Detecting Surveillance Cameras With The ESP32These days, surveillance cameras are all around us, and they’re smarter than ever. In particular, many of them are running advanced algorithms to recognize faces and scan license plates, compiling ever-greater databases on the movements and lives of individuals. Flock You is a project that aims to, at the very least, catalogue this part of the surveillance state, by detecting these cameras out in the wild.
The system is most specifically set up to detect surveillance cameras from Flock Safety, though it’s worth noting a wide range of companies produce plate-reading cameras and associated surveillance systems these days. The device uses an ESP32 microcontroller to detect these devices, relying on the in-built wireless hardware to do the job. The project can be built on a Oui-Spy device from Colonel Panic, or just by using a standard Xiao ESP32 S3 if so desired. By looking at Wi-Fi probe requests and beacon frames, as well as Bluetooth advertisements, it’s possible for the device to pick up telltale transmissions from a range of these cameras, with various pattern-matching techniques and MAC addresses used to filter results in this regard. When the device finds a camera, it sounds a buzzer notifying the user of this fact.
Meanwhile, if you’re interested in just how prevalent plate-reading cameras really are, you might also find deflock.me interesting. It’s a map of ALPR camera locations all over the world,  and you can submit your own findings if so desired. The techniques used by in the Flock You project are based on learnings from the DeFlock project. Meanwhile, if you want to join the surveillance state on your own terms, you can always build your own license plate reader instead!
[Thanks to Eric for the tip!]

Vibe coding: Hype or new reality? Only at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025Lauri Moore (Bessemer), David Cramer (Sentry), and Zach Lloyd (Warp) join the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to debate what founders really need from their first engineering hires — and how AI tooling fits into the equation.

Register a new Korg ID account for a 75% discount on the M1 Music Workstation plugin
If you register a new Korg ID account, you’ll receive a 75% discount on the M1 Music Workstation plugin. Korg’s M1 Music Workstation plugin retails for $99, but if you sign up for a new account, you can buy it for just $25. I know that’s not precisely 75%, but, you know, close enough. If [...]
View post: Register a new Korg ID account for a 75% discount on the M1 Music Workstation plugin

Is the TikTok deal really done?President Trump has signed an Executive Order formalizing government approval of the acquisition of U.S, TikYok from China-based ByteDance. But important questions remain about the $14 billion deal, including whether it actually has China's approval.
The post Is the TikTok deal really done? appeared first on Hypebot.

The Crow Hill Company Prehistoric StringsA totally unique string library built from one-of-a-kind bespoke instruments to give your string collections horns, teeth and a few ancient bones thrown in for good measure. As part of our ongoing relationship with our friends at Bleeding Fingers, we're delighted to bring to you Prehistoric Strings. It's a string library like no other made from totally unique inventions; hybrid monstrosities to create tones that are primordial, haunting, and staggeringly beautiful in their truly primitive nature. Typical to the sonic ambitions of Bleeding Fingers we're proud to present an audacious project: a unique selection of stringed instruments built with bones, horns, skulls and cannibalised classical instruments including a cello, frame drum, resonating dulcimer and many others. Their generosity led to them kindly agreeing to share their unique inventions with the rest of the composing world. The Crow Hill team flew over to Remote Control studios in Santa Monica to create a totally new set of recordings for a tailor-made plugin with a simple brief in mind: imagine approaching this like we would any of our successful strings libraries. Give everyone the tools of the trade to incorporate these incredible instruments into their standard workflow and expand their palette with horns, teeth, and ancient fossilised bones. Designed To Fit Seamlessly Into Your Existing Workflow We approached Prehistoric Strings as we would any other strings library. We applied our AAA-grade sampling techniques and attention to detail to create a totally unique library that fits and integrates perfectly with all your others. A broad selection of articulations, dynamic layers, round robins and onboard processing to offer you the shallowest possible learning curve and immediate transformation of your compositional work. Product Specs 5 Custom-built solo string instruments. Select & play each instrument independently. Blended "ensemble mix" to create an otherworldly quintet. Carefully crafted effects signals to add motion & texture to your sound. 3 mix-ready stereo signals (Close, Wide, Ambient). Intimate & dry studio recording. 4 unique reverb algorithms. Master processing tools incl. Room Tone, Stereo Imaging, Mono Filter & authentically captured "Room Tone". Included presets. Made in collaboration with Bleeding Fingers. Recorded at Remote Control Productions. Read More

