“No one’s better than him at that”: Bartees Strange on where Jack Antonoff excels as a producerBartees Strange recently spoke to NME following his set at Reading Festival this past weekend, where he opened up about his relationship with super producer and Bleachers frontman, Jack Antonoff:
“I produce a lot of records now, and I think the biggest thing is you become who you’re working with and you help them take a few extra steps they wouldn’t normally take,” Strange says. “The way you do that is by building trust. In the beginning, they’re only gonna listen to you so much, but by the end, they should trust you with everything. No one’s better than him at that.”
READ MORE: “He didn’t turn a knob. He didn’t give any technical advice”: System Of A Down guitarist on the magic of super producer Rick Rubin
Beyond his ability to build relationships with his collaborators, Strange went on to laud Antonoff for his work ethic and taste:
“I think it’s because he kind of approaches records like a plumber. He’s not a precious guy. He’ll pull up there early; he’s working hard. Everything’s set up. We can throw it at the wall. No idea is bad,” Strange says. “He’s not a tremendously talented player, so when he plays, it disarms the situation. He’s not a freaky guitar player or drummer. He’s just good at getting the ideas out. So after he plays, you’re like, ‘Oh, I can play that better, ’ and then it becomes a conversation. It’s very low-stakes, and it becomes really beautiful stuff because he has great taste. That guy’s great.”
Antonoff only came on to Strange’s third album Horror, the one that predicated his set at the legendary music festival, when it was in the final stages. However, Strange is quick to note that Antonoff “added a lot.”
“He helped me take it from 80 to 100 per cent, for sure. There were some songs that completely came alive once he got involved. He’s really good, man. I really like him,” Strange says. “All the structures and stuff stayed the same, and a lot of all the lyrics, but for example ‘Too Much’, he just kind of made that song sound like it was from outer space. [He added] all these weird ship noises and the synths, swells and dynamics were all things that he was able to build around the framework of my production.”
Watch the full interview with Strange on NME
 
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Ether breaks out against BTC, but new highs depend on $4.7K becoming supportEther rallied nearly 5% on Monday, but a true short-term trend reversal hinges on $4,700 flipping back to support.

Sottovoce DSP Sotto SpindownSotto Spindown is a free plugin that performs a vinyl spindown effect using a curve you can draw yourself. This effect is most notably used in transitions and outros. Features: Automation - An automation can be used to trigger the spindown at a certain time. Fadeout - The user can choose to fade out the sound or have it only spindown. Presets - With a preset selector and creator, users can save their own custom spindown curves. Read More

Anthropic launches a Claude AI agent that lives in ChromeAnthropic is the latest AI lab to offer an AI agent with the ability to view and take action in a user's Chrome browser.

Battery Repair By Reverse EngineeringRyobi is not exactly the Cadillac of cordless tools, but one still has certain expectations when buying a product. For most of us “don’t randomly stop working” is on the list. Ryobi 18-volt battery packs don’t always meet that expectation, but fortunately for the rest of us [Badar Jahangir Kayani] took matters into his own hands and reverse-engineered the pack to find all the common faults– and how to fix them.
[Badar]’s work was specifically on the Ryobi PBP005 18-volt battery packs. He’s reproduced the schematic for them and given a fairly comprehensive troubleshooting guide on his blog. The most common issue (65%) with the large number of batteries he tested had nothing to do with the cells or the circuit, but was the result of some sort of firmware lock.
It isn’t totally clear what caused the firmware to lock the batteries in these cases. We agree with [Badar] that it is probably some kind of glitch in a safety routine. Regardless, if you have one of these batteries that won’t charge and exhibits the characteristic flash pattern (flashing once, then again four times when pushing the battery test button), [Badar] has the fix for you. He actually has the written up the fix for a few flash patterns, but the firmware lockout is the one that needed the most work.
[Badar] took the time to find the J-tag pins hidden on the board, and flash the firmware from the NXP micro-controller that runs the show. Having done that, some snooping and comparison between bricked and working batteries found a single byte difference at a specific hex address. Writing the byte to zero, and refreshing the firmware results in batteries as good as new. At least as good as they were before the firmware lock-down kicked in, anyway.
He also discusses how to deal with unbalanced packs, dead diodes, and more. Thanks to the magic of buying a lot of dead packs on e-Bay, [Badar] was able to tally up the various failure modes; the firmware lockout discussed above was by far the majority of them, at 63%. [Badar]’s work is both comprehensive and impressive, and his blog is worth checking out even if you don’t use the green brand’s batteries. We’ve also embedded his video below if you’d rather watch than read and/or want to help out [Badar] get pennies from YouTube monetization. We really do have to give kudos for providing such a good write up along with the video.
This isn’t the first attempt we’ve seen at tearing into Ryobi batteries. When they’re working, the cheap packs are an excellent source of power for everything from CPap machines to electric bicycles.
Thanks to [Badar] for the tip.

