American Bankers Association: OCC’s GENIUS rules ‘undermine’ US CongressBanking advocacy organizations are pushing back against the OCC’s finalized rules on a stablecoin law, arguing against changes to provisions on yield.

TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026: Everything you need to know TechCrunch Founder Summit is a full-day gathering in Boston on November 4 where founders across all stages connect with top VCs and experienced entrepreneurs to gain tactical insights on building and scaling their companies.

A Song (or two) That Changed My Life: SNACKTIME on  Prince and D’AngeloThe Band Members: Nico Bryant, vocals; Sam Gellerstein, bass, tuba, guitar, sousaphone; Austin Marlow, drums; Larry Monroe Jr., guitar; Eric Sherman, trumpet, percussion; Michael Spearman, keys, trombone; Ben Stocker, tenor saxophoneThe Songs:  Prince’s smoldering power ballad “The Beautiful Ones” from his semi-autobiographical film Purple Rain – a must-see for all who love music —stands as a stellar example of how stark, spacey sonics can coexist with a rich rush of lush harmonics and searing vocal voracity to create a song stoked by all-consuming desire. With his signature attention to detail, Prince crafted a warm, pillowy low end through direct-to-board tracking — a perfect palette for The Purple One to lay his soaring, seductive falsetto, which slides and glides alongside slinky synth vibes before erupting into a killer high-register rock star scream. While the virtuoso’s vast vault of meticulously arranged songs is filled with examples of his genius, it is the fine-tuned emotive maximalism of "The Beautiful Ones” that showcases his role as an artistic visionary and places the multi-instrumentalist maestro of all things musical in the highest of echelons in music history.In a similar lane of late-night intimacy, though one that moves along in its own way with an intoxicating, ambient slow-rolling sway, comes the hypnotic pull of D’Angelo’s “One Mo’ Gin” from his seminal 2000 masterpiece Voodoo. Its thick, velvety arrangements and seductive yearnings are seamlessly smoothed together with the smoldering melodic haze of the Soulquarians— the loose collective with D’Angelo, Questlove, J Dilla, and James Poyser at its core. This legendary collaboration of musicians, who set up creative headquarters in the sonic house that Jimi Hendrix built, Electric Lady Studios, cultivated a love for rhythmic sickness and a sacred devotion to the groove that became central to D’Angelo’s magnetic musicality.The Background: Popping up throughout the City of Brotherly Love during the height of the pandemic, SNACKTIME quickly built a devoted following with their fusion of Philly soul, funk, and the untamed spirit of punk that soon stretched beyond the city's limits.Within a few years, the powerhouse seven-piece went from impromptu outdoor performances in open-air spaces like Rittenhouse Square to showstopping appearances at festivals including Lollapalooza and the Newport Folk Festival, while also sharing bills with artists such as Mt. Joy, Portugal. The Man, and Fitz and The Tantrums.Their debut studio EP, THIS IS DANCE MUSIC, produced by Philadelphia-based Grammy-winning alt-rock alchemist Will Yip (Turnstile, Code Orange), further expanded the polyphonic band’s reach, leading to crossover opportunities including a run as the in-studio band for They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce.

With the release of their single “Can’t Imagine Why You’d Stay,” a debut full-length studio album on the horizon, and a tour supporting Devon Gilfillian, band members Sam Gellerstein and Nico Bryant find themselves revisiting two songs that are imprinted in their memory and have made a lasting mark on their songwriting: Prince's "The Beautiful Ones" and D'Angelo's "One Mo' Gin." The Stories: Prior to exploring the treasure trove of Prince's sprawling canon, Sam Gellerstein’s connection to The Purple One’s work was sporadic. That changed following the icon’s passing in 2016, which prompted a deep dive into the artist’s legendary catalog and his timeless funk-rock cinematic drama.“I did not grow up on Prince, so when he passed, I started to listen and then became obsessed with his history, live performances, and albums,” explains Gellerstein. “I first heard ‘The Beautiful Ones’ right after Prince’s death while watching the movie Purple Rain. As with most songs I enjoy, I listened to the textures and the soundscape and found it to be very interesting — sexy but pensive, almost brooding but also optimistic. When the song opens up after the build and explodes is one of the most powerful moments on the record.”With repeated listens, however, the song gradually revealed an emotional flow that kept his mind circling:“I found the song to have more of a sadness to it. Less of a confident ask and more of a pleading. A deeper, more sorrowful pleading than the trope of ‘begging on my knees.’ As electric and larger than life as he was, I’m sure he was in a lot more pain and loneliness than his character let on.”

