Splice in 2024: New sounds, mobile recording, and AI-powered creativity
As we look towards 2025, Splice remains committed to helping you explore new artistic directions, find your signature sound, and bring your ideas to life faster and more completely.

Elon Musk’s xAI lands $6B in new cash to fuel AI ambitionsxAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, has raised $6 billion, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Investors gave a minimum of $77,593, per the filing (97 participated, but the document doesn’t reveal their identities). xAI later announced (confirming some earlier reporting) that Andreessen Horowitz , Blackrock, Fidelity, Kingdom Holdings, […]
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Aave mulls Chainlink integration to return MEV fees to usersThe DeFi protocol aims to capture around 40% of MEV profits from adding Chainlink's new oracle service.

Major Music Legislation pulled from final Federal Funding BillThree major pieces of music related legislation were pulled from the bill which passed Congress Friday and was signed by President Biden to fund the US government.
The post Major Music Legislation pulled from final Federal Funding Bill appeared first on Hypebot.

Crawler Challenge: Building Rope-Traversing RobotsRope-climbing robots are the stuff of engineering dreams. As kids, didn’t we all clutter our family home with constructions of towers and strings – Meccano, or Lego – to have ziplines spanning entire rooms? Good for the youngsters of today, this has been included in school curricula. At the University of Illinois, the ME 370 students have been given the task of building a robot that can hang from a rope and walk across it—without damaging the rope. The final projects show not only how to approach tricky design problems, but also the creative solutions they stumbled upon.
Imagine a tiny, rope-climbing walker in your workshop—what could you create?
The project is full of opportunities for those thinking out of the box. It’s all about the balance between innovation and practicality: the students have to come up with a solution that can move at least 2 meters per minute, fits in a shoebox, and has some creative flair—no wheels allowed! The constraints provide an extra layer of challenge, but that’s where the fun lies. Some students use inverted walkers, others take on a more creature-like approach. The clever use of motors and batteries shows just how far simple tech can go when combined with a bit of engineering magic.
This project is a fantastic reminder that even small, seemingly simple design challenges can lead to fascinating creations. It invites us adults to play, and by that, we learn: a win-win situation. You can find the original article here, or grab some popcorn and watch the video below.

THING TH2 is a new FREE Synth plugin from Acustica
Acustica, who have created numerous freebies in the past, just released a free synth called THING TH2. Exclusive “Christmas gifts” from Acustica are nothing new, and this year, they’ve got a versatile synth to offer, which is derived from another one of their synths, THING-8. THING-8 is Acustica’s emulation of the Roland Jupiter 8, a [...]
View post: THING TH2 is a new FREE Synth plugin from Acustica

A Pi Pico Makes A Spectrum LaptopThere are many retrocomputer emulation projects out there, and given the relative fragility of the original machines as they enter their fifth decade, emulation seems to be the most common way to play 8-bit games. It’s easy enough to load one on your modern computer, but there are plenty of hardware options, too. “The computer we’d have done anything for back in 1983” seems to be a phrase many of them bring to mind, but it’s so appropriate because they keep getting better. Take [Stormbytes1970]’s Pi Pico-powered Sinclair ZX Spectrum mini laptop (Spanish language, Google Translate link), for example. It’s a slightly chunky netbook that’s a ZX Spectrum, and it has a far better keyboard than the original.
On the PCB is the Pico, the power supply circuitry, an SD card, and a speaker. But it’s when the board is flipped over that the interesting stuff starts. In place of the squidgy rubber keyboard of yore, it has a proper keyboard,. We’re not entirely sure which switch it uses, but it appears to be a decent one, nevertheless. The enclosure is a slick 3D-printed sub-netbook for retro gaming on the go. Sadly, it won’t edit Hackaday, so we won’t be slipping one in the pack next time we go on the road, but we like it a lot.

It’s not the first Spectrum laptop we’ve covered, but we think it has upped the ante over the last one. If you just want the Spectrum’s BASIC language experience, you can try a modern version that runs natively on your PC.

