Y2K on Doja Cat, Grammys, Elliott Smith, and why making music with TikTok virality in mind is ‘setting yourself up to fail’Ari Starace is the latest interviewee in our World's Greatest Producers series
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Animatronic Eyes Are Watching YouIf you haven’t been following [Will Cogley]’s animatronic adventures on YouTube, you’re missing out. He’s got a good thing going, and the latest step is an adorable robot that tracks you with its own eyes.
Yes, the cameras are embedded inside the animatronic eyes.That was a lot easier than expected; rather than the redesign he was afraid of [Will] was able to route the camera cable through his existing animatronic mechanism, and only needed to hollow out the eyeball. The tiny camera’s aperture sits nigh-undetectable within the pupil.
On the software side, face tracking is provided by MediaPipe. It’s currently running on a laptop, but the plan is to embed a Raspberry Pi inside the robot at a later date. MediaPipe tracks any visible face and calculates the X and Y offset to direct the servos. With a dead zone at the center of the image and a little smoothing, the eye motion becomes uncannily natural. [Will] doesn’t say how he’s got it set up to handle more than one face; likely it will just stick with the first object identified.
Eyes aren’t much by themselves, so [Will] goes further by creating a little robot. The adorable head sits on a 3D-printed tapered roller bearing atop a very simple body. Another printed mechanism allows for pivot, and both axes are servo-controlled, bringing the total number of motors up to six. Tracking prefers eye motion, and the head pivots to follow to try and create a naturalistic motion. Judge for yourself how well it works in the video below. (Jump to 7:15 for the finished product.)
We’ve featured [Will]’s animatronic anatomy adventures before– everything from beating hearts, and full-motion bionic hands, to an earlier, camera-less iteration of the eyes in this project.
Don’t forget if you ever find yourself wading into the Uncanny Valley that you can tip us off to make sure everyone can share in the discomfort.

Free LA2A plug-in from Universal Audio Universal Audio have just announced that they will be celebrating Labor Day weekend with a flash sale. From 28...

I got lost in Moog Messenger’s massive Res Bass sounds£725 / $815, moogmusic.com
Haven’t you heard? It’s all about the bass. Or, more specifically, it’s all about Res Bass. Sure, Moog Messenger is a two-oscillator monophonic synth with wavefolding capabilities, FM, and plenty of modulation options. Yes, it’s got a robust arpeggiator, a 64-step sequencer with parameter recording, loopable ADRS’s, and the ability to store patch presets. All good stuff to be sure – but it was the new bass compensation feature, which allows you to dial up the filter resonance without losing low-end, that garnered the most attention upon the instrument’s release.
Well, I’m here to tell you that everyone is wrong – Messenger is not, in fact, all about Res Bass. It’s about so much more.

READ MORE: “We’re doubling down on what we stand for”: How Moog delivered the Messenger

Let’s start with my favourite surprise, the feedback circuit. This is one of the most musically satisfying implementations of feedback I’ve heard in a synth, and part of that is down to where it sits in the signal path. It’s pre-filter, taking its source directly from the mixer output, and this means that you can really push the sound in wild and weird directions before reigning it back in with a low-pass.
Then there’s the sub-oscillator. Erik Norlander, Moog’s Director of Keyboard Development, told me he challenged company veteran and VP of engineering, Steve Dunnington, to add a little “secret Moog sauce” to push Messenger’s capabilities beyond what the Subsequent 37 or Sub-Fatty could achieve. The result is a sub-oscillator with the nifty ability to change waveshape – from triangle wave to square wave with pulse width modulation – independent of its parent signal.
In practice, it’s an understated but surprisingly powerful addition that fills out the sound in a supremely satisfying way. And once you factor in the inclusion of continuous waveshaping and Buchla-style wavefolding on the two main oscillators, FM modulation, and the ability to sync both oscillators for additional tone control, Messenger’s sound design chops look very strong indeed. Using just oscillators and feedback, I found myself getting well and truly lost in the sound of this instrument before ever getting to Messenger’s mighty filter section.

