What Spotify For Artists is building in 2026 as payouts top $11BSpotify For Artists has kicked off 2026 with a state-of-the-union announcement from Charlie Hellman, the platform’s Head of Music. The update reflects on a record-breaking 2025 while outlining a strategic. Continue reading
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ATC’s new studio monitors offer shallow cabinet depths and “target surround and immersive audio installations”ATC has launched a new line of passive studio monitors, its SSM (Studio Surface Monitor) series, which offer reinforced cabinets with shallow depth and proprietary mounting hardware for surround and immersive audio setups.
The series consists of two variations of wall-/ceiling-mount passive studio monitors, the SSM12i Pro and SSM25i Pro, and the complementing R4-150 Pro – a new four-channel power amp. All three new additions are available now.

READ MORE: JBL Bandbox: New Bluetooth speakers with AI stem separation – a game-changer for practice sessions?

The SSM12i Pro’s shallow speaker cabinet measures 147mm/5 13/16”, while SSM25i Pro’s is slightly deeper at 198mm/7 13/16”, and both can be configured to mount vertically or horizontally. Their mounting system fixes flat to a wall or ceiling and allows the cabinet to pivot away from the mounting surface.
The SSM12i Pro is built around proprietary drive units designed and manufactured by ATC and operating in a sealed cabinet. ATC’s advanced SB45-150CLD 150mm/6” bass/mid driver is employed at low and mid-range frequencies, featuring a unique CLD (Constrained Layer Damping) cone, which minimises cone breakup. For frequencies above the 2.2kHz crossover point, ATC’s SH25-76 25mm/1” dual-suspension tweeter ensures “precise and transparent reproduction” of high-frequency content.
Image: SSM12i Pro. Credit: ATC
SSM25i Pro is more suited to larger spaces, and is described by ATC as an ideal choice for multichannel and immersive audio applications in medium to large control rooms, including those requiring Dolby Atmos or other immersive audio setups. It features three proprietary ATC drive units also housed in a sealed cabinet.
Utilising a short coil/long gap design and paper/carbon fibre cone, ATC’s SB50-164SC 164mm/6.5” bass driver provides an extended and precise low-frequency output, from 47Hz up to 380Hz. Midrange frequencies are handled by ATC’s SM75-150 75mm/3” midrange dome, while high frequencies above 3.5kHz are reproduced by ATC’s advanced ATC SH25-76S ‘S-Spec’ tweeter.
The SSM12i Pro is priced at £2,167.00 per pair, while the SSM25i Pro is available at £4,667.00 per pair (both excluding VAT). The R4-150 Pro is available at £3,667.00 (excluding VAT and cables). Find out more over at ATC.
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Free 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health Hotline LaunchesThe music industry finally has a 24/7 immediate response system for mental health. Today, Backline, in partnership with Spotify, Live Nation, and Noah Kahan have launched B-LINE - a dedicated crisis support line created exclusively for musicians, music professionals and their families.
The post Free 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health Hotline Launches appeared first on Hypebot.

SRM Sounds offers Dark Mode, a FREE version of Max Richter Piano for Kontakt Player
Some of you might think Dark Mode is slightly old news, and that’s probably fair because it was released by SRM Sounds towards the end of 2024. Anyone who isn’t already familiar with this free piano is in for a real treat, and since we didn’t cover it earlier, we thought we’d give it some [...]
View post: SRM Sounds offers Dark Mode, a FREE version of Max Richter Piano for Kontakt Player

NAMM 2026: Warm Audio Retro 64 Warm Audio's take on the Electro-Voice 664 adopts the distinctive design of the original, but features a custom-tuned capsule which the company say has been engineered with modern front-of-house environments in mind. 