Tip Jar: That Elusive Creative Flow and How to Get ThereBy George Whitty and Ellis Hall, aka WHAT!!!!Ellis and George come to the creative process from two very different angles, but with the same goal in mind: getting the most inspired, unimpeded creative flow going when writing songs, finding a way to get up on the wave rather than slogging away in the trough.  Ellis has composed more than 4,000 songs in his lifetime and describes his process as grabbing hold of any fragment in his mind and taking the right instrument in hand and working to flesh it out from there. “My hands will start to tell me where to go be it on guitar or keyboard, and then just like a magical flow of water, it continues as my brain says OK, let’s go here or go there. Sometimes my brain goes way too fast, especially when it comes to the lyric. I love writing at all, but I particularly love writing the lyric.” George describes himself as a classic case of overly-perfectionistic writer’s block; even by age 30 he’d finished only a handful of songs.  What changed?  He got a gig writing music for As The World Turns, which paid about $60 per minute of music they used on the show.  “Go ahead, spend a year writing Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, you’d never make a dime. Volume was the secret to getting cues placed from the show’s library.” So George learned what he calls the “rule of 80%.” Get the cue to where it’s 80% good, then Keep Moving. Do the next section. Put it away and start the next one. Don’t get hung up or stop because it’s not The Perfect Cue To End All Cues. 80%. “The next day? Inevitably I’d start with fresh ears and get it to 90%. And that was often what I’d turn in. Twenty cues later, with this kind of crass pay-by-the-minute formula, my new 80% was where my previous 90% had been. And understanding my own process that way, I wrote 250 cues for that and two other shows. And finishing so many tracks got me to where I write with a great flow and typically don’t spend much more than a few inspired hours on a piece of music. “Die Living” from our new CD is an example; it pretty much sounded like the final cut after just a couple hours of good flow.” Some points to consider as you work to get the maximum positive flow to your writing:1.Ellis points out that to him, writing on the right Instrument helps him get in the groove.  “From our new CD, ‘Some Days Were Meant For Rain’ was written on guitar, ‘Itch In Your Ear’ started with a bass idea, ‘Soul Street’ I wrote on a keyboard,” he says.2.“Let each tune be what it is” suggests George. “Trying to shoehorn too much into one track starts an internal competition to make this many-headed hydra work. One focussed hydra head is better, the most direct line to a strong finished product. 3.From Ellis: “Flow with it while it’s flowing, but don’t force it. Once you are in that zone where you can’t sleep because of it, write then.” George adds: “Just get something going. You’ll know where it needs to go from there, and the more you write, the more sure your sense of what needs to come next”4.And on that note, “Learn to get things framed but not necessarily finished, so the ideas can keep flowing without you stopping to ‘perfect’ things;  the minute The Perfectionist shows up, half your mind is diverted off of the original inspiration” says George.5.Ellis likes to sit with a guitar or keyboard and get close to figuring the whole tune out before he hits “record.” He writes his lyrics on a Braille typewriter, but has the whole idea mostly composed without engaging any technology first. But George likes to hear a little something to build on, so he sketches into the machine as he goes. “Hearing it back without playing it myself prompts “what comes next,” he says.6.On that note, George advises to “get as fluid as you can using your software to quickly bang in ideas; any ‘mechanical’ impediment diverts resources from your creative side to your logical side.  Something as simple as a key command for “Record/Record Repeat” in Logic lets you execute takes as quickly as possible, so you don’t get bogged down in mechanics.”About Ellis Hall and George Whitty:  Ellis and George together are WHAT!!!!, a pairing of two master musicians, making a great modern Soul CD for the ages.  Ellis’s credits include 4 years singing lead and writing for Tower of Power, performing with The Spinners, Earth, Wind and Fire, Michael McDonald, and the Ray Charles Experience.  George is a multiple Grammy-winning, Emmy-winning composer, producer and player who has worked with Carlos Santana, Celine Dion, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Grover Washington and Richard Bona. The debut CD of WHAT!!!!, In The World dropped in January, and the first single, “Die Living,” is already reaching millions of listeners weekly on FM and Internet radio and streaming services. Follow them on Instagram at whittyhallartistteam or at whittyhall.com.The post Tip Jar: That Elusive Creative Flow and How to Get There first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Release details
Release title:
Plug the jug
Main artist name:
Plexine
Release date:
20th Dec, 2024
https://publme.lnk.to/Plugthejug
#newmusic #Release #Music #indepedent #artist #experimental #hiphop

