Nektar’s Aruba pad controller updated Firmware and software updates have kitted out Nektar's Aruba drum machine-style sequencer and pad controller with a new Record mode and three new drum synth instruments. 

Binary Square Offworld Vintage styled, algorithmic based (no samples), subtractive synthesizer, clean alias-free oscillators, continuously variable wave shapes, hard sync, ring modulation, low (24db/12db) and... Read More

Huart Will Keynote Capital's WorkshopFollowing closely on the heels of the launch of his landmark comprehensive and reference text, Home Studio Recording, The Complete Guide, renowned producer, engineer and musician Warren Huart has been chosen as the 2023 Keynote Presenter for the 11th Annual Capital University Creative Arts Workshop. Held this Saturday, March 25, from 9am-5pm EDT at the Convergent Media Center at Capital University in Columbus, OH, the free event is a community celebration for all things music, audio, video, and other creative arts productions. Using Capital University’s immersive technology spaces and classrooms, area professionals and current students will host workshops and presentations throughout the day.  

Known for his production work with such leading acts as Aerosmith, The Fray, Disturbed, Korn, Trevor Hall, Ace Frehley and more, Huart is also the creator and host of the amazingly popular TEC Award-winning Produce Like A Pro educational channel on YouTube (with an audience nearing 700,000 subscribers) and his online Produce Like A Pro Academy and Pro Mix Academy, where he shares his knowledge of recording, production, mixing and more with the goal of helping people make great music. At this year’s Creative Arts Workshop, in addition to holding two back-to-back sessions on Microphone Placement Techniques (10:00-10:45am EDT and 11:00-11:45am EDT in Studio F), Huart will be giving the closing Music Tech Keynote address (3:30-4:30pm EDT), where he will discuss his early musical influences and mentors, key events from his career, recording The Fray, meeting and working with legendary producer Jack Douglas, starting Produce Like a Pro, and the creation of his latest book, Home Studio Recording, The Complete Guide.  

“I am pleased to be involved with this year’s Capital University Creative Arts Workshop, and to be chosen to give the closing keynote address,” states Huart. “Today’s program covers a wide range of topics, and I am privileged to be able to share my experience and insights to attendees.” 

Immediately following the keynote, there will be a community mixer and networking event.  

Justin Sun vs. SEC, Do Kwon arrested, 180M player game taps Polygon: Asia ExpressChinese crypto billionaire Justin Sun sued by SEC, Do Kwon busted in Casino Royale location, game with 180 million players embraces Polygon.

38 million tracks on music streaming service were played ZERO times in 2022. (Or: why Spotify should take a leaf out of Elon Musk’s book.)Should Spotify, in a quest to improve its margin, start playing hardball with its least successful artists?
Source

Daily Crunch: In SEC filing, Accenture reveals plans to dismiss 19,000 workers over the next 18 monthsTo get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here.
Hello, and welcome to your Thursday — aka, the day the TikTok CEO went in front of Congress. Our team has been working hard all day to keep up with everything going on there, and you can read the fruits of their labor in the Big Tech section. Now, on with the news! — Christine and Haje
The TechCrunch Top 3

More layoffs: The layoffs affecting the technology industry are now making their way to the companies that service them. Accenture announced today that it will cut 19,000 jobs, Manish reports. That represents about 2.5% of its global workforce, but an eye-opening figure nonetheless.
Do Kwon in custody: It looks like law enforcement caught up with Terra creator Do Kwon, who was reportedly arrested at the Montenegro airport, Jacquelyn writes. You might recall that Kwon has been under investigation in South Korea following the Terra/LUNA collapse, which wiped out about $40 billion from the cryptocurrency market. Despite saying he was cooperating with law enforcement, Kwon’s whereabouts have been unknown since September.
An excuse not to go to the mall: DoorDash users can now order from Lush Cosmetics, Victoria’s Secret and Party City. The delivery giant also added some new shopping features, like search optimization. Aisha has more.

