Clavia unveil Nord Grand 2 The latest Nord stage piano promises to deliver the responsive feel of an acoustic grand thanks to the use of Kawai’s premium triple-sensor Hammer Action keybed.

From Triller owing rightsholders over $23m to the MLC’s plan to audit DSPs… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days...
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Techno producer, DJ and Sandwell District member Silent Servant has diedTechno DJ John Juan Mendez, otherwise known a Silent Servant, has passed away.
The news of his passing was shared earlier today by Resident Advisor. According to RA, Mendez’s management, Triangle Agency, contacted the publication to confirm the producer’s passing. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Despite his DJ pseudonym, Mendez was anything but silent in his musical career. Mendez spent over 30 years navigating the electronic circuit, his first release coming out in 1998 under his original alias, Jasper. In those years, Mendez slowly became a prominent, influential, and respected techno artist in the scene.
From his work alongside Regis, Female and Function in collective Sandwell District, to his own solo work, Mendez proved time and time again that he had a keen ear for captivating techno production and exhilarating DJ sets. Mendez’s sets were a sight to behold, earning him regular slots at top-grade techno clubs like Berghain and Tresor. As Resident Advisor sadly notes, Mendez was set to perform in Phoenix, AZ tonight.

As well as his DJing, creating music wasn’t his only skill; following his time in Sandwell District, Mendez also launched music label Jealous God alongside former Sandwell District partner Regis and James Ruskin. The label allowed Mendez to platform the potential future of the techno genre, supporting daring acts that forayed into the realms of post-punk, dub and classical minimalism.
As well as challenging and pushing the limits of the techno genre, he also regularly shined a spotlight on brilliant new artists on his monthly NTS Radio show.
Looking back on Mendez’ final November release feels rather bittersweet. The short EP, entitled In Memoriam, feels bleakly named in retrospect. An archival compilation from Sandwell District, WHERE NEXT?, was also announced earlier this week.

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Brian Eno, Charli XCX and Laurent Garnier to speak at AVA London 2024Belfast’s AVA festival is set to make a return to London from 29 February to 2 March, today unveiling a multi-day, multi-venue format that will showcase both a conference and club event series, with the former featuring speakers such as Brian Eno, Charli XCX, and Laurent Garnier.

READ MORE: NAMM 2024: The hottest rumours and latest announcements from this year’s show

The conference, spanning two consecutive days at The British Library, The Standard, and KOKO, will serve as the focal point of AVA London 2024. It aims to unite leaders, creatives, and visionaries in the electronic music and arts industries, offering a platform to explore themes such as Future, Community, Impact, and Pathways.
Brian Eno, the legendary musician, visual artist, and climate activist, will open the conference on Thursday with a keynote conversation in association with EarthPercent. Attendees can expect insights into Eno’s influential role in addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency, as well as the intersection of art and environmental advocacy.
Credit: @jakephilipdavis
Charli XCX, the innovative pop artist, will contribute her perspective on the evolving landscape of the music industry, while electronic music pioneer Laurent Garnier will share his wealth of experience and insights in a keynote discussion, providing reflections on the past and future of electronic music.
While the conference takes centre stage, AVA London 2024 will also feature a dynamic club lineup with performances by DJ Daddy Trance (Marlon Hoffstadt), DJ Boring, Or:La B2b Spray, Amaliah b2b Danielle, DJ AYA, Byron Yeates, Aika Mal, and Sloucho (Live), among others.
Tickets for the conference day are £113. Find out more at AVA.
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Plugin Boutique’s January sale sees up to 95% off plugins by Eventide, UJAM and moreNew year, new you – so why not bulk out your audio arsenal or totally revamp your sonic catalogue?
If you’re on the hunt for some new VST plugins, then you’re in luck. Plugin Boutique’s January sale is offering top-drawer audio plugins at a fraction of the price, with up to 95% off of more scalers, EQs, and harmonisers than you can shake a stick at.

