Variety of Sound releases epicVerb mkII, a FREE reverb plugin for Windows
From Variety of Sound comes epicVerb mkII, a free early-reflection-based reverb plugin for Windows. When Variety of Sound releases a new plugin or update, I like to imagine Windows users dancing and punching the air, like the Microsoft team did when launching Windows 95. Please don’t tell me otherwise. In any case, a Variety of [...]
View post: Variety of Sound releases epicVerb mkII, a FREE reverb plugin for Windows

No one has a good plan for how AI companies should work with the governmentAs OpenAI transitions from a wildly successful consumer startup into a piece of national security infrastructure, the company seems unequipped to manage its new responsibilities.

US authorities seek to recover $327K USDt from romance fraud schemeA February report claimed that Tether had frozen about $4.2 billion worth of its USDt stablecoin allegedly connected to illicit activities since 2023.

FILM - TV - THEATER - GAMES: DROPS for March '26Gibson Films premiered Volume One, the first installment of a limited music docuseries series called Iommi: The Godfather of Heavy Metal, streaming exclusively on Gibson TV throughout 2026. Best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of heavy metal icons Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi’s life and career—from his humble roots in the U.K.’s Birmingham to building a lasting, influential legacy across international stages—is captured in this series. Viewers are offered in-depth interviews with the likes of Brian May, Slash, Zakk Wylde, and Rob Halford, as well as Iommi himself. For more information, contact Libby Coffey at lcoffey@primeprgroup.com.

East West Players will present the world premiere of David Henry Hwang’s newly updated 2026 book for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song, opening in April at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center’s Aratani Theatre in Los Angeles. Directed by EWP Artistic Director Lily Tung Crystal, the production will serve as the finale of the company’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Legacy season and the final show before the venue’s major renovation. The reimagined musical will feature a cast led by Grace Yoo, Emily Kuroda, Marc Oka, and more, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Set in 1960s San Francisco Chinatown, the revival explores themes of identity, assimilation, and cultural legacy through a contemporary Asian American lens. Visit eastwestplayers.org for tickets and details.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), featuring an original score by Academy Award-, Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and GRAMMY-winning composer Hildur Gudnadóttir, is out now via Milan Records. The album accompanied the second chapter of the Nia DaCosta-directed horror saga, which is a dark exploration of survival, with a foreboding blend of strings, primal percussion, and unsettling instrumental effects. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, and Alfie Williams. Gudnadóttir made history with her soundtrack for Todd Phillips’ dark psychological thriller Joker when she became the first solo woman winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (Motion Picture) since the category’s introduction in 1947. For further details, contact Sarah Roche at sarah@whitebearpr.com.

In response to early demand, Pasadena Playhouse extended its production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus to now run through March 15. Directed by Tony Award-winner Darko Tresnjak, the production stars Tony winners Jefferson Mays as Salieri, Sam Clemmett as Mozart, and Tony nominee Lauren Worsham as Constanze, alongside a talented ensemble including Kenajuan Bentley, Matthew Patrick Davis, Jennifer Chang, and more. Theater goers will see rivals Antonio Salieri, the court’s celebrated musician, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the vulgar prodigy, go head to head in this beloved, award-winning and witty drama. Visit pasadenaplayhouse.org for tickets and more information or contact Peter Goldman at p.goldman@dcpublicity.com.

The digital soundtrack for Return to Silent Hill is out now, coinciding with the 20th anniversary since the first Silent Hill film hit theaters. Directed by Christophe Gans and starring Jeremy Irvine as James Sunderland, the film was based on Konami’s classic horror video game Silent Hill 2. The score was composed by longtime series collaborator and executive producer Akira Yamaoka, who revisited familiar melodies in tracks like “Chasing Laura” and “Moth Mary.” Yamaoka’s soundscape was intentionally composed not to tell listeners or viewers what to feel, but to leave them with an unsettling feeling of ambiguity. Contact Greg O'Connor-Read at greg@topdollarpr.com for more information.The post FILM - TV - THEATER - GAMES: DROPS for March '26 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Live Nation Antitrust Trial: 3 things to know as landmark case kicks off in New York courtHere are three things to know as the trial gets underway.
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SNES Controllers are (Almost) SPI-CompatibleConsidering that the Serial Peripheral Interface bus semi-standard has been around since the early 1980s, it’s perhaps not that shocking that the controllers of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) would take at least some strong design hints for the used protocol. This does however raise the question of exactly how compatible a SNES controller is when connected to the SPI master peripheral of any random MCU. Recently [James Sharman] set out to answer this question decisively.
The impetus for answering this question came after [James] designed a separate SNES controller board for his homebrew computer system, which led to many comments on that video saying that he could just have hooked the controller up to the SPI board in said homebrew system.
Here the short answer is that the SNES controller protocol is very close to SPI Mode-1, with a similar arrangement of clock/data/chip select (latch) lines and clocking. If you think of the SNES controller as an SPI device with just a MISO line, you’re basically there already. The only niggle that popped up was that the ‘MISO’ line does not get pulled into a high-impedance state when the active-low latch connection is pulled high.
This was fixable by introducing a 74HC125 tri-state buffer IC, after which both the original SD card and twin SNES controllers could be used simultaneously.

