Valve Releases Hardware and CAD Reference For New VR HeadsetValve recently began shipping its long-awaited VR headset, the Steam Frame. Now, there is a hardware reference repository that includes everything a budding modder might need, and then some.
No need to 3D scan or break out the calipers if one wants to design their own add-ons.
Want to design and 3D print some add-ons, or a carrying case, or some other doodad? There’s no need to break out the calipers or 3D scan the hardware. The repository contains STEP format models of the VR core module, head strap, and controllers, so it’s as easy as possible to design things that’ll fit. The location of the IR tracking LEDs embedded in the controllers is also documented, so one can ensure their design doesn’t occlude them.
That’s not all. The Frame has a user-accessible hardware expansion port at its front. This port exposes two interfaces: high-speed MIPI camera and PCI Express. This expansion port is documented in the repository, and even has a simple reference design built in both KiCad and Altium.
We’re glad to see Valve maintain their hacker-friendly hardware design with the Steam Frame. Demand for The Frame outstrips supply so far, so if you’re on the waitlist, you might want to browse the repository and get an early start on whatever customizations you have in mind while you wait for your confirmation. And when you get something working, drop us a note on the tips line!

emptyvessel Moramora is based on a set of samples recorded from a small Tangible Waves modular system and a Novation Summit, processed & sampled using Elektron Octatrack and Tonverk samplers. Additionally a few field recordings captured with an old Sony tape dictaphone and a Sony PCM-D50 digital recorder for noise layers and texture. A great deal of character and imperfection is present in the samples and brought out further within TAL Sampler. As usual for my packs the samples are quite long. With this and the modulation possibilities in TAL Sampler the results are alive, expressive, dynamic instruments which avoid that inherent static, repeating aspect that can afflict sample-based instruments. The patches are rusty, imperfect, liminal, melancholic, hopeful. Cinematic, dark, bright, warm, thin, analog, digital. Tired, faded, like memories. Basses, keys, drones and immersive, evolving pads. Here's a playlist of 3 musical demos using only sounds from mora with no processing or fx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P1dWyWBlkU&list=PLbkQnqWkj3kM 55 presets based on ~470mb of original samples. no AI, just a real, human Scottish person, obsessed with creating sounds that make you want to make music. comes with 4 TAL Sampler colour themes, including a light one for you weirdos who like light themes!;). Read More

"Voice of a Generation" by Marquis H.K.(paperback) $33.99

Yep, MC has gone punk rock crazy with our books this month, thanks to this string of releases from the Earth Island imprint. Voice of a Generation is tagged “80s UK punx in their own words,” and that’s pretty much exactly what it is. It’s as much about the characters as it is the music; we learn (or, if you were there, remember) some of the larger-than-life people that were integral to the British punk scene during that decade.

Some of them are no longer with us, so it’s gratifying to know that their legend has been preserved for posterity. The photos, including a lot of mohawks, are magnificent.

The post "Voice of a Generation" by Marquis H.K. first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

The maker of non-text AI model Jev valued at $7.5B just weeks after launchTypeSafe AI raised $870 million in a round led by a16Z.

The Return of Sugar is Oh-So SweetThe return of Sugar is something that many of us never dared dream of. For decades now, alt-rock icon Bob Mould has seemed content to go out and record as a solo artist, and that's been more than good enough. His albums have generally been great. "Listenable" at worst. But the point is, his fans have been content.

But last year, Mould put Sugar back together. For the uninitiated, Sugar was the band that Mould formed after the breakup of the semi-legendary Hüsker Dü, which existed from 1979-'88. Sugar formed in 1992 and only lasted three years, releasing the Copper Blue album, the Beaster mini-album, and the File Under: Easy Listening album. There was also the Besides record of b-sides, odds, and sods. And that was it. They were done. Mould, co-vocalist and bassist David Barbe, and drummer Malcolm Travis all went their own, separate ways.