READ MORE: NAMM 2024: The hottest rumours and latest announcements from this year’s show

Some of the pickings include the Universal Audio UAD Bundles Holiday Sale exclusive, which is packed out with a wide selection of bundles sampling the very best vintage gear, allowing used to capture a raw, full-bodied analogue sound. The UAD Producer Edition Crossgrade Bundle boasts 22 unique plugins, from the Moog Minimoog, Opal Morphing Synth, and the Pure Plate Reverb to add natural depth to your recordings.
Instrumentally, the bundle also has the Ravel Grand Piano, a gorgeous emulation of a Steinway Model B grand, a well as the Waterfall B3 Organ, an emulation of the classic Hammond B3 Organ and its companion Leslie 147 rotary speaker cabinet – and there’s plenty more. The sale will strip off a whopping £199.50, the bundle currently going for just £399.00.
Elsewhere, the Eventide & Newfangled Audio Manufacturer Focus sale will make mixing and mastering far easier. Select plugins are available with between 40-61% off, from the revered Blackhole (£67.96), to the lush, dynamic acoustic of Tverb (£85.16). Even the funky H910 Harmonizer, used by the likes of AC/DC to David Bowie to Frank Zappa, is up for grabs at just £110.96.
UJAM is also offering its SPARKLE 2 rhythm guitar (£16.95) and SILK (£17.00) virtual instruments for over 80% off.
For more info, head to Plugin Boutique.
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FKFX Audio’s Forthcoming Sylab Vowel Filter is Free for Limited Time
FKFX Audio is now giving away its first plugin with the LFOGrid tool, the Sylab vowel filter, for a limited time on Windows and Mac. The company is about to launch LFOGrid, which is a tool for “effortlessly creating musical LFO curves.” The tool is integrated into three of the company’s forthcoming plugins: Sylab, Obvious [...]
View post: FKFX Audio’s Forthcoming Sylab Vowel Filter is Free for Limited Time

NAMM 2024: Korg’s new Opsix mkII promises “more variety than any single synth has ever been able to achieve before”NAMM 2024: Korg is set to showcase its latest game-changing synthesizer at this year’s NAMM show.
A step up from the original Opsix – which launched in late 2020 – the Opsix mkII is a six-in-one synth is set to expand on its predecessor with its expansive array of innovative new sound components, real-time controls and a wide choice of thirty high definition effects to play with.

READ MORE: NAMM 2024: Audient’s ORIA is an all-in-one interface that “prioritises immersive audio workflows”

Korg promises that the Opsix mkII has “more variety than any single synth has ever been able to achieve before”, and we’re prepared to believe this based on its polyphonic capabilities being upped to 64 voices, allowing users to layer more sounds to create more rich, more intricate soundscapes. There’s also a 16-step pattern sequencer to boot.

Korg has made hands-on, real-time control quick and easy with the Opsix mkII’s illuminated data entry knobs and faders. There’s also an OLED digital display panel with a spectrum analyser and oscilloscope, allowing for a quick, instant snapshot of your workflow.
Much like the first-generation Opsix, the mkII version has six operator modes, including Subtractive, Semi-Modular, Analog (Modeling), Waveshaping, Additive, and Classic FM.
It offers the same modulation matrix, with three EGs, three LFOs, and 12 virtual patches for a wide variety of routing possibilities. But the 3-stage effects processing will allow users of the newer model to muster a slightly more fine-tuned, unique and expressive sound.

The mkII will also offer a selection of analogue-style filters, such as the Korg MS-20 low-pass/high-pass filter, and the powerful and smooth Korg PolySix low-pass filter.
There’s also a randomiser button that will reset the synth’s parameters and generate an entirely fresh sound. This feature can shake up everything, or be restricted to just randomising the operators, algorithms or sequences. Hopefully the feature will encourage users to experiment, plunging them into sonic palettes they normally wouldn’t stumble upon.
When it launches, the Opsix mkII will be priced at £699.
For more info, head to Korg.
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6 ways musicians can use an EPKElectronic press kits (EPKs) offer musicians a simple way to bring their accomplishments on social media, streaming, live, and more together in an attractive package that can be shared with. Continue reading
The post 6 ways musicians can use an EPK appeared first on Hypebot.

