Terrace Martin (Kendrick Lamar, Stevie Wonder) on how he stays inspired
Legendary producer Terrace Martin sat down with us to discuss his perspective on creativity and how he stays inspired, regardless of whether or not he's in the studio.

Warner Music Group and Denis Ladegaillerie’s tussle over buying Believe is hotting up – as France’s SEC equivalent gets dragged into the drama.Believe's board is turning to France's equivalent of the SEC to decide whether Denis Ladegaillerie's actions are approved or otherwise
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Because Music boss Emmanuel de Buretel sides with Universal in TikTok dispute, laments ‘platform that feeds on artistic creation by destroying it’Music industry veteran argues that the platform can't 'do without' music
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Playing ZX Spectrum’s Manic Miner on the Arduino UnoComposite output shield with audio driver and controller inputs for Arduino Uno (Credit: Scott Porter)
Although it seems many have moved on to 32-bit MCUs these days for projects, there is still a lot of fun to be had in the 8-bit AVR world, as [Scott Porter] demonstrates with a recent Arduino Uno project featuring his game engine running a port of the Manic Miner game that was originally released in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum. For the video and audio output he created an add-on board for the Uno that creates a composite signal using two resistors, along with an audio driver circuit and control inputs either from the onboard buttons or from a NES controller. Audio can be sent either over the composite output or via the audio jack.
A demonstration of the game is provided in a number of videos on [Scott]’s YouTube account, which shows off a few levels, at 256×256 resolution. It contains all 20 original levels, with a few quality of life upgrades with animation. It also features original music, which may or may not work for you, but music can be turned on or off in the main menu. Compared to the 3.5 MHz Z80 MPU in the ZX Spectrum, the 16 MHz AVR of the Uno is a lot beefier, which raises the hope that a color version like the ZX Spectrum one is also in the future, even if it may require an add-on board with a framebuffer. As [Scott] notes, the weakness of the Uno is that the ZX Spectrum has significantly more RAM, which limits what can be done.
Thanks to [256byteram] for the tip.

Bandcamp announces 2024 Bandcamp Friday scheduleWhile Bandcamp Fridays will no longer be monthly, new owner Songtradr is continuing the indie platform's tradition of waving their revenue share on select days to give 100% of funds to the artists and labels.....
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Hack Makes Microwave Cookies Fast and Not TerribleMaking a chocolate chip cookie is easy. Making a good chocolate chip cookie is a little harder. Making a good chocolate chip cookie quickly is a pretty tall order, but if you cobble together a microwave and a conventional oven, you just might get delicious and fast to get together.
The goal of this Frankenstein-esque project is to build a vending machine that can whip up a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie on demand and make [Chaz] wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. We’re guessing at that last part; for all we know his goal is world peace through instant cookies. We’re fine with the idea either way, and his previous work on the project resulted in a semi-automatic cookie gun to splooge the dough out in suitable dollops.
The current work is turning those into something edible, for which a microwave seems a logical choice. Experience tells us otherwise, so off to the thrift store went [Chaz], returning with a used air fryer. He ripped the guts out of a small microwave, slapped the magnetron onto the side of the air fryer, and discovered that this was officially A Bad Idea via a microwave leakage tester. Round 2 went the other way — adding a conventional heating element to a large microwave. That worked much better, especially after close-up video revealed the dynamics of microwave cookery and the best way to combine the two cooking modalities. The result is a contraption that makes a pretty tasty-looking two-minute cookie. World peace, here we come!
Of course there’s plenty to say about the safety of all this, much of which [Chaz] himself cops to in the video. It’s important to remember that he’s just prototyping here; we’re sure the final machine will be a little more sophisticated than a heat gun duct-taped to the side of a microwave. Those cookies aren’t going to bake themselves, though, so you’ve got to start somewhere.

Air are playing Moon Safari in full at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate its 25th anniversaryAir’s seminal debut album Moon Safari turned 25 last year and to celebrate, the electronic duo have recently been playing the album in full at a slew of shows across the UK and Europe. Following its success, with all dates selling out, they’re going one bigger by announcing more dates, including a show at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall.
The duo will be coming to the capital in a couple of weeks for a date at the Coliseum Theatre on 24th March, but they’ll soon be back to play the prestigious Royal Albert Hall on 30th May.

READ MORE: Joe Biden suggests he wants to “ban AI voice impersonation” – a win or loss for musicians?

“We were a duo doing some electronic thing, dreaming of selling 10,000 copies and being recognised by other musicians as cool,” says AIR’s Jean-Benoît Dunckel in a press release. “Then suddenly, we met the world.”
In addition, they also have numerous dates lined up across various European festivals, including Spain’s Sonar Festival, France’s Days Off, Zitadelle Spandau in Berlin and Medastadt Open Air in Vienna – find tickets at their official website.