They're back, and that's great news for lovers of dark-yet-melodic alt-rock. At the Hollywood Palladium at the end of September, a too-cool-for-school, hyper-hip crowd seemed reluctant to show their excitement, but the gentle hum of anticipation in the air betrayed them.

The set offered just about everything you'd want to hear from Sugar; all four of the aforementioned records were well represented. "Hoover Dam" from the debut was a highlight, as was "Changes," and both came quite early in the set. The tracks from Beaster, including a brilliant "JC Auto" were typically crunchy. That record is often considered Sugar's "awkward" sophomore effort, but it's this writer's favorite in their arsenal.

Crowd pleaser "If I Can't Change Your Mind" brought the evening to a close, after a solid two hours of '90s nostalgia that actually sounded fresh. Importantly, Mould and the guys looked like they were having a blast throughout, so hopefully this reunion isn't going to be short-lived.

The post The Return of Sugar is Oh-So Sweet first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

149 Audio Solur- Solur: "FORMANT OSCILLATOR" - Formant grain oscillator with F-Shift and F-Spread. - Wavetable scanning: five built-in tables, plus your own. - ADSR envelope, four unison models, stereo spread. - Wavetable editor to create and save Glass wavetables. Perfect for that psytrance virus TI glass sound. Read More

US plans to seize $1B in crypto linked to Iran this week: Scott BessentThe Treasury Department has announced several digital asset seizures related to sanctions on Iran as part of US sanctions.

Two-Component H-shifter for Racing SimsFlying and driving simulators can go as far as money will take you, and at some point it might end up being cheaper to buy a plane or race car than to keep adding capabilities to some of the sim rigs we’ve seen. But it can also be a fairly affordable hobby as well, with entry-level components being within reach for many. The price can drop precipitously from there too, provided some parts can be sourced and a 3D printer is made available, and [Jason] is demonstrating one of the lowest-cost H-shifters we’ve seen which only uses two parts at its core.
The two components only cover the electronics for the build, but this gets almost everything needed for the shifter squared away. A joystick like those found inside many game controllers is paired with an Arduino Pro Micro, with a very straightforward wiring configuration between them. These components are paired with a prototype 3D printed case and shift knob which provides the H pattern of choice. From there it’s as simple as uploading some readily-available firmware, which [Jason] also demonstrates, and which has many options for various configurations of shifters.
Although this was just a prototype, it shows was just a few off-the-shelf components and a 3D printer can provide to an affordable driving sim setup. Even then a 3D printer is not always necessary, like this three-pedal setup using extruded aluminum frame as a base. From there, all kinds of other features can be added like force feedback on the steering wheel.

Faith Monaco (OsamaSon, Playboi Carti) dives deep into sound design in Serum
Faith Monaco (OsamaSon, Playboi Carti) shares her top Serum sound design tips and makes a track in FL Studio with her new sample pack.

Soniccouture reveal Scanner: Library Soniccouture have teamed up with Scanner (Robin Rimbaud) to create a custom sound-design tool based on the artist’s extensive personal tape archive. 

From Sony Music’s 260,000 deepfake takedowns to Suno’s live music expansion… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest headlines from the past few days...
Source

Wanna give your mixes a little analogue flavour? We’ve rounded up the best deals at Plugin Boutique so you don’t have toWhether you’re looking to bring some vintage crackle to your music, experiment with old school synth character, or find a meticulously-emulated studio-grade compressor, look no further than Plugin Boutique.
This October, the plugin retail platform is offering up to 87 percent off on analogue emulations, with great deals on brands like Roland, Solid State Logic, and Universal Audio.

READ MORE: Best DAWs for producers, songwriters, engineers and DJs right now

With 18 emulations included in the promotion, you can find a bunch of plugin options, including compressors, EQs, consoles, tape machines and effects modelled on classic hardware. We’ve selected some of the best deals below.
SSL Native Bus Compressor 2 and Native Channel Strip 2

Two SSL goodies have the biggest reductions right now, with 87 percent off both the Native Bus Compressor and Native Channel Strip respectively. This brings their cost down to just  £17 each from a three-figure sum. Get the SSL G-Series centre section bus compressor in native plugin form, “celebrated for its ability to glue a mix together to make it sound like a record”, or the tone, features and workflow of an SSL 9000K console channel strip.