Killah B (Beyoncé, Ariana Grande) plays Texas Hold ‘Em with samples
We challenged GRAMMY-nominated producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Killah B to a game of poker—but with a twist.

Purafied Audio offers the Everything Bundle for only $2.64 (99% OFF)
Purafied Audio is currently offering the Everything Bundle for just $2.64. That’s an unbelievable 99% off its regular $238 (plus tax) price tag. To get the deal, apply the code “F*CKUADANDGUITARCENTER” at checkout (replace the * with a U). It’s unclear how long the offer will last, so if you’re curious, don’t wait. The bundle [...]
View post: Purafied Audio offers the Everything Bundle for only $2.64 (99% OFF)

Tracktion Waveform Free 13.5 announced Thanks to some behind-the-scenes upgrades, Waveform Free 13.5 promises to deliver a smoother and more responsive user experience while boasting reduced loading times.

How to add tour dates to a YouTube Official Artist Channel (OAC)Bandsintown for Artists now automatically populates an artist's concert dates on their YouTube Official Artist Channel (OAC). Here's everything you need to know.
The post How to add tour dates to a YouTube Official Artist Channel (OAC) appeared first on Hypebot.

Suno argues none of the millions of tracks made on its platform ‘contain anything like a sample’Company argues that independent artist lawsuit fails as a matter of law under unique sound recording copyright rules
Source

ROSTR and Bandsintown launch EARLY industry showcasesROSTR and Bandsintown launch EARLY, a new live showcase series designed to connect emerging artists with industry decision-makers and tastemakers. Applications to interested artists are open now for a debut event in LA this October.
The post ROSTR and Bandsintown launch EARLY industry showcases appeared first on Hypebot.

“He didn’t turn a knob. He didn’t give any technical advice”: System Of A Down guitarist on the magic of super producer Rick RubinSystem Of A Down’s Daron Malakian has reflected on Rick Rubin’s hands-off approach to music production, and why he appreciates it so much.
Rubin is the only external producer that Malakian has shared production credits with across his work. The SOAD guitarist, who also releases music as Scars On Broadway, has produced on all System Of A Down records alongside Rubin. Malakian produces for his Scars project solely by himself.

READ MORE: Kesha: “I’ve never met a man I admire more than Rick Rubin”