Their current run of dates marks the first occasion they’ve ever played the 1998 album in its entirety live. In addition, they have commemorated its landmark birthday with a reissue containing a remastered version with Dolby Spatial Atmos, along with rare or previously unreleased tracks. It also contained Mike Mill’s 1998 documentary film Eating, Sleeping, Waiting & Playing, filmed during the band’s first ever worldwide tour.
Moon Safari spawned singles including Kelly Watch The Stars, All I Need and Sexy Boy, which not only put AIR on the map but had an influence on the late 20th century output of artists from David Bowie to Madonna and Beck. Its impact has also continued to be felt in modern music, such as through the music of Tame Impala.
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Karno form SMK distribution arm Karno's existing distribution will now be handled by a new SMK brand, allowing them to continue developing their own technologies and products.

Function Loops Offers FREE Billboard Vocals Sample Collection
Function Loops released the Billboard Vocals ($17.99 value) vocal sample pack as a free download (requires a newsletter signup). Billboard Vocals is a goodie bag of various audio content featuring vocals, instruments, and drums for modern pop production. Despite its name, this previously paid and now free library isn’t focused exclusively on vocals. Yes, it [...]
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Take Action Music Summit & Concert Marketing Panel Tuesday in AustinThe free Take Action Music Summit & Showcases are happening tonight and all day Tuesday at the Mohawk in Austin during SXSW, and you don't need an official festival pass to attend the daytime Summit on Tuesday, March 12th.....
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Joe Biden suggests he wants to “ban AI voice impersonation” – a win or loss for musicians?Joe Biden has hinted at the possibility of making AI voice impersonation illegal, which could lead to both positive and negative consequences for music artists as a byproduct.
Per The Verge, the US President briefly brought up the topic during the State of the Union address last week (March 7) but didn’t expand much further on any potential proposals.

READ MORE: Smart Songs: how AI is changing the way we listen

The idea is likely to have a mostly political purpose given that there was recently a spate of robocalls using an AI voice clone of the President attempting to dissuade people in New Hampshire from voting. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) subsequently issued a ban on such calls.
However, a total ban on AI voice impersonation would hold important ramifications for the arts and entertainment world. On one hand, artists could rest easy knowing the likeness of their voice isn’t being used for nefarious purposes, or as a way to earn money without fair compensation, but on the other, it could stifle creativity, and penalise those who use the technology fairly and give credit where it’s due.
Many musicians have been critical of the concept of AI impersonating their voices – Ariana Grande, for example, recently hit out at people attempting to recreate her voice using the technology, branding it “terrifying”.

In contrast, other artists have been more positive about the possibilities AI could bring to music, such as Damon Albarn, who said he was curious about the concept of posthumous AI releases following the success of The Beatles’ final song Now And Then, whose release was only made possible by the technology.
“It’s a question of scale: if enough people are interested, there could be hundreds of my songs released after my death, including songs that I would never have wanted to release,” he told Les Inrockuptibles. 
Grimes is another artist who has expressed particular openness towards the use of AI, saying last year that she thought it was “cool to be fused with a machine” and later launched AI software allowing users to mimic her voice in songs. Despite that, she recently performed a DJ set at an event calling for looser regulations of artificial intelligence, before telling the crowd that she is against “the sentiment of this party”.
Despite this, AI recreations of vocals have been continually doing the rounds on social media in recent years. One notable example was a song created by an artist named Ghostwriter977 called Heart On My Sleeve, featuring vocals which sounded like they were recorded by The Weeknd and Drake.
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Instagram beats TikTok user growth for the first time in 4 yearsAccording to data from Sensor Tower, Instagram surpassed TikTok in new app downloads last year for the first time since 2020, making it the most downloaded app globally.....
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Save Big During The UAD All Stars Sale
From now until the end of the month, you can save on select Universal Audio plugins at Plugin Boutique during the UAD All Stars Plugins Sale. Universal Audio seems to have picked up the reins from constant sales advocates like Plugin Alliance.  The latest offer is the UAD All Starts Plugins Sale with up to [...]
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SSL 360° Link plug-in now available Following their preview at NAMM 2024, SSL have announced that their 360° Link plug-in is now available to download. 

Meze Audio Elite are stunning planar magnetic headphones with supreme musicality£3,749, mezeaudio.com
It’s not often that a pair of headphones comes along costing more than your first car. But in the rarefied world of high-end planar models, extortionate prices are commonplace. In fact the £3,749 that Meze Audio asks for its new, flagship Elites is something of a sweet spot for other manufacturers including Audeze, Focal, HiFiMan and Final Audio. As you might expect, these are not your run-of-the-mill headphones. They’re a serious investment for anyone who values cutting-edge fidelity — and has a big budget. So what does this almost-£4,000 really get you?