Fouk on 25 years of making music, staying inspired, and the techniques behind their soundDaniel Leseman and Hans Peeman started making trance in their attic at age 14 in 1999, but it wasn’t until their early 30s that they found their true creative calling with Fouk and their vinyl-first label, Outplay. The Dutch producers have since become beloved in the underground deep house scene, thanks to a sophisticated, distinct blend of loose and dusty house drums, swirling and spacey synth parts, and downright funky basslines.
Now both 42 years old, the creative relationship the duo has evolved, and they’re optimistic about Fouk’s future. But they admit that their momentum stalled after the pandemic; their focus shifted to their families and other job prospects, and inspiration was tough to find. Fouk were forced to rediscover their groove.
Thanks to their recent EP releases, 2025’s Get It Done and 2024’s Mirage, Daniel and Hans are having just as much fun in the studio as they were almost 30 years ago, with a dynamic that works unusually well.
Get It Done EP by Fouk
“We always say it’s a second marriage,” says Hans.
“Yeah, and we sometimes fight like it’s a second marriage,” adds Daniel, as they both chuckle.
More amusing still is that Fouk are constantly finishing each other’s sentences throughout the interview. As Daniel starts articulating an idea, Hans will jump in and finish the thought when Daniel pauses, and vice versa. It’s incredibly fun to observe.
However, this marriage-like rapport is a boon when they’re in the studio. These two producers bounce off each other in conversation just as they do with creative ideas.
“Sometimes, he’s doing something on the synths,” explains Daniel. “And I’ll say, ‘Okay…What are you doing?’ and he’s like ‘Just wait, just wait. I’m getting it.’”
“I don’t give up easily,” chimes in Hans. “And sometimes, it doesn’t work — but I’ll just chuck something in and see if we can shift or transpose it to see if it’ll fit.”
Their relationship also makes room for honesty. When an idea isn’t working, they can candidly say to one another, “I’m not feeling this — let’s do something else.” The duo aren’t churning out finished tracks every week, and they’ve learned to work more efficiently since the pandemic.
Hans’ home studio. Image: Press
“We couldn’t find any inspiration after COVID; our lives changed,” says Hans — he and Daniel are both parents now. “Our time in the studio is limited, so we had to re-find our groove,” he continues. “And with that came a different way of creating. We have one, sometimes two days a week together.”
Fouk’s new groove involves Hans creating snippets and ideas, which Daniel often jams over the top of with their go-to synths: the Sequential Prophet-6, Moog Sub Phatty, Korg Minilogue and Roland Jupiter-X and JP-8000.
“Once you have a starting point, it’s easy to get enthused”, begins Hans, as Daniel adds, “yeah, we bounce ideas around really quickly.”
“Also,” continues Hans, “a lot of times, just before we have to wrap up in the studio, we start something else since we’re already warmed up. Then, something totally new happens in the last half hour. It’s like, you have to quit, but you still get this really amazing idea — they’re the little seeds that you have to cultivate.”
Studio Utrecht. Image: Press
Watch any of Fouk’s social media videos, and you’ll see how much fun they have jumping around various synths, stitching together layers in a loop. Daniel praises the Prophet-6 for its lack of menu-diving and gorgeous sound, while Hans notes their frequent use of the Minilogue for its versatility across their tracks. Although many of these creative sparks lean on the duo’s arsenal of analogue synths, they admit that much of their signature sound has previously been crafted in the DAW.
“A lot of times people ask us, ‘You use a lot of analogue gear, right?’ But no,” says Hans. “Mostly, it was made in the box. But we have our ways for shaping the sound, using harmonic distortion on things—”
“And, of course, the use of samples, especially in our earlier productions, helps define the ‘analogue’ vibe,” adds Daniel.
Get It Done is largely sample-free, compared to Fouk’s earlier work, aside from a string sample on the track Floating. Fouk’s refined sound relies less on sampling old records and more on meticulous microtiming.
“If we have a drum loop going and we [want to] add a bassline, there have been times that we purposely move the bassline in front of the kick. And it just works,” explains Daniel. “The attack of the bassline is also a percussive element of course—
