Strymon’s NightSky plugin turns reverb into an instrument$99, strymon.net
Reverb plugins are two-a-penny these days, and most DAWs have some decent options built in. So what makes Strymon’s NightSky stand out when compared to staples like the Valhalla VintageVerb?
For starters, Strymon is a guitar pedal manufacturer first and foremost, with a range of over 20 effects including distortions, amp sims, delays, and, of course, reverbs, which are loved by stage performers, instrumentalists, and DAW-less electronic musicians.

READ MORE: ValhallaDSP FutureVerb review: I can’t believe a $50 reverb can sound this good

In 2022, Strymon began releasing plugin versions of its pedals, and so a collection of these recreations —now up to six— began growing. Naturally, because DAW users have different requirements, Strymon considered the possible workflows in their design approach, as well as adding potential for deeper sound design, all while keeping the user interfaces as appealing and straightforward as the pedals.
The latest addition to this collection is the NightSky Time-Warped Reverberator, which is a creative pitch-based reverb with three texture algorithms, modulation, and tone shaping, as well as shimmer and glimmer effects.

What makes NightSky different from other reverb plugins?
NightSky is the third Strymon reverb pedal that Strymon has transformed into a plugin, and if you’re at all familiar with the line-up, you’ll see that it fits very well between the simpler Cloudburst and more versatile BigSky reverbs. When comparing NightSky to other reverbs, it’s important to consider the intention behind the design, as this will show us when to use it.
Unlike most reverb plugins on the market, NightSky doesn’t mimic the sound of a Lexicon 480L or another classic reverb. So, instead of thinking of it as a record production tool for creating sounds from a particular era, think of NightSky as an expressive enhancement for instruments that will become a part of the sound creation process rather than being used during mixdown.
While some of the standard reverb parameters are present, such as decay time, pre-delay, EQ, and wet/dry signal controls, you can immediately tell that NightSky is a different beast from most reverbs. Rather than giving you a myriad of reverb algorithms, there are three distinctive Texture modes that sit slightly differently in the mix.
These include a clean, scattered Sparse setting, which can produce almost granular echo effects with its reflective character, a plate-style Dense setting, which is the most familiar-sounding of the three, and the drifty Diffuse for gradually swirling soundscapes. Once you understand the basic sonic structure of these Texture modes, it becomes far easier to take your sound in a particular direction.
Your first epiphany should happen the moment you touch the Size/Pitch control during playback. Nightsky has the unique ability to change the pitch of the audio currently in the buffer as the size of the reverb core increases or decreases. However, almost like Auto-Tune’s Retune Speed control, you have three pitch quantisation modes and a range of scales and modes that determine the behaviour of the pitch algorithm.
From this point onwards, it becomes clear that NightSky is less of a set-and-forget reverb and more of an instrument that requires interaction to enhance and accentuate a performance, the way you would with an expression pedal. Different Hold modes allow you to use the audio buffer to sustain the reverb in different ways, while the synth-like glide control, resonant filter, and modulation section give you options for creative and animated soundshaping.

NightSky’s modulation and effects
An effects plugin with other built-in effects? Yes, once you’ve chosen your Texture algorithm and set the basic parameters of your sound, you have four different ways to enhance it even further. Each of these can be individually bypassed, including the modulation section, which gives you a range of LFO shapes, as well as envelope and sidechain input settings, which can modulate the reverb’s delay lines, the Size/Pitch control, or the high-cut filter cutoff.
Next, there is a Shimmer effect that can be detuned or pitched to precise note intervals, affecting either the input to the reverb or the audio currently in the buffer. This can be placed in different parts of the processing chain for creating more direct, or more ambient effects. Then, although the controls of the adjacent Glimmer effect are simple, the way it enhances either the higher or lower frequency harmonics is particularly exciting, especially when combined with the Drive control, which adds saturation and soft clipping with a wide range of tonal colouration.
While using the four effects can seem quite daunting at first, it doesn’t take long to develop an ear for the sonic range of each one, and the fluidity of the well-designed interface allows you to make interesting creative mistakes throughout your journey of discovery. Because the NightSky pedal is more of a performance tool than a traditional reverb, you can adjust your approach accordingly and connect your favourite MIDI controller to make the DAW experience less clinical.
Pedal-specific features like the step sequencer fall away in favour of automating the Size/Pitch control manually in your DAW. However, having a step sequencer as a modulation source would be a powerful creative tool for building evolving loops in electronic music. Perhaps this is something Strymon will add in a future update.

