Monk Echo: Debut pedal from Mentha Works Metha Works' first release is an innovative delay and reverb pedal that blends the usual array of ambient effects with a set of morphing filters designed to emulate human vocal resonances.

BitMine buys $199M in Ether as smart money traders bet on ETH declineThe largest corporate Ether holder continues to buy the dip, as the industry’s most profitable traders continue to bet millions on ETH’s short-term decline.

Meta reportedly delays mixed reality glasses until 2027aMeta lready sells VR headsets and Ray-Ban smart glasses, but these new glasses sound a bit different. Their format factor would reportedly be similar to the Apple Vision Pro, with a puck-like power source.

Bridging RTL-433 To Home AssistantIf you’ve got an RTL-SDR compatible receiver, you’ve probably used it for picking up signals from all kinds of weird things. Now, [Jaron McDaniel] has built a tool to integrate many such devices into the world of Home Assistant.
It’s called RTL-HAOS, and it’s intended to act as a bridge. Whatever you can pick up using the RTL_433 tool, you can set up with Home Assistant using RTL-HAOS. If you’re unfamiliar with RTL_433, it’s a multitalented data receiver for picking up all sorts of stuff on a range of bands using RTL-SDR receivers, as well as a range of other hardware. While it’s most closely associated with products that communicate in the 433 MHz band, it can also work with products that talk in 868 MHz, 315 MHz, 345 MHz, and 915 MHz, assuming your hardware supports it. Out of the box, it’s capable of working with everything from keyless entry systems to thermostats, weather stations, and energy monitors. You can even use it to listen to the tire pressure monitors in your Fiat Abarth 124 Spider, if you’re so inclined.
[Jaron’s] tool integrates these devices nicely into Home Assistant, where they’ll appear automatically thanks to MQTT discovery. It also offers nice signal metrics like RSSI and SNR, so you can determine whether a given link is stable. You can even use multiple RTL-SDR dongles if you’re so inclined. If you’re eager to pull some existing environmental sensors into your smart home, this may prove a very easy way to do it.
The cool thing about Home Assistant is that hackers are always working to integrate more gear into the ecosystem. Oftentimes, they’re far faster and more efficient at doing this than big-name corporations. Meanwhile, if you’re working on your own hacks for this popular smart home platform, we’d probably like to know about it. Be sure to hit up the tips line in due time.

AURA Plugins Clavia Nord 3 Editor & LibrarianClavia Nord 3 Editor. Clavia Nord 3 Audio Unit, VST, VST3, AAX Librarian Editor Plug-in, for Clavia Nord Lead 3 & Nord Rack 3. Faster control and automation access than ever, Nord 3 Editor takes your Clavia Nord 3 into a whole new level in the game. Control the same way you use your VSTi and Audio Unit plug-ins. Connect your Hardware seamlessly into your DAW. Nord 3 Editor will recall your patch settings when you open your project and the data will be sent to your Clavia Nord 3 automatically once you open your project. The only thing you need to worry, is that you power-up your synth. Faster Workflow Since there are a lot of great software synthesizers in the markets today and because they are so fast to use, we wanted to bring this functionality to every producer out there with Nord 3 Editor and Clavia Nord 3. It is now much faster to scroll thru patches & make edits within your DAW. The best part is, when you reopen your project, you don't have to worry about the patch data you had on your synth while producing: Our plugin stores all the data within the project and when you reopen the project, all of the used data gets sent to your hardware, automatically. No more external applications for saving, loading or transferring patch data. Welcome total recall. Specs: Connect your Clavia Nord Lead 3 / Nord Rack 3 synthesizer directly into your DAW. Edit almost every parameter of your synthesizer from our plug-in. Plug-in user interface reacts to hardware knob & buttons movements. Automate almost every parameter within your DAW. Edit each layer from the plug-in individually. You can request Presets within the plug-in. You can send the parameters from the plug-in to your synthesizers Temp buffer and save them from there or you can directly write user memory from our plug-in. Knob & button values are sent to hardware. View & edit patch name in plug-in interface. Request current patch from selected slot to librarian. Request all patches from selected bank to librarian. Store currently selected patch from librarian to hardware. Store current patch bank from librarian to hardware. Load any MIDI / sysex patch or performance bank to librarian. Browse patch banks within plugin librarian. Load single patch to selected slot (A / B / C / D). Software stores last used patch data with plug-in to it's memory. Software loads last used patch data with project load and sends it to hardware. Organize patch data in librarian and save a new patch bank to hard drive. View & edit each slot patch name. Select patch MIDI channels per slot. What it won't do: Transmit or generate any audio (Real synth required to use the plugin.). Known limitations: MIDI device mapping needs adjusting in PC environment, read more from the user manual. Requirements: Clavia Nord Lead 3 or Clavia Nord Rack 3. MIDI Device to use with the synth. You can connect as many Nord 3s to your computer as you like. Read More

GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Spoken Word Poetry AlbumThe 2025 GRAMMY nominations are here and we're going to help you to untangle it all right up until the big event, continuing with the Best Spoken Word Poetry Album category.