Agastya Jindal releases Aethis (FREE alpha), an all-in-one guitar plugin for macOS and Windows
Aethis, a new project from Agastya Jindal and billed as the “end-all, be-all guitar plugin,” is now in free alpha for macOS and Windows.  The project is basically a one-stop shop for classic and unique guitar tones. The plugin includes amp models, built-in FX, and an interesting Multivoicer. You’ve got everything you need to shape [...]
View post: Agastya Jindal releases Aethis (FREE alpha), an all-in-one guitar plugin for macOS and Windows

Battersea Audio ShaperShaper is Battersea Audio's endeavour to create an expressive tool that can instantly transform any audio source whatsoever into inspirational and rhythmic layers. Combining traditional sidechain plugins with 'trancegate' style sequencing. From very simple sidechain effects, to complex 32-beat volume or filter effects, Shaper is a unique tool that instantly can turn any audio into inspiration. Shaper: Includes a free library of 100+ creative starting points — from subtle movement to extreme chops and cinematic pulses. Extremely CPU efficient: no bloat. Perpetual license with lifetime updates — plus simple installation and a comprehensive user guide. Full MIDI automation for seamless automation. Limitless Creativity: Instant Inspiration: Create inspiring rhythmic patterns for synths, vocals, drums, or any source material. Advanced Sidechain: Go beyond simple 'Pumping' effects using the layering capabilities of SHAPER. Swing and Smooth: Dial in the exact rhythm you need with SWING and SMOOTH options. Read More

Watch Fred again.. perform with Thomas Bangalter during final night of Alexandra Palace residencyAfter joining the British DJ onstage in Paris in October last year for his first DJ set in 16 years, Daft Punk legend Thomas Bangalter has once again accompanied Fred again.. for a performance, this time to wrap up Fred again’s Alexandra Palace residency.
After teasing the collab in an Instagram story last week – which said the pair had been “in the studio all week” preparing [via DJ Mag] – Fred again brought out the Daft Punk hero for a set packed with mashups, including one of Fred’s Delilah with Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, and another of Fred’s Victory Lap 5 with Punk’s Aerodynamic.
You can see a multi-angle clip of the pair performing legendary Daft Punk hit, One More Time, below:

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Fred again’s recent Ally Pally residency consisted of four nights on 12, 13, 26 and 27 February. Thomas Bangalter was only present at the final show on Friday the 27th. Before Bangalter took to the stage on Friday, Fred again was joined by Ezra Collective, Joy Anonymous, BERWYN, Jamie T and Kano. The residency also featured appearances from Blanco, D Double E, JME and synth-pop act La Roux, who you might remember for the likes of Bulletproof and In for the Kill.

The post Watch Fred again.. perform with Thomas Bangalter during final night of Alexandra Palace residency appeared first on MusicTech.

Pro Synth Network: Synth South West Taking place on 21 March 2026 in the beautiful seaside resort of Dawlish, Pro Synth Network's debut event will see musicians, enthusiasts, creators and developers gather to celebrate their shared passion for electronic music creation and performance.

Win a FREE copy of Afro Percussion by Kumbengo (BPB Giveaway)
BPB is giving away five copies of Afro Percussion, a percussion engine plugin by Kumbengo. To enter, submit your email address here or use the form linked at the bottom of this article. This also subscribes you to the BPB weekly newsletter, which covers the latest freeware news, deals, and freebies. If you’re already subscribed, [...]
View post: Win a FREE copy of Afro Percussion by Kumbengo (BPB Giveaway)

Bitwig Studio 6 incoming Bitwig Studio 6 significantly overhauls the automation system, introduces a new Clip Alias function that provides a new way to manage a track’s structure, and delivers some new editing tools while making improvements to some of the existing line-up. 