Roland Analog Polysynth Collection

Until the end of the month, you can get Roland’s Analog Polysynth Collection for £180 (reduced from £455). Inside you get five of its “most revered” synths from the late ’70s and early ’80s, all backed by “Analog Circuit Behaviour (ACB) technology”. Included is: JUPITER-4, JUPITER-8, JUNO-60, JX-3P, JUNO-106.

Universal Audio Minimoog 

Get this emulation of the Minimoog Model D for just £35. The original synth has been used by Kraftwerk, Parliament-Funkadelic, Yes and Dr. Dre, and this version has been developed in partnership with Moog Music, exclusively for Universal Audio.

Roland ZENOLOGY

Roland’s ZENOLOGY plugin, rated 9/10 by MusicTech, “embodies over 50 years of synthesiser research and development”. It’s now just £90 until 31 October, reduced from £204.

To view more deals, head over to Plugin Boutique.
The post Wanna give your mixes a little analogue flavour? We’ve rounded up the best deals at Plugin Boutique so you don’t have to appeared first on MusicTech.

Colapso is a synth that plays the periodic table – somehowEver heard of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle? That’s Werner, German theoretical physicist, by the way, not Walter, chemistry teacher-turned-drug kingpin.
It basically states that it is impossible to accurately know both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle simultaneously. 
“But Sam, I read this site for stuff about music production. Why are you banging on about theoretical physics?”
Well, because Portuguese plugin and soft synth developer Imaginando has just made a synthesizer based on exactly that principle.

READ MORE: Teenage Engineering to stop making synths – but what does it mean for the future of the cult brand?

“Sound works the same way. To hear pitch, we need time. If you shorten the time window, the sound stops being continuous and collapses into an impulse,” explains sound designer Lucas Palmeira. “Between those two extremes there is a whole sonic territory, and that is where Colapso lives.”
It sounds pretty out there, but the next bit probably won’t help…
Imaginando explains that the behaviour of atoms is such that “when an excited atom collapses, it gives off light in a few sharp colours”. Colapso apparently plays that light as sound. You can choose from 22 elements of the periodic table, and its measured emission spectrum becomes the timbre of the sound and the basis for your oscillator.
Then there’s additive, granular and subtractive stages set up in series, with up to 16 partials per oscillator, pitch synchronous grains and then a filter. Colapso allows eight voices with up to three oscillators per voice, Poly, Mono or Unison with detune, glide and legato options.

There’s also four drawable LFOs, four drawable envelopes, plus four macros with polyphonic aftertouch. In terms of connectivity, Colapso allows for two insert effects, one send effect and a bus compressor, too.
And, because you’ll probably need it, there’s a Help mode which explains the features of the synth in basic terms…
Price-wise, Colapso is available now at a launch price of €69, rising to €89 from 1 November. You can also grab the Studio Bundle, and get Colapso and Imaginando’s eight other desktop licences for €399. There’s also a rent-to-own option, allowing you to pay €8.90 per month for 12 months, and fully own the licence at the end of the period.
Learn more at Imaginando.
The post Colapso is a synth that plays the periodic table – somehow appeared first on MusicTech.

EVE Audio partner with Arturia EVE Audio and Arturia are currently running a worldwide promotion that gives customers a 12-month license for Arturia’s FX Collection 6 Pro with a range of EVE Audio monitor purchases.

W. A. Production’s $155 Techno Mega Pack is FREE exclusively for BPB readers
W. A. Production is offering Techno Mega Pack, a bundle of seven sample packs and a video course, FREE exclusively to Bedroom Producers Blog readers. We’ve teamed up with W. A. Production again following our earlier Combustor giveaway, and this time we have 10,000 redemption codes to share. The bundle is currently listed at $155.85 [...]
View post: W. A. Production’s $155 Techno Mega Pack is FREE exclusively for BPB readers