Take a listen to the nominated albums below--who do you think will win?

See the full list of nominees in every category here.

A Hurricane in Heels: healed people don't act like that — partially recorded live @City Winery & other placesQueen Sheba

Black ShamanMarc Marcel

PagesOmari Hardwick & Anthony Hamilton

Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends At TreepeopleSaul Williams, Carlos Niño & Friends

Words For Days Vol. 1Mad Skillz

Saul Williams & Carlos Niño photo by Sam LeeThe post GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Spoken Word Poetry Album first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Top Music Business News Last WeekTop music business news last week included the release of Spotify Wrapped and how musicians can make the most of it, controversial AI firm Suno acquired Songkick, more on per-stream rates, news from Olivia Dean, Lewis Capaldi, Sonica, Tencent Music and more.
The post Top Music Business News Last Week appeared first on Hypebot.

Pamela’s Disco from ALM/Busy Circuits The latest release from ALM/Busy Circuits is an intriguing new module that allows Eurorack rigs to derive a clock signal from a PRO DJ LINK network.

AWS needs you to believe in AI agentsAWS announced a wave of new AI agent tools at re:Invent 2025, but can Amazon actually catch up to the AI leaders? While the cloud giant is betting big on enterprise AI with its third-gen chip and database discounts that got developers cheering, it’s still fighting to prove it can compete beyond infrastructure.  This week […]

A Night at the Opera with Puccini's La BohèmeOreste Cosimo as Rodolfo and Janai Brugger as Mimi in LA Opera's 2025 production of La Bohème. (Photo by Cory Weaver)

In the decades since Music Connection got going in 1977, there are certain genres of music that have never consistently found a home in these pages. There's no good reason for this, besides a general lack of expertise in some areas. Those genres include opera, classical and anything generally orchestral. That's on us, that's our bad, and we're going to endeavor to put it right. It's simply ancient thinking to believe that somebody with an interest in rock, pop, country and/or blues couldn't possibly also enjoy the work of Puccini, Mozart, Verdi, etc. We have more faith in you than that.

And so it was that, on a clear, crisp evening in early December, this writer found himself at the LA Opera, and specifically the stunning Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, for the first time to take in Puccini's beloved La Bohème.

Rod Gilfry as Alcindoro and Erica Petrocelli as Musetta in LA Opera's 2025 production of La Bohème. (Photo by Cory Weaver)

Those who haven't been to the opera before might have some prior expectations. Let's start with the low hanging fruit. Yes, you can dress up in tuxes and evening gowns should you feel inclined. On the other hand, there is no dress code and those in casual wear aren't outnumbered or made to feel out of place in any way at all. If you're worried that a night at the opera is a nose-in-the-air, cartoonish vision of snobbery--don't be. An LA Opera experience is a welcoming one, and it's for everyone.

Nothing highlights this more than La Bohème. Alongside Madama Butterfly and Turandot (famous among casual appreciators of opera for the aria "Nessun Dorma"), La Bohème is one of Puccini's more enduring operas. Over four acts, we're introduced to four hard-up men who live together in the Latin Quarter of Paris (Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline and Schaunard) and the two women who capture the hearts of Rodolfo and Marcello (respectively, Mimi and Musetta).

Gihoon Kim as Marcello in LA Opera's 2025 production of La Bohème. (Photo by Cory Weaver)

The men are arty types--musicians, writers and, as the title suggests, bohemians. So when Marcello sees his spicy ex Musetta at the Café Momus with a rich, older lover called Alcindoro, he's not happy but it offers his chums the opportunity to engage in some witty banter.

The leads are all incredible. Italian tenor Oreste Cosimo, making his LA Opera debut in the role of Rodolfo, is wonderfully engaging, and his chemistry with Illinois soprano Janai Brugger (Mimi) is compelling throughout. Similarly, the characters of South Korean baritone Gihoon Kim (Marcello) and Rhode Island soprano Erica Petrocelli (Musetta) have a playful (if undeniably toxic by today's standards) energy. You simply can't take your eyes off of them, and their voices are never anything other than note perfect.

The Act Two finale in LA Opera's 2025 production of La Bohème. (Photo by Cory Weaver)

Chinese bass William Guanbo Su (Colline) and New York baritone Emmett O'Hanlon (Schaunard) complete the main players, though special mention must go to North Dakota tenor Nathan Bowles for bringing a magical, spritely energy to the role of toymaker/merchant Parpignol.

The set design, by Gerard Howland, is mind-blowing. Fully believable apartment buildings are erected, and they move around before our eyes. We're unquestionably transported to Paris--we see the sights, feel the cold, experience the high and lows. Howland's art is clearly as much a part of the show as that of any of the performers. The orchestra, led by Colombian conductor Lina González-Granados, is impeccable. We can't mention all of the cast, musicians and crew, but this is a team effort.

