Nexterity wants to automate the hard, dangerous part of pipefittingThe startup's robot can tighten or loosen four bolts at a time, and it fits in a Pelican case.

Tuneform FlexScopeFlexScope is a stabilized, oscilloscope visualizer plugin by Tuneform. It provides a granular way to inspect the shape of your sounds by stabilizing the audio waveform in real-time to make detailed visual monitoring more legible. Features: Left/Right Stereo, Mid/Side, & Mono Channel Displays. Resizable Window. Separate Configuration Window. Adjustable Waveform Color & Waveform Styles. Reference: FlexScope Feature Walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcuowEB9YeE FlexScope Product Page: https://tuneform.com/audio-plugins/flexscope-visualizer-plugin FlexScope User Manual: https://support.tuneform.com/flexscope-visualizer-plugin-user-manual/ Read More

A 7-Segment Clock Built With No Digital ElectronicsIf you wanted to build a clock with a 7-segment display, there are a wide variety of ways you might go about it. You could grab some 74-series logic chips and create a whole bunch of counters and decoders to drive the display, or you could wire up a microcontroller with an RTC and have it do the hard work. Or, as a Japanese company once did… you could create a “digital” looking clock with no digital electronics whatsoever.
The geared mechanism and switch contacts are visible; they switch the neons of the various segments on and off at the correct times. Credit: YouTube video
[Mark Furneaux] set about tearing down a Lumitime clock, built by the Japanese company Tamura. From the outside, it appears to be a rather stylish digital clock, with a bold red 7-segment display lit with neons. And in some regards, it is. Only, the secret of this clock is that it doesn’t use digital electronics to do the job. There are no counters inside, no real-time clock module, no transistor-based logic chips doing the counting with the output of a 32.768 KHz crystal. Instead, a motor drives a series of gears that turn metal plates that move under sliding finger contacts. The gear train and the metal plates are designed such that the contacts turn the various segment neons on in the correct sequence to display the current time. It’s like a player piano, only instead of playing a tune, it’s switching the segments of a display on and off to display the right numerals at the right time.
It’s a neat way to do a “digital” clock from an era when proper digital electronics were still very expensive. We’ve seen all kinds of whacky 7-segment clocks before, too, like this amusing water-based build. Video after the break.

Capitol/UMe celebrates the 20th anniversary of Bob Seger's Face The PromiseAvailable for the first time on streaming services, the Expanded Edition features four bonus tracks—"Time," "Little Jane," "Red Eye to Memphis," and "Let Me Try"—and is also available on 2LP black vinyl featuring a gatefold jacket and 12-page LP-sized booklet.

Newly remastered by longtime Bob Seger mastering engineer Robert Vosgien, the Expanded Edition includes the hit singles "Wait for Me" and "Wreck This Heart." Among the album's highlights is "The Answer's In The Question," Seger's duet with Patty Loveless. In 2023, Seger helped induct Loveless into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Originally released on September 12, 2006, Face The Promise marked Seger's 16th studio album. Acclaimed by critics and embraced by fans, it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA just three months later.

Twenty years after its release, Face The Promise remains one of the defining statements in Seger's catalog, reaffirming the songwriting, grit, and heartland spirit that made him one of America's most enduring rock artists.

Seger is an inductee of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The 2015 Billboard Legend of Live honoree's catalog has earned 13 platinum and 8 multi-platinum RIAA Certified sales awards, including his Diamond-certified Greatest Hits, which remains a perennial bestseller. Seger is Capitol Records' longest-tenured solo artist in the label’s storied history.

"With the new Face The Promise, Mr. Seger gets back in the game and sounds as if he hasn't lost a step. The first single, 'Wait for Me,' is a sweeping ballad, but much of the album … is a surprisingly hard-rocking effort." —The New York Times

"… this fine new album, a record that easily stands shoulder to shoulder with his albums, 'The Distance' and 'Against the Wind' … the songs are so rich—rising choruses crashing against majestic chords, bumper-sticker lyrics leaping out of the pounding rock—that 'Face The Promise' sounds like another Seger classic from the first moment. When it comes to real-life American rock heroes, the voice of the heartland and all that, Bob Seger is the real deal." —San Francisco Chronicle