Is NightSky too niche?
Regardless of the music genre, NightSky is more likely to appeal to an artist or producer, rather than a mix engineer. As an effects processor, its non-traditional nature makes NightSky a tool that is more likely to be the creative spark rather than the finishing touch. In fact, using it with the dry signal muted is probably the most compelling method, as this enables you to create spatial movement in parts of your songs that need it from key melodic elements in the mix.
Turning a tactile platform like an effects pedal, especially one as complex as NightSky, into a plugin is no mean feat. However, with its incredible DSP algorithms and clean interface design, Strymon has managed to execute this transformation without losing the magic of the original idea. While the Eventide Temperance Pro modal reverb is probably the closest competitor, it’s nearly double the price at $179 and doesn’t offer quite the same degree of sound-shaping flexibility.
If you’re willing to experiment with NightSky in your sound creation or songwriting process, it can become a tool for giving elements like vocals, synths, or guitars a wow factor that more than justifies the $99 price tag and makes you wonder about adding the NightSky pedal to your setup as well.
Key features

Plugin recreation of the NightSky experimental reverb effects pedal
VST3, AU, and AAX
3 Reverb Texture modes
Simultaneous control of reverb pitch and size
Modulation section with sidechain Input
Harmonic shaping with Shimmer, Glimmer, and Drive

The post Strymon’s NightSky plugin turns reverb into an instrument appeared first on MusicTech.

Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on His New Graphic Novel, Classic Grunge, and His Heavy Metal RootsGuitarist, songwriter, and now author Mike McCready talked to AllMusic about his new graphic novel "Farewell to Seasons" which imagines an alternate history to the Seattle music scene.

OpenAI alums have been quietly investing from a new, potentially $100M fund Zero Shot, a new venture capital fund with deep ties to OpenAI, is aiming to raise $100 million for its first fund. It has already written some checks.

Watch salem ilese make a song with an assortment of mystery sounds
Watch singer-songwriter salem ilese write a demo out of nothing but the objects and prompts within our box.

Polymarket drops USDC.e for USDC-backed token in exchange overhaulPolymarket is upgrading its exchange infrastructure in the coming weeks, introducing new contracts and a USDC-backed token while phasing out a bridged stablecoin.

FILM - TV - THEATER - GAMES: PROPS AND OPPS FOR APRIL '26PROPS

The LA Philharmonic will open its 104th season at the Hollywood Bowl this summer, with performances at the Hollywood Hills amphitheater running from June through September 2026. The season will kick off on June 20 with Opening Night, benefiting the LA Phil's Learning and Community Programs. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by Principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins, will salute the stars and legacy of Broadway with a program spanning beloved ballads and show-stopping dance numbers in celebration of American musicals. The night is set to culminate in a fireworks display. For tickets and a rundown on all the programming in store at Hollywood Bowl this season, visit hollywoodbowl.com.

The Game Music Festival will return to London in June 2026 with five live concerts across two major venues—Royal Festival Hall and Fairfield Halls. The festival will open on June 6 with The Infernal Symphony, a sweeping orchestral tribute to three decades of Diablo soundtracks, followed by concerts celebrating 40 years of Hitoshi Sakimoto’s work on soundtracks, as well as the music of Hades, Hades II, Persona and more. Special guests will include original composers and performers. Alongside the concerts, an educational program of masterclasses, panel discussions, and other industry sessions will offer something for any aspiring game music composer. For more information, visit gamemusic.net/events.

Dance Against Cancer will bring the global arts community together once again for its annual, one-night-only benefit performance set for May 18. Proceeds will support the American Cancer Society's lifesaving mission to end cancer, building on the organization's record of raising more than $4.5 million to date. The stage will feature celebrated stars from the worlds of ballet, contemporary dance, hip-hop, and Broadway in continuation of a tradition of collaboration among top dance talent. Past performers have included Misty Copeland, Tiler Peck, Ayodele Casel, Alex Wong, and many more. Find all the details and purchase tickets at nycitycenter.org/pdps/2025-2026/dance-against-cancer.