So we watch and listen as the two couples break up in Act III, before reaching the devastating conclusion of Act IV, with Mimi succumbing to tuberculosis. Mimi and Rodolfo were at least reunited before she died, but it's too little, too late. We've been carried by incredible voices through a full range of emotions, and it ends with tragedy.



Tears wiped, this writer spilled out onto the streets of L.A. knowing full well that he'll be back at the opera in 2026. You should go too!The post A Night at the Opera with Puccini's La Bohème first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Garage Fridge Gets New DIY Controller[Rick] had a problem. His garage refrigerator was tasked with a critical duty—keeping refreshing beverages at low temperature. Unfortunately, it had failed—the condenser was forever running, or not running at all. The beverages were either frozen, or lukewarm, regardless of the thermostat setting. There was nothing for it—the controller had to be rebuilt from scratch.
Thankfully, [Rick]’s junk drawer was obliging. He was able to find an Arduino Uno R4, complete with WiFi connectivity courtesy of the ESP32 microcontroller onboard. This was paired with a DHT11 sensor, which provided temperature and humidity measurements. [Rick] began testing the hardware by spitting out temperature readings on the Uno’s LED matrix.
Once that was working, the microcontroller had to be given control over the fridge itself. This was achieved by programming it to activate a Kasa brand smart plug, which could switch mains power to the fridge as needed. The Uno simply emulated the action of the Kasa phone app to switch the smart plug on and off to control the fridge’s temperature, with the fridge essentially running flat out whenever it was switched on. The Uno also logs temperature to a server so [Rick] can make sure temperatures remain in the proper range.
We’ve seen some great beverage-cooling hacks over the years. If you’ve mastered your own hacky methods of keeping the colas chilled, don’t hesitate to let us know on the tipsline.

Ueberschall Ueberschall Creator Pack The Ueberschall Creator Pack is a focused and highly flexible loop and sample library designed to jumpstart musical creativity for producers, content creators, and composers across numerous genres. This soundbank represents a carefully curated selection of essential content, handpicked from a large collection of 176 different Ueberschall loop packs. Rather than being genre-specific, the Creator Pack provides a diverse set of professional-grade sonic building blocks, making it an excellent resource for generating new ideas quickly or adding high-quality elements to existing projects. With an impressive 9.3 GB of content, the Creator Pack is structured into two main, complementary parts for versatile music production. The first section contains 93 Construction Kit parts, which are miniature song sections drawn from over 40 genres. Each kit part is organized in the Elastik Player's Pad View, providing individual loops for full drums, multitracks, instrument layers, and effects. This organization allows for instant arrangement and the ability to easily mix and match components from different kits to experiment with hybrid genres and unique sonic combinations. The second section is dedicated to a wide variety of Instrument Loops and unique performance phrases, sourced from 83 Ueberschall Instrument Series libraries. This collection includes professional recordings of instruments such as guitars, basses, keys, brass, drums, and percussion. The library is fully optimized for the free Elastik Player, which features advanced time-stretching and polyphonic scale-shifting algorithms (like ReTune). These tools ensure that all 2,262 loops and samples can be instantaneously adapted to match the tempo, key, and scale of any user project with superior audio quality, providing maximum creative freedom within a streamlined workflow. Key Features Curated Content: Contains 2,262 loops and phrases handpicked from 176 different Ueberschall soundbanks. Content Size: Totals 9.3 GB of professional sample material. Construction Kits: Includes 93 Construction Kit parts spanning over 40 genres, each with multiple instrument layers for easy arrangement. Instrument Loops: Features a diverse collection of instrument performances (guitars, basses, keys, drums, brass, etc.) sourced from 83 Instrument Series packs. Elastik Player Optimized: Content requires the free Elastik Player for full functionality. Advanced Manipulation: Utilizes zplane.development's sophisticated algorithms for high-quality time-stretching, tempo synchronization, and polyphonic pitch/scale correction (ReTune). Efficient Interface: The Elastik Player provides a central Loopeye editor, a powerful browser with advanced tagging and filtering, and an Inspire function for generating new sound combinations. Formats: Compatible with major DAWs via VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin formats, as well as a standalone application. Professional Quality: All samples are recorded using high-quality equipment, providing 24-bit/44.1 kHz stereo audio. Read More

Omnisphere Corvus by The Very Loud Indeed Co. The latest announcement from The Very Loud Indeed Co. sees the company shift their focus back to Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere, and introduces a collection of 126 new sounds that contrast the character of their recently released Cobalt sound set. 

How To Leverage Year End Streaming Recaps After They’ve LaunchedSpotify Wrapped, Apple Music Replay and YouTube Recap 2025 Are Out. Learn how to leverage year end streaming recaps to enhance your music marketing - even if you didn't update your profiles in advance.
The post How To Leverage Year End Streaming Recaps After They’ve Launched appeared first on Hypebot.

How to Throw an Unforgettable Listening PartyHere's why listening parties have become so popular in recent years and how to throw a listening party your fans will never forget.
The post How to Throw an Unforgettable Listening Party appeared first on Hypebot.