OpenAI’s Nick Turley on transforming ChatGPT into an operating systemIn an interview, OpenAI's Head of ChatGPT discusses the company's push into developing an AI operating system full of third-party apps.

zazz RumbleVST plugin for enhancing transient sounds. The plugin captures the initial portion of a transient (with detection controlled via the Trigger section), time-stretches the snippet (with adjustable pitch), and layers it with the original transient. Similar to https://www.kvraudio.com/product/transient-enhancer-by-zazz. Transient can be only pitched down, but plugin does not introduce any latency. Read More

Iconoclast partners with Vermillio to monitor use of Tony Bennett’s name, image, voice and likeness on gen-AI systemsThe collaboration will use Vermillio's TraceID technology to scan the internet and AI models for unlicensed uses of Bennett's likeness.
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Traktor MX2: Native Instruments’ New 2-Channel ControllerNative Instruments has introduced the Traktor MX2, a next-generation 2-channel DJ controller aimed at DJs of all levels. This is the first Traktor controller that we’ve seen in years – the renewed Z1 and X1 being the most recent. The aesthetic of the Traktor MX2 (fairwell, “Kontrol”?) matches those releases design language. This new controller […]
The post Traktor MX2: Native Instruments’ New 2-Channel Controller appeared first on DJ TechTools.

In The Trenches with Bahar Tas of world music venue Drom NYCAn experienced marketer, Bhar Tas began working at the Drom NYC as a volunteer. For the last 18 months she's served as the Marketing Manager at this seminal New York world music venue.
The post In The Trenches with Bahar Tas of world music venue Drom NYC appeared first on Hypebot.

Get a free Lofi Toy Piano preset for Splice INSTRUMENT
Download our free Lofi Toy Piano preset for Splice INSTRUMENT—grab these presets during the drop window and they’re yours to keep forever.

How I Lost a Paid Gig to a DJ Working for ‘Exposure’Manila-based DJ Khim Custodio questions the morality of club management behavior after his paid gig was abruptly canceled when someone cheaper came along.
The post How I Lost a Paid Gig to a DJ Working for ‘Exposure’ appeared first on Hypebot.

Native Instruments’ Traktor MX2 could be your new favourite club-ready DJ controllerDJs of the world: Native Instruments’ latest 2-channel controller might be the perfect addition to your portable setup. The Traktor MX2 is the company’s latest piece of club-ready gear, complete with an illuminated bottom shell and neon pads to get the party started.
With its two touch-sensitive jogwheels, Hotcues, and Flux Looping capabilities, the Traktor MX2 is designed to make mixing intuitive and streamlined. Mixer FX options also provide a slew of helpful tools, like the ability to instantly create drops, transition between tracks and create a tense buildup all from a single dial.

READ MORE: “I’m doing it for something bigger than me”: Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid is Kevin Parker’s dream synth — he hopes it’ll be yours, too

In terms of effects, there are nine one-knob effects in total from reverb and delay to nifty filters. There are also two assignable FX unites, with Deck FX on offer to aid with the shape of your tracks, with Deck FX allowing you to toy with 40 different effects to layer, stretch and vastly transform your sounds in real time.
There are 16 performance pads across the controller, with four pad modes at your disposal. Alongside hotcue and looping options, users can also experiment with the Pattern Player mode to turn pads into step sequencers. The mode allows you to program percussive fills to pads, whether than be hi-hats or snares. The final mode is the Stems mode, which splits racks up and allows you to let your creativity flow and remix vocals, drums, bass in the spur of the moment.
Credit: Native Instruments
Powered by iZotope’s Ozone Maximizer, the high-fidelity 24-bit/96kHz audio already packs plenty of punch. However, the lightshow on offer is the cherry on top. The pads can be customised, meaning your performance can match your personality, whether that be a cold blue hue or warm yellow glow.
The controller also glows to indicate whether you’re looping a track or whether you’re getting to the end of your tune, meaning you can always plan ahead with plenty of notice.
Native Instruments is also making it even easier to jump straight into the music with a full version of Traktor Pro 4 software included with the purchase of the Traktor MX2. New customers will also receive a two-month Beatport Streaming trial, too.
Native Instrument’s Traktor MX2 is available now for £349.
The post Native Instruments’ Traktor MX2 could be your new favourite club-ready DJ controller appeared first on MusicTech.

SoundMorph launches Halloween Sale, combine with BPB’s 70% OFF code for insane savings
SoundMorph has launched its annual Halloween Sale, offering up to 90% off across the entire store. The promotion runs until October 31st, and this year’s theme, Halloween Treasure Hunt, encourages you to explore the site and uncover massive discounts on everything from cinematic sound libraries to software tools. You can combine these SoundMorph deals with [...]
View post: SoundMorph launches Halloween Sale, combine with BPB’s 70% OFF code for insane savings

Warm Audio introduce Tube Squealer & Throne of Tone The latest additions to Warm Audio's pedal range offer the company’s take on another two classics, and each offer a choice of circuits that emulate different revisions of the original designs. 