Inside the Glitch Box: Andrew Huang’s custom multi-fx processor by Love HulténYouTuber and musician Andrew Huang has teamed up with Swedish synthmaker Love Hultén on a one-of-a-kind effects machine.
“This is a custom effects processor that I commissioned from Love Hultén, who for years has been creating these amazing things,” says the producer. The result is a bespoke, self-contained rig combining several of Huang’s favourite effects, housed in a chassis that feels very much in the orbit of Teenage Engineering’s design language.

READ MORE: The best free and paid-for plugins you need to know about this week

Dubbed the “Glitch Box” – though Huang has also playfully called it the “Refractor” or “Refraction Engine” – the unit brings together five pedals: the Empress Echosystem, Hologram Microcosm, Red Panda Tensor, Red Panda Raster V2 and Empress Reverb. Look closely and you can still spot the original pedals embedded within the chassis, revealing the chain at the heart of the design.
Explaining his rationale for commissioning the device, Huang says, “I’m someone who’s always combining my pedals in different ways and putting them in different orders and experimenting. So I never before would have considered immortalising a chain like this.”
“I can’t really take them out of here now, but I found this chain and I just really loved it for a lot of different use cases. And I figured if it was all in one place, self-contained, easy to move around, no mess of tons of cables, then I would just use it so much more.”
To make the unit more immediate and playable, the Glitch Box swaps traditional footswitches for tactile clicky buttons. Each effect has a yellow bypass button, while a larger arcade-style button acts as a kill switch.
Huang explains: “If I were using these pedals in their original format, [with] stomp switches, they’re built for feet. They take a little bit to hit them down. And here it’s just such a quick on and off with any of them.”
On the kill switch, he adds, “This switch cuts the sound, but it’s actually before the final reverb in the chain… and then with the reverb off the kill switch is also just great for little stutter effects.”
And instead of conventional VU meters, the Glitch Box features a ferrofluid visualiser that reacts dynamically to the audio output, adding to the whole sci-fi- aesthetic.
Check out the device in action below.

The post Inside the Glitch Box: Andrew Huang’s custom multi-fx processor by Love Hultén appeared first on MusicTech.