"[Seger] has crafted a disc of straightforward, R&B-infused rock that owes much to the sound of his classics from the '70s and '80s. Seger is a master of the graceful, melodic, mid-tempo ballad, and his new tunes 'Wait for Me' and 'The Long Goodbye' are among his finest compositions." —Chicago Sun-Times

"The killer moment comes during the title track, a barreling piece of songwriting with spidery Duane Eddy-style guitar.… Seger offers more dead-on renderings of his Michigan-sired rock as though it's the hottest new style in town, burning significant rubber on 'Wreck This Heart' and ascending to heights of dashboard eloquence on 'Wait for Me.'" —Rolling Stone

"The Motor City rocker is still the same, rolling out sweaty arena anthems with no signs of rust or depreciation.… the champion of 'Old Time Rock & Roll' is making good-time rock 'n' roll with the same heartland hardiness." —USA Today

"The Midwesterner's new disc highlights his unadorned, plainspoken style, best experienced on rugged blue-collar ruminations like 'Wreck This Heart.' This is satisfying meat-and-potatoes rock." —Entertainment Weekly

"Now comes the long-awaited 'Face The Promise' … The new album is an authoritative song cycle filled with contemporary variations on classic Seger themes.…Face The Promise rocks with the same ferocious intensity that characterized his classic Seventies albums." —Guitar World Acoustic

Track Listing*

LP1 SIDE ONE

1.     Wreck This Heart

2.     Wait For Me

3.     Face The Promise

4.     No Matter Who You Are

LP1 SIDE TWO

1.     Are You

2.     Simplicity

3.     No More

4.     Real Mean Bottle (duet with Kid Rock)

5.     Won’t Stop

LP2 SIDE THREE

1.     Between

2.     The Answer’s In The Question (duet with Patty Loveless)

3.     The Long Goodbye

LP2 SIDE FOUR Expanded Edition Bonus Tracks

1.     Time

2.     Little Jane

3.     Red Eye To Memphis

4.     Let Me Try

* CD, Digital Download, and Streaming configurations are the same sequence of tracks.

50 years ago in the now-defunct Melody Maker periodical, I interviewed Bob Seger just after his Night Moves LP garnered platinum album status and a gold album for Live Bullet.

I had briefly encountered him previously in 1975 one night at a pizza joint in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd when he was at a table sitting next to me and my girlfriend Fran at the time. He was impressed when I rattled off the LP titles of his Detroit-based group The Bob Seger System, and that I knew Glenn Frey of the Eagles got his first recording studio job singing back-up and playing guitar on his hit single, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.’

We had a brief chat about the legendary Michigan music man Del Shannon. In 1964, Shannon produced a demo session for Seger, and then gave acetates of their work to Dick Clark. Del had been on one of the Clark American Bandstand-fueled tours in 1965. By 1966, Seger was recording for the Philadelphia-based Camero Records.  

I told him we’d schedule an interview in the very near future. A PR person at Capitol Records then subsequently arranged an interview for us.

I asked Seger how he liked Detroit as a musical/creative environment?

"That's where my friends are. That's where my family is. Detroit is where I get the news. I've been to every restaurant in Detroit," he laughs.

"I don't know if I could look that deep and say my lyrics or the music reflect Detroit. Everywhere else I see the inside of hotels and concert halls. I like the lifestyle of Detroit. The Motor City Madness. Ten Years ago it was one-tenth the size. There's room in the industry now for myself, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop.

The emergence of FM radio in the last Sixties has been Bob Seger's life-line to survival. In the last couple of years, a new Seger album or a single like ‘Night Moves’ is played months before the Gods determine who gets on the AM radio dial.

"Some good tunes start on the FM band and cross over to AM FM radio for rock stations is needed. More slots for people to be heard. People like myself, Bruce Springsteen, Graham Parker, Mink de Ville, Southside Johnny, Frankie Miller can be heard on the radio."

With Stranger In Town, Bob Seger and the Sliver Bullet Band have broken new territory. Not a concept album, a theme project or string symphony, it tackles other topics than roadwork, romance, and partying.

"I've written the first ballad I've ever done. When I say ballad, I mean a real slow song. You have to strive to break new turf. There's a song on the new album, 'Feel Like A Number', which is about alienation. And the title track is about fear and alter ego.

"'Brave Strangers' is about the end of a relationship. It's a motif I've ever done before. It was a challenge. We're knocked out by the tune and have been playing it in our show the last two months.