Startups and VC
At first glance, Boston Dynamics is a strange fit for a show like ProMat, Brian writes. For decades, the firm has presented a flashy image to the world — a company well known for robotic highlight reels, from the snow-traversing Big Dog to parkour-performing Atlas. But a recent approach has found it facing one of its biggest challenges to date: putting its robots to work in the form of commercialization.
Lun, a climate tech startup out of Denmark, is on a mission to help heat-pump installers decarbonize homes and fast, Natasha L reports, starting with heating systems and swapping out boilers for electric heat pumps.
Robots, heat pumps and five more tech news stories, oh my:

F you, pay me: Mary Ann reports that a former Stripe engineer raises $4 million for Beam, a fintech startup out to help contractors get paid faster.
Moar dollars for moar skillz: Workera double downs on AI for upskilling with a $24 million infusion, Kyle reports.
Stop, collaborate and list-in: Hex lands another $28 million as the data collaboration platform continues to gain traction, Ron reports.
Storefronts, get yer storefronts: Vue snaps up $20 million to grow its open source–based ‘frontend-as-a-service’ e-commerce toolkit and platform, Ingrid reports.
Nah, we good: Indian edtech giant Byju’s says it’s not acquiring Unacademy, reports Manish.

4 Indian investors explain how their investment strategy has changed since 2021
Image Credits: mtreasure (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
For our latest survey, TechCrunch reporter Jagmeet Singh asked four Indian investors about how their work has changed since the global tech downturn began.
Venture capital funding in the region “dried up in the second half of 2022,” so he inquired about their current pace of dealmaking, which investment trends they’re watching and how founders can reach them:

GV Ravishankar, managing director, Sequoia India
Ashutosh Sharma, head of India investments, Prosus Ventures
Vaibhav Domkundwar, CEO and founder, Better Capital
Roopan Aulakh, managing director, Pi Ventures

4 Indian investors explain how their investment strategy has changed since 2021

Aaaand of course there’s three more from the TC+ team today as well:

Time’s a-ticking: As TikTok and Coinbase face regulators, some questions are simpler than others, writes Alex.
How to spot investment-worthy founders: Look for mindset, competence and confidence, writes Sanjay Reddy.
A de-risking hardware trilogy: Haje recently covered Prelaunch’s $1.5 million round and spoke to the company’s founder about 10 tips to de-risk hardware. The final article in the trilogy is the company’s Pitch Deck Teardown, covering Prelaunch.com’s $1.5 million seed deck.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
The big news for today was obviously TikTok, and our colleagues were plugging away at everything from the Congressional hearing to who benefits if a U.S. ban happens. Find out any new developments here.

TikTok ban will benefit Meta, Google and Snap the most: Bernstein, by Ivan.
TikTok’s hearing in Congress is a reminder of Chinese startups’ identity crisis, by Rita.
TikTok commits to deleting US user data from its servers ‘this year,’ by Sarah.
China reminds US that it can and will kill a forced TikTok sale, by Taylor and Rita.
TikTok called out for misusing Citizen Lab research, by Amanda.
TikTok questioned on ineffective teen time limits, by Sarah.

And now here’s six non-TikTok stories for you:

If Reddit and Stack Overflow had a baby…: It would be Daily.dev, according to Paul.
Unplugged: YouTube is shutting down Indian social commerce app Simsim but says it is still committed to building “a seamless shopping experience for viewers and supporting creators’ businesses,” Manish writes.
Like riding a bike: Smoov and Zoov came together a couple of years ago and formed Fifteen, which is now showing off its latest shared, docked bikes. Romain has more.
Brian walks into a supply chain show: And ends up having the best time. He chronicles his three days at ProMat and says he “may end up becoming a regular on the supply chain and logistics circuit as a result.”
Coming to a theater near you…: Could be your favorite Apple TV+ movies. Apple is reportedly planning to shell out $1 billion a year to release its movies in theaters, Lauren reports.
Looking for “the perfect vehicle for chaos?”: Then look no further than the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV. Roberto writes, “It’s too big and not very efficient, but it shines when tackling unexpected obstacles.”