10 Videos every Musician should create, and most are simple to produceVideo is one of the most effective ways to promote music. That’s why music marketers focus on TikTok, Reels, Shorts, and YouTube. by Chris Robley from the Reverbnation Blog A. Continue reading
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Why do we stop discovering new music as we get older?This week’s Hypebot Flashback Friday resurfaces a post that may have music marketers rethinking their career choices. It’s a study that shows how our musical tastes calcify as young as. Continue reading
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Korg to launch KingKORG NEO + Opsix, Wavestate & Modwave Modules Korg are planning a number of launches in 2024, ranging from reintroductions of discontinued models to desktop versions of more recent favourites. 

Autobeat Is A FREE AI Drum Sequencer Plugin
Axart Software released AutoBeat, a free drum sequencer plugin for Windows and macOS (paid version also available). AI seems to be all the rage these days. We already covered free AI music generators, but the technology is now also being used to generate MIDI, edit audio, and much more. Now, I’m familiar with the good [...]
View post: Autobeat Is A FREE AI Drum Sequencer Plugin

Fiedler Audio’s Dolby Atmos Composer Essential Is Now Free
Fiedler Audio has made the Dolby Atmos Composer Essential plugin available for free download.  The Windows and Mac releases are available in VST3, AU, and AAX formats.  Dolby Atmos Composer and Dolby Atmos Composer Essential were initially released in May 2023 at a launch price of $249 and $149, respectively. Composer is listed at the [...]
View post: Fiedler Audio’s Dolby Atmos Composer Essential Is Now Free

Recording Torres’ sixth album in one week: “Big parts aren’t big without space”“We recorded it in a week. I felt nervous about that amount of time,” admits producer and artist Sarah Jaffe. She’s talking about What An Enormous Room, the sixth album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Torres.

READ MORE: How the Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O.II encourages you to push past creative limits

Jaffe needn’t be nervous. She and Torres, real name Mackenzie Scott, made a lush, roiling, dynamic album that plunges into rage, fear, sadness and solace, while leaving room to breathe and warp to varying moods and interpretations.
“I had the best time,” reflects Jaffe. “I wanna make 60 more records with Mackenzie — more if she’ll let me.”
This January marks a decade since Scott’s self-titled debut album first exposed audiences to her candid, unvarnished songwriting.
Her previous album, Thirstier in 2021, was a powerful affirmation of queer love, but there was a visceral sense of fear that this romance might be fleeting. Nonetheless, it was a buoyant record; Scott’s most romantic album, revealing glimpses of her life with fiancée Jenna Gribbon, an acclaimed painter.
Torres. Image: Ebru Yildiz
But What An Enormous Room is a different beast: more daring, snarly and assertive.
It’s an album rich in variation, both musically and emotionally. Scott is determined, faltering, raging and vulnerable in turns. There’s an assuredness to the strident, grungy lead single Collect, for example, in which Scott claims herself to be the angel of death with the repeated mantra, “I’m here to collect”. It’s the sort of brave, candid work that is aided and abetted by a trusted accomplice.
Scott chose artist and producer Sarah Jaffe to co-produce What An Enormous Room, after self-producing her fourth album Silver Tongue in 2020 and working with long-time producer Rob Ellis on Thirstier in 2021.
Jaffe’s lengthy career as a songwriter and performer puts her in “a place of understanding” she tells MusicTech. “Like a lot of songwriters, I come from more of a DIY background. So, I don’t always know or have the technological language to explain what I am doing or how I am doing it — but I know how to get there.
“After years of playing with formally educated musicians, it feels like I’m somewhere in the sweet spot of confidence in exploration and openness to learning.”