Apogee announce Symphony I/O MkII Anniversary Edition Each Symphony MkII Anniversary Edition unit will be personally signed by Betty Bennett and Bob Clearmountain, and will ship alongside a Limited Apogee History Book.

IK Multimedia’s TONEX is 85% off at Plugin Boutique until October 12
IK Multimedia’s TONEX is now 85% off at Plugin Boutique until October 12, bringing the price down from $199.99 to just $29.99. If you’ve been holding off on trying one of the most realistic amp modeling platforms around, now’s a great time to jump in. TONEX is built around IK’s “AI Machine Modeling” technology, which [...]
View post: IK Multimedia’s TONEX is 85% off at Plugin Boutique until October 12

Cherry Audio releases Korg-inspired Trident Mk III synth pluginRoll out the red carpet – Cherry Audio has released its own Korg Trident-inspired emulated synth. Pushing the boundaries of the original ‘80s tech, the Trident Mk III offers a versatile “orchestra-in-a-box” experience, already earning itself the title of a “Swiss army synth”.
The synth plugin comes as an unofficial third instalment in Korg’s Trident series with the Trident and Trident Mk II releasing in 1981 and 1982 respectively. And it’s a hefty upgrade, expanding the original Trident’s potential, increasing the voice count from 8 to 16 for each section.

READ MORE: I got lost in Moog Messenger’s massive Res Bass sounds

As the Trident name suggests, the synth offers three timbres to experiment with: synth, brass and strings. All three can be mixed, split and layered across the keyboard. While each synth section is fully polyphonic with two oscillators and a filter per voice, the brass and string sections capture the paraphonic abilities of the original Trident, with oscillators running through a single filter and envelope.
But it’s not all nostalgia. Cherry Audio has also thrown in some other modern upgrades, such as velocity sensitivity and aftertouch, polyphonic aftertouch and MIDI mapping.

There’s also 17 effects on offer, both old and new. There’s the flanger, ensemble and vibrato effects you’d expect from the Trident, as well as a compressor, ring modulator, lo-fi, a 7-band EQ alongside multiple delays and reverbs that can be used across four customizable chains.
Users can toy with Motion and Effects tools in drag-and-drop areas, while there’s also the option of using templates to quickly split and layer your tracks with ease. As for the Motion panel, it also also offers a 32-step polyphonic sequencer and dual arpeggiators. There’s also MIDI mapping and 380 professionally designed presets on offer.
The Trident Mk III comes as Cherry Audio’s latest reimagining of a Korg classic, with the company having previously tackled the PS-3300 synth and KR-55C drum machine. The Trident Mk III comes as a welcome addition to Cherry Audio’s library of virtual instruments,
Cherry Audio’s Trident Mk III is available now for $69. There’s also a free 30-day trial to try before you buy.
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AV‑Ylänne releases Church Bells, a versatile FREE library for Decent Sampler
Church Bells is the latest Decent Sampler library from Joonas Ylänne, the developer behind AV‑Ylänne, and it’s one of those brilliantly unexpected additions. If you’re not using Decent Sampler, you’re missing out on a world of free sounds, many of which are brilliantly unexpected. Decent Sampler is free to download in AU, VST, VST3, and [...]
View post: AV‑Ylänne releases Church Bells, a versatile FREE library for Decent Sampler

Sequential Fourm is like a Prophet, minus one voice and several thousand dollars£799 / $1000 / €950, sequential.com
For most of us, it’s not realistic to splash thousands of dollars on instruments that, for all their history, rarity and desirability, have exceptionally limited capability when compared to modern software synths.

READ MORE: I got lost in Moog Messenger’s massive Res Bass sounds

Recently, though, we’ve seen a number of the ‘old-guard’ synth manufacturers releasing instruments that authentically embody the classic sound and character of their sought-after classics, but at prices that don’t demand an understanding bank manager and/or a significant lottery win — think Moog’s Messenger and Oberheim’s TEO-5.
Now, Sequential is getting in on the act with the release of its most affordable synth ever: Fourm.