This combination of heart-wrenching lyrics intermingled with Prince’s sleek sonics and immaculate ear essentially altered Gellerstein's  songwriting:“The way the orchestration and arrangement builds slowly until it swells and explodes in the middle, leading to the long, passionate outro shows the importance of how a simple phrase can carry a song. Just that line: ‘Cause I want you…’” Gellerstein explains, noting that the impact was enough to incorporate a bit of it within SNACKTIME’s super slick funk meets soul style. “We have a song coming out on our debut record called ‘Cold/Warm’ which is directly influenced by this exact structure.”This penchant for midnight musings is also heard as a musical throughline for vocalist Nico Bryant, albeit channeled through a different kind of sultry, laconic, and slightly behind-the-beat delivery. It hit with full force when a bout of tender heartbreak flipped the script on how he initially heard the song.

“The first time I heard ‘One Mo’ Gin’ by D’Angelo, I was in the ninth grade,” Nico says. “My initial response was literally, ‘...this is a long ass intro.’ I just wasn’t ready to digest it, or the rest of the Voodoo record for that matter. It was just a bit too deep for my fourteen-year-old self to wrap my mind around at the time.”

What did stay with him, however, was the harmony:“There was also this familiar feeling of going to church with my older relatives — how those hymns moved slow as molasses and had a very specific, weighted sound to them. But I was moving too fast at the time to receive it all. I was more concerned with moonwalking and such.”That breakbeat energy ground down to a halt when heartbreak finally caught up to Bryant, shifting his relationship with the song from a steadfast backdrop to a longing lifeline:“Three months after a breakup — that I felt was imminent, but I didn’t want to happen — I swore we were gonna be high school sweethearts. When the separation came, I spent a good amount of time trying to get back together, or at least in the same room, to no avail. Then, after a long conversation, that young lady and I officially went no-contact.I am an emotional being with a tender heart, and I take things hard, so this took its toll on me.”Isolated in that silence, he heard D’Angelo call:

“One night, I felt as though I was faced with a choice: either press the ‘game over’ button or listen to this song on repeat until I fell asleep. I chose the latter and cried my eyes out as D’Angelo spoke to his muse in hopes of seeing her again and potentially reuniting. And it all clicked not just musically but emotionally. His yearning to catch up on lost time with his long-lost lover felt eerily similar to my own desire to see my old flame again. There was a vulnerability that he exuded naturally. All of this felt like a warm hug and good conversation from a big cousin telling me he knows what I’ve been through.

“From that day forth, my ears and heart became open to the rest of the Voodoo album. I then embarked on a long journey to find out everything about D’s life story, musical creations, and everything in between.More than anything, even if I didn’t realize it then, I wanted to create art that made me feel like I did that night. Something so soulful, meaningful, raw, and honest that it may have saved and/or changed a life; even if the topic may be deemed simple by some.”

As Bryant’s obsession deepened, he shifted his focus toward sound construction and composition:“Musically, this whole album was the final piece of my harmony training. I’ve been obsessed with 3- and 4-part harmonies since I was younger, with Commissioned, Boyz II Men, and Jodeci being the biggest influences on my stylings. But once I heard D’Angelo, everything I knew about harmony shifted and adjusted. It was so churchy yet hip with jazz flairs. As if Prince was stoned like Sly. He has such an understanding of the vast universe of music, and although my dreams of being his apprentice never came true, I still was able to learn so much from him over the years.”

Additionally, Bryant connected with D’Angelo’s art of soul parlando, that rare ability to melt lyrical melody into speech:“What I’ve picked up about this song is everything feels warm and lived in. There’s a certain cohesion in all that’s happening. Nothing feels out of place or sticks out in a way that’s jarring. Lyrically, his language is pure, lucid, and straightforward. Like he knew exactly what he wanted to say to this woman and didn’t add any sort of fluff, and there are certain phrasings that only he could construct. It feels like he sings how he talks…“...and the musical bed itself complements it perfectly — uncluttered and smooth,” says Bryant, adding that the production perfectly captures that intimate, ultra-smooth sound. “The way the track was mixed makes you feel like you’re in the room (shoutout to Russ ‘The Dragon’ Elevado). So much so, I can surmise that there have been plenty of women on the receiving end of their listening systems of choice, imagining themselves to be D’s muse.”