During a new episode of Ultimate Guitar’s On the Record podcast, Malakian explains, “I’ve only worked with one producer in my whole life, that’s Rick Rubin. I co-produced those records with him [for] System, but with Scars, I always self-produced. So yeah, I’ve never worked with anybody else but Rick.”
As to his reasons why, he adds, “I don’t really need anybody to hold my hand through the whole fucking process. I’m looking for the opinion of someone that I respect, and I respect his opinion, I respect his taste and that’s what he brings to the table.”
Malakian refers to a quote from Rubin himself, in which he confessed to his lack of technical skills but explained why his assuredness in his tastes prevails overall, before adding: “He made so many of those [SOAD] songs with just one little opinion or one little nudge, and it made a song better than it was. A song is like two and a half minutes. So when you make a tiny change in that song, you’re making a big change…
“Lost In Hollywood is a System song that I wrote on for the Mesmerized album, and I had written the first part of the song, but I hadn’t written the middle part of the song, which is now like the most epic part of the song,” he continues.
“When I brought in the first part of the song he told me, ‘It’s not finished.’ I thought it was finished, but he’s like, ‘I don’t think it’s finished.’ And I came home that night, and I wrote the middle part of the song… ‘I was standing on the wall feeling ten feet tall…’ And I was like, ‘Wow, this song just became something really fucking great.’

“I probably wouldn’t have gone there if he didn’t say, ‘I don’t think it’s finished.’ He didn’t turn a knob. He didn’t give any technical advice. He didn’t even tell me what direction to go to finish it. He just left it to me. I don’t need him to paint my painting, but he definitely pushed me into a direction that made my painting better,” he concludes.

Daron Malakian has just released a new album as Scars On Broadway titled Addicted  To The Violence. You can find out more via his official website. 
The post “He didn’t turn a knob. He didn’t give any technical advice”: System Of A Down guitarist on the magic of super producer Rick Rubin appeared first on MusicTech.

Sampleson launch Twinkle The latest addition to Sampleson’s diverse product range aims to help those with no musical training to create intricate melodies and musical phrases with a simple click-and-drag interface.

Hello everyone! The #Telegram repost support has been added to #PublMe #Space with #PublmeUpdates
Now you can add your own TG-channel or group in the Settings and add reposting feature via https://publme.space
#PublmeNews

“An important tool regardless of how you make music”: Novation Launch Control XL MK3 review£190, novationmusic.com
The third generation of Novation’s Launch Control XL MK3 is, in some respects, “a LaunchKey without the keys,” the company tells me. That’s a simplification – there are differences – but the idea of carrying over much of the work done developing the latest generation of keyboards to a new dedicated controller just makes sense.

READ MORE: Best MIDI controllers to buy in 2025: 12 best Ableton Live controllers to buy