UJAM offers Finisher RETRO multi-effect plugin FREE for a limited time
UJAM has made Finisher RETRO, its vintage-themed multi-effect plugin, available for free—but only for a limited time. While Finisher RETRO isn’t a new release, this is a rare chance to grab it for free, directly from the UJAM website or Plugin Boutique. Just add it to your cart and complete the free checkout to claim your [...]
View post: UJAM offers Finisher RETRO multi-effect plugin FREE for a limited time

MLC can file amended complaint in ‘bundling’ lawsuit against Spotify, court saysThe Mechanical Licensing Collective secures crucial procedural victory in legal battle with Spotify
Source

Crowdfunding for Independent Musicians: What You Need To KnowIt was not that long ago that crowdfunding for independent musicians has a bad wrap thanks to some spectacular flameouts of platforms serving the sector. But now crowdfunding for musicians is back in vogue and it couldn't happen at a better time.
The post Crowdfunding for Independent Musicians: What You Need To Know appeared first on Hypebot.

MIDI Innovation Awards 2025: Winners The MIDI Association have revealed the full list of winners for this year’s MIDI Innovation Awards following a live stream announcement hosted in collaboration with Andrew Huang. 

IK Multimedia announces new “ethically sourced” AI voice modelling plugin, ReSingJoining the likes of DJ Fresh’s Voice-Swap, IK Multimedia has thrown its hat into the AI-powered voice modelling ring with ReSing, a new plugin which captures the “timbre, tone and expression of real artists, sourced ethically”.
Powered by AI, ReSing enables producers and vocalists to take scratch vocals – unpolished takes, in other words – and replace them with “expressive, professional-quality voices”.

READ MORE: This AI guitar pedal lets you “sound like any song” with just one click – but does it risk taking the soul out of music-making?

While ReSing includes 25 voices and 25 instrument models at launch, IK Multimedia says this library will expand, plus users have the ability to create their own voice models, too.
Additionally, ReSing is not cloud-based and instead runs directly on your desktop, “removing the need for data transmission and queues”. So in other words, faster results.

Aside from the ability to turn rough vocal takes into “professional-quality” performances, ReSing also enables producers to adjust a vocal’s energy, tone and style, and even blend voices.
Another cool use case is producers can sing a bassline, riff or hook, and turn it into a real instrument via ReSing’s onboard library of instruments.
IK Multimedia says ReSing is the “first platform of its kind” to allow users to model their own voice and lease it out for profit.
ReSing operates both as a standalone application or as a plugin with a DAW, and comes with a perpetual licence, so no subscription is necessary.
Ethics is often a key concern among AI sceptics, so IK Multimedia confirms all artists whose vocals have been used in ReSing have signed “clear and transparent agreements that ensure their contributions are acknowledged and protected”.
Pricing and availability
Scheduled for launch in October 2025, ReSing is available now for pre-order at a reduced price, at three different tiers:

ReSing Free – two voices, two instruments, totally free, obviously
ReSing – $/€89.99 (reg. $129.99) – 10 voices, 10 instruments
ReSing MAX – $/€ 149.99 (reg. $199.99) – 25 voices, 25 instruments

For more information, head to IK Multimedia.
The post IK Multimedia announces new “ethically sourced” AI voice modelling plugin, ReSing appeared first on MusicTech.

This AI guitar pedal lets you “sound like any song” with just one click – but does it risk taking the soul out of music-making?Artificial intelligence has been reshaping music production for years, from automated mixing to generative composition – and now, it’s finally hitting the pedalboard.
Chicago-based startup Groundhog Audio has unveiled the OnePedal, a guitar pedal powered by AI that can match the tone of virtually any song in seconds. In theory at least.