More than anything, immersing himself in the track reinforced a creative lesson Bryant would later carry into his own music: sparsity is often the best sonic space:“I’ve realized that it doesn’t always take a whole lot. Sometimes it’s the simplicity of it all that helps a song breathe and live. If there were a lot happening, this song wouldn’t have the same impact. The focus is on the vocals and the lyrics, and the players provide the necessary vessel for the track to be delivered. So, while it took me a minute to get to that place of discipline musically, I feel now I know when a song is getting too cluttered, and the heart of it is getting lost in the sonic sauce.”

These late-night sensual soundscapes didn't remain trapped in his head as mere influences. Much like Gellerstein drew from Prince’s burning-with-desire, seductive sonic drama, Bryant routed D'Angelo's sultry, midnight-hued desires of longing into SNACKTIME's forthcoming debut record.“There’s one song on the upcoming SNACKTIME album called “Find Her Lovin’ Again.” It’s cut from the same raw emotional cloth of longing and lovelessness, although our delivery is more rooted in a bit of a rock-soul sound. I wanted to exude that same sort of energy of singing how I spoke, saying exactly what I felt in a way that cuts through every possible barrier.”

One More Thought: Gellerstein on Prince’s Musicality

“Something so magical about this song is the restraint it shows in its orchestration and composition while still feeling huge and expansive. The delay thrown on the Linn drums gives such a nice bed for the Oberheims to sit on top of, adding a bit more with every section while slowly building towards that huge, impassioned moment for Prince to ask the question: ‘Do you want me? ‘Cause I want you.’ All capped off with some classic, powerful Prince guitar soloing [most recognized on the full album version].

“Another huge reason this song is so special is that, while Prince typically comes from a place of supreme confidence and assuredness when it comes to sex and love, this track seems bare, unsure, and anxious—a feeling I think most of us normal people on earth have felt and can deeply empathize with.

“Purple Rain is obviously the quintessential Prince record, but to me, this is the definitive power ballad of that album.”

Photo Credit:  Anthony MulcahyThe post A Song (or two) That Changed My Life: SNACKTIME on  Prince and D’Angelo first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Sample Fuel Audio DetectiveKnow the tempo of any guide track. Just press play. Audio Detective can sit on your DAW master bus or stereo output and listen to reference music, guide tracks, or temp tracks, displaying an approximate detected BPM without tapping or separate file analysis. Analyze mode follows DAW playback, while Live mode listens with the transport stopped. Audio Detective also includes highly accurate tap tempo with QWERTY keyboard support, quarter/eighth/sixteenth subdivisions, quantized BPM, four-click preview, note-based delay calculations, alternate tempo interpretations, Half/Double suggestions, and BPM Lock. Its multi-mode tuner provides chromatic and guided instrument modes with Needle and Strobe views, cents and frequency readouts, adjustable reference pitch from A=430–450 Hz, and tuner mute. Stereo correlation monitoring helps identify mono-compatibility concerns, with host awareness for transport state, host BPM, time signature, and SMPTE timecode when supplied by the DAW. Audio Detective is a macOS plugin with a signed and notarized installer. Supported hosts and plugin formats should be confirmed with Sample Fuel before purchase; the product page does not provide a complete compatibility list. Introductory price: $29.99 (regular $39.99). Read More

Sega Genesis Controllers on the Philips CD-iThe Philips CD-i was not popular upon its launch in 1991, and is barely acknowledged today. In the opinion of [MattKC], it had a particularly poor selection of controllers, too, and it’s often hard to find used examples anyway. To rectify this situation, he whipped up an adapter to let him use Sega Genesis controllers instead.
The benefit of the Genesis controller is that it uses DB-9 connectors that are readily available, and it’s got a simple pinout that is compatible with the Atari joystick port, too. It makes interfacing the controllers supremely easy. Converting the controllers required using a Arduino Pro Micro to read the Genesis pad and translate it into something suitable for the CD-i.
On the Sega controller side, the microcontroller just has to strobe one pin while reading the state of others to determine what all the buttons are doing. The CD-i, however, expects a serial data stream from the original Philips controllers. Thus, the microcontroller is set up to poll the Genesis controller, and then translate this into the serial commands for the CD-i. It gets a little complicated, because the CD-i wasn’t really built for game controllers, but mouse-like inputs instead. But it’s not too hard to get things working once you understand what the weird Philips console is looking for.
There aren’t really any good games on the CD-i, so this isn’t a project that the retro gaming masses will be flocking to. Still, if you have a CD-i and you want to hook up some controllers on the cheap, this might come in handy. Alternatively, you could also try the BlueRetro project.

