A knife so sharp you don’t feel it cutThere’s an ongoing and heated debate about whether generative AI — like the technology that powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT — is either an overblown parlor trick or an existential threat to humanity that’s already raging out of control. The truth is, of course, some more nuanced point between these two extremes, but no matter what side you’re on, you should realize it’s already powerful enough to reshape industries and provoke another transformational shift in the broader working world.
It’s an odd feeling being employed in one of those industries that seems likely to be most impacted by the changes wrought by generative AI. Overall, it’s becoming clear that the fields that will feel it most will be white-collar and knowledge workers: It turns out it’s much harder to program a real-world robot to be able to interact with and manipulate its surroundings than it is to create a virtual sophist or a bot that groks the secret power language of code.
Some days, I honestly feel like how I imagine the dinosaurs would watch that extinction event meteor burning through the atmosphere: It feels momentous, but also too big to comprehend. At other times, there’s an awareness and a sense of urgency around efforts to anticipate and incorporate generative AI into our workflow and products. There’s a crackle and an energy toward action, but it’s also a bit flailing, a tad shapeless and carries just a whiff of desperation.
A few things are becoming clear regarding where and how generative AI can already excel, and genuinely replace a human equivalent. It’s exceedingly good at replicating the bland, toothless communication style prized in internal/external missives by large corporates whose primary motivating factor in most of those messages is avoiding offense. Basically, it’s perfectly fluent in CorpSpeak and pretty decent at bland and uninspired marketing copy — which probably makes up a significant percentage of the demand for marketing copy in terms of volume.
Like with the knife analogy in the headline, these scattered use cases feel innocuous at first — time-saving and productivity-enhancing helpers in a few instances. Who doesn’t want to offload that high-level executive summary, or exsanguinate their company-wide email to ensure it gets across the basic point in a way that’s guaranteed to never approach even a hint of offense? And who hasn’t dreaded having to write a brief description of an online seminar, or a 200-word bio for a speaking engagement?
It doesn’t feel deep — these types of tasks are the definition of shallow. On the coding side, it’s basically cobbling together readily available built examples to achieve a simulacrum of what you wanted that looks and feels so real it might as well be. Which is exactly what it’s doing on the language output side, too. But those who find comfort in this as a fixed depth limit are likely underestimating the pace of development on the one side, and the degree to which a facsimile of true depth is just as good as the real thing on the other. Also, it’s important to recognize that as shallow as they may feel, these examples are all things being done at massive scale currently by real, actual living, breathing human beings who have little or no understanding that to a large extent, they may already be redundant.
There’s a recent example of an everyday job that’s relatively straightforward being slowly but surely subsumed by a technological solution that could stand as a good analogue for AI’s march: self-checkout. When those self-checkout stations started popping up at grocery stores and retailers around a decade ago, customers and clerks alike looked at them as an odd, awkward and mildly humorous intrusion on their well-established space: Fast-forward to today, and they’ve cut checkout staff to a tiny fraction of their former size at many medium and large retailers.
It’s still possible the cut is mostly superficial — but it’s also possible the blood is welling its way to the surface and simply hasn’t yet broken through. Plenty of other world-changing innovations seemed like toys or diversions at first, and were received as such by the people they ultimately impacted most, either out of genuine ignorance, or out of a reluctance to look an existential threat in the eye. That more or less applies to the printing press, the automobile, the computer, the smartphone and the internet. Which still leaves the question of what to do about it — or whether the time for that question is already passed.
A knife so sharp you don’t feel it cut by Darrell Etherington originally published on TechCrunch

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Seven Systems Trinity | Audio Mastering 3 Band Reference Based Audio Mastering. Trinity is an effective integrated mastering solution for digital music production enthusiasts & professionals, containing a set of precisely... Read More

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United Plugins FirePresser currently free FirePresser offers emulations of four classic analogue compressors which can be placed in any order and mixed between using a simple X/Y pad interface. 

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How to build a brand as a musicianTo attract an audience to your music, you need to tell a story, and a deliberate approach to building your artist brand is key to doing it right. by Tony. Continue reading
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Royer launch R-10 Hot Rod Royer Labs' 25th anniversary version of the R-10 boasts some subtle visual tweaks and a custom transformer that offers an increased output level. 

Tesla Q1 deliveries beat expectations as China helps boost salesTesla said Sunday it delivered 422,875 electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2023, just beating Wall Street estimates of around 420,000 units. The company produced 440,808 vehicles in the same period.
The delivery and production numbers are record results for the EV maker. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Tesla delivered 405,278 and produced 439,701 units. Those Q4 deliveries were also record results, but they missed Wall Street expectations.
It appears that a large percentage of deliveries came from vehicles produced by Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory. The automaker has been issuing price cuts in all markets, including China, where the most recent discounts have caused a price war among competitors. The result is an increase of Tesla sales in China from last year, which suggests the East Asian country is helping to boost Tesla’s global delivery numbers.
Tesla doesn’t break down its delivery and production numbers by region, but according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Tesla collectively sold 140,453 China-made vehicles in January and February. The CPCA hasn’t yet published March’s data. If Tesla’s March deliveries in China match February’s numbers, it would mean more than 50% (or nearly 215,000) of Q1 deliveries came from Shanghai.
 