It’s all in a name
Let‘s get one thing out of the way: Despite the synth’s name reading like something from a Swedish furniture maker’s showroom, I can confirm it’s pronounced “Form”. The unconventional spelling is simply an allusion to the synth’s four-voice architecture.
Given this architecture is based on the Prophet 5, and given the synth bears more than a passing resemblance to Sequential’s other example of a cut-down Prophet, 1981’s Pro One, I’m mildly surprised it isn’t called Pro Four. But OK, Fourm it is.
The synth is built into a mid-sized enclosure that’s surprisingly yet satisfyingly weighty for its size and, like the Pro One, features a three-octave keyboard. This so-called Tactive keybed, custom-designed by Sequential, features mid-sized keys. They’re not as small as the keys on something like Arturia’s MiniFreak, though not as large as standard keys, and the keyboard has a high quality feel thanks to a smooth, well-balanced action. The keybed is velocity sensitive and, more excitingly, features true polyphonic aftertouch; I love how this detailed expressiveness interacts with Fourm’s gorgeous-sounding synth engine.
Fourm sports a full complement of MIDI ports (in, out and thru), or can be connected to a computer via USB. There’s also a socket for connecting an expression pedal or footswitch, a headphone output, and a single mono line output.
Image: Press
Fourm’s Prophet-like tendencies
Fourm’s synthesis circuitry is 100% analogue, and closely follows the architecture (not to mention control layout) of the legendary Prophet series. So we have a pair of VCOs that can combine saw, pulse and, for Oscillator B, triangle waves, and deliver classic Sequential-style hard syncing of Oscillator A. Oscillator B can also serve as either a static or key-tracking LFO for those occasions when you need more than the single dedicated LFO.
The oscillators feed through a mixer, where noise and feedback can be added, and into a four-pole, resonant low-pass filter. This has been designed to embody the best qualities of the Prophet revs 1 and 2 filters, and delivers the characteristic smooth, rich filtering, powerful-yet-not-intense resonance, and ability to self-oscillate, just like the classic designs. Sequential has also added bass compensation to the VCF to counter a characteristic of many filters that causes low frequencies to become weaker as the resonance is increased. This deviation from the classic Prophet filter may not please purists, but it does make Fourm a more versatile bass machine.
Fourm’s pair of envelopes – one dedicated to controlling the amp, the other hard-wired to the filter and available as a modulation source – are of a classic ADSR flavour and have been designed to match the response characteristics of the Prophet. Sadly, I don’t have a Prophet 5 on-hand with which to make a direct comparison, but they certainly sound and feel like Prophet envelopes to me.
The synth’s modulation system is almost a direct facsimile of that found on the Pro One. The three sources – filter envelope, Oscillator B and LFO – can be mapped to destination parameters either constantly, under the control of the mod wheel, or a blend of the two. The keyboard’s polyphonic aftertouch has its own set of destinations.
Unison mode offers a choice over the number of unison voices, detuning amount, and an optional, rave-tastic auto-chord function. Detuning can also come from the Vintage parameter which introduces randomness to voice tuning, filter cutoff and such. Finally, there’s an arpeggiator / sequencer that, when operating as the latter, offers a choice between note or modulation sequences of up-to 64 steps in length.
Notable in absence are any on-board effects, but this is entirely in keeping with Fourm’s analogue credentials. After all, what’s the point of having all of that lovely rich-sounding analogue circuitry if you’re just going to push it through an AD/DA converter cycle just to add effects?
Image: Press
What is Sequential’s Fourm like to use?
Fourm provides dedicated controls for its most important parameters, consisting of conventional pots, backlit buttons, and a small number of continuous rotary encoders. It also has extensive digital control elements such as program storage and recall (four banks of 128 programs), automatic voice and filter calibration, and a fair few parameters that are only accessible via the synth’s display and menu system. The menu is navigated using the Select/Value continuous rotary controller located beneath the display – turn the rotary to select a parameter, press it to switch it to Value mode and turn again to set the desired value.
The ‘one-control-per-parameter’ paradigm is one of the big attractions of analogue synths, making the need to menu-dive annoying. Yet Sequential have done an excellent job of blunting the inadequacies that can stem from this cost versus functionality balancing act. Many of the buttons adorning Fourm’s fascia have a secondary label written in blue below the main label. When the button is pressed the secondary parameter’s page is called up on the display from where it can be adjusted using the Select/Value rotary. It’s a graceful solution that doesn’t break your flow.
The majority of knobs are conventional pots, and so have a natural and fluid feeling in use, but also raise the spectre of value-jumping when adjusting a parameter whose current value does not match its current pot position. Sequential has addressed this with three ‘Pot Mode’ options, Jump, Passthru and Relative, that determine how the synth reacts in this situation. In Jump mode, parameter values jump to the pot position, which is convenient during sound design. Passthru and Relative eliminate jumps and so are better when performing. The former holds a parameter’s value until the pot position passes through that value; the latter assumes a pot is positioned at the current value and increases/decreases the value from that point, although this means the full range of values isn’t available until the pot has been moved through its entire range.
Image: Press
Is Fourm a solid investment?
For an affordable and attainable price, Fourm boasts the classic Sequential looks while still appearing modern. It delivers an authentic Prophet-like sound without the headaches of working with a true vintage analogue synth. And it oozes genuine Sequential pedigree from every pore.
Fourm’s affordability may come with a menu-diving trade-off, but this has been so gracefully implemented that it rarely breaks your flow or interferes with a performance. And with modern benefits like USB connectivity, auto-calibration, and the VCF’s bass compensation, it’s a whole lot easier to live with than a vintage analogue beast.

Key features

2 voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO)
Noise generator
Mixer feedback
4-pole resonant low-pass filter with bass compensation
ADSR filter and amp envelopes
LFO with saw, triangle, square and sample-and-hold waveforms
Unison mode with optional auto-chord
Flexible modulation routing
Arpeggiator / sequencer with up-to 64 steps
3-octave, velocity sensitive keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch
2 user preset banks; 2 factory preset banks; 128 presets per bank
Mono line output and headphone output
MIDI in, out and thru sockets
Single pedal socket
USB port for connection to computer

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