"There's a line in 'Brave Strangers', 'Radio blasting silly little love songs, we only listen to the beat.' And that's the key line to that song. That's the way it was back then. I write songs and want them to translate to the stage.

"When I write now, I tend to think about important things. Things that still excite me. 'Night Moves' was about youthful passion and the danger of letting that slip away. My songs are autobiographically rooted 'cause I'm not writing hypothetically. You work on a theme.

"Sometimes it's external, commenting about society. When you write a song that means a lot to you, you can put down 50 verses and pick the best ones. If you write fiction, it's a lot tougher to write it."

Live Bullet, a two-record set of live Seger songs, was issued over a year ago as a ‘holding action’ while Night Moves was still being finished. However, a year later the disc is still on full rotation on many major radio playlists.

Live Bullet is probably the best introduction to Bob Seger. The versions of ‘Beautiful Loser’ and ‘Travelin' Man’ on the live long player are classic gritty Seger. A fusion of Dave Van Ronk and James Brown.

"That night we played well. We deliberately played away from the 16-track machines rolling and to the audience. We were able to take more chances and work harder. I liked the idea of bringing in the audience and getting them involved.

"We also cut Live Bullet in our hometown. The people have heard the songs thousands of times. Sometimes you get careful in the studio and you can stretch out during a live performance. You take risks.

"There's a big influence of James Brown in the Silver Bullet Band. I used to see his shows years ago and modelled myself after him. He moves so well."

I remember when Seger was playing the Whisky A Go Go in 1973. He seemed clumsy and awkward doing the lead guitar chores. Shortly afterwards, he dropped his axe and concentrated on singing.

"A weight was lifted from my shoulder when I stopped playing lead guitar,” he admitted. “I started developing as a singer and concentrated on the performance aspect of my career."

Through the last few years, Seger has vacillated between Capitol and Warner Brothers Records, before signing a long-term pact with Capitol. The earlier Capitol regime, and to some extent even today, seems more at ease marketing Beatles and Beatles-related products than grooming new acts, and mainstays on the label. Was Bob ever discouraged during the lean years? There was almost a decade between top 30 singles (‘Ramblin' Gamblin' Man’ to ‘Night Moves’)

"One time I quit and even enrolled in college for about six weeks. It was after the Noah album in 1969. It resulted from having a big national hit with 'Ramblin' Gamblin' Man' and no follow-up. It was a simple loss of confidence. But I came back and stuck with it."

Seger has been a Midwest legend for years. And while the rest of the world discovers this fellow, Detroit and Cobo Hall are well represented on the live set.

"They are the best audience in the world. We could always headline in the Midwest years back. I even did a stadium show last year. This last time I was able to go out in public was in 1975. It's wonderful that the people know who I am, but I don't like the on-the-street adulation. Detroit audiences are the best to play for, but the toughest to please.

"The show we will do for England will be a bit longer than usual, and we'll incorporate some of the material we've been doing as early as the Bachman-Turner Overdrive tour of 1974: 'Heavy Music,' 'Bo Diddley' — some of the real early stuff, the things that helped us get our feet through the door."

I wondered if financial reward and/or Top 30 success made it easier or tougher to prepare for Stranger In Town.

"I've always made music. It's what I enjoyed, whether making money or not. I've been doing it for 15 years and successfully for the last three. The main thing money will buy for me is privacy. I was able to pay off all my debts, and my house is paid for.

"There's no guarantee something will happen when you sit down to write a song. It's the most frustrating thing in the world. You look at a blank sheet of paper, and you have to fill it up. The major differences in my songwriting now, as opposed to three or four years back, is if I really like a certain song, I'll work on that song really hard.

"I used to write a million songs, but I would put same amount of effort into each one. That's the only thing that's changed. If I'm really committed to a song, I'll work and work on it until it just can't be improved, and that's what I did on 'Night Moves', that particular song."

There's one subject that Bob Seger loves to talk about — Bruce Springsteen. "I've got an affinity with Bruce Springsteen, Graham Parker and Southside Johnny. We're rockers with blues roots.

"I've met Bruce a few times and really like him. It just fried me out to think that he had independently developed the same type of group out of New Jersey. I enjoy him because I see a lot of my approach in his work.

"The first time I saw him was in March of 1975 when Born To Run was released. I saw him in Ann Arbor. It was a phenomenal show. Blew my mind. Freaked me out.'