Tesla’s Q1 2023 delivery and production numbers. Image Credit: Tesla, via screenshot
Tesla started cutting prices for its EVs in China in October. Most recently, Tesla again reduced the prices of Model 3 and Y there in January by between 6% and 13.5%, adding fuel to the fire of a price war in the country. Rivals Xpeng and Nio, as well as international brands like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, also discounted their prices to compete with Tesla cars, which are now up to 14% cheaper than last year. In some cases, they’re almost 50% less expensive than in the U.S. and Europe.
The automaker mirrored similar price cuts in Europe, Mexico and the U.S. over the past few months. This year, Tesla dropped prices for Model Y and Model 3 vehicles in the U.S. by up to 20%, and Model X and Model S vehicles by up to 9%. Last week, Tesla also relaunched its European referral program to try to increase sales before the end of the quarter.
Tesla’s share price rose 6.24% Sunday (in off trading hours) following the automaker’s quarterly production and delivery results.
Tesla needed a strong result after a volatile last few months in trading. At the end of 2022, Tesla’s share price plummeted amid CEO Elon Musk’s overhaul of Twitter. Investors were also concerned last year that the many discounts Tesla implemented across markets — including a $7,500 discount for U.S. buyers who took delivery before year’s end — might indicate low demand from customers.
During Tesla’s Q4 2022 earnings call in January, Musk tried to assuage investors by saying that demand actually exceeded production. At the time, Tesla acknowledged that the price decreases and general inflationary environment might affect the company’s short-term automotive margins, but that the company said it’s more focused on its operating margin.
We’ll know more about how the price decreases globally have affected the overall business when Tesla reports first quarter earnings on Wednesday, April 19. At the end of last year, Tesla said it expects to remain ahead of the long-term 50% compound annual growth rate with around 1.8 million cars for the year.
Tesla Q1 deliveries beat expectations as China helps boost sales by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

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Close Up: Royer LabsRoyer Labs

royerlabs.com

25 Years of Modern Ribbon Mics: In 1996, Dave Royer, Rick Perrotta and John Jennings talked about starting a new pro audio company; then, in 1997 Dave Royer designed the first R-121 ribbon microphone in his garage in Fullerton, CA. Royer Labs opened in 1998, and the R-121 quickly became a sought after, award-winning staple of studios and live stages around the world. Before Royer, the only ribbon mics that existed were vintage models from the ‘40s and ‘50s, which were large, heavy and very fragile. The R-121 was the first ribbon mic that could handle high SPLs (sound pressure levels) and it was lightweight and compact. 

Another major advantage Royer discovered was how well ribbons addressed problems with early digital recording systems. Tape systems sounded warm and more natural, while the new digital systems of that time sounded harsh and unforgiving by comparison. The warm, natural response of ribbon mics made engineers feel like they were working with tape again so much that in 2013 Royer Labs became one of the youngest companies ever to win a Technical Grammy, for bringing ribbon mics back and helping digital recording sound better. 

Shortly after the R-121—whose high profile users have included Al Schmitt, Ross Hogarth, Joe Chiccarelli, Arturo Sandoval, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen and others—Royer Labs released the SF-12 stereo ribbon mic, followed by the R-122, the world’s first phantom powered ribbon mic.

R-10 “Hot Rod” 25th Anniversary Mic: To kick off its 25th anniversary celebration, Royer has  released the R-10 Hot Rod ribbon mic, which is designed for both studio and live stage use. Their standard R-10 was based somewhat on the R-121 technology but at a lower price point. When paired with their dBooster plug-in—an inline signal booster with two gain settings—the R-10 was also ideal for quiet instruments and vocals. The limited edition “Hot Rod” is fitted with a custom transformer that gives 5dB hotter output and a punchier, more open sound, and comes with a 25th Anniversary trim package that makes it unique from the standard R-10. It features a lowered proximity effect that makes it a perfect choice for close miking instruments and singers. For more bite in the highs without multi-miking, the R-10 Hot Rod takes EQ beautifully. Dave Grohl has used an R-10 on his guitar amp for Foo Fighters gigs for years, appreciating its extreme durability and natural sound.

Quote from John Jennings, VP of Sales and Marketing: “Royer Labs is thrilled to be in our 25th year, and kicking it off with the R-10 Hot Rod is just fun. The innovative guys in our shop cooked this mic up and we love it, with its cool looking trim package and its different sonic personality. It expands on the R-10 in interesting ways, creating a unique  flavor of R-10 with a beefier low end that we think recording engineers and FOH engineers will really like.”

Contact Royer Labs, 818-847-0121

Last week in music industry commentaryCommentators in the thick of the industry last week shared their opinions and thoughts on the government-issued TikTok bans, what makes music ‘good’, and more… US threats to ban TikTok. Continue reading
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SSL unveil SubGen plug-in SSL's latest plug-in claims to be the ultimate tool for bass generation and low-frequency enhancement, combining a four-band subharmonic synthesizer with overdrive and compression processors.