OPPS

Calling all young filmmakers: The All American High School Film Festival—the largest student film festival in the world—is accepting submissions for the October 16-18 event. Though the free deadlines have passed, submit by April 27 for $20, with entry fees increasing up until the final, July 3 deadline. There are a dozen categories, including for music videos, with more custom categories to be announced. Learn more at hsfilmfest.com/submit.

If you want to be a part of Showstopper, America’s first and most prestigious dance competition, register by May 4 for the May 22-25 event in Anaheim, California. Information on registration, the competitions, and more are at goshowstopper.com/competitions_cpt/anaheim-ca-3.

There’s still time to submit your film score to Cleveland’s 2026 Horror Hotel Film Festival, with the late registration deadline falling on April 17. The 15th annual event—slated for June 18-21 this year—is inviting composers to score a trailer that the festival provides. Learn more about the festival and how to submit your work at instagram.com/horrorhotelfilmfest.The post FILM - TV - THEATER - GAMES: PROPS AND OPPS FOR APRIL '26 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Playing DVDs on the Sega DreamcastAlthough the Sega Dreamcast had many good qualities that made it beloved by the thousands of people who bought the console, one glaring omission was the lack of DVD video capabilities. Despite its optical drive being theoretically capable of such a feat, Sega had opted to use the GD-ROM disc format to not have to cough up DVD licensing fees, while the PlayStation 2 could play DVD movies. Fortunately it’s possible to hack DVD capability into the Dreamcast if you aren’t too fussy about the details, as [Throaty Mumbo] recently demonstrated.
For the Tl;dw folk among us, there’s a GitHub repository that contains the basic summary and all needed files. Suffice it to say that it is a bit of a kludge, but on the bright side it does not require one to modify the Dreamcast. Instead it uses a Pico 2 board that emulates a Sega DreamEye camera on the Dreamcast’s Maple bus via the controller port. The Dreamcast then requests image data as if from said camera.
On the DVD side of things there’s a Raspberry Pi 5 that connects to an external USB DVD drive and which encodes the video for transmission via USB to the Pico 2 board. Although somewhat sketchy, it totally serves to get DVDs playing on the Dreamcast. If only Sega had not skimped on those license fees, perhaps.

Kreuzberg Audio KA-303KA-303 Acid Bassline Synthesizer The sound that invented Acid House, Acid Techno and Hard Acid. Built for your DAW. No compromises, no hardware required. The KA-303 takes the legendary 303 sound as its starting point but goes far beyond cloning. Circuit-modeled at component level, not emulated. With a full Composing Engine, four distortion models, a Unison Engine with up to 7 voices and the Angel Fish Mod as a standalone sound extension, the KA-303 is its own instrument with its own character. Circuit-Modeled Diode Ladder Filter A detailed reproduction of the original diode ladder circuit at component level with Zero Delay Feedback architecture. Four cascaded integrator stages with asymmetric coefficients, soft-clipping saturation modeled after 1S2473 silicon diodes, the original 150 Hz highpass in the feedback path. The fat, signal-dependent squelch that transistor ladder designs simply cannot replicate. Slide, Accent and the Gimmick Circuit are also modeled at component level, including the capacitor-based accent sweep that accumulates across consecutive accented notes. Just like the hardware. Waveform Morph Every other 303 plugin forces you to choose: Saw or Square. The KA-303 doesn't. A dedicated MORPH knob blends seamlessly between both waveforms. At 30% with high resonance you get timbres that neither Saw nor Square can reach alone. Fully automatable via MIDI CC. Angel Fish Mod Inspired by Robin Whittle's legendary Devil Fish mod. Overdrive, Muffler, Filter FM, extended envelopes, adjustable portamento. One click and the 303 gets an entirely new dimension. From warm overdrive to aggressive filter FM to screaming leads with Hi Reso. 4 Distortion Models with Intelligent Crossover Logic DS-1, Tube, Rat, Fuzz. But the magic happens before the distortion: a Pre-Distortion Crossover splits sub-bass and mids. The bass stays clean, distortion only hits where it belongs. HP Resonance adds the characteristic nasal growl, ENV>HP couples velocity to the highpass frequency for dynamically responsive distortion. From light crunch to aggressive acid growl without the bass falling apart. Composing Engine. Built specifically for acid basslines. An intelligent note grid only allows notes within the selected scale. Wrong notes? Not possible. Slides and accents visible directly in the piano roll. 98 factory patterns from "Chicago Deep" to "Berlin Basement" to "Final Boss." Scramble, Mutate, Octave Jumps, Groove and Density as creative tools. MIDI Drag & Drop straight into your DAW. Dynamic Pattern Grid with lengths from 1 to 32 steps for polyrhythmic patterns. Page System for chaining multiple pages per pattern. MIDI Import. Groove Engine with five modes: Tight, Shuffle, Funk, Push, Laid Back. Grid resolution: 1/8, 1/16 or 1/32. Lasso selection for precise editing. Unison Engine Up to 7 full synthesizer voices, each with its own filter, envelopes and slide processor. Stepless detune and stereo spread. From subtle thickening to a massive wall of sound. Automatic gain compensation across all voice counts. Built-in Effects Tempo-synced stereo delay with crossfeed and darkening filter. Signalsmith reverb with room sizes from 0.3s to 5s. Brick-wall Master Limiter. Up to 8x oversampling. Full MIDI CC mapping via right-click and MIDI Learn. Dark and Light theme. Formats: VST3, AU, Standalone Systems: macOS 10.14+, Windows 10+, Linux Price: €89 (Introductory: €69) Free demo available (all features, no time limit). Read More