"I had already written part of the Night Moves album and the performance was an extra incentive to finish the rest of the tunes. I locked myself in a room for two weeks and finished the album.

"It was easier for me to finish up Night Moves when I heard Born To Run. Something signalled I wasn't alone any more. There's some one else who thinks like I think. The movie American Graffiti triggered another response and made me think back when I was a teenager. Break into new themes."

It's not unusual to hear some vintage Seger sounds over the Whiskey sound system of the Starwood's p.a. during a break in live action. In fact, a lot of the new wave and punk rock bands I talk to acknowledge Seger as an influence. Punk rock journals and fanzines are compiling definite discographies on Seger's history. Could Bob see his influence on the new wave?

"Yeah, I think Ted Nugent, and myself, have a link with the new bands. For the main reason that it's all pretty aggressive music. You won't see Ted or myself ever doing 'Bridge Over Troubled Water.'

"I'd imagine some of the new groups like my roots. I have a bond with the Fifties as opposed to the Sixties, where a lot of our big successes now — Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles — are basically influenced by the Sixties. A lot of the punk rock groups touch the primal attitude of Fifties rock music.

"I play very directly to my audience and need energy feedback from them. This seems to be a parallel to the new wave and their audience."

What's all the more likeable about Bob Seger is that after the hits he remains just as accessible, with an ear to the street.

"When you close yourself, you lose all contact. You have to meet your audience. I'm sensitive to reviews, and I'm sensitive. I have nothing to hide — it's all in the grooves."

(Harvey Kubernik is the author of 21 books, including 2009’s Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon, 2014’s Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972, 2015's Every Body Knows: Leonard Cohen, 2016's Heart of Gold Neil Young and 2017's 1967: A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love.   

Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz. In 2021, they wrote Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child for Sterling/Barnes and Noble. 

Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s Docs That Rock, Music That Matters. His Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Scenes) was published in 2026 by BearManor Media. Kubernik is working on a book on the Beatles for fall 2027 publication.   

Harvey wrote the liner notes to CD re-releases of Carole King’s Tapestry, The Essential Carole King, Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish, Elvis Presley The ’68 Comeback Special, The Ramones’ End of the Century and Big Brother & the Holding Company Captured Live at The Monterey International Pop Festival.     Harvey spoke at the special hearings in 2006 initiated by the Library of Congress held in Hollywood, California, discussing archiving practices and audiotape preservation. 

In 2017, he appeared at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in its Distinguished Speakers Series and as a panelist discussing the forty-fifth anniversary of The Last Waltz at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2023.)The post Capitol/UMe celebrates the 20th anniversary of Bob Seger's Face The Promise first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Expressive E update the Osmose Now available as a free update for all users, the Osmose firmware version 2.3 update offers enhanced DAW control and free access to the company’s Ctrl-e software platform. 

Synchro Arts unveil VocAlign 7 Synchro Arts VocAlign 7 introduces a new multitrack GUI that allows users to view, manage and align every vocal in their session from a single workspace. 

How to make lo-fi chord progressions: A beginner’s guide
Learn how to craft memorable lo-fi chord progressions that blend jazzy color, softness, and emotional nuance.

Sound designers and SFX libraries launch Professional Sound Alliance to fight AI scraping: ‘Now sound will have protection of our own’The Alliance says it was formed in response to two forms of unauthorized use, which it calls Data Piracy and Sync Piracy.
Source

“This is one of the biggest weeks for Maschine sound content we’ve ever had”: Native Instruments rolls out Maschine 3.7 update – alongside three new expansion packsIt’s been a tumultuous year for Native Instruments, which kicked off the year in January by announcing it had entered preliminary insolvency proceedings. CEO Nick Williams was quick to reassure producers in the NI ecosystem that business would continue as usual, but following its acquisition by inMusic in May, the company reportedly saw a round of layoffs, followed by the alleged closure of Native Instruments UK in pursuit of the simplification of its “organisational and legal structure”.
The rapidly changing situation at Native Instruments initially left producers wondering about the continued support they’d receive for their NI products, which include soft synth platform Massive, industry standard sampler Kontakt, plus the Traktor DJ ecosystem, and physical hardware like the Maschine production and beatmaking station.
But updates for these products have continued, with Maschine being the latest to receive a sweeping new update. And it arrives right on time for the 30th anniversary of Native Instruments. 