To weave her art-pop “3D tapestry”, KÁRYYN rewires herself: “I must come undone”Midway through our discussion of KÁRYYN’s forthcoming album PULL, she makes a bold claim. “I am not really making music,” she asserts. “I am collaging sounds together, and I’m thinking about the sound in a 3D way. It is a 3D tapestry.”
Over the course of an hour, it becomes clear exactly what the Syrian-Armenian American means. Start with the record’s full title: PHYSICS. UNIVERSAL. LOVE. LANGUAGE. Entwining KÁRYYN’s longstanding interests in neuroscience, quantum physics and Eastern philosophy, PULL is part of her enduring goal to articulate what it means to be human – all through the language of science and technology.
KÁRYYN on the MusicTech Cover. Image: Fiona Garden for MusicTech
It’s a mission so ambitious and entrancing that it’s taken KÁRYYN over 15 years to complete this record, having started it a decade before her debut album, THE QUANTA SERIES, which was released 2019. But that passage of time has enriched PULL with a wealth of life experience – along with lessons learned from musicians including Pauline Oliveros, James Ford and Hudson Mohawke. The latter two co-produced PULL, an art-pop album that’s both comforting and striking in its raw openness.
“I’m not out to make music,” she affirms once again. “I’m out to express something: to find out what this feeling is about, what it means. That takes time.”
“I absolutely want to bring the most exciting, sick, visual, visceral sounds to the forefront of pop music”
When MusicTech meets KÁRYYN at an east London cafe, her larger-than-life personality echoes the epic, futuristic feel of her music. As she describes how she makes her songs, she sings her lyrics out loud. She refers to herself in third person when discussing her lyrics, and represents her perception of non-linear time by noodling a glass of water between our plates.
“Time is a major collaborator,” she says as she edges the glass along. She recounts the last few years through examples of things her future self would whisper to her during the creative process: “‘No, that can’t work;’ ‘sorry, you’re going to be disappointed about that, but here you are, and you’re emerging’. How do you get over here” – she drags the glass to the window – “and be joyful and also know that everything sucked?”
Born in Alabama, KÁRYYN grew up in Indiana, spending her teenage years in Los Angeles. In the summers, she would also visit Aleppo, where her diasporic Armenian family originally fled to after the Armenian genocide. KÁRYYN would eventually attend Mills College in Oakland, studying under experimental legend Pauline Oliveros. Her concept of “deep listening” would resonate for KÁRYYN in and out of music: “That idea of really listening to the environment and echolocating, you put a signal out, then it comes back. Then what do you have? You respond. That’s how I am in life and in music.”
Image: Fiona Garden for MusicTech
While she made songs using a Korg Kaoss pad in her bedroom, she began playing furious punk-jazz shows in Los Angeles, making beats by smashing light bulbs and experimenting with tapes on stage. But between 2010 and 2015, she moved to New York and “left” music, dedicating herself to being “among people who are much better than me so that I could learn”.
“I was like, ‘[music] makes me really happy’ – and then I was like, ‘this sucks,’” she adds. “I just want to be creative.” But enticed by the allure of songwriting, KÁRYYN would return to making music, writing the bulk of PULL during a stint in Berlin. She’d meet people, co-write an opera praised by Björk, and collect the lessons she’d write about on the record. “I travelled and I lived my life,” she says. “I lived it with great… focus. By the end of 2016, I’d written everything other than End To Knowing You.”
Most tracks start with KÁRYYN and her Kaoss Pad, which she calls an “extension of my voice” – which she understands as its own technology. “What I use it most for is my weaving,” she says, returning to her 3D tapestry. “It’s very tactile, having that pad – it’s a part of me.” She received the KP3 model in 2006 and began “sourcing” (her word for “jamming”) to create songs.
Image: Fiona Garden for MusicTech
Take the beginning of Collapse Phase. “The genesis of that is me and my Kaoss pad, doing some loops, but then using the Pad Motion granular synth, which took my voice and then made it into a beat. I did the Pad Motion and then it did this” – she mimics a breathtaking swell, then the expulsion of skittering notes – “I was like, ‘oh my god’! I instantly started to do a rhythm on the bass sound, singing, ‘I’m ready for this collapse phase’. So that’s how it all works for me in the beginning.”
Using the Kaoss pad to granulise and chop up vocal samples allows KÁRYYN to deconstruct herself – reflecting her interest in neuroplasticity, or literally rewiring yourself. “It’s incredible to hear myself fragmented that way and then come back together, which is really my process: ‘I must come undone. Then, how do I rearrange myself?’” she explains. “The album is very much about that.”
Despite the heady philosophies behind the album, PULL is thoroughly accessible – each cut has some sticky melody, some infectious groove that ensures you’re in tune with her headspace. PULL was always intended to be a pop record, she says, citing the thrilling sound design of hyperpop and Katy Perry’s chart hit ‘E.T’ as inspirations (“that song is so juicy and catchy”).
“I absolutely want to bring the most exciting, sick, visual, visceral sounds to the forefront of pop music,” KÁRYYN affirms. “To me, [the album’s] not experimental – these are just incredible sounds we’re making.”
“This is really my process: ‘I must come undone. Then, how do I rearrange myself?’”