Technics introduces a new flagship model in its SL-1200 turntable series – here’s what you need to knowTechnics has launched the SL-1210MKX, the latest flagship model in the SL-1200 series. Sitting above the SL-1210MK7, the MKX features a heavier chassis, a first ever ± 4% pitch range and a new ± 50% setting. It goes on sale in January 2027 at £1,299 (€1,499).
Unveiled publicly today at Pacific in Amsterdam  during the 30th anniversary edition of Amsterdam Dance Event.
Aimed at touring, club and festival DJs and scratch and performance specialists, the MKX was developed with input from working DJs and sound engineers. Technics say it was designed for high-pressure settings where powerful sound systems, deep bass and long operating hours put a heavy demand on equipment.
Heavier build, better feedback isolation
The deck has a significantly heavier build with an optimally balanced chassis and newly designed isolation feet to resist external vibration. Technics say the feet combine feedback isolation with the stability needed for scratching while reducing the risk of acoustic feedback, allowing DJs to run higher sound pressure levels and more aggressive EQ settings.
Two new pitch ranges
For the first time in the SL-1200 Series, the MKX offers a dedicated ± 4% pitch range. This narrower span gives a finer resolution for beatmatching and subtle tempo correction on tracks with closely matched BPMs. A new ± 50% range also features on the turntable, widening tempo variation for more creative mixing opportunities.
Other features
The MKX also includes further refinements to the SL-1200 series, such as a quieter reset switch inspired by earlier SL-1200 models, the proven Technics core-less direct-drive motor with adjustable start-up torque and brake speed, 78 rpm playback and reverse functionality and a polished silver tonearm and black finish paying homage to the Sl-1200MK2.
“The SL-1200 Series has earned its reputation throughout decades of real-world performance in clubs, on stage and in studios around the world,” says Stefanie Baron, Manager Technics DJ Channel Europe at Panasonic Consumer Europe. “With the SL-1210MKX, we wanted to build on that legacy by working closely with professional DJs and sound technicians to better understand the challenges they face.”
Baron added that the result is a turntable offering greater stability, precision and creative freedom while keeping the qualities that made the SL-1200 an industry standard for more than five decades.
Part of a 55-year legacy
The launch coincides with the 55th anniversary of the SL-1200 Series, which Technics dates to 1972, when it debuted as a high-performance direct-drive turntable. The 1979 SL-1200MK2 added quartz-controlled direct drive and the professional layout that became a booth standard worldwide.
Further launch activity will include appearances at the Paris Audio Video Show and the Poland Audio Video Show.
More information is available at technics.com.
The post Technics introduces a new flagship model in its SL-1200 turntable series – here’s what you need to know appeared first on MusicTech.

UJAM releases Detunicorn, a FREE hypersaw synth for Halloween
UJAM has released Detunicorn, a free hypersaw synthesizer for macOS and Windows, as part of its Halloween celebrations. The giveaway runs for 666 hours, so it should end on November 18 (and we can probably expect something else from UJAM on Black Friday). Of course, once you’ve claimed it, you can keep the plugin even [...]
View post: UJAM releases Detunicorn, a FREE hypersaw synth for Halloween

Ohma World launches Ohmie, a £265 condenser mic with switchable 48V/80V capsule voltageOhma World has launched the Ohmie, a £265 ($349) cardioid condenser microphone with a “Dual Voltage” switch that changes the capsule’s polarisation voltage between 48V and 80V. Both modes run from ordinary 48V phantom power, so no special preamp or power supply is needed.
At 48V, the company says, the mic sounds “natural, smooth and relaxed.” At 80V it becomes “immediate, punchy and defined,” with about 5dB more sensitivity. Ohma says the extra voltage is generated by circuitry inside the mic and describes the two settings as different sounds rather than presets from particular sources, both with ample headroom.
The Ohmie is a transformer-less design with a high-output, low-noise circuit and an edge-terminated cardioid capsule. It ships with a custom isolation chip and a capsule that sits inside an isolated mount to reduce stand noise. Ohma says it works with audio interfaces and portable field recorders alike.
Key specifications