READ MORE: Apple opens new 600-capacity music venue in London’s Battersea Power Station

Yep, Maschine 3.7 has landed, and comes as a free update for all Maschine 3 users. New features include the introduction of a Random Note Generator, Euclidean Sequencer, and a new Note Event (Chance) function, with which Maschine re-rolls a note’s chance value on each loop so the pattern continuously evolves, while any take can be locked in when it feels right.

The new update arrives alongside three new paid expansion packs, too: Thirty, a 30th-anniversary collection that “resamples and reimagines highlights from across Native Instruments’ catalogue”; Paris Heat, a French house-inspired pack built for “future-facing” club music; and Rage Circuit, a rage and hypertrap collection built in partnership with Grammy-winning producer Snipe Young.
Specifically, Thirty comes loaded with 30 Maschine kits, 89 loops, 291 drum samples and 85 one-shots, Paris Heat comes with 40 Maschine kits, 108 loops, 314 drum samples and 127 one-shots, and Rage Circuit arrives with 41 Maschine kits, 291 loops, 375 drum samples and 37 one-shots, comprising “huge 808s, hyper-digital leads” and more.
“30 years is a moment worth celebrating. This milestone couldn’t be reached without the producers and musicians who took NI’s instruments and made history with them,” says Tim Adnitt, Senior Director of Product Management at Native Instruments. 
“Maschine 3.7 gives those producers and musicians new ways to write, sequence, and perform, and with Thirty, Paris Heat, and Rage Circuit arriving together, this is one of the biggest weeks for Maschine sound content we’ve ever had.”
Price-wise, the general Maschine 3.7 update is completely free for Maschine 3 users, while the Thirty expansion pack is $30/€30, and Paris Heat and Rage Circuit are both $49/€49.
Learn more at Native Instruments.
The post “This is one of the biggest weeks for Maschine sound content we’ve ever had”: Native Instruments rolls out Maschine 3.7 update – alongside three new expansion packs appeared first on MusicTech.

DAWception is a FREE mini DAW that runs inside your DAW
JohnmanJohnston has released DAWception, a free and open-source mini DAW that runs as a VST3 plugin inside another digital audio workstation. The developer created it as a pretty clever workaround for the track limits in lower-tier software such as Ableton Live Lite, which allows a maximum of 8 audio and MIDI tracks. You can load [...]
View post: DAWception is a FREE mini DAW that runs inside your DAW

“He said, ‘Okay, just keep playing it over and over again’”: Rick Rubin on Jay-Z’s insane ability to write lyrics off the cuffWhen Rick Rubin released his 2023 book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, it allowed readers a peek into his unconventional creative process. For some, his admission that he “knows noting about music” is divisive; some love Rubin’s free spirit, while others are more critical of his approach. However, some artists Rubin has worked with are a lot more private about their process – namely Jay-Z.
In a new eight-part HBO docu-series, JAŸ-Z IN 8, Rubin sits down with Jay-Z to unpack his 30 years in music. And the experience has made Rubin reflect on his own time working alongside the rapper. In a new appearance on Diary of a CEO, the producer recalls working with Jay-Z on his 2003 record, The Black Album, emphasising just how sharp Jay-Z’s lyrical mind is. “Jay-Z wrote in a way that no one else wrote,” he says.

READ MORE: James Hype reveals ridiculous new 16-DECK DJ rig – and Deadmau5 loves it

In the studio, Rubin was astounded to find how Jay-Z could reel lyrics entirely off-the-cuff, essentially penning an entire track in his head. 99 Problems, for example, was never put down on paper – Jay-Z just thought about it for half an hour, and then went straight into the recording booth. “All the other rappers that I worked with spent a lot of time writing lyrics, and I never saw Jay write lyrics,” Rubin admits. “When I played him the beat for 99 Problems, he said, ‘okay, just keep playing it over and over again.’”
“He sat in the back of the room, and you could hear him mumbling and humming,” he continues. “After 20 or 30 minutes, he’s like, ‘okay, I got it’. Then he ran into the other room and did the first verse… He just remembered it.”