Scott adds, “I co-produced this record with [Jaffe] because I trust her instincts. I wanted to make a record that was accessible to people and Sarah knows how to do that. She’s not only a brilliant producer who regularly collaborates with other musicians on their work, but she’s also one of my favourite singers and songwriters. She also really knows me — not only what I like, but what I don’t like.”
Jaffe’s road to production began in earnest. She’d independently released her debut EP Even Born Again in 2008, courting the attention of NPR with the lead single Clementine. A handful of self-produced EPs and albums followed before she invited John Congleton to produce her 2012 album The Body Wins. She’s versatile both in genres and media having worked across synth-pop, hip-hop, indie folk and film scoring.
“I knew we’d be able to work quickly and somewhat telepathically with very little interference,” Scott continues.
This album is a tour-de-force of exceptional depth considering that it was only Jaffe and Scott in the studio, interchanging instrument duties as required. Jaffe recalls that Scott had a vision and the determination to make it happen, leaving no room for anxiety over the details.
Torres. Image: Ebru Yildiz
“[Scott]’s not one to spend a lot of time talking about prep. She has the vision, you receive the invitation, you’re there, then you’re like ‘Oh my god, am I a drummer?’ Then it’s done,” Jaffe admits with a laugh.
“She sent me the demos in the weeks leading up to recording. I knew we would be using some of her guitar loops, or drum machine samples as the groundwork. I would record some ideas on top of her demos or share some initial thoughts on tempo or structure. I definitely knew that we would be the only two people making the noise for this record, which I was admittedly very nervous about. [Scott] didn’t bat an eye at this.”
Scott explains, “I heavily demoed the songs before arriving in NC and some of those songs ultimately were similar to their original form when we finished them. We ended up using a lot of the samples from the demos as templates for what the songs would become.
“Others, like Life as We Don’t Know It and Wake To Flowers, changed a lot in the studio and that was fun. Originally Wake To Flowers was a slow, kind of melancholy acoustic guitar song.”

Jaffe and Scott recorded at Stadium Heights Sound in Durham, NC, owned by Ryan Pickett (FOH engineer for My Morning Jacket, Jim James, and Ray LaMontagne).
Stadium Heights Sound was “brand-spankin’ new,” says Jaffe. “We were the first to break it in and make a record in it. I never felt any pressure about the studio being new. I don’t think there was any room — mentally — for that pressure.”
Jaffe arrived with limited tools: her 2017 MacBook Pro, Lacie hard drive, some notes on tempo changes, and Scott’s lyrics printed out. She had used GarageBand to record a lot of quick, instinctive ideas over Scott’s demos. Once they were in the studio, she switched to Pro Tools.
“The studio had all we needed: a beautiful live room, row of vintage amps, synths, organs, and a drum kit.”
Scott simply brought a bag of guitar pedals. “The tasty combo is two Meris pedals. A Meris Mercury7 Reverb pedal and the Meris Polymoon Modulator/Delay pedal, which very quickly became my new favourite guitar pedal. We had a lot of fun with those. There was also a good amount of Earthquaker pedals on deck.”
Torres. Image: Ebru Yildiz
Jaffe’s priority was to elevate Scott’s voice and to avoid throwing too much noise into songs that benefited from space and simplicity.
“Mackenzie’s songwriting is the centrepiece,” she explains. “With solid songwriting, you can dress it up however you want, and that aspect is really fun, but it’s also really easy to get lost in. Because we only had a week to record, my main focus was on being dynamic through finding parts within her songs to hang onto, and places within her songs to give space while she was tracking. Big parts aren’t big without space, and sometimes it doesn’t need much.”
By the time Jaffe’s work was done, she says that she “knew what we had made together was magical. I think the work that was done in post-production made it ‘mega’.
“Mackenzie hired Bristol-based TJ Allen, a producer, mixer and engineer who has worked with Bat For Lashes and Portishead, to mix. After a handful of days of sending notes back and forth with him, I realised just how special this record is. He made all the colour really shine. Then Mackenzie hired [mastering engineer] Heba Kadry, who has mastered almost every favourite record of mine for the past decade. That sealed the deal.”