IK Multimedia introduce ToneNET Preset Sharing With the introduction of ToneNET Preset Sharing, users can now share and discover presets and quickly get up and running with performance-ready rigs inspired by their favourite music.

Renger Koning releases Felt & Fog cinematic piano for Kontakt (FREE version available)
Developer Renger Koning has released Felt & Fog cinematic piano for Kontakt, along with a free version. We’re almost spoiled for choice when it comes to free cinematic piano libraries; we have things like Dark Mode by SRM Sounds, Cozy Piano from SampleScience, and Venus Theory’s forms:piano. They all offer something a little different, so [...]
View post: Renger Koning releases Felt & Fog cinematic piano for Kontakt (FREE version available)

Cure Audio releases Scream, a FREE recreation of Massive’s iconic Scream filter
Cure Audio has released Scream, a free and open-source plugin that recreates the Scream filter from Native Instruments’ Massive synthesizer as a standalone effect you can use in any DAW. I’m used to seeing plugins that emulate hardware, but here’s a plugin that emulates software. The Scream filter was one of Massive’s iconic modules, known [...]
View post: Cure Audio releases Scream, a FREE recreation of Massive’s iconic Scream filter

Charlie Puth on why musicians shouldn’t write for the feed: “I don’t think anybody should be adjusting their music to the likes of social media”Musicians in the 21st century often feel pressured to chase streams, go viral, and tailor every song to the latest social media trends. But Charlie Puth says he’ll release a track whether fans love it or not.
With nearly 20 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, Puth often shares playful, behind-the-scenes snippets of his music-making – from recording unusual sounds to breaking down chord progressions – giving fans a window into his creative process.
In a recent chat with Rick Beato, the singer, songwriter, and producer explains why, for him, staying true to the music matters more than chasing the feed.

READ MORE: “AI, when done right, isn’t here to replace musicians”: Charlie Puth joins AI music platform Moises as Chief Music Officer