Of course, Jay-Z did a few takes to nail the flow, but those first lyrics were exactly what ended up on the iconic track. “He did several takes, and each of the takes, the words were the same, but the cadence was different,” Rubin says. “It was almost as if a saxophonist was playing a solo… [the player] knows how the solo goes, but every time [they] play it, [they] play a little different.”
After three takes, Jay-Z apparently decided that the second take was best. Verse one was done. “Then he sat back down and he did the same thing again about another half hour later [for the second verse],” Rubin explains. “He’s like, ‘let’s do the next one!’ It just happened in his mind. It’s a really unusual skill set… I don’t know how he can remember!”

Considering Jay-Z’s ability to conjure up timeless lyrical quips and genre-defining rap songs, Rubin is glad he’s finally shedding more light on Jay-Z the poet,. “[People] think of him as a billionaire businessman… most of what we think about him isn’t ‘poet’…” Rubin explains. “So I thought shedding light on the poet, the lyricist, the artistry of Jay-Z was a really interesting thing.”
While Jay-Z’s ability continues to confound Rubin, he’s done a decent job bewildering and aiding musicians over the years. Not only did he revitalising Johnny Cash’s career with 1994’s American Recordings, but he also explains that he had him meditating, too.
While some practices can’t be taught, Rubin lands on meditation as a key aid for artists to add to their process – because “spiritual connection” is a big part of creativity. “I meditated with Tom Petty and Johnny Cash and different artists before sessions,” he reveals. “That would be part of our practice. Red Hot Chili Peppers, we would sit and meditate together before sessions…. it’s probably the most profound thing I can mention. We’ll get to others, but [meditation] is one learnable, practicable action that really changed who I am.”
JAŸ-Z IN 8 is out now on HBO.

The post “He said, ‘Okay, just keep playing it over and over again’”: Rick Rubin on Jay-Z’s insane ability to write lyrics off the cuff appeared first on MusicTech.

Inside 5 of Los Angeles’s best hi-fi bars: Where they are and why they sound so goodIn 2018, the first hi-fi bar in the United States opened in Los Angeles. It was called In Sheep’s Clothing. While that establishment unfortunately closed in 2020 during the pandemic, it started a trend of hi-fi bars and spaces spreading all over the City of Angels. Hollywood. The beach. Northeast LA. Downtown. No matter the neighborhood, a place to have a drink and listen to a top-tier sound system in LA is never too far away.

READ MORE: VinylCon attendees tell us why “proper ownership and proper preservation” keep them hooked on physical music formats