Sensitivity at 1kHz: 32mV/Pa at 48V; 57m/VPa at 80V
Max SPL (0.5%THD): 138 dB at 48V; 133 dB at 80V
Self-noise: 8dB-A equivalent noise level
Frequency range: 20Hz – 20kHz
Output stage: Transformerless, 3-pin XLR, 90Ω nominal impedance
Size and weight: 157 x 56.5 x 25 mm, 218 g
Power draw: 8mA from 48V phantom power

Pricing and availability
The Ohmie costs  £265 ($349) and is sold through Ohma’s website and its dealer network. An optional Magnetic Pop Filter, which snaps onto the front of the mic without clamps or goosenecks, is available with the mic in a Black Friday bundle for £303.
Shipping is free worldwide, though international buyers are responsible for any VAT, duties and customs fees. Orders include 30-day returns and a one-year warranty, extended for  two years if the mic is registered.
Positioning against the Ohma line
The Ohmie sits alongside Ohma World’s existing modular microphones, which are transformer-coupled condensers or active ribbons. Those mics are shaped and swappable magnetic acoustic screens and can be customised with different colours, finishes and logos.
The Ohmie takes a different approach: its character comes from the voltage switch rather than interchangeable hardware. Like the rest of the range, it is designed and assembled in East Los Angeles.
Engineer Hotae Alex Jang, whose credits include Beyoncé, John Legend and Raphael Saadiq, is quoted by the company praising its smooth highs and its low and mid frequencies. He called it “one of the best looking microphones out now”.
For more information, or to purchase Ohmie, visit ohmaworld.com.
The post Ohma World launches Ohmie, a £265 condenser mic with switchable 48V/80V capsule voltage appeared first on MusicTech.

Why did Apple buy AI music startup Samplab, and how might this impact Logic Pro? Apple is well known for buying startups and smaller tech companies that have developed something it feels it can usefully incorporate into its own products. Why do it all from scratch when you can just buy a company that already has? Siri and Shazam are prime examples of this.
Apple even bought Logic Pro wholesale from eMagic in 2002, with an eye on locking music professionals into the Mac platform. Final Cut Pro, too, started life elsewhere.
Now the company has acquired Samplab, a Swiss developer that makes an audio editor that provides MIDI-style editing of digital audio. According to the company’s website, its talents include detection and editing of chords in audio with export as MIDI, tempo and key matching of samples and granular stem separation with free editability of individual notes.

READ MORE: Stop sending me vibecoded AI plugins, I’m begging you

Samplab offered a free basic tier (limited to 10-second mono samples) and a Premium subscription for £9.99/ month which unlocked stereo output and unlimited sample lengths. According to its developers, the plugin “uses AI to transcribe polyphonic audio into editable MIDI notes while preserving the original timbre, streamlining remixing workflows and unlocks creative potential from audio samples without tedious manual editing.”
Logic Pro already does some of this to some level with Flex Pitch, but clearly Apple wants to keep up with – or overtake – the competition and make Logic even more appealing. While Cubase Pro arguably leads the DAWs at present when it comes to note-level audio editing thanks to VariAudio, it’s still not polyphonic. For that, in any DAW, you need a copy of Melodyne or something even more specialised like RipX. Any solution is, at present, plug-in based, and we have to imagine Apple is looking to streamline that by building Samplab’s capabilities directly into Logic Pro.
Stem separation has come to most leading DAWs now but is generally limited to four or so extracted types (vocals, drums, guitars, ‘other’, for example). With rapid advances in AI made so frequently these days, this seems like another area where Apple would be keen to enhance Logic’s tools. Being the first DAW that could unmix a whole production (like RipX does, in a different way), would be quite the coup.
Apple does get some flak from Logic users for the slow pace of its development, which is mostly because it’s a tiny part of what this vast company produces. But it’s in Apple’s interests to keep up with the competition and keep people buying Macs and iPads to run the software on. It’s also likely that Apple will trickle some of these new features – or variations of them – into its other apps like Logic for iPad, GarageBand or other members of the Creator Suite like Final Cut Pro, in some form.
Apple hasn’t gone all in on AI across its creative apps – at least not yet. Logic has the AI-powered pattern assistants for some of its instruments, AI-assisted mastering and stem separation, but overall the company has taken a less aggressive approach than some others, and this is reflected in its pro apps as well. Instead, expect to see more apps like Samplab’s acquired and quietly – almost invisibly – incorporated into software workflows in future updates.
Given that Logic Pro is still available as a one-off purchase and lifetime updates are free (though if you opt for the Creator bundle, it’s a subscription model), moves like the Samplab acquisition are great news for Logic users, adding important new tools and showing that Apple still values its pro audio customers.
The post Why did Apple buy AI music startup Samplab, and how might this impact Logic Pro?  appeared first on MusicTech.