Daily Crunch: In SEC filing, Accenture reveals plans to dismiss 19,000 workers over the next 18 months by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

Patchmaker LO-FI Hip Hop & Trap - Serum & RC-20 Patchmaker is very proud to present this incredible collection of Serum & RC-20 patches suitable for LO-FI Hip Hop & Trap production. Producers searching for the sounds... Read More

‘Yes, AI is the future of music – but not in the way you’d think.’The following op-ed comes from Oleg Stavitsky, CEO of AI-powered sound app Endel
Source

Patchmaker 500 Presets - Arturia Pigments After two decades of successfully producing software synths based on classic hardware products, Arturia released its first unique synth – Arturia Pigments. With a sonic palette... Read More

A2IM announces 2023 Libera indie awards nomineesThe American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) has announced the 2023 Libera Awards nominees. The ceremony will be held on June 15 at the Town Hall in New York City.  2023 Libera Awards. Continue reading
The post A2IM announces 2023 Libera indie awards nominees appeared first on Hypebot.

Sonniss Offers 44 GB Of FREE Sound Effects
Sonniss released the GDC 2023 – Game Audio Bundle, a free collection of royalty-free sound effects. Sound effects are the lifeblood of an electronic producer, and you can snag a massive 44+ gigabytes of sound effect samples thanks to Sonniss for free. These aren’t your typical drum or melodic samples but rather field recordings, designed [...]
View post: Sonniss Offers 44 GB Of FREE Sound Effects

TK Audio unveil SP502 preamp This 500-series preamp from TK Audio aims to deliver both vintage and modern tones by allowing users to switch between two separate output circuits. 

5 tips for promoting music events for 2023Everyone is still adjusting to a post-pandemic world, and the music industry finds ways to adapt each year. Here are some tips for concert promoters in our current state this. Continue reading
The post 5 tips for promoting music events for 2023 appeared first on Hypebot.

AIR release Vocal Effects Collection The latest plug-in bundle from AIR focuses on vocal processing, offering pitch-correction and distortion effects along with tools that allow users to generate harmonies and unison parts from a single vocal track.

Mastering 7sus4 Chords like Bill Evans – “I Do It For Your Love” Intro – Jazz Piano TranscriptionOne of the most iconic piano intros in the history of jazz is Bill Evans’ intro in “I Do It For Your Love” from his album Affinity. The chords he plays in this intro are so unique and captivating that they leave listeners wondering where they came from and how to create something similar. In this video, we will dive deep into the concept of 7sus4 chords, specifically as Bill Evans used them in this intro, and learn how to create voicings like his.

Before we begin, let’s briefly discuss what a 7sus4 chord is. A 7sus4 chord is a dominant 7th chord with the third replaced by the fourth. For example, a D7sus4 chord would consist of the notes D, G, A, and C. The chord symbol can be written as D7sus4 or D7sus.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the chords Bill Evans played in his intro. The chord progression is a simple D7sus4, to Eb7sus4, to E7sus4.

To play the first chord, a run-of-the-mill D7sus4 voicing can be used.

However, to achieve the unique sound of Bill Evans’ voicing, the chord needs to be extended as much as possible.

To extend the chord, we stack thirds starting on the top note of the basic D7sus4 voicing. This gives us the notes D, G, A, C, E, G, B, D, and F#. The next note, A, is already in the voicing, so we don’t need to add it again. Notice that the third (F#) appears above the fourth (G) as a tension, rather than below it as in an add11 chord.

On his right hand, Bill Evans plays a Bm triad. He also drops the ninth (E) down an octave, making it a second.

To make this voicing easier to remember, it can be thought of as two upper structures: an add9 on the bVII and a minor triad on the 13th (or the 6th). Using this perspective, a D7sus4 can be voiced as Bm over Cadd9 over D. To achieve the final voicing, two Cadd9 chords can be stacked, with the highest and lowest notes removed. The resulting voicing is a D7sus4 with the 9, the 13th, and tension 3.

To play Bill Evans’ intro in “I Do It For Your Love,” simply start on a D7sus4 and move it up chromatically, creating the following sequence: D7sus4, Eb7sus4, E7sus4. The voicings for the latter two chords can be created using the same principles we used for the D7sus4.

By understanding and mastering 7sus4 chords like Bill Evans, you can add a unique and captivating sound to your playing. Practice these voicings and experiment with them in different chord progressions to fully understand their sound and potential.

If you are interested in more music resources like this, visit the mDecks Theory Journal on mDecks.com and gain access to their expanding library of music books, apps, piano arrangements, improvisation tips, and songwriting strategies.