Blinking An LED With a Single TransistorLet’s say you want to blink an LED. You might grab an Arduino and run the Blink sketch, or you might lace up a few components to a 555. But you needn’t go so fancy! [The Design Graveyard] explains how this same effect can be achieved with a single transistor.
The circuit in question is rather odd at first blush. The BC547 NPN transistor is hooked up between an LED and a resistor leading to a 12V DC line, with a capacitor across the emitter and collector. Meanwhile, the base is connected to… nothing! It’s just free-floating in the universe of its own accord. You might expect this circuit to do nothing at all, but if you power it up, the LED will actually start to flash.
The mechanism at play is relatively simple. The capacitor charges to 12 volts via the resistor. At this point, the transistor, which is effectively just acting as a poor diode in this case, undergoes avalanche breakdown at about 8.5 to 9 volts, and starts conducting. This causes the capacitor to discharge via the LED, until the voltage gets low enough that the transistor stops conducting once again. Then, the capacitor begins to charge back up, and the cycle begins again.
It’s a weird way to flash an LED, and it’s not really the normal way to use a transistor—you’re very much running it out of spec. Regardless, it does work for a time! We’ve looked at similar circuits before too. Video after the break.

[Thanks to Vik Olliver for the tip!]

Wise hints at stablecoin ambitions with new digital-asset product lead hireWise is hiring a digital-asset product lead focused on stablecoins, signaling potential expansion into crypto amid shifting global regulations.

Rock heavyweights Garbage are quitting touring despite a strong following – is being a working musician becoming increasingly unrealistic?Is being a touring musician becoming increasingly unrealistic?
Shirley Manson of rock band Garbage recently made the announcement that the group would be “curtailing” their “headline touring business” in the wake of ‘“untenable” economic circumstances.

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Garbage are currently on tour in the US, and made the announcement at a recent show in Washington, DC, saying: “We have just decided that the economics have become untenable, so this is kind of the last time that we’ve decided we’re going to get on a bus and just tour all over North America.”
So if Garbage – a band with a considerable following (2.7 million Spotify monthly listeners, for some degree of perspective) – can’t make the economics of touring work, what does that mean for fledgling artists?
Speaking to the crowd at the band’s recent show at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado, Manson elaborated once again on the band’s decision to rethink their approach to touring.
“It has become entirely unsustainable for a band like us to come and tour anywhere except the coasts,” she said [via MusicRadar].
She noted that she and her bandmates are thankful for their 30-year career to date, adding that they have “no complaints”, however she retains her outward stance on the increasing impossibility of touring artists to make it financially viable so that “we all start to understand what exactly is going on in the music industry”.
“You see all these big pop stars, and they’re making billions and billions and billions of dollars and they’re rich and they’re glamorous and they’re amazing.”
Manson makes no specific reference here, but it’s worth noting Taylor Swift – by many accounts the biggest artist in the world right now – raked in over $2 billion in ticket sales.
The problem, Manson continued, is that “most of the music industry is not made of these big pop stars. They’re made of working musicians”.
“This is not a pity party for us,” she went on. “This is an alarm call for all the young generations of musicians who are in our wake, and who we feel duty-bound to speak up for because there’s nobody speaking up for them. There is no governmental body. There’s no fucking real effective union for musicians that fights for young musicians to get paid.”
It’s certainly true that an increasing number of artists are questioning the economic viability of touring in 2025 and beyond.
The Chemical Brothers, for example – an English duo who are arguably one of the biggest names in dance music – said in 2023 that touring was no longer “viable”, adding: “The costs have gone up so much.”
And earlier this year, a fund was set up to help UK touring artists, with Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive of Music Managers Forum saying: “So many artists and their managers work unpaid on loss-making tours for many years in the hope of growing a fanbase, developing their live performance and creating long term careers. They are having to make tough financial decisions to make ends meet.”
Touring is an incredibly complex business with many moving parts, and depending on the scale of the operation, the fees paid to stagehands, booking agents, management and so on needs to be deducted from ticket sales before the artist themselves gets their cut. As the cost of touring continues to rise, in turn, so do ticket prices.
Rounding off her speech at Garbage’s Denver show, Shirley Manson also reflected on the number of parties which take a cut in the music business before the artist gets their piece.
“The fact that they are not even able to sell a record and it’s taken from them by rich motherfuckers on streaming platforms who get paid royally by record labels, who get paid royally by Ticketmaster, who get paid royally by merch companies, who get paid royally – the list goes on and on and on. There’s accountants. There’s lawyers. They’re all fucking getting paid, except for the musician,” she said.
And that’s not taking into account the rising prevalence of ticket touts buying up available tickets and reselling them at hugely inflated prices. According to a study last year by global research firm YouGov, UK concertgoers pay an extra £145 million annually to ticket tours, with nearly half of surveyed fans saying they struggle to identify legitimate resale platforms.
It’s not uncommon for fans to have to pay hundreds to see their favourite artists, so when Live Nation launched an initiative earlier this year offering $30 tickets on over 1,000 gigs in summer 2025, fans were no doubt elated.
The post Rock heavyweights Garbage are quitting touring despite a strong following – is being a working musician becoming increasingly unrealistic? appeared first on MusicTech.

