4 key time management strategies for musicians
Here are four time management strategies that can help you make 2024 your most productive year yet for your music.

These producers are using the Amen break as a granular synthesizer and it’s awesomeProducers are taking the Amen break – a 1969 drum break performed by The Winstons’ Gregory Sylvester Coleman that has been sampled on thousands of tracks – and turning it into a granular synthesizer, and the results are pretty cool.

READ MORE: Record labels should commit to regular publication of statistics on the diversity of their rosters to push back against “boy’s club”, says new report

The break has been sampled 6,296 times (officially, at least), according to WhoSampled, taking the top spot as the most sampled loop in music history. And it’s now taken on a new form.
If you aren’t familiar with the premise, granular synthesis is where a sound is broken down into tiny particles which are then micro-sampled, creating new textures out of pre-existing sounds.
The wave of Amen Break granular synthesis remixes was snowballed by Virtual Riot who posted this version, titled death by amen on YouTube:

Fans in the comments quickly spotted that the producer managed to construct Gourmet Race from the Super Smash Bros soundtrack using the Amen break, before dropping into Satisfaction by Benny Benassi and The Biz.
As a result, fellow producers decided to try it out for themselves. Here are some of the best ones:

British DJ Sub Focus recently shared his thoughts on the Amen break. In an episode of Tape Notes in July 2023, he broke down how he likes to process it in Ableton Live.
“The way I’ve used is slightly old school,” he explains. “I’ve chopped it up in a sampler and I change the transpose of it as the pattern goes on to give it variation. It slightly shifts up and down as the variation goes on.
“It’s mad the intimate knowledge you get of these breaks. Everyone has manipulated these tiny bits of audio hundreds of thousands of times and there’s loads of ways of interpreting this small batch of source material. If you’re a drum ‘n’ bass producer, you just become familiar with the varieties of Amen.”
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Sennheiser announce HD 490 PRO headphones Sennheiser claim that this new line offers exceptional clarity, comfort, and reliability, and have been specifically crafted to meet the demands of modern music production.

TikTok accuses UMG of ‘greed above the interests of artists’ [Full Text]TikTok has responded to UMG’s announcement that it will pull all its music off the popular platform today, January 31, 2024, after the two could not reach a new licensing. Continue reading
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Universal Music to pull all music off TikTok as deal expires: Full text of letter to artists and songwritersUniversal Music Group and UMG Publishing Group say they will pull all their music off TikTok and the TokTok Music Service worldwide today after it could not negotiate a new. Continue reading
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If niche is music’s new mainstream, how do you measure success? [Hanna Kahlert of MIDiA]“It seems that the 1000-stream artist is both everyman’s trash and everyman’s treasure… and is being thrown under the bus to ensure the more ‘successful’ artists are compensated,” writes Hanna. Continue reading
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NAMM 2024: Waves’ SuperRack LiveBox lets you “mix live with any VST3 plugins”NAMM 2024: Waves has unveiled two new products, the SuperRack LiveBox and a new version of its eMotion LV1 Live Mixer.

READ MORE: NAMM 2024 recap: All the biggest synth, studio, DJ and software releases