Release details
Release title:
Jihadi Jackboy
Main artist name:
KingPollo
Release date:
1st Dec, 2024
https://publme.lnk.to/JihadiJackboy
#newmusic #Release #Music #indepedent #artist #trap #hiphop

Vevo DSCVR Artists To Watch: 2025: Shallipopi, Diss Gacha, TZ da CoronelThe final three Next Big Things to feature on Vevo's DSCVR Artists To Watch 2025 list...
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Behringer launches the Phara-o Mini, a synth inspired by “the mystical sounds of ancient Egypt”Behringer really is the brand that never stops, as it’s squeezed in another late 2024 release with the Egyptian-inspired Phara-o Mini synthesiser.
In stock and available for immediate shipping, this new launch offers a “gateway to the mystical sounds of ancient Egypt, embodying the spirit of the pharaohs and the mysteries of the pyramids,” according to Behringer.

READ MORE: Behringer channels the classic LinnDrum drum machine with the new LM drum

Given its mini title, this synth is of course portable, and is aptly decorated with hieroglyphs. It is an analogue polyphonic and programmable synth, with a pure analogue signal path based on authentic VCO, VCF, and VCA designs.
At its core, the Phara-o Mini is said to offer a unique filter architecture, inspired by the “complexity and intrigue of Egyptian mythology”, which is capable of crafting “unpredictable and otherworldly” tones. It hosts a trinity of VCOs, each offering saw or square waveforms to shape your sound, and users can also use the multi-mode ring modulator on square waves to unlock metallic effects.
It also has a 16-step motion sequencer to record knob movements and weave melodies, and you can experiment with a range of play modes, including poly, unison, octaves, fifths, ring unison, and ring poly.

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As Behringer often releases emulations of other classic gear items, some have questioned if it’s inspired by Korg’s Volca Keys, though Behringer does not state that this item is an emulation of any kind, and responding to a user on Facebook who suggested the Phara-o Mini is a clone, the brand simply replied “na”.
Certainly a release that nobody had on their bingo cards for 2024, reactions so far to the news have been mixed. One user on YouTube has referred to it as a “meme synth”, while others have pointed out that the launch video (which is the only video from the brand on the Phara-O Mini at the time of writing) doesn’t exactly give much detail, and is seemingly AI generated.
Take a look below:

The Phara-o Mini is available now for $99. Head over to Behringer  for more information. 
The post Behringer launches the Phara-o Mini, a synth inspired by “the mystical sounds of ancient Egypt” appeared first on MusicTech.

Jorge Brea: Trends that will shape the Music Business in 2025We begin a year end series today featuring forward thinking execs sharing what they see lies ahead for music and the music business in 2025. First up is Symphonic CEO Jorge Brea.
The post Jorge Brea: Trends that will shape the Music Business in 2025 appeared first on Hypebot.

AI Detection of Artists: YouTube and CAA partnerYouTube is joining forces with mega-agency CAA to create tools for AI detection of artists that protect their likenesses and identities.
The post AI Detection of Artists: YouTube and CAA partner appeared first on Hypebot.

Universal Music Group and Amazon Music ink new deal, including exclusive content… and with ‘Streaming 2.0’ at its heartUniversal Music Group (UMG) and Amazon Music have jointly announced a renewed worldwide licensing agreement today (December 23). According to a press release, the deal encompasses an “expanded global relationship that will enable further innovation, exclusive content with UMG artists, and advancement of artist-centric principles including increased fraud protection“. The PR claims that the deal … Continued
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