Ok, let’s talk about Res Bass. Using what the company describes as a “unique pole-mixing design”, Messenger claims the ability to retain as much low-end as you could want, even as ear-splitting amounts of filter resonance is dialled in. I can happily report that the feature managed to exceed my high expectations.
If anything, the company has undersold the feature, because it doesn’t just add extra oomph, it can give your sound an entirely new character across the entire frequency spectrum. Bass tones bite, leads feel punchier, and filter sweeps growl with a weight and presence that I’m not sure I’ve heard before.
The new filter innovations don’t stop there. We also get a 2-pole 12dB slope in addition to the traditional 4-pole 24dB slope, and band-pass and high-pass modes. Taken together, these features add a lot of modern functionality without compromising the classic 904A filter sound – I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of them become a standard part of Moog’s filter design moving forward.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Messenger manages to seem bigger than it actually is. It feels solid and sturdy at 4.9kg, but with dimensions of 58 x 32 cm, this is still a fairly compact instrument. Yet nothing feels cramped; there are full-sized semi-weighted keys with aftertouch, room for pitch and modulation wheels, and extensive I/O options which include MIDI over USB-C and DIN, CV/Gate ins and outs, and external audio input to the filter.
Borrowing from its big brother synth, Muse, Messenger also boasts a powerful arpeggiator and sequencer combo. The line between these two melodic tools is actually quite blurry because the arpeggiator can act as a pseudo-sequencer with a 16-note pattern and the ability to turn individual steps off. Meanwhile, the sequencer brings more powerful options to the fore with per-step parameter recording, note probability, and note pool; a great new feature that lets you play a set of possible notes for each sequence step to draw from.
One thing you won’t see on Messenger is a digital display. Perhaps it’s just my own screen fatigue, but it felt genuinely refreshing to navigate this instrument using only physical buttons and dials. Thanks to a skilfully executed ‘one-knob-per-function’ layout and a classic left-to-right signal path, this instrument has a learning curve suitable for beginners and pros alike. After using it for less than an hour, both in-depth sound sculpting and mid-performance tweaks began to feel largely intuitive.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
That said, there are some drawbacks to a screen-less design, and these are apparent when using the arpeggiator or navigating the config menu to find deeper settings. Basic functions are a breeze, and even more complex parameters are all deftly handled with just a few button-plus-dial combos. But if you want to switch the arpeggiation to a specific pattern or fine-tune the pitch bend range, then consulting the manual is likely the only way to find what you’re looking for.
For a time, Moog’s instruments started to feel like bespoke luxury items – priced at levels that average musos would seldom consider. Messenger’s £725 ($815) entry fee is clearly a pivot moment, placing it firmly in ‘premium workhorse’ territory.
But the monophonic synth market has plenty of sharp-elbowed competition, and while Messenger lowers the ‘Moog-markup’, it certainly hasn’t eliminated it. For a few hundred less, you could net yourself a Novation Bass Station II or an Arturia MiniBrute 2. And, if you’re open to digital options like the Korg Wavestate MkII, or hybrids like Behringer’s Deep Mind 12, then the competition is arguably steeper still.
That said, I doubt anyone could regret investing in Messenger. It’s chock full of thoughtful design choices, future-ready features, and all backed up by genuinely fantastic sound. If you’re a first-timer looking for an approachable entry point to the world of synthesis, a professional looking to bring premium tones to the stage or studio, or if you’re just longing to own a piece of the world’s most famous synth brand, there’s never been a better moment to step into Moog’s world.

Key features

Two oscillators, sub oscillator, and noise generator
Classic ladder filter enhanced with multimode functionality and Res Bass
Two LFOs with options for frequency and audio rate modulation
32 full-sized semi-weighted keys with channel aftertouch
256 included presets
Pre-filter feedback circuit
External audio input to filter
6 CV ins/outs, MIDI over USB-C and DIN, sustain and expression pedal inputs
64 Step sequencer with note probability and parameter recording

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Reloop RP-7: The world’s first pro DJ turntable built just for 7-inch recordsFor decades, the 7-inch single has often been treated as more of a collectable novelty than a DJ workhorse. But Reloop wants to change that. The German company has unveiled the RP-7, calling it the first-ever professionally mass-produced direct-drive DJ turntable designed exclusively for 7-inch vinyl.
With this launch, we are not only celebrating the rich tradition of 45 vinyl culture, but also reimagining it for the future of performance in this iconic format,” says Reloop CEO Gerald Barbyer. “It’s a statement of our commitment to empower DJs and music enthusiasts with tools that inspire creativity and to share our love and passion for the thriving 7-inch collectors culture.”