AudioThing Things Fold is FREE on BPB (10,000 Licenses Available)
AudioThing and Bedroom Producers Blog are giving away 10,000 free licenses of Things Fold, a versatile wavefolder plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Usually priced at €19, Things Fold has been around for a couple of years, but this special offer gives BPB readers a chance to grab it for free. We have 10,000 free [...]
View post: AudioThing Things Fold is FREE on BPB (10,000 Licenses Available)

Ticketmaster Shuts Down TradeDesk Amid FTC Lawsuit: What It Means for Fans and ArtistsTicketmaster is shutting down its TradeDesk ticket resale platform following an FTC lawsuit. Learn how this move could change concert ticket resales, impact artists, and reshape the live event industry.
The post Ticketmaster Shuts Down TradeDesk Amid FTC Lawsuit: What It Means for Fans and Artists appeared first on Hypebot.

Get StereoChorus by 23DSP for FREE
Developer 23DSP is offering its StereoChorus plugin for free. The plugin is available for both Windows and macOS in VST and AU formats. If the name didn’t give it away, StereoChorus is a dual-channel modulation plugin that allows you to dial in chorus effects for the left and right channels separately. This can open up [...]
View post: Get StereoChorus by 23DSP for FREE

Behringer scales down its UB-Xa synth (again) with the “travel-ready” UB-Xa MiniBehringer has shrunk its UB-Xa synth once again, with the launch of the UB-Xa Mini. According to the brand, it delivers “big sound in a small package”.
Behringer released its original UB-Xa in 2023, and it later went on to become the best-selling synth at Thomann. Inspired by Oberheim’s OB-Xa, it became somewhat controversial when Tom Oberheim himself claimed there was “no collaboration” between the two brands. Behringer responded to his comments, and said that it “clearly received consent to use the trademark” and had “utmost respect for the pioneer”.

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After the success of the UB-Xa, Behringer went on to release a smaller version – the UB-Xa D – which it described as a desktop version. This model loses the keyboard, and was crafted after Behringer found that seven out of ten synth fans didn’t have enough space for its original, full-sized version.
Going even smaller, the new UB-Xa Mini is a compact analogue polyphonic synth, with a fully analogue signal path and three VCOs with saw and square waveforms. It captures “the essence” of the UB-Xa, delivering classic ‘80s tones and textures.
It has 27 touch-sensitive keys, and a switchable 12/24 dB analogue filter for tone sculpting, while the LFO with three waveforms modulates pitch, cutoff, and pulse width. There’s also a 16-step motion sequencer with 10 memory slots and a range of play modes including poly, unison, octaves, fifths, ring unison, and ring poly.
Hear it in action in the video below:

As anyone familiar with the Behringer name will know, it’s the brand that never sleeps. Among its other recent launches is the CZ-1 Mini, providing its own spin on the Casio CZ-1 Phase Distortion synthesiser.
Following the same smaller form as Behringer’s Pro-VS Mini, Phara-O Mini, and JT Mini, the CZ-1 Mini takes heavy inspiration from the CZ-1, but with some slight difference in features – where the original CZ-1 polyphonic synth offered eight voices, Behringer’s CZ-1 Mini comes loaded with just three instead.
The UB-Xa Mini is available now for £89. Find out more via Behringer.
The post Behringer scales down its UB-Xa synth (again) with the “travel-ready” UB-Xa Mini appeared first on MusicTech.

Native Instruments introduce Odes Joining the acclaimed Lores and Fables, Odes is described as “a narrative instrument with rhythm at its heart”, and promises to help composers create moving, emotional soundscapes. 

Gold-plated studio monitors? HEDD Audio’s got you covered…HEDD Audio is launching the Type 05 A-Core Edition X, a limited anniversary edition of its acclaimed Type 05 A-Core studio monitor.
There are just 100 pairs available worldwide, with each offering luxurious detailing and upgraded materials. EDITION X commemorates both HEDD’s 10th anniversary and founder Klaus Heinz, as he celebrates 40 years of pioneering loudspeaker design.