As MusicTech reported earlier this year at VinylCon Los Angeles, the explosion in vinyl sales has sparked greater interest in hi-fi listening, and these spaces can serve as entry points to showcase analog quality.
I meet with the owners and curators of hi-fi bars all around Los Angeles to learn the systems they installed, how they fit each space, and how they contribute their individual aesthetics.
Gold Line. Image: Press
1. Gold Line
“People want to have a good time and let loose. That doesn’t mean the system has to sound bad”
Gold Line opened in Highland Park the same year as In Sheep’s Clothing, but thankfully this spot was able to survive the pandemic, making it the oldest hi-fi bar in the country. Curation is taken seriously at Gold Line — Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw Records and co-owner of the bar, has stocked the shelves with thousands of his own records for DJs to play on the system.
“The best DJ sets here are people who come in and freestyle it,” says Jason McGuire, co-owner of Gold Line and general manager of Stones Throw. “They have access to 3,000 records within arm’s reach, and Wolf goes through all of these.”
“It’s perfectly curated. You just grab something, put it on, and it’s pretty good,” adds Jake Viator, who designed the Gold Line sound system as part of the audio purveyor Analog Workshop. He also built the Stones Throw studio that is upstairs from Gold Line.
The bar has two sets of stereo speakers. The front has two Altec Lansing Malibus among the various Japanese whiskey bottles on offer. The Malibus are flipped over so the horns are at ear level. The wider lounge in the back has two Altec Lansing Valencia 846B speakers. Both sets are powered by a McIntosh amplifier with a Bozak CMA-10-2DL, “the original disco mixer of the 70s,” as Viator describes, between two Technics SL-1200 MK2s.
Ahead of Gold Line’s grand opening, McGuire and Peanut Butter Wolf spent a lot of time at the original Japanese hi-fi bars where silent listening to jazz and classical music is the norm. But they wanted to bring something more lively, and frankly, in line with the kind of releases Stones Throw puts out.
The label, which celebrates 30 years in 2026, has welcomed J Dilla, MF Doom, Sudan Archives, and countless other artists making music fit for a party. Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge filmed the video for their NxWorries track, FromHere at Gold Line.
“It’s pointless to force the Japanese patient vibe on people here. Bar culture is a lot different,” says Viator. “People want to have a good time and let loose. That doesn’t mean the system has to sound bad.”
Only The Wild Ones Venice. Image: Press
2. Only The Wild Ones Venice
“We’ve always had this romance with a really nice-looking speaker. It’s like having an appreciation for classic cars”
Two years ago Heather Tierney bought her first hi-fi sound system for her home: a set of Tanoy speakers with an Accuphase amp. She’s now opened three hi-fi bars throughout the US. They are all named Only The Wild Ones (OTWO), and they are in New York, Austin, and on LA’s Venice Beach. The latter is where I meet her.
“When I really get into something, I go all the way in,” Tierney says. “There’s something about slowing down and really feeling the music. It’s the vibration. It’s almost like a three-dimensional sound..”
The Venice location was the first. It started as a natural wine pop-up next to Butcher’s Daughter, the cafe and market in Venice Beach that Tierney also owns. By the time the current Venice location became available, she had already bought her system, so she combined those two concepts: hi-fi listening and natural wine. She sees a lot of overlap in the spirit of both.
“Natural wine is how wine has always been made. It’s just going back to the old way,” Tierney says, comparing it to vinyl. “It’s real music that’s pressed into the wax. It’s connected to the source. You feel the soul.”
Tierney’s music director, Max Van Ville, designed the system that delivers the soul to OTWO. It features four Klipsch + OJAS KO-R1 speakers spread throughout, with two subwoofers. One is built into the bar, the other is built into the wall right across from the bar, creating a central hub for the low end while the highs are spread further around.
There are also two more speakers at the back of the bar Van Ville built himself. Similar to Tierney, he only started building speakers relatively recently, and now has built custom models for establishments all around Los Angeles and in the New York OTWO.
“[We’ve] always had this romance with a really nice-looking speaker,” Van Ville says. “It’s like having an appreciation for classic cars.”
Johnny’s Hi-Fi. Image: Press
3. Johnny’s Hi-Fi
“We want the room to feel like your favourite old leather jacket”
Johnny Dysthe opened a bar called Johnny’s in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1946. Today, Johnny’s is still around, and not a lot has changed. It’s still in the same location, and it’s still owned (in part) by a guy named Johnny (his last name is Santiago). The main difference is that Santiago put a hi-fi system and DJ booth in there.
Like Gold Line, Analog Workshop also set up the system at Johnny’s. It includes two Altec Carmel 838As, two speakers custom-built by Analog Workshop, two McIntosh 7270 amplifiers, a MasterSounds Two Valve MK2 mixer, and two Technics SL-1200 turntables.
Of course, vintage gear like this is often desirable for its focus on quality sound, but at Johnny’s, it fits a curatorial purpose as well. Santiago wanted to maintain the bar’s history as a local haunt rather than transform it with a trendier design. The lighting is still dim, and the booths are still comfy as hell, but now the sound is crystal clear.
“We want the warmth of that neighborhood bar,” Santiago says. “When we were building it out, our north star was: we want the room to feel like your favourite old leather jacket. The booths. The color. The lighting. Everything.”