READ MORE: “There’s not a millisecond in any of my records where I don’t know exactly what it’s doing and why it’s there”: Andrew Watt on his “intense” approach to music production

The process is deceptively simple. Users select a track from the app’s library, which features over 100,000 songs, or upload their own. The system then isolates the guitar track, analyses its tone, and generates an effects chain that gets you as close as possible to the original recording. The AI model is trained to understand music styles, guitar gear, and production techniques, enabling it to predict the ideal settings and signal chains for each track.
Those settings can be saved directly to the pedal for offline use, making the OnePedal equally effective for bedroom practice, studio sessions, or live performances.
Navigating between songs and tones is just as effortless: a large central knob lets users scroll quickly through tracks, while a dedicated tone switch allows seamless switching between different sounds mid-performance. A 4-inch screen provides intuitive access to presets and settings, keeping the focus on playing rather than menu diving.
As Groundhog Audio founder Max Engle puts it, the OnePedal is about reclaiming time for creativity: “Guitarists shouldn’t have to spend hours dialing in knobs or scrolling forums to get the right sound,” he says. “We want to give musicians time back to focus on what they really love – playing.”
Beautiful-sounding as that argument may be, music-making purists might argue that handing over so much of the technical process to a machine risks stripping away the soul of music-making. For many musicians, the joys of experimentation, accidental discovery, and shaping a tone by ear are part of what gives music its character.
Still, tools like OnePedal are just part of a growing wave of AI-powered music tech. Audio sample library WAVS, for instance, recently launched its AI Sample Finder, letting users drag any audio file from their DAW timeline into the plugin to discover similar sounds. More than anything, these innovations illustrate how AI is increasingly taking over the technical heavy lifting, leaving musicians to weigh the balance between efficiency and creative expression.
The OnePedal launches on Kickstarter on 30 September for $399 (retail price $549), with limited-edition “Founding User” perks and lifetime software updates available to early backers.
Learn more at Groundhog Audio.
The post This AI guitar pedal lets you “sound like any song” with just one click – but does it risk taking the soul out of music-making? appeared first on MusicTech.

Is AlphaTheta’s CDJ-3000X really such a big deal for the DJ industry?The launch of a new CDJ from Pioneer DJ (now AlphaTheta) has always caused a stir in the DJ community. The price tag, the headline features, and, perhaps more importantly, the perceived missing features, will dominate forums and comment sections for months — and we’re already starting to see it happening with AlphaTheta’s latest.

READ MORE: AlphaTheta CDJ-3000X review: Bigger, sharper, smoother, and cloud-ready — but you’ll need very deep pockets