Universal Music Group signs Thai artist Jeff Satur, aiming to make him ‘T-Pop’s first global superstar’The signing is the latest step in UMG's expansion in Thailand.
Source

Arturia expand MiniFreak with new 49-key version Arturia's hybrid synthesizer gains full-size keys, expanded controls and a pressure-sensitive XYZ touch matrix.

Amazing Noises releases Grain Freezer, a FREE granular effect for macOS and Windows
Amazing Noises has released Grain Freezer, a free granular freeze effect for macOS and Windows. Maurizio Giri, the programmer behind Amazing Noises, has been developing audio software since the early 2000s and also makes plugins with two fellow programmers under the Aqusmatiq brand. This is the first release in his new desktop plugin line, following [...]
View post: Amazing Noises releases Grain Freezer, a FREE granular effect for macOS and Windows

HAAi is a producer striving to stay “on the edge of being uncomfortable”From playing guitar and singing in shoegaze indie bands to DJing techno-melters at festivals around the world, the London-based artist HAAi, real name Teneil Throssell, has been on an eclectic musical adventure. Ultimately, it’s been defined by a restless refusal to be restricted.
“One of my favourite things about artists is those who have breadth,” she says. “It’s something I admire. I’m really excited by those who can work across different genres, sounds and styles.”
In a rare moment of downtime between tours, HAAi is talking about the artistic approach she’s adopted and been inspired by on her album Digitise, released on 9 October and arriving a year after the boundary-pushing Humanise.
DIGITiSE by HAAi
This latest release introduces new collaborators — Echonomist and Skybreak plus Cantoalegre, a children’s choir from Medellin, Colombia — as well as artists she’s previously worked with: Pat Alvarez, ILA, James Messiah and Kaiden Ford.
Initially, the album was supposed to feature a glut of remixes to extend the world of Humanise, but it’s evolved into something much bigger. Alongside her live gigs and DJing, the intricate production levels on its ten tracks demonstrate how she’s evolved into a 360-degree artist capable of turning her creativity to embrace any sound. It’s an approach producers and friends like Daniel Avery have adopted on their latest music too.
“If Dan had made ten more Drone Logic [his breakthrough 2013 track] style songs, as seminal as it is, he would have been criticised. I think it’s really healthy to go beyond what people expect,” HAAi says.
“Not everyone will be happy or on board with this constant change. But being on the edge of being uncomfortable is what is most fulfilling about working as a musician and artist; it’s all about challenging yourself.”
Image: Lamia Karic
Digitise is billed as a “ravier sibling to its predecessor”, a ten-track album directly inspired by HAAi’s relentless globe-trotting as a DJ. It’s a direct contrast to Humanise. It explored what it’s like to be a person in a digital world increasingly ruled by AI and algorithms. With key tracks including Voices (with Jon Hopkins) and New Euphoria, it followed the 2022 debut Baby, We’re Ascending and showcased HAAi’s ability to blend songs with warm instrumentation.. Digitise is a sonic world inspired by the clubs and the communities she’s been DJing to and sharing her music with over the past 12 months.
“The whole thing started as a remix album that I was calling RE-Humanise, which is why the opening track has the same name,” she says. “But then as time went by, I was going beyond remixes to make more original music; I was sampling and resampling sounds from the originals and coming up with these new tunes.”
“I realised I wasn’t fully ready to let go of Humanise. The album is such an important record for me and my audience. I’ve had such wonderful messages about what it means to people. Digitise deliberately sits much more in the club world while straddling my DJing and production too. In some ways, I wanted it to feel like a version of one of my longer DJ sets.”
HAAi’s experiences as a DJ have taken her all over the world, with summer 2026 seeing her play gigs everywhere from North Shields to Hi Ibiza and Love International in Croatia. We saw her play at Convenanza Festival in Carcassonne in 2025, a festival dedicated to celebrating Andrew Weatherall — a direct inspiration for her and many other artists within electronic music and beyond.
“Andy Weatherall was a huge part of my beginnings in DJing. I’m still very influenced by him and his legacy, and getting to play the festival was huge for me,” she says. “The demographic and sounds are so varied at that event, and what they have created there is so special. We need more parties like it, where everyone feels comfortable and welcomed showing up and dancing.”
Image: Lamia Karic
