s incredibly hands on. Its knob-for-knob functionality allows users to effortlessly control effects, removing any complexity from the creative process. The knobs are also coloured to make controlling and navigating the synth as painless as possible.
Controlled by MIDI through a USB-C port, The Swarm is also quick and easy to set up. For those preferring DIN connections, a USB to DIN converter can easily be used.
Despite not yet being released, The Swarm has already caused quite the stir. The product has already far surpassed its Kickstarter goal of £6,342, with more backers sure to come forward.
The Swarm’s second batch is currently available for £301 on Kickstarter. The Early Bird batch will ship out in June, while the Second Batch is scheduled to ship in July.
For more info, head to Artium Instruments.
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Denon announces DHT-S218 full-range Dolby Atmos Sound BarDenon has announced its latest Dolby Atmos sound bar, the DHT-S218, and it looks like an exciting option for the price.

READ MORE: Audient’s ORIA is the Atmos interface that engineers have been waiting for

With a sleek, wall-mountable build and down-firing subwoofers built-in, as well as dual mid-range drivers, and tweeters, the DHT-S218 allows you to improve your sound without taking up too much space, making it ideal for smaller rooms. And, the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio gives high-quality wireless sound and lower latency when paired with a smartphone.
It has an HDMI eARC with support for VRR, ALLM and 4K, as well as optical and analogue inputs. There are three levels of audio enhancement with the Dialogue Enhancer, so you can turn up the dialogue without increasing the overall volume. It’s just 60mm tall, so will fit under most smaller TVs without too much difficulty, and it’s designed for 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
Credit: Denon
There are four different sound modes – Movie, Night, Music, and Pure – to suit different occasions. Pure mode, for example, takes away all surround processing. With multi-pairing and multi-point functions, too, it’s easy to pair and connect to multiple devices, from smartphones to laptops and tablets. And, you can seamlessly switch between multiple Bluetooth devices without needing to manually disconnect and reconnect as required.
It follows previous models like 2022’s DHT-S517, which we thought was a reasonable price and would fit under most TVs, but we felt was slightly low on features. Meanwhile, earlier this year, Denon shared its PerL Pro earbuds, which while on the expensive side offer a great auditory experience.
Denon was founded in 1910, so over 110 years of experience has gone into the making of the DHT-S218.
You can buy the DHT-S218 for £249 now, or find out more information on at Denon.
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This is the world’s first electronic tablaBritish producer Kuljit Bhamra and his Keda Music team have worked together in an attempt to bring Indian drumming to the masses, introducing the Tabla Touch, the world’s first electronic tabla. Recorded by Bhamra himself, the instrument is fitted with four different sets of tabla sounds to explore an authentic range of tabla tones.

READ MORE: Aodyo Instruments’ Loom MPE MIDI controller is “built for immediate playability and expressiveness”

A plethora of traditional Indian instruments is also included on the Tabla Touch. Dholak, Gautam, Jhanj, Hang, Khol, Manjira, Mridangam, Pakhawaj, Tabla Tarang and Temple bell sounds are also built-in for users to experiment with.
Thanks to its electronic nature, the Tabla Touch allows for instant tuning, meaning users can transition between different keys fluidly. ‘Sound’ and ‘Setting’ options can be accessed through a selection screen, with knobs allowing users to then tweak and adjust the settings.
Three different versions of the Tabla Touch are available. Studio comes as the standard option, featuring the Tabla recordings as well as the Dholak and Mridangam.
A Solo version is also available for acoustic performances, and it allows the most portable Tabla playing experience. The built-in speaker eliminates the need for external amplification, and this light design allows it to be played in the traditional seated position.

Pro comes as the premium option, allowing the full range of 18 sounds, including the Dholak, Mridangam, Pakhawaj, Shree Kol and metal percussion in the form of Jhanj and Manjira sounds.
Keda Music’s work aims to shine a spotlight on India’s rich musical history. In their five years in action, the company have developed a universal Indian drum notation system.
During the Tabla Touch’s Mumbai launch show, Bhamra explained how the product isn’t an attempt to erase the need for raw tablas. “The electronic tabla is a way of celebrating the traditional tabla; it’s not a replacement, it is an option,” he explanis. “But, it is a beautiful option if you’re carrying 38kgs of tabla and you’re changing the ‘sur’ on every song.”
The Tabla Touch Pro is currently priced at £1,458. The more budget-friendly Studio and Solo versions are both available for £500.
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“Streaming has changed what artists feel like they should release”: James Blake further justifies his new streaming platform, VaultIt’s been a week or so since James Blake launched Vault, a direct artist-to-fan streaming platform for unreleased music. Artists upload unreleased music, and fans pay a monthly subscription fee as set by the artist.

READ MORE: Spotify tests video-based courses on music production, performance and more in the UK

And yesterday, Blake took to X, formerly Twitter, to further explain his thoughts on streaming. In reply to music critic and YouTuber Anthony Fantano, he wrote, “Streaming has changed what artists feel like they should release. It favours certain structures, certain genres, certain artistic decisions. I regularly see artists pick an inferior song to make the album because the one they love isn’t streaming-friendly. I’ve struggled with it myself.”

Streaming has changed what artists feel like they should release. It favours certain structures, certain genres, certain artistic decisions. I regularly see artists pick an inferior song to make the album because the one they love isn’t streaming friendly. I’ve struggled with it…
— James Blake (@jamesblake) March 26, 2024

Fantano was discussing quotes from rapper ScHoolboy Q, in which he said that streaming devalues the art of making complete albums, meaning that artists are more likely to aim to make one-off, standalone hit songs rather than coherent records.
Despite the platform still being in its infancy, Vault has already been dividing opinion. To Blake’s post, a fan said, “It’s great to see artists like yourself taking a stance in this and creating new solutions. I don’t know what will work in the future, but I feel this is a step in the right direction, hope more artists take it.”
Meanwhile, the Italian musician Kisnou also replied to Blake, saying, “James, I loved your first thoughts about the music industry and how it is not paying us enough, but I honestly think that Vault is just pushing on listeners. We need to put pressure on Spotify (and co.) to pay us fairly.”

James, I loved your first thoughts about the music industry and how it is not paying us enough, but I honestly think that Vault is just pushing on listeners. We need to put pressure on Spotify (& Co) to pay us fairly. 1 cent / stream should be the new law, not 0.003$
— KISNOU (@kisnouofficial) March 27, 2024

Fantano doesn’t seem convinced, either, sharing a YouTube video entitled, simply, ‘This Is Silly.’

Vault’s arrival came after Blake hinted that he’d “landed on a nice solution” to issues surrounding artists getting paid for their music earlier this month, something that he’s been quite vocal about of late.
And earlier this week, he said that record labels should be required to provide their artists with therapists as part of their duty of care, sharing a post from a fellow X user who argued that finding a therapist should be a priority before finding an agent or manager.
For more information, head to Vault.fm.
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Folds: Kontakt instrument from Void & Vista Folds is a dual-layer Kontakt instrument that combines vocal samples, filters, modulation and effects to create a wide variety of evolving textural sounds. 

Tidal just made sharing music easier. Will Apple and Spotify follow?With the addition of universal links, Tidal just made a key avenue of music discovery - sharing music with friends - much easier.....
The post Tidal just made sharing music easier. Will Apple and Spotify follow? appeared first on Hypebot.