But let’s keep some perspective: the CDJ-3000X is an incremental update from the CDJ-3000. The ‘X’ bolted on the end makes that obvious, and we’ll probably be waiting another five years at least before a true leap in the form of a CDJ-4000, or some device deserving of a clean break in name and design. The bigger question is: “Does that really matter to most DJs anymore?” I’d argue that it doesn’t — but it might matter for DJs in the next 5 to 10 years.
The very idea of what a flagship DJ product represents has changed, along with the branding itself. AlphaTheta, the corporate parent that initially sat quietly behind Pioneer DJ, has stepped into the front of house. It claims Pioneer DJ isn’t going anywhere, which seems unlikely, and the rollout of AlphaTheta as the premium brand has felt…awkward. The 3000X isn’t proudly stamped with ‘AlphaTheta’ on its crowd-facing screen or rear panel. Instead, it carries only a minimalist icon — hardly the bold booth takeover we might have expected.
Considering how much of Pioneer DJ’s dominance was cemented through the sheer visibility of its logo in booth photos, livestreams, and social content, the absence of a strong brand identity on the new flagship feels like a strange misstep at a time when optics can matter as much as engineering. It does, however, show a bold confidence in the new product.
Image: Press
As for the deck itself, the 3000X is less a revolution and more a carefully planned collage. Think of it as AlphaTheta curating the most well-loved ideas from across its ecosystem and weaving them into a single premium package, housed in a familiar chassis that retains the muscle memory and instinct built from a long legacy of CDJ design.
Yes, there are new ideas.
Streaming has taken a step forward with onboard WiFi. Now, you can connect directly to Beatport, Spotify, Tidal, or your own cloud library without plugging in USB media as before. The NFC/QR log-in system is clever too: tap your phone and your entire rekordbox profile appears like magic, with streaming services soon to be logged in alongside it. Suddenly, DJing without a USB, media, or laptop is a reality. But is streaming ready to be the centrepiece of a professional set? Not yet. At this stage, it still feels like an auxiliary option, something you lean on in a pinch, or to expand your set, or take track requests with, rather than the backbone of your performance. Although you can cache a decent amount of cloud and streaming tracks on the device, you are still at the whim of a stable and fast internet connection. I suspect that will not stop someone at your future gig from asking if they can “log into your decks and play a few songs,” though…
Don’t get me wrong, I rated the CDJ-3000X very highly in my review. For what it’s designed to do, there is no better product in the market right now. The problem is that this end of the market is shrinking in relevance to the wider DJ culture.
Image: Press
I’ve been DJing for over three decades, and I have seen the format shifts up close: vinyl to CD, CD to USB, USB to laptop, laptop to controller. Each transition was messy, full of overlap and resistance. But since the 2009 release of the CDJ-2000, the chaos steadied, with DJs falling into mostly USB stick or laptop camps. It feels similar to how mobile phones hit a ceiling of innovation several years ago, and users realised most phones do pretty much everything they need, and yearly upgrades slowed.
In the five years since the CDJ-3000 launched, I can count on one hand the times I have actually encountered one in a booth. Each time, it was at a larger event where a hire company had supplied the kit. The days when every club, bar, and local venue felt compelled to invest in the latest flagship players are long gone. Many venues don’t own permanent DJ setups at all anymore, partly because the new-gen DJs arrive with their own controllers and gear they have rehearsed on; gear that feels like an extension of themselves.
If DJs are swapping out the installed kit for their own, and unless venues are booking high-end DJs with tech riders wanting the CDJ-3000X, why would they keep upgrading expensive CDJs or replace broken kit?
This is the quagmire AlphaTheta faces: satisfy top-tier professionals who demand familiar, robust, reliable gear for festival stages and installs, but also keep entry-level and mid-tier devices exciting, new, and familiar enough to funnel DJs into the rekordbox ecosystem for subscriptions and cloud services. This is where the long game is being played. Consider that pro DJs who were using Pioneer DJ regularly at gigs could avoid ever spending money with the company. Now they are monthly rekordbox subscribers, with AlphaTheta entering into the DJ services world to protect DJs’ music and back up their cue points, grids, and settings in the cloud.
Image: Press
The side effect of this product strategy is glacial progress in how features are adopted. It takes about a decade for meaningful innovation in DJ tech to settle in. It was about 10 years between laptops creeping into booths and Serato or Traktor becoming normalised; about 10 years between CDJs appearing in clubs and the 1210s finally fading as the default. Streaming could follow the same arc, but right now, it is still finding its place.
And this is where things get really interesting. As streaming grows, the economics of exclusivity will reshape the industry. Expect to see “streaming-only” releases, label-brokered exclusives tied to specific services, and a fragmentation of DJ libraries not unlike what has already happened with Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV, and the rest in the video world. The real disruption will not be a single device like the 3000X, but the moment when universal library access becomes viable across brands and platforms.
Imagine logging into a booth anywhere, whether it is AlphaTheta, Denon, or even some new competitor, and instantly having your cloud-based collection ready to go. That would take us full circle, back to a more gear-agnostic era where DJs really could just show up with their music.

And isn’t that supposed to be the point? Strip away the brand loyalty, the marketing, the endless debates about jog wheel tension and screen brightness, and the music itself should still be at the heart of DJing.
The CDJ-3000X is a brilliant piece of kit, but its true legacy might be less about what it does in the booth today and more about how it points us toward a future where the hardware matters less than the music that flows through it.
The post Is AlphaTheta’s CDJ-3000X really such a big deal for the DJ industry? appeared first on MusicTech.

IK Multimedia introduce ReSing IK Multimedia's new voice-modelling software claims to deliver natural-sounding vocal performances that they say are indistinguishable from those captured during live recording sessions.

HSBC claims a quantum breakthrough in algorithmic tradingResearchers at banking giant HSBC said they successfully applied quantum computers to algorithmic bond trading in an experimental test.

Viral call-recording app Neon goes dark after exposing users’ phone numbers, call recordings, and transcriptsCall recording app Neon was one of the top-ranked iPhone apps, but was pulled offline after a security bug allowed any logged-in user to access the call recordings and transcripts of any other user.