Announced during a jam-packed NAMM Show last week, the brand – “the world’s leading developer of professional audio signal processing technologies and plugins” – didn’t hold back on showcasing new products such as its 2023-launched AI-powered Waves Online Mastering tool, several new plugins and two brand new bits of hardware
Waves SuperRack LiveBox
The first to mention is the new SuperRack Livebox. It’s a user-friendly compact solution that lets you “mix live with any VST3 plugins” from “one simple box”. The unit, which you can mount in your rack in your studio, runs VST3 plugins from any brand thanks to Dante/MADI connectivity, ensuring seamless live production setups.
For the unawares: Dante and MADI are digital audio networking technologies. Dante, by Audinate, sends audio over Ethernet networks, simplifying setup and routing. MADI (Multichannel Audio Digital Interface) transmits multiple audio channels over a single cable, commonly used in professional audio for high-quality signal transfer between consoles and recorders.
The SuperRack LiveBox, according to Waves, delivers low latency. The included Waves SuperRack Performer software provides control over VST3 plugins.
Waves eMotion LV1 Live Mixer
Waves also announced a new product called the Waves eMotion LV1 Live Mixer at NAMM. It’s a digital audio mixing system that offers high-quality sound mixing capabilities for live events, broadcasts, and streaming.
Originally launched in 2016, this new updated version now includes compatibility with the MixMirror app for iOS tablets, enabling remote control of the LV1 and SuperRack.
There are also new expanded gain mapping options, a new mix bus input fader mode, improved touch usability, and bug fixes.
New Waves plugins: Space Rider, Feedback Hunter & Silk Vocal
Aside from these new announcements, Waves also revealed that it will now be “shipping” (ie. launching) three new plugins – Space Rider, Feedback Hunter and Silk Vocal.
Space Rider is a multi-effect plugin combining reverb, delay, and chorus. Its unique ‘Rider’ function dynamically shapes mixes, streamlining routing and automation processes.
Waves Feedback Hunter plugin swiftly optimises live sound setups, maximising gain before feedback in just 30 seconds. It analyses mic-speaker interaction, creating an EQ curve for clear sound, and eliminating the need for speaker ringing. Easy-to-use interface suits both seasoned engineers and beginners, with customisable settings for complex environments.
Silk Vocal balances vocals with smart EQ and dynamics processing. It removes common issues like resonance, boominess, and harshness, streamlining mixing. Additional controls fine-tune processing, while Silk Vocal Live offers real-time processing with reduced latency. It’s an intuitive tool for professional vocal mixing.
Find out more about the SuperRack LiveBox, the updated eMotion LV1 Live Mixer, Space Rider, Feedback Hunter & Silk Vocal plugins via Waves.
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Music.AI launches third-party AI modules Masterchannel and Cyanite on its platformAI-powered music solutions platform Music.AI has launched two third-party AI modules on its platform that are now available to all users: Masterchannel’s AI mastering and spatial audio mastering and Cyanite’s AI-based music tagging and search solutions.

READ MORE: NAMM 2024 recap: All the biggest synth, studio, DJ and software releases

With the introduction of the new modules, Music.AI expands its hub of best-in-class AI technologies, offering businesses an array of drag-and-drop modules from multiple suppliers in a single platform.
The result, it says, is the creation of an ecosystem on the platform for companies looking to build a foundation and quickly adopt AI into their workflows at scale needless of a in-house research and development team.
Masterchannel, for one, has been pioneering industry-first AI approaches to conventional mastering and now also spatial audio mastering. Digital streaming platforms have recently created incentives for labels to create spatial audio mixes for their platforms. Leveraging Music.AI, record labels can now easily combine Music.AI’s high-fidelity stem separation with Masterchannel’s Spatial Audio Mastering module to efficiently process and remaster extensive catalogues.
Cyanite, on the other hand, provides AI-based solutions that automatically generate comprehensive creative metadata for every song or catalogue in seconds. From genre and mood to instruments and tempo, Cyanite extracts a rich set of valuable tags directly from any audio file. Together with state-of-the-art search algorithms, this helps labels, publishers, production music libraries, DSPs, and radio and TV stations better and more efficiently organise, manage, and distribute their media catalogues.
“With a blend of creativity and expertly developed AI models, Music.AI is well-positioned to become the world’s most comprehensive and capable AI ecosystem specialising in music and audio,” says Matt Henninger, VP of Sales and Business Development. “We realise that it’s rarely a single AI technology that a partner needs to leverage, so we built an ecosystem capable of combining multiple technologies in a single place.”
The company adds that it plans to partner with specialists in the coming months to launch more AI-driven solutions that can be combined, integrated, and deployed quickly.
Learn more at Music.AI.
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It’s settled: Logic Pro is the best digital audio workstation in the world, at least according to the NAMM TEC AwardsThe battle for best digital audio workstation could finally be over, as the 2024 NAMM TEC Awards has given Apple’s Logic Pro with the title of Best Workstation Technology.