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The standard version of the Type O5 A-Core studio monitor was a huge hit at its release back in May, and scored a prestigious 10/10 from MusicTech for its “exceptionally coherent sound”. The Type 05 A-Core model launched at the same time as a Type 07 model, with both said to “distill”  the last four decades of Heinz’s design work.
At the heart of the new, limited Edition X model is a custom ENIG-finished PCB that HEDD says will guarantee unmatched signal purity, stability, and long-term durability. Each pair of the new Type 05 A-Core Edition X monitor has been handcrafted in Berlin, and features luxurious 18k gold-plated details, including Italian-crafted elements such as the backplate, tweeter grille, screws, and knobs.
“Gold has long symbolised the very qualities that define Edition X,” says HEDD Audio. “Its purity mirrors the all-analogue signal path, which delivers uncoloured and unprocessed sonic truth. Its longevity, rooted in gold’s resistance to tarnish, is reflected in Edition X’s ENIG-finished PCBs and premium-grade materials, ensuring decades of consistent performance.”

Edition X will be available this October, exclusively through select HEDD Audio partners. As a tribute to Heinz’s 40 years of innovation, one pair of Edition X conceals a gold-plated, engraved warranty card offering a whopping 40 years of coverage. Beyond this special edition, all HEDD products, including Edition X, come with a standard five-year warranty.
“Materials define components, and components define speakers,” comments Heinz. “With Edition X, we wanted to create a monitor that embodies permanence, purity, and precision – both visually and sonically.”
To find out more, head over to HEDD Audio. 
The post Gold-plated studio monitors? HEDD Audio’s got you covered… appeared first on MusicTech.

Drum Depot celebrates with Pay What You Want sale on all drum sample packs
Marco Scherer is celebrating his birthday in style with a massive Pay What You Want sale on all Drum Depot packs until October 31st, 2025. Several of them start at €0, meaning you can grab them completely free. If you’ve followed Marco’s work (as I have for years), you’ll know he’s one of the most [...]
View post: Drum Depot celebrates with Pay What You Want sale on all drum sample packs

Baby Audio Tekno 1.0 makes drum synthesis easy, but I’m frustrated by its limitations$129 ($79 introductory price)
Subscribe to own: $14.99 for 6 months
babyaud.io
Tekno is a new drum synthesizer with an impressive sonic range, which joins Baby Audio’s fashionable and powerful lineup of audio plugins.

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Because hardware drum machines are so enthralling to use, their plugin counterparts have often suffered as a result, failing to live up to the experience of using the real thing. It’s hard to match the immediacy of a TR-style sequencer, and nothing feels quite the same as using a TR-909 with its vintage computer-style buttons. With this in mind, Baby Audio has moved in a more niche direction, by designing Tekno with synthesis-exclusive sound generation. So can Tekno stand up to the competition on the strength of its sound engine alone?