READ MORE: With Sennheiser’s HD 490 Pro, mixing on headphones has never been better

Meze Audio’s Elites are hand-built with top-class components. The frame is fashioned either from aluminium or tungsten (both at the same price), the headband is leather and the cups are joined by a flexible strip that distributes their weight evenly while providing a snug yet remarkably comfortable fit. Two sets of leather ear pads are provided, one slightly thinner to lower bass pressure a moderate amount if that’s more to your taste. The cups also slide up or down a little to adjust to your head but the mechanism is firm enough that once in place they won’t move around by themselves. Their weight is just 420g, despite feeling relatively large.

There’s no wireless tech here — these are a wired-only model. Each cup has a proprietary mini XLR socket to which you connect the high-quality braided cable. Five terminator types are available; 4-pin XLR, 6.3mm, 4.4mm, 3.5mm and 2.5mm, and you order the one you want on purchasing, or extra ones separately. An XLR cable would be suitable for a mixing desk or a higher-end headphone amplifier unit, while the more common 6.3mm and 3.5mm cables will connect to a much wider range of gear like hi-fi separates, iOS devices and computers. The mini XLRs at the cup end fit very comfortably and have catches to disconnect them.
Given the lack of bells and whistles, you won’t be surprised to learn that Meze Audio has directed all its efforts into just two things. The build — which, as we’ve already noted, is superlative — and the sound. While most headphones use a dynamic design, these are planar magnetic headphones; a system employed more often in higher-end models such as these. They use a thin, flat diaphragm with a magnet suspended next to it and an electromagnetic signal running through wires turns the diaphragm on and off. Planar magnetic drivers tend to be more sensitive and precise than dynamic models but also larger and sometimes require more juice to drive them, though happily, that isn’t the case here with a relatively low 32 Ohms resistance.
Meze has collaborated with acoustic specialists Rinaro Isodynamics in developing the new Elite Isodynamic Array used in the headphones. You can read in-depth about how this works on the website but at its heart is a dual driver system where a coil in the upper area emphasises low-frequency sounds and a smaller coil lower down focuses on mid and high ranges. This apparently eliminates small time delays when sound enters the ear canals. There’s a lot more detail about the science behind the system but, honestly, you don’t really have to understand it to enjoy the sound it produces.
Meze Audio Elite headphones (tungsten)
And enjoy it you will, because the Elites sound phenomenal. The open-backed circumaural design means they envelop your ears but don’t box in any bass; instead they release a fair amount of sound in the form of leakage but that’s true of any open-backed model. The frequency response is a jaw-dropping 3 Hz to 112 kHz, making them capable of reproducing a far wider range of sounds than most cans with their standard 20 Hz to 20 kHz range. While better numbers don’t always mean better performance, with the Elites it’s unarguably true that they do.
The soundstage is exquisite, with flawless separation and stereo placement across a range of genres. In sonic terms they are extremely well balanced, offering sweet, detailed and rich reproduction in every frequency range. One thing they do, which is a feature of high-end open-backed models, is reveal the huge variation in loudness and mixing treatments between different tracks and albums. Music that has been mastered to a lower level, or mixed more to the centre than using panned elements, is very noticeable on the Elites when listened to next to punchier or more dynamic mixes. This is of course a good thing, since it’s revealing what the mixes really sound like rather than artificially creating more bass and thus making tracks all sound more alike. There are plenty of much cheaper cans around if that’s what you’re after.
While the Elites perform to the highest standard with all genres, it’s fun to revisit particularly detailed or dynamic tracks because these headphones reveal nuances that you have probably never heard before. Some of our favourites, in no particular order include John Martyn’s Solid Air, Spiritualized’s Let It Flow, or most anything by Sigur Rós. Electronica is just as rewarding, with Massive Attack’s Mezzanine sounding even more dense, lush and layered than usual. At this level of engineering it’s always preferable to use a high quality source to maintain the best possible fidelity all the way from a turntable and converters for example to the headphones, though even just playing a music library from a Mac the experience was still a real eye-opener.
Meze Audio Elite headphones (tungsten)
These are truly impressive headphones that you could easily mix and master on, confident in the knowledge that you’re hearing a true representation of your music. For audiophiles, the listening experience is spectacular with any style of music. Price is going to be an issue and likely place them out of reach of many people, even some who are working professionally in music production. You are paying a premium for sure but it does elevate things to a level that will make you find real joy in listening in a way that, after experiencing the Elites, makes other headphones seem rather dull.
Key features

Open-backed, circumaural design
Magnetic planar system
Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array drivers
Mini XLR plugs with multiple connector options
3 Hz – 112 kHz frequency range
Custom designed and built
Max SPL: >130dB
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Aluminium and tungsten frame options
Weight: 420g

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