HAAi’s production methods have varied throughout different releases within her discography. For Digitise, most of its music was constructed on a laptop while she was on tour and flying between gigs.
“It’s how I tend to write dance music as I’m usually in transit and need something to play at a festival or play at a club that night,” she explains. “It means you’re writing with intention for a track to be functional. This record in particular was made more in the box, then I’ve broken it down so it can be played with hardware.”
HAAi’s go-to plugins include Devious Machines’ Infiltrator and Duck. When playing live, she incorporates a MIDI controller, keyboard and Novation’s Launch Control.
“Infiltrator has this overdrive, but there are some more granular and spectral effects too, and I use it on almost every track,” HAAi says. “I recently started using a Novation Peak that has been easy to get into a flow with too.”
“One of my other bits of kit is my Roland Space Echo which is something I’ve used since being in shoegaze bands. Essentially, it’s a tape delay but you can create different interesting tones if you play around with it for long enough. I bought mine from eBay from a studio in Japan and it hadn’t erased the loops of a session that it had used on so you have these ghosts of sounds in the background. I live for these kinds of glitches.”
A stint at Devon Analogue studio in North Devon, UK, with her musical director Luca Perry also shifted HAAi’s mindset when it came to the workflow of the studio they share.
“We updated it to follow how Devon Analogue is set up, even though they have so much more kit than we do,” she states. “We just wanted to make it easier to work on music and make sure more pieces of gear are rigged up and ready to go.”
There are various highlights for HAAi among the tracks and the cast of characters who have joined her on Digitise. Talking Walls features the work of US producer Skybreak, whom she came across via an Instagram reel and his sub-bass killer track, Anxiety. 
“His music is this insane, energetic mix of bass and dubstep; he’s super young and wildly talented,” HAAi says. “I was playing his track a lot, then asked him if he’d be up for collaborating. He’s one of these super talented kids who just work in their own unique way; he uses FL Studio on a laptop and is so fast. We connected in America, and he works at a speed that I’d never experienced before.”
DIGITiSE by HAAi
Talking Walls also saw HAAi working with the Cantoalegre Colombian children’s choir. She had been playing in the country, met up with the principal of the local school and they agreed to a day of recording.
“It was such a fulfilling day of music-making for me,” she says. “When you have lyrics with a certain amount of meaning sung by kids, it takes everything up another few notches. I’ve had some insane experiences there. I love Colombia so much.”
“I feel really excited about this song as I’ve been playing it out. It straddles so many different things—it’s quite bassy, dubstep with a choral emotional section. It really stretched a lot of my production knowledge, and I learned a lot from Skybreak in terms of processing too.”
The threads from Humanise are not only felt in the personnel on the album, but in the sonics too. The last track of Humanise fades out with the choir, picking up again on the opening track of Digitise and taking the listener straight to the club.
“The title track Digitise is another standout for me. I’m really proud of the production collaboration with Pat Alvarez,” HAAi says. “It’s rare for me to have something in my mind for it to sound, then for that to be close to the end result. I’ve worked with Pat so much, and we’re such a good match in the studio collaboratively, that was super exciting to make.”
What’s so inspiring about HAAi is the different sides to her musical personality. The way these ostensibly contrasting sounds interact has opened up bold and innovative pathways for her to explore.
“Back when I was in bands, everything felt more tribal. There were guitar kids, and there were club kids, but Weatherall really bridged that gap for me,” she says. “As time has gone by, I have definitely cast the net wider sonically. When you work in different genres, the style of production and how you approach it is so different; a lot of it was about expanding my taste and my skills too.”
HAAi is a believer in embracing different sounds and styles, then embossing your music with as much of yourself as possible. For those looking to follow in her footsteps, she advises taking your time to work out your own sonic identity.
“For anyone emerging, it’s important to remember to try and avoid feeling any sense of urgency to put anything out,” she says. “Sitting on music and working out your sound is a wise move, especially in an age where we’re all made to feel this real sense of urgency. I broke through as an artist in my early thirties, and I think it’s important to sit and develop your skills and sound as much as you can.”