READ MORE: The RANE ONE MKII DJ controller offers a stems-focused workflow and delivers the tactile feedback of true turntables

The RP-7 is no toy. At its core is a newly developed high-torque brushless DC motor (2.5 kg/cm) designed for accurate cueing and even scratching. The platter is precision-milled die-cast aluminium, paired with an integrated switching power supply to reduce interference. A straight copper tonearm with internal rubber damping is designed to offer exceptional tracking accuracy while minimising resonance.
Like its bigger siblings (the RP-7000 and RP-8000 MK2), the RP-7 also features a height-adjustable base. Installation has been streamlined too: the RP-7’s statically balanced tonearm system eliminates the need for anti-skating, a common pain point for beginners.

Specs-wise, the deck holds its own against full-size players. Users get three selectable speeds (33 ⅓, 45 and 78 RPM), a clickless tempo fader, an adjustable tempo range of +/-8 %, +/-16 % or +/-35 %, as well as a pitch reset toggle button.
As you’d expect from a professional player, the Reloop RP-7 has ample options for connectivity. Featuring a completely recessed connection terminal, it can integrate into a DJ setup with reliable protection for sensitive ports. Switchable phono/line outputs with gold-plated connectors prevent you from having to rely on dedicated phono inputs. A detachable LED needle light (for extra visibility in low-light settings) and a sleek, deep black metallic finish, meanwhile, round out the RP-7’s design.
Coming in at just 5.7 kg, the RP-7 weighs considerably less than a standard deck as well, making it the perfect travel companion for DJs playing 45 events.
The Reloop RP-7 is now available at €549 / $599 / £499.
Learn more at Reloop.
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AI finally pays up: Beatoven.ai’s new Maestro AI music generation model promises royalties for artistsAI music startup Beatoven.ai has launched Maestro, a new generative AI music model that claims to pay ‘ongoing royalties’ to artists, composers and rights-holders whose work was used in training.
Unlike other AI music tools that have come under fire for allegedly scraping unlicensed material, Maestro is “fully licensed and fairly trained” through official deals with rightsholders and it’s the first such model to do so, according to Beatoven.ai. Its partners include Rightsify, Soundtrack Loops, Symphonic Music, Bobby Cole, Vadi Sound and Pro Sound Effects.

READ MORE: Fake artists, real opportunities: Hoaxes and scams are holding back the potential of AI music

At its core, Maestro powers Beatoven’s expanding suite of music generation and analysis tools, letting users create instrumental tracks that can be tailored by genre or style. Support for sound effects and even vocals is already planned for future updates. The company also offers an API, allowing developers to integrate music generation directly into apps and platforms.
By working with rights management platform Musical AI, the company says it can identify which licensed songs or musical elements influenced each generated track, and distribute royalties accordingly. In theory, that means whenever Maestro’s outputs rely on a specific work, the rightsholder gets paid.
“Human creativity and AI can go hand in hand,” says Beatoven.ai CEO and co-founder Mansoor Rahimat Khan [via Music Business Worldwide]. “Most tools try to mimic humans, whereas AI should push human creativity forward by generating what we’ve never heard before. Hallucinations in foundation models are a feature in music, not a bug.”
The launch arrives amid mounting lawsuits against AI companies like Suno and Udio, both of which face legal action from Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment over the alleged misuse of copyrighted recordings. By contrast, Beatoven.ai is positioning Maestro as a test case for how AI and rightsholders might actually coexist.
Advocates of ethical AI have also welcomed the move. Ed Newton-Rex, CEO of non-profit Fairly Trained, comments: “If you respect musicians, you license their music. Beatoven.ai is providing yet more compelling evidence that generative AI doesn’t need to be built by scraping the music of the world’s musicians.”
Meanwhile, Sean Power, CEO of Musical AI, frames the partnership as a blueprint: “We’re showing the world what a fair AI deal looks like: attribution, respect of rights, and ongoing payouts every time a work contributes to an output. Maestro is a major step towards this better future.”
Learn more at Beatoven.ai.
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Native Instruments unveil four-layered Erosia The new addition to the Native Instruments range creates morphing and modulating soundscapes from materials under strain, powered by sources such as ice crackling across cymbals and glass vases straining under tension.