As the recording engineer on this album, Ryan Pickett says, “I basically kept the recording pure and simple, so there was no EQ or compression when doing the basic tracks. It all went straight through the Trident into the Antelope converters. I only used a bit of compression during vocal overdubs as I didn’t want to back Timothy James (mix engineer) into a corner sonically. I used Rupert Neve Shelford channels on Mackenzie’s vocals during overdubs.”
He explains, “Both Mackenzie and Sarah leaned heavily on my Casio MT-100 and Arturia DrumBrute when building a sonic bed for basic tracks. There were also loops created on the spot, and Sarah laid down most of the bass and drums on the session. She is simply incredible and very understated in her delivery. It was an awesome experience working with the two of them. Timothy Allen and Heba Kadry took this album to the next level in so many ways.”
Scott says, “Ryan, TJ, and Heba are all immensely talented at what they do. Ryan’s ears are so sharp; I feel like he just let the songs breathe where they needed to. He’s also a live mix engineer so he really understands dynamics in a way that served this record extremely well.
“TJ excels at taking a sonic world that’s been built and emphasising the elements that make a record special. He truly understands what I’m going for and he’s got a real artist’s mind. Heba is someone I work with as much as possible because she is the best at her craft. She knows just how far to push to get the maximum impact while maintaining nuance and huge dynamics within a record.”
Torres. Image: Ebru Yildiz
Jaffe says that Scott’s vision was clear and unwavering from go to whoa.
“The vocal dynamics and effects were a conscious production decision on Collect and throughout the entirety of the record,” she relates.
In its unashamedly vulnerable and candid emotionality — whether fear (I Got the Fear), fury (Collect) or joy (Jerk into Joy) — Scott has tied the plethora of human fallibilities into a juicy, textural feast of live and synthetic instruments and beats on What An Enormous Room with a team of like-minded collaborators. If she’s here to collect, then this album has earned all her dues.
What An Enormous Room is out on 27 January 2024
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Shure’s AONIC 50 Gen 2 pack powerful sound customisation but fall flat on ANCWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. For more information on how this works, see our terms of use.
£330/$349, shure.com
American audio brand Shure has supplied artists, producers and creators with some of the most dependable mics on the market – including the SM57, SM58 and SM7B – and a line of reliable in-ear monitors and headphones. After branching out into consumer audio territory in 2013, Shure is now flaunting the AONIC 50 Gen 2s – an upgrade to the 2020 model. These headphones are designed for listeners who appreciate sound quality over features such as Active Noise Cancelling and voice assistants.