How do you use Baby Audio Tekno?
As you open the plugin, you are immediately confronted with a hexagonal matrix of 18 independent drum voices, each with a synthesis engine appropriate for the creation of the respective drum sound. As you select and audition each sound, you’ll notice that the set of Synthesize controls change depending on the type of drum voice.
This becomes more evident still when you access the Synthesis Calibration parameters to dive deeper into the sound shaping tools of each sound engine. One of the first things I notice about Tekno is that it has no sequencer. This means you’ll be programming patterns within your DAW or you’ll need an external MIDI controller, which again narrows the creative scope of Tekno as a drum machine plugin. However, in response to initial user feedback, Baby Audio has just announced that the forthcoming v1.1 will include a sequencer.
However, once you’ve put a MIDI sequence together in your DAW, you can skip through the presets to find a kit that either suits the style of your music idea or inspires you to create. Also, when you approach each sound individually, you have the controls to really shape your drums to perfection, and you have the choice of using the internal mixer or using the 16 output busses for discrete channel routing in your DAW.
Each drum voice also has a range of effects, including saturation, compression, and an exciter, as well as a send that feeds the master reverb. Like the Synthesize section, you can access a wider range of controls by opening the Effects Calibration menu, which also contains the filter and transient shaper sections.
Master Calibration in Tekno. Image: Press
Going deeper into Tekno
Despite its shortcomings, Tekno is still a versatile sound creation platform for drums and percussion. Any drum voice can be exported with or without effects by simply dragging the sound from the hexagon into your DAW or directly onto your desktop within your OS. This makes Tekno a useful tool for creating unique sample packs or creating soundsets to load onto a hardware sampler.
What’s interesting, too, is that Tekno has processes that act on incoming MIDI signals, so you can add swing or use the Human time and accent functions to achieve more variation. Besides the internal mixer, there are a few other features that encourage you to produce your drums entirely inside Tekno. First is the ducking function, which allows you to use any of the drum voices to sidechain the others with an amount control, while the release time of the ducking compressor can be adjusted in the Other tab of the Master Calibration section.
The master bus also has an impressive limiter section with a drive control for introducing harmonic distortion, and a variable high-pass filter to preserve the low-end elements all the way up to 500 Hz. When you start combining all the drum production features, a simple drum pattern with the Human control cranked up can produce truly compelling results. Not only do the timing and velocity change over time, but other parameters too, which is especially interesting when pitched percussion elements are playing.
Clap Synthesis Calibration in Tekno. Image: Press
Where could Tekno improve in future updates?
There is no doubt that Tekno is a serious sound creation tool with a range of impressive drum synthesis engines, but some of its features can become oxymoronic when you put the plugin through its paces. Although the multicoloured hexagonal visualizer looks incredible, the Calibration controls don’t have the same aesthetic detail, riding the line between minimalistic and lazy user interface design.
Another wondrous feature is the modal synthesis engine inside the Tonal drum voice, which lets you create an incredible range of pitched sounds. However, I found it frightfully limited without at least an octave range of chromatic MIDI input, which is something Logic’s Ultrabeat had over 20 years ago.
Tekno does have the ability to mix and match voice presets from any kit in the library, which can produce results quickly. The only drawback is that the drum synth engines are fixed in place, which unfortunately prevents you copying a sound from one voice to another within the same kit.
Without a sequencer, Tekno becomes more of an additional sound engine for your OXI One, BeatStep Pro, or Push, rather than a standalone beat production tool. While the MIDI humanisation features are welcome, you can’t access swing without menu diving, which is frustrating. What’s more, I even experience crashes when trying to export audio from Cubase. Although the software is still in version 1.0, this is a frustrating glitch that I work around with the Render in Place function. I’m told by Baby Audio that the v1.1 update is currently in development and will address this issue, which is encouraging.
Regardless of its prowess as a sound creation tool, Tekno doesn’t come close to the creative user experience of Sonic Charge Microtonic from 2003. If you consider these pitfalls and a $129 price tag, the plugin starts to feel like a product that has been rushed to market.
As a synthesis and drum machine fan, and as much as I want to like it, Tekno leaves me scratching my head. Many of the poor design decisions could have been easily avoided with further market research from the Baby Audio development team.
Drag-and-drop in Tekno. Image: Press
Key features

Drum synthesizer plugin (VST, AU & AAX)
Sound library with 73 global presets and 1314 individual voice presets
18-voice sound engine
Multiple types of synthesis
Drag-and-drop voice export
Per-voice and master effects

The post Baby Audio Tekno 1.0 makes drum synthesis easy, but I’m frustrated by its limitations appeared first on MusicTech.

Kohler unveils a camera for your toiletHome goods company Kohler recently unveiled a new device called the Dekoda — a $599 camera that can be attached to your toilet bowl and take pictures of what’s inside.

Bitcoin mining just got easier — but not for long, as hashrate roars backBitcoin's network hashrate hit an all-time high of over 1.2 trillion on Tuesday and remains elevated despite a drop in difficulty.

2025 Component Abuse Challenge: Conductive Filament Makes a Meltable FuseEverything is a fuse if you run enough current through it. Or at least [JohnsonFarms.us] seems to think so, which has led him to design 3D-printed fuses made from conductive PLA filament.
Conductive filament is a meltable resistor, which, if one squints hard enough, is basically a fuse.
In theory a 3D printed fuse works the same as a normal one: excessive current draw will cause the conductive plastic to briefly become a heater, causing it to self-destruct and break the electrical connection. There’s a risk of melted plastic and perhaps a nonzero combustion risk, but [JohnsonFarms.us] is less interested in whether this is a good idea and more interested in whether it can work at all, and with what degree of predictability and/or regret.
His experiments so far show that printed fuses are essentially meltable resistors with values between 300 Ω and 1250 Ω, depending on shape. What it takes to bring those to roughly 60 °C, where PLA softens, and around 150 °C, where PLA melts, is next on the to-do list.
Whatever conclusions are reached, it is interesting to think of conductive filament as a meltable resistor, and ponder what unusual applications that might allow.
Most conductive filaments have high resistance, but not all. Some, like Electrifi by Multi3D, have extremely low resistance and were used in a project that made 3d-printed logic gates.

WRPED Reverie ambient delay (pre alpha)Single, Dual, Autopan, Reversed Delay Lines, and Pitch Shifted modes. As of this version, i decided to make them all dedicated individual dsp algorithms, so the UI can feel wonky and definitely looks it at this point. This is just an early rendition with most parts working correctly. Read More