Novation has rebuilt the Launch Control XL from scratch, and it covers a lot of ground for a reasonable £190. If you’re using a mainstream DAW, the Launch Control XL can get you a lot more hands-on control as soon as you hook it up to your computer. Even if you’re a hardware-only artist, this controller still gives you plenty of flexibility.
There’s powerful competition in the DAW controller market, but most of it’s either a little dated, like the Nektar Panorama P1, or is just way more expensive, like the £400 PreSonus FaderPort 8 and Softube’s Console 1 Channel.
But how much control can this low price tag actually get you?
Image: Press
Launch Control XL out of the box
Novation’s Launch Control XL is sleek and minimal, which is starkly different to the bright colours of the MK2. It’s smaller than you might imagine, slipping easily into a backpack and running via your computer with a single USB-C cable for power and data. As we’ll see, it can work in standalone mode too, in which case a standard USB-C charger will work.
The interface’s elements are backlit in RGB, and there’s now a dedicated OLED monochrome display, which is invaluable for navigating, providing visual feedback without having to truncate words. However, the printed text on the unit is illegible in low-light situations, so a bit more contrast would have been welcome here.
Joining the USB-C port on the rear panel are three 5-pin MIDI ports: one In and two Out, one of which also works as a MIDI Thru. The MIDI outputs also have a MIDI merge or ‘soft thru’ capability; this is handy for combining signal flows between devices. All of this lets hook up the Launch Control XL to MIDI-equipped gear, like synths, drum machines or effects.
Plus, by building custom maps, you can assign different controls to different connected devices, effectively working with multiple synths from a single control surface patch.
Throw in the ability to stream MIDI through or back to a computer, and this makes it a remarkably powerful controller that can communicate with software and hardware from a single setup. With some prep work, it’s easy to see it being a lifesaver for the increasing number of musicians using a combination of triggered and live-tweaked MIDI in software and hardware live performances.
Image: Press
How do you use Launch Control XL 3?
Launch Control XL 3 has two main modes: DAW mode and Custom.
DAW mode maps the hardware to parameters in your selected DAW. Most of the major DAWs are supported, with Ableton Live being the most tightly integrated and recognising the controller with no setup at all. If you are running the latest versions of Cubase, Logic Pro or FL Studio, the controller is also automatically supported. Owners of older versions need to install a small script located on Novation’s website, but this is quick to do.
Bitwig support is currently in development, and there is currently no native Pro Tools support.
Within DAW mode are two sub-modes: DAW Mixer and DAW Control. These will alter the way various banks of controls relate to your DAW of choice, and you can flip between them easily from the controller. The exact mappings vary by software and are all detailed in the documentation, so after familiarising yourself with them, they quickly become second nature.
The 60mm, long-throw faders are large enough to feel accurate with mixer channels, while the buttons and encoders can tweak sends, panning and more. Most people usually stick to one or two DAWs at most, so you’re not going to have to memorise many layouts.
Navigating projects and tracks is straightforward, as is controlling the transport. The Shift button gives you a bunch of secondary features for most controls, all made easier to follow thanks to the screen. There’s handy stuff like zooming in and out pre-mapped to hardware, too.
The potentiometers of the previous model are now 24 endless rotary encoders, meaning they don’t physically have start or end points. This feature makes them suitable for any kind of variable, especially where you only want to be able to go from values 20-50 rather than 0-127, for example. Another nice touch is that you’re able to see a knob’s current value without having to change it just to make it appear on screen.
The Components app. Image: Press
The controller will detect when it’s connected to a DAW, but you’ll also spend a lot of your time in Custom mode, and this is where the Components app comes in.
Running on macOS or Windows or in a MIDI-capable browser such as Chrome, the Components app lets you manually upload and download instrument-specific templates, plus the setups you create yourself. Up to 15 can be stored onboard, so again, if you do the work in advance, creating live performance maps and switching between them would not be a problem.
Novation says that the most powerful way to use the controller with hardware synths is where a synth buries lots of its parameters behind menus, making them hard to get at during a performance.
With Components, you can easily map and label custom controls straight through to the targets you want. And as noted, you’re able to mix and match multiple devices in a single template, perhaps controlling cutoff and pitch on one synth and envelopes and triggers on another. Novation uses Components with many of its devices, so if you are already a customer, it’ll all be fairly familiar.
What software comes with Launch Control XL?
Novation throws in some software that you can download after registering your unit, including entry DAWs Cubase LE, Ableton Live Lite, plus plugins Output Movement, Baby Audio Parallel Aggressor and Klevgrand Fosfat. That means you’ll be able to get started putting tracks together even if you don’t already own any other gear.

Should you buy Launch Control XL?
Launch Control XL 3 is exceptionally versatile, especially for the price. It’s adept at DAW control, mapping easily onto some leading applications and featuring control and mixer modes, making up somewhat for its relatively small size without becoming confusing.
But the Custom modes and Components open up a whole other world, not only with bundled templates for other devices but the ability to create your own, including controlling several devices from within a single setup. While both modes work very well, it’s likely the latter that gives it the edge, the unit acting as a highly programmable hub from which you can get hands-on with virtually any combination of instruments.
These two similar but distinct capabilities mean that the Launch Control XL3 should find a home in many studios or live setups, quickly becoming an important tool regardless of how you make music.
Key features

24 endless rotary encoders
16 programmable buttons
8 long throw faders
Backlit OLED screen
USB-C data and power
MIDI in, out and thru DIN plugs
DAW control and mixer modes
Custom modes via Components software
Maps onto leading DAWs
RGB backlighting
Software bundle

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