READ MORE: Beats’ Studio Pro are an almost-awesome pair of everyday headphones

But, at $350, these headphones are up against some serious contenders. Bose’s QuietComfort and Sony’s WH-1000XM5 float around this price range, and are touted by many critics as the go-to choice for consumers looking for ANC wireless headphones. Still, the AONIC 50 Gen 2s are extremely comfortable, boast excellent audio reproduction and pack some pretty cool customisation.
Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 headphones
Connecting the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2
Shure marketing tells us that the AONIC 50 Gen 2s are designed to ‘connect with what connects you’. In other words, you can hook up these headphones to a plethora of music players. They support a range of Bluetooth codecs and come with an analogue cable and USB-C cable for high-res wired listening (32-bit/384 kHz).
Happily, they also have multipoint connectivity, which is so effective that it’s like magic as you seamlessly transition between phone and laptop. This can be modified via the companion app, Shure PLAY, from static multipoint to dynamic multipoint. If you’re into sound and feature customisation, you’ll definitely want to download the handy PLAY app — more on this later in the review.
User controlling the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 headphones with the PLAY app
How good is Shure AONIC 50’s ANC?
The Active Noise Cancelling on the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 is decent, not amazing. It’ll minimise some of the ambient sound around you, but you’ll still be able to hear most of the hum of an aeroplane, train noise, and passers-by while playing music. And you probably don’t want to amp up the volume too much in quiet, public spaces because the sound leakage is quite significant.
For at-home use and other low-noise environments, they’re excellent, but if ANC is a priority for you, it’s worth looking at headphone models that are more accomplished in that area. Users on Soundguys’ review rate the ANC at 6 out of 10, with which we concur.
Shure tells us that this ANC system is the best they’ve used yet, but providing top-tier sound alongside best-in-class ANC would likely ramp up the price significantly.
With headphones, the effect of the noise cancelling and leakage will depend on getting the right fit, too. Thankfully, the AONIC 50 Gen 2s fit snug on our ears with supremely comfortable earcups (these are replaceable, too) and are not too heavy on the head. We’re extremely happy to keep these on for extended periods of time.
Side view of the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 headphones
How does the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 sound?
You’ll get a nice, natural sound from the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2. They’re built with the same 50mm dynamic drivers as found in the Gen 1 model, but this time are capable of spatial audio and custom EQing.
On their default sound, there’s no over-exaggeration of bass, nor is there piercing high-end. You might notice a slight dip in the low-mids compared to more accomplished headphones, but we truly enjoy their sound across a plethora of genres.
There’s plenty of detail across the frequency spectrum, a wide soundstage, and they can go pretty loud – just remember, they leak a fair amount of sound.
During a test listen to Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, everything is in its right place. There’s no over-emphasis on any particular element, and the sound is consistently smooth. You’ll hear each vocal layer beautifully, never overshadowing the high mids of the guitars and the impact of the drums.
We play Justice’s distorted and bass-heavy Waters of Nazareth and can’t help but head-bop. The kick and bass aren’t muddied, despite there being a lot of low-end content, and the high synth parts gleam through easily as the snares hit just right.
Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 headphones with their case, box and wires
The PLAY app lets you go deeper with your sound. Once downloaded and connected, you can instantly start tinkering — no signup required. Here, you can change settings such as ANC level, button configurations, and multipoint connectivity. But the most useful functions are the sound spatialiser and the graphic four-band parametric EQ.
A range of EQ presets are on offer, but you can manually tweak the sound to your ears and save presets. You can change the bandwidth of each of the four EQ nodes and hone in on specific frequencies, so this is a win for the AONIC 50s.
The spatialiser is also interesting, with three options for music, movies and podcasts. There’s no head-tracking and it’s not incorporating Dolby Atmos or Sony’s 360 Reality Audio, instead being Shure’s own effect.
You might choose not to use this, depending on your listening preferences but it’s worth trying out because it’s quite nice on some songs. Jungle’s Don’t Talk actually sounds more full and lively with the spatialiser mode enabled, for example.
Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 headphones in use outdoors
What are the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 like to use?
Shure’s AONIC 50 Gen 2s battery life is superb. Shure says you get 45 hours of playback, which is plenty but could vary depending on ANC usage.
They’ll power off after 10 minutes when disconnected (you can change the duration in the app) but we wish they’d power down quicker when you take them off. They also don’t stop playing when you take them off your head, which feels like a basic function in many competing headphones now, so a shame it’s not featured here. You can double-tap the power button to hear roughly how much battery is left if you’re ever unsure.
The buttons are all on the right cup and are a little confusing. You’ll end up pressing the wrong one very often —spreading them out over both cups would’ve been better. You can tweak these in the app, too.
We find the microphone fantastic on our calls, with much better quality on WhatsApp calls than with our default iPhone mic.
Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 headphones in use indoors
Should you buy the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2?
If you’re not desperate for best-in-class ANC but care about the sound quality of your headphones, the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2s are worth considering at this price range. At £350, they aren’t cheap — they were briefly on offer at half price around Black Friday, which was a serious bargain — but are a better choice for sound over, say, the Beats Studio Pro, which sit at around the same price.
Shure’s on the right track here. We’d like to see better ANC in future models and perhaps Dolby Atmos/Sony 360 support if it wants to be useful for spatial audio, but the sound quality, customisation, and connectivity options are seriously impressive.
Key Features

50mm Dynamic drivers
Sound customisation via PLAY App
Other functionality options via app
45-hour battery life with USB-C fast charge
Active Noise Cancelling with three modes
Sound spatialisation via app
High-quality lossless listening via USB-C
Support for Snapdragon Sound with Qualcomm aptX Adaptive and AAC, SBC, and LDAC codecs.

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