Digitise was released by Mute on 9 October 2026.
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Stop sending me vibecoded AI plugins, I’m begging youIt’s an honour to share the outstanding work of so many talented audio developers with MusicTech readers. Spotlighting small brands like Baby Audio and products by giants like Universal Audio brings me genuine joy.
That’s why the untenable influx of AI slop hitting the MusicTech Editors inbox these past few months has been devastating. So frequent is the submission of a vibecoded plugin that I now cross my fingers and beg that the product webpage I’m about to open doesn’t sport the same colour scheme, layout and insufferable hyperbole that I saw in the last one.
“Few controls. Big Sound” reads the landing page of one so-called plugin company. “Split any song. Into any parts”, reads another, in the same font. “What iTunes would be, if it had kept going,” says another landing page for what is probably the 15th vibecoded app I’ve seen for organising audio files on my Mac.
I get it. I’ve spent some time with Claude Code; it’s fun to imagine and build a new plugin. But the audacity to charge producers money for prompting an LLM for a week feels ignorant at best. Worse is pitching it for news coverage on publications, as if the production world is desperate for another low-effort plugin that achieves the same task as 100 others.
Honestly not far off some of the websites we’ve been sent for products like this. Image: A non-functioning website by Claude
MusicTech journalist Adam Douglas opined in Attack in 2023 that “there are too many plugins”. That article, published three years ago, argues that producers want more originality in their plugin folder. They don’t want another Prophet-12 emulation, or, god forbid, another Roland Space Echo remake. If the market was saturated back then, it’s decimated now.
Adam also raises a valid point about the expense of creating a plugin, which naturally makes vibecoding attractive: “Aside from the time it takes to code the plugin as well as any business overhead, there’s promotion, hiring of artists and sound designers to make presets, and loss of revenue to piracy, not to mention initial costs like schooling, equipment, etc. After such a large outlay, you’d hope that you could turn a profit.”
For many producers, LLMs offer the chance to build the plugin they’ve always wanted, or the trivial tool that they previously had to pay a premium for. That’s exciting for all of us, and having a low-cost, customised alternative to the expensive options on the market right now is desirable.
However, that’s part of the issue. These new vibecoded plugins that self-proclaimed indie developers are setting our inbox ablaze with are (mostly) expensive and closed-source. If plugin development is truly more accessible for all, why must producers continue to contend with overpriced software that’s locked to one account or platform?
Speaking of accounts, there have been ongoing reports of security breaches on platforms that rely on AI. Can you really trust a one-person plugin developer using Gemini or Grok to protect your data?
Sadly, if you’re planning to start a plugin company, that’s the barrier to entry: trust. Customers need to trust that you’re serious about handling their money, their data, their time, and their creative needs. Can we really trust your vibecoded plugin, your vibecoded site, or your email pitch, which is clearly written by ChatGPT? (Side note, I’ve even recently been pitched stories by AI agents on behalf of a company, developer or artist — yikes.)
I’m not naive about AI use in plugin development nowadays. Even the most respected brands, such as iZotope and SSL, market some of their plugins as “AI-assisted”. It’s here, it’s happening, and it’s not all bad news. We’ve covered AI development in music extensively on MT and will continue to do so. But the line between low-effort slop and considered engineering is not thin, and it’s obvious when you’re on the wrong side.
So, please, whether you’re a human or an AI agent reading this article, please do not send me that email about your new plugin that can record audio locally on my Mac. Or your new plugin that promises a vintage synth in digital form. Or the browser-based tool that separates stems. Trust me, there’s already enough of them out there.
Real indie developers making actually noteworthy plugins
There are many independent developers out there making exceptional plugins. We review hundreds of products every year on MusicTech. Here are three of my favourite indie developers in the audio world right now.
Baby Audio
I fell in love with Baby Audio upon seeing its first plugin, I