Bold Music Festival Curation: Beyond Big-Name ActsSome festival lineups are starting to look the same and fans are noticing. As ticket prices climb, bold music festival curation, not just big names, may be the best way to stand out and keep crowds coming back year after year.
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UAD Offers Teletronix LA-2A Tube Compressor Plugin FREE Until September 1st
Universal Audio is giving away the Teletronix LA-2A Tube Compressor plugin for free, with no UAD hardware required, as part of its Labor Day Flash Sale running until September 1st. This isn’t the first time UAD has offered the LA-2A plugin for free, so there’s a good chance many BPB readers already have it in [...]
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Are the days of hashtags behind us? [Bobby Owsinski]Responding to TikTok's recent move to minimize the importance of hashtags, Bobby Owsinski argues that the sunset period for hashtags has officially begun.
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APU Software releases FREE Spectrum Analyzer plugin for macOS and Windows
APU Software has released APU Spectrum Analyzer, a highly customizable and completely free spectrum analysis plugin and standalone application for macOS and Windows. APU Spectrum Analyzer provides super-detailed spectrum analysis for your DAW without costing a cent. The plugin supports multiple FFT window types (Rectangular, Hann, Hamming, Blackman, and Kaiser) and a wide range of [...]
View post: APU Software releases FREE Spectrum Analyzer plugin for macOS and Windows

Google outlines plans for ‘Universal Ledger’ amid race for institutional blockchainsGoogle Cloud’s Web3 head used a LinkedIn post to brand the company's upcoming Universal Ledger as a neutral blockchain for financial institutions.

‘KPop Demon Hunters’ just became Netflix’s most-watched movie of all timeThe Sony Pictures Animation production is building on the unprecedented success of its music
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Nvidia reports record sales as the AI boom continuesNvidia's revenue hit $46.7 billion in the second quarter, a 56% increase compared to the same period last year.

Bitwig Studio 6 first impressions: It’s been a long wait, but it’s been worth itAs somebody who cut their teeth on Cubase, Pro Tools, and other conventional DAWs, what struck me most the first time I used Bitwig Studio – and still does every time – is how much it feels like an elaborate instrument in its own right. Any sense of working in an emulation of a traditional studio takes a backseat in favour of a much more integrated and fluid creative environment.
But version 5 was released over two years ago, ample time for things to start feeling a bit same-y, and for minor irritations to become more irksome as one continually bounces up against them. Thankfully, the wait is now over and the all-new Bitwig Studio 6 has landed, replete with some very cool new tools and across-the-board streamlining – let’s see what’s new.
Interface updates in Bitwig 6
To start with, there are some obligatory user interface tweaks. Bitwig’s attractive colour scheme of muted dark grey screen furniture with vibrantly coloured controls and objects remains, but the Arrange window background is now also a dark grey (which looks nicer), and grid lines are now shown on top of clips. Also, the info readout panel has been centralised on the program window title bar, which makes more sense than having it pushed to the left as it was previously.
There are loads of other little visual tweaks, but my favourite is the addition of an ever-present palette for selecting the various cursor tools – pointer, time selection, pencil, etc. This is much better than having to rely on context-sensitive right-click menus (although memorising keyboard shortcuts has always been an option). Furthermore, there are two new cursor tools to play with: Spray Can and Audition.
Image: Bitwig
The Spray Can tool’s main function is to create rows of notes at the current beat interval when working within the Edit view; it can also be used to quickly create new looping regions on note and audio tracks, and for drawing held automation points (see below) on automation lanes.
The Audition tool is even more useful. Clicking with it on any clip solos that clip and plays it back from the clicked point, which is far more immediate than having to first solo a track in order to hear it in isolation.
Automation improvements
Bitwig’s system of assignable modulators is one of the slickest in any DAW, but its track and clip automation tools have tended to leave a bit more to be desired. Recognising this, Bitwig have poured a lot of attention into this area in Bitwig Studio 6.
The segments between automation points can now be curved rather than be just straight lines. This means that drawing automation with the pencil tool results in a more accurate representation of the shape you drew using fewer points, resulting in automation data that’s much easier to work with. Moreover, bringing the mouse pointer close to a segment now highlights that segment so that it can be dragged up and down as a whole (better than editing individual points), or have its curvature adjusted.
Something new here that I really like is that it’s now possible to move the position of automation points without being blocked by other points. That is, if you drag an automation point past another point, then that point is removed, where previously it would have acted as a barrier preventing you from dragging beyond it. It’s a small thing, but very handy!