While he occasionally tests songs with fans online, Puth says their reactions – even negative ones – rarely determine whether a track sees the light of day.
“If a hundred people vote in, like, ‘I don’t like that drum snare,’ I played with that a little bit and be like, ‘should I release this?’ I knew damn well I was going to release it. I just wanted to gauge interest… or compare a song, like should this song come out first or should this song come out first?”
Despite how music promotion has evolved, Puth believes the essence of a good song hasn’t.
“The thing that is always going to stay true,” he says, “is that a good song is a good song. I don’t think anybody should be adjusting their music to the likes of social media.”
He also reflects on how record labels used to control every step of the process: “There was a point in time where I was given a list… You’re going to this radio station. You’re going to shake [this person’s hand], say hello to this person because they’re going to give you all the spins.”
Today, while radio remains relevant, its role in a release cycle has shifted.
“It exists, but it comes a little bit later in the cycle now,” says Puth. “Radio’s still a really important thing for every artist. [But] it can come in the beginning, it can come in the middle, it can come in the end, whereas [in the past] it needed to come in the beginning.”
Looking back on his early days sharing music on MySpace, SoundClick, Ustream, and blogs, Puth says the core of his approach hasn’t changed – he’s always documented the process of making music and shared it with fans: “It’s all the same stuff. But the thing that’s remained the same is, if the song is going to resonate with people, it’s going to resonate with people.”
Elsewhere in the chat, the musician also opens up about vocal production and the dangers of overprocessing.
“When you tune the hell out of your vocals, I think it also takes the emotion. I’ve definitely overtuned my vocals in the past on past works,” Puth admits. “If it’s too tuned, in all honesty, if I’m doing the vocal production, I just delete it and re-sing it.”
Watch the full interview below.

The post Charlie Puth on why musicians shouldn’t write for the feed: “I don’t think anybody should be adjusting their music to the likes of social media” appeared first on MusicTech.

Gary Numan thinks AI music hype is short-lived: “It will go full circle and people will want to go back to sharing a human experience rather than just brilliantly copied one”To license your music to AI or not? That’s quickly becoming one of the biggest questions facing artists today.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the debate around generative AI in music is impossible to ignore. Some see it as a powerful creative tool – jazz legend Pat Metheny, for instance, has described it as part of a “wonderful array of tools” available to modern musicians – while others fear it could erode the very human core of songwriting.
Just recently, Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart called AI an “unstoppable force”, arguing musicians should “bow to the inevitable” and license their music to generative AI platforms. Gary Numan, however, isn’t buying it.

READ MORE: “Play an instrument – now more than ever”: Flying Lotus says AI-generated music will make demand to see real musicians go up

Speaking on the I’m ADHD! No You’re Not podcast, Numan took a firm stance against licensing his catalogue to AI and laid out exactly why he thinks the current hype won’t last.
“The thing about AI from my point of view is, when you’re listening to a human, a song written by a human, you’re listening to that person’s experience, and that’s why it resonates with people,” the singer says. “It’s a shared experience, whatever it might be: a love song, one of my silly things about robots, whatever.”
“When you’re listening to AI, no matter how beautiful the music is – and if it isn’t already, it will be – it will be stunning. The artwork I’ve seen is the most stunning artwork I’ve ever seen… The music would be amazing. But what you’re listening to is a learned copy of a human experience. It’s not real.”
Numan reckons AI acts will grab everyone’s attention for a time – much like the ABBA Voyage shows – but that eventually, listeners will yearn for the authenticity of human artists.
“To begin with, the fascination for AI would dominate everything, and everybody will be willing to excuse the fact that it looks amazing and that I don’t care about the human content,” he explains. “[But] I think over time, if we’re around long enough, it will go full circle and people will want to go back to sharing a human experience rather than just brilliantly copied one.”
This philosophy underpins Numan’s approach to his creative process.
“I don’t use AI for anything. I don’t need it to help me write letters. I think I write perfectly well,” he says. “I certainly don’t want it to write lyrics because that’s the very essence of what a song is about. It might be easier. It might be good to do it like that, but fuck it – I’m willing to spend a day or two writing a lyric that means something to me. And it’s really important. Musically, although I struggle and I’m worried all the time whether it’s good enough, it has to be mine.”
Listen to the full interview below.

The post Gary Numan thinks AI music hype is short-lived: “It will go full circle and people will want to go back to sharing a human experience rather than just brilliantly copied one” appeared first on MusicTech.

FSK Audio update Bark24 Dyn California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processor.

FSK Audio updates Bark24 | Dyn psychoacoustic dynamics processor (+ 2 FREE Copies)
FSK Audio has released Bark24 | Dyn v1.1, a major update to its 24-band psychoacoustic dynamics processor developed in collaboration with Mark Jeffery, the original designer and primary developer of Pro Tools. We’re checking out the update and also giving away two free copies of the plugin. First, the giveaway. To enter the giveaway, sign up [...]
View post: FSK Audio updates Bark24 | Dyn psychoacoustic dynamics processor (+ 2 FREE Copies)