To achieve the specific sounds KÁRYYN was chasing, she first had to find collaborators who understood her intuitive approach to music. She’s studied the basics of synthesis, of course, but admits she’s no expert. “I’m comfortable with not knowing,” she adds. “But also just saying ‘I’m curious’, as a woman, that is powerful to feel.”
KÁRYYN found that understanding in producer James Ford, who commenced work with her in 2019. “I loved working with KÁRYYN,” he tells MusicTech over email. “She has a clear artistic vision and pushed me to find new and innovative processes to create a palette of sounds that fit her world. We used some synths but mainly lots of KÁRYYN’s voice, processed to make textures, drums and melodic elements.”
Ford might not seem like the most likely collaborator: He’s better known for his work with indie staples like Arctic Monkeys or Fontaines D.C., and on paper, their differing approaches to music shouldn’t mesh. Ford’s attitude is “sounds good, feels good”, while KÁRYYN starts with a specific visual she wants to achieve. But his openness was key to realising her vivid visions on the album.
Image: Fiona Garden for MusicTech
One brief that KÁRYYN gave him was: “I want a sound like cicadas as the sun is fragmenting through the leaves.” In response, Ford turned to the Deckard’s Dream (Yamaha CS-80 clone) to create crystalline sounds, like the delicate stabs on Keeper. “It was so empowering to work with somebody who is so deeply present,” KÁRYYN adds.
It helped that Ford had access to a swathe of coveted synths that created a sonic tactility essential to PULL and its immersive nature. The Oberheim Matrix produced the warm, glassy sounds found throughout the album, especially on End To Knowing You, while the Roland SH-101 created the scattered bassline on Forward. Ford also cites the ARP 2600 and the Juno 106 as some of the gear they worked with.
They used Mutable Instruments’ Rings and Clouds on Collapse Phase, which has a whipping, gravitational feel and takes inspiration from the phase of a dying star transitioning into a black hole. KÁRYYN was improvising with the synth modules, searching for a sound that would depict the overwhelming pull of a collapse phase.
Image: Fiona Garden for MusicTech
“We were recording, and it was taking forever,” she recalls. “I was just like, ‘wait a little more!’ [Ford]’s the most patient person… and then suddenly we just got a WHOOMP, WHOO WHOO WHOO WHOO WHOO! I was like, there it is: that is the black hole.”
Though the pair eventually completed work on the album, KÁRYYN felt she needed a second perspective on the record – so she turned to Hudson Mohawke. Following the release of the Scottish producer’s album Cry Sugar in 2021, they got together in the spring to work on the record. “He was so dedicated,” KÁRYYN recalls. “He put so much of himself into helping me finish the album.”
The duo share a love of “wild, awesome sounds”, and Mohawke’s precise ear helped KÁRYYN drill down into the details. For instance, he helped refine the mighty, clanging snare on Mind Over Heart – a track where KÁRYYN expresses exhaustion over a flighty lover. Taking inspiration from the viscerality of Alan Lomax’s chain gang field recordings, they bashed rocks with metal, recording the results and infusing them in the snare. “It’s very hard to hold space for someone that keeps letting you down,” KÁRYYN says of the song. “That snare, I wanted it to feel like hard work.”
Earlier in our conversation, KÁRYYN reflects on the challenges female producers can face commanding respect in music. The creative relationship she had with Mohawke was “important” to her, she says. “He’s respecting me back, he’s telling me what he thinks and what he sees. I’m learning about myself, and I’m really lucky. I earned it all – I feel proud of that.”
“I am not really making music. I am collaging sounds together… It is a 3D tapestry”
In the years of making PULL, KÁRYYN said that she felt she had “something to prove to myself”. “I wanted to become a great producer of my work,” she explains. “I don’t necessarily have the aspiration to be a producer… I want to just be more me, and less of whatever became of me – when I was trying to prove myself as a kid, as a teenager, or in my 20s. Or really empty aspirations to ‘make it’, whatever the hell that meant.”
KÁRYYN says she’s proud of herself for trusting the long route to the album; to be willing to wait, to cultivate the life experiences necessary, and to learn from others. “It wasn’t easy in the beginning,” she says. “I didn’t have the wisdom to think of things in this way – that spiritual technology for thinking and feeling is a major part.”
Image: Fiona Garden for MusicTech
“This album made me as much as I made this album,” she adds. “This is a journey and it has its right time to emerge, because the subject matter she’s singing about and the things that she’s saying, I need it now more than ever.”
She hesitates to say whether these 17 years have paid off; after all, the album’s not out yet. But she is clear about how she hopes listeners receive it.
“I don’t care about ‘liking’,” she asserts. “What did it make you feel?”
KÁRYYN’s album PHYSICS. UNIVERSAL. LOVE. LANGUAGE (PULL) is out on Mute Records on May 29.
Words: Alex Rigotti
Photography: Fiona Garden
Hair: Claire Moore
Makeup: Dasha Taivas
Location: Silverspace Studios
The post To weave her art-pop “3D tapestry”, KÁRYYN rewires herself: “I must come undone” appeared first on MusicTech.

Kalshi founder provides update on Iran's Khamenei market carveoutThe prediction platform said it would reimburse users and resolve markets to the last-traded price before the death of the Iranian leader was confirmed.