Automation points have also gained Spread and Hold parameters. The former introduces a randomisation within a specified Spread percentage range, whilst the latter causes a point’s value to be held until the next automation point is reached (these are what can be painted on automation lanes using the new Spray Can tool).
Without a doubt, the most exciting new automation feature is Automation Clips. These allow automation data to be worked with in exactly the same way as Note and Audio clips, and to exist independently of any related Note or Audio clip, whether used in the Clip Launcher or Arranger timeline. Automation Clips can be moved to different lanes and tracks, can be saved to the library for later re-use, and can even be dragged to devices in place of standard MSEG (Multi Stage Envelope Generator) curves. Very nice!
Clip Aliases
Back in the dim and distant past, before the days of the all-in-one DAW, MIDI sequencing software often had the ability to duplicate a part/clip as an alias rather than as an entirely new and independent part/clip. This was done as a means of saving on memory usage back when 4MB was considered a large amount of system RAM, but was phased out once we all started working on computers packed with gigabytes of memory.
Aliases were, however, exceptionally useful compositional tools irrespective of memory saving, because any changes made to a part/clip would also apply to any aliases of that part/clip. So I’m stoked to see Bitwig adding Clip Aliases to Bitwig Studio 6!

Any Audio, Note or Automation clip can have aliases created from it, and these aliases can be used in the regular Arranger timeline or in the Clip Launcher. And if you want to make changes to a specific instance of a Clip Alias, then it’s dead easy to convert it back into a standard unique clip.
The method of creating Clip Aliases is a little lumpy and feels like it still needs some streamlining, but it’s a welcome addition nonetheless.
…And there’s more
Given Bitwig’s focus on contemporary music styles, it is perhaps surprising that its Note Clips and tracks don’t offer a step input mode. Not so Bitwig 6, so you can now happily create crazy basslines and arpeggios without having to develop virtuoso keyboard skills. The feature is still somewhat basic, only allowing the creation of new notes and being unable to re-pitch existing notes, but it’s /step/ in the right direction (sorry – couldn’t resist the obvious pun).
The last big new feature I want to highlight is that projects can now have a global key signature assigned to them. This is picked up by any devices that generate or work with notes, such as Arpeggiator or the new Key Filter+ device. And whilst the key signature is project-wide, it can be changed using automation and/or modulators if needed.
More helpfully, the project-wide key signature can be used in the Note editor, highlighting the note lanes that match the current key and marking any notes that are outside of that key. A Snap to Key feature ensures that any notes entered with the Pencil or Spray Can tools are forced to the nearest in-key note, although, sadly, the new Step Input feature doesn’t interact with the project’s key signature, and changing the project key doesn’t automatically re-pitch your Note Clips. There is however, a Quantise To Key command that will re-pitch any out-of-key notes.
We’ll be digging deeper into all of these new features and putting them to the test in some real-world scenarios for our upcoming full review of Bitwig Studio 6. For now, though, it’s clear that Bitwig has delivered a raft of significant and well-judged upgrades to its eponymous DAW. It’s been a long wait, but based on what I’ve seen so far, it’s been worth it!
Our full review of Bitwig Studio 6 will come soon. Read more music tech news. 
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