Other than the classic feel, Johnny’s really stands out because of one key piece of equipment. Most hi-fi bars these days only have turntables, but Johnny’s has a Pioneer RT-909 reel-to-reel mixer. Unfortunately, Santiago says it doesn’t get used as much as he would like. He wants to do reel-to-reel listening parties and have a reel-to-reel monthly night, so if anyone reading in LA can make that happen, drop by.
Vinyl Room. Image: Evan Joseph
4. Vinyl Room
“We don’t need to use the same people over and over. We want the punk DJ. We want the hip-hop DJ”
Every new velvet rope in LA is a cause for intrigue. In February 2026, a new one popped up outside the Hollywood Palladium, when the legendary music hall opened a new hi-fi bar called the Vinyl Room. This spot is unique because it’s not open to the public as a separate establishment. Instead, it’s an extension of the venue.
That applies literally because the space used to be a bare storage closet in the Palladium where they kept posters and other random objects. Now it’s a highly curated restaurant and bar with a MasterSounds Clarity-M hi-fi speaker system and Full Fat Audio amplification. Surprisingly, they didn’t have to do any acoustic treatment to maintain the audio quality.
The main cabinets are placed behind the bar that has shelves filled with vinyl (this time just for decoration, not performance like Gold Line), and well-hidden Fulcrum Acoustic reference speakers on the ceiling create a very full sound that spreads the length of the room.
The space is also figuratively an extension of the Palladium, which first opened in 1941, because it is decorated with artifacts from the venue’s history. Original tour posters and photos of artists from Chuck Berry to Korn adorn the walls above mid-century-style sofas and a table that looks like a vinyl record.
To see it for yourself, there are a few ways in. When it’s open for show nights, ticket buyers can purchase access as an add-on. There are also memberships that allow access for every show. With this association between what’s happening on stage, Ryan Blank, general manager of the Palladium, has to look further for DJs than most vinyl bars. Because when Jack White plays on September 28-29, the crowd will want to hear vastly different music preshow than when Schoolboy Q plays on October 9.
“We’re focused on LA-based DJs, all vinyl. We got a steady roster, but we’re able to flex that muscle,” Blank says. “It’s exciting to go on that journey as people do digging through record crates. We don’t need to use the same people over and over. We want the punk DJ. We want the hip-hop DJ.”
Those who aren’t coming for a show can check out the vinyl room for standalone events. Recently, they’ve hosted comedy shows in the round with prized comics such as Bill Burr. Vinyl Room also had a free listening party for Billy Strings’ new album, So Much For Goodbyes. It was one of the only listening parties in a hi-fi establishment.
Bar Franca. Image: High Above Productions
5. Bar Franca
“Franca is tiny, warm, and personal. You are never very far from the person selecting the music”
Rolando Alvarez is known throughout LA for running the popular underground party Midnight Lovers, but since October 2025, he’s taken his curation to Bar Franca, a charming former lesbian bar turned hi-fi oasis in the grit of Downtown LA.
Another link to Midnight Lovers is Bar Franca’s sound system. Alvarez relies on Danley for his parties, making a Danley system the natural choice when he was building out the bar into a space that would honor his commitment to music.
“Danley has been part of the Midnight Lovers sound for many years, going back to its introduction into our corner of the dance music community. We have used Danley almost exclusively for Midnight Lovers productions because of the warmth, clarity, and acoustic character of the systems,” Alvarez writes over email. “There is also an incredible efficiency to Danley. You can achieve a tremendous amount of sound with a relatively small physical footprint and power requirement, which becomes especially important in a room the size of Franca.”
The main loudspeakers are Danley Sound Labs SM96s and Danley THmini subwoofers, with a Danley BRKT-Mini monitor. Everything runs through a Danley Sound Labs DSA 125×4 four-channel power amplifier, powered by CVR Audio amplification and an NST Audio D48X digital signal processor.
While occasionally, Midnight Lovers-level headliners like Axel Boman will stop through Bar Franca, it is also a place to support local LA talent. After all, proper all-night rave energy isn’t the move for a bar where people want to socialize. So, Alvarez brings in selectors who know funk, jazz, and other softer, warmer sounds.
“That contrast is part of the fun. Franca is tiny, warm, and personal,” Alvarez explains. “You are never very far from the person selecting the music.”
The post Inside 5 of Los Angeles’s best hi-fi bars: Where they are and why they sound so good appeared first on MusicTech.

The Unfinished Springsteen Track That Made Patti Smith a Global Rock IconSpringsteen couldn’t finish the lyrics to the song that became “Because the Night.” Proto-punk poet Patti Smith did — and turned it into her biggest hit. Here’s the real story behind “Because the Night.”

Assignments: Rene Erwin MataA&R, New York

Frontiers Label Group

Frontiers Label Group has announced the appointment of Rene Erwin Mata to A&R, New York, further strengthening the company’s growing international A&R network and commitment to discovering and developing world-class talent across the rock, metal, and alternative landscape.

“I’m looking forward to working with a team that shares the same passion for music that I do, and I’ve found that at Frontiers Label Group”, said Mata. “It's an exciting time for the company, and I'm eager to help discover and develop the next generation of artists while contributing to Frontiers' continued global growth.” 

For more, contact allie@thesyn.com.The post Assignments: Rene Erwin Mata first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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