READ MORE: Universal Music Group pulls entire song catalogue from TikTok after fiery open letter

The NAMM TEC Awards aims to celebrate technical achievement and design, in areas including microphones, headphones, DJ technology, monitors and DAWs.
Logic Pro didn’t just win in the best digital audio workstation category; it also achieved the top spot for top audio app for smartphones and tablets.
The software has received its fair share of upgrades in recent months, including a Mastering Assistant. This offers creators a “quick and easy way to add that final professional polish for a release-ready mix”.
As Apple explains, once a mix is complete, Mastering Assistant can instantly analyse the audio and make “expert refinements to the sound, adjusting elements such as the dynamics, frequency balance, timbre and loudness”.
Apple’s developments in spatial audio has also set the DAW apart from the rest of pack, meaning producers can now create and mix music in three-dimensional audio.
MusicTech also awarded the iPad version of the software a 9/10, calling it “the most powerful way to produce music on the platform”, thanks to its use of intuitive multi-touch gestures, and it’s 96 kHw recording capabilities.
Other TEC winners include Native Instrument’s Traktor Pro for DJ production technology, and Universal Audio’s Volt 476P for best computer audio hardware.
The latter has been praised in helping achieve “album ready sound”, including an analogue compressor based on one of the most coveted compressors/limiters of all time – UA’s iconic 1176.
See the full list of winners over at the NAMM TEC Awards.
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Warner Chappell Music signs Grammy-nominated R&B artist Coco Jones to exclusive publishing dealJones is up for five awards at the forthcoming 66th Annual Grammys
Source

Big Machine Label ups Mike Rittberg to COO, Clay Hunnicutt to EVP, Label OperationsRittberg, a veteran of Universal Music Group, joined Big Machine in 2017, while Hunnicutt, formerly of Big Loud, joined in 2019
Source

Aquae Organ Is Soundiron’s New FREE Pipe Organ For Kontakt Player.
Soundiron releases Aquae Organ, a FREE experimental pipe organ library for Kontakt Player.

Aquae Organ Is Soundiron’s New FREE Pipe Organ For Kontakt Player
Soundiron releases Aquae Organ, a FREE experimental pipe organ library for Kontakt Player. It’s no secret that the Soundiron team likes to blur the lines between realistic and experimental sounds, and they do it very well. You can hear the painstakingly authentic yet ethereal side of Soundiron’s work in libraries like Hyperion Strings/Brass and the [...]
View post: Aquae Organ Is Soundiron’s New FREE Pipe Organ For Kontakt Player

Universal Music Group pulls entire song catalogue from TikTok after fiery open letterThe entirety of Universal Music Group’s song catalogue will be removed from TikTok after its current licensing agreement expires on 31 January 2024, Music Business News has confirmed.

READ MORE: TikTok testing generative AI songmaking tool – and so far, it absolutely sucks

In an open letter issued yesterday (30 January), titled ‘Why we must call time out on TikTok’, UMG accused TikTok of attempting to “bully” them into “accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth”.
UMG said that during its contract renewal discussions with TikTok, it has been “pressing” the tech giant on “three critical issues”, including “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”
“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay,” the music company added. “As an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters, despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total revenue.”
On AI, UMG claimed that TikTok is “allowing the platform to be flooded with AI-generated recordings” and “developing tools to enable, promote and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself”. It then slammed the move as “nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by AI.”
Crucially, UMG also alleged that when negotiations had stalled, TikTok tried to “intimidate” them by “selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars.”
“TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.”
Responding to UMG’s announcement, TikTok says that “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.”
“Despite Universal’s false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent,” said the company.
“TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.”
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Haven't tried this one but pretty much enjoying Gullfoss - https://www.soundtheory.com
#Tools #musicproduction #Mixing