“It’s also analysing how these old records sound,” continues Hans. “Because it’s with live musicians; you’re not a robot, and that’s what we want to recreate as well. And, of course, classic hip-hop, the sample-based way of making music, that whole shifted feeling with the eighth notes…We don’t quantise anything. It’s mostly by hand, just shifting little bits. There’s a theory to it; it’s not just random.”
Hans’ home studio. Image: Press
For their drum sounds, the duo often sample vinyl breaks, use lo-fi sample packs, and building kicks and snares from scratch on their Behringer RD-9. This hybrid approach lets them combine their own sounds with human grooves. “If you sample a live drummer, you get that groove, that whole swing. And if you programme your drums on top of those transients, you have more organic sounding drums,” explains Hans.
It’s taken decades for Daniel and Hans to discover and perfect these techniques, which you can hear all over the Get It Done record. This EP, released via Freerange Records, also fulfils a 20-year ambition of the Dutch producers.
“We’ve been fans of the label since around 2005,” says Hans. “We were like, ‘We have to get a release on Freerange, if it’s remotely possible.’”
Two decades before releasing on Freerange, they’d travel to Germany to watch label founder Jamie (AKA Jimpster) perform. They befriended him and the Freerange team long before Fouk existed — but Fouk’s sound wasn’t always a fit for their dream label.
“Up until now, the sound and direction that we went was a little different than how Freerange was going,” explains Daniel. “Now, I think it’s all come together.”
Hans’ home studio. Image: Press
Get It Done signals where Fouk are heading next. Daniel and Hans have been building to this moment since a 2012 trip to the Arctic Circle, where they committed to a project rooted in the house music they’d discovered through labels like Freerange.
“It was a really special vacation,” recalls Daniel. “We took a train up north in Sweden, to a place where the sun was up for 24 hours in the summer. And I really remember talking about doing something new—we already had the Outplay label— but creating a new project together with the new sound that we found. Half a year later, we worked on the first tracks: Stuff Your Dad Likes, Cat Lady—”
Hans jumps in: “We would have loved to be in our early 20s and already have that sound…We were 30 years old when we started Fouk.”
A late start hasn’t stopped Fouk from finding their audience. The producers are still riding a high from their remix of Nathan Haines’ 2003 deep cut, Squire For Hire feat. Marlena Shaw, which enjoyed three weeks at number one on Traxsource’s Top 10 chart. Their remix came just a year after Shaw, a revered jazz vocalist, passed away, and four years after Phil Asher, the co-writer of the original track, died from a heart attack. As such, the project carried extra weight for Fouk.
Fortunately, after sending an early version of the remix to the label (Deeply Soulful vs Papa), the suggestion came to bring Haines onto the remix.
“We finished the version without the original saxophone parts because we didn’t have them,” says Hans. “We had the vocals, but we sampled a bit of the entire track just for texture. We sent it to the label, and they got the idea of asking Nathan to record new parts. We were like, ‘Yes, this is becoming more than just a remix!’”
Studio Utrecht. Image: Press
Since the Haines collaboration, Hans and Daniel have branched out into songwriting territory, which they see as part of Fouk’s future.
“We’ve made a release for Kraak and Smaak, the Dutch producers, on their label, Boogie Angst,” says Daniel. “We’ve worked together with some great, great bands, artists, and that was more songwriting—”
“Yeah, we basically wrote three songs for other artists,” adds Hans.
“We did an instrumental version and the [collaborators] wrote the vocals,” continues Daniel. “It was a really cool collaboration; it was definitely more songwriting based instead of house and club tracks.”
“It’s definitely a direction that we want to do more — write for other people, or produce for other people,” finishes Hans.
After more than 25 years, it might be surprising that Hans and Daniel remain so in sync. But they’re still finishing each other’s sentences and each other’s tracks. The second marriage, it seems, is going strong.
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I’m deeply impressed by the AKG C114 — you can’t buy a better mic at this price€239 / £209 / $229, akg.com
AKG is a long-established manufacturer of reference-quality microphones, with its classic C414 mics being among the best ever created. Indeed, I’ve always maintained that if I had to record absolutely everything with one model of microphone, it would be a C414.

READ MORE: AKG’s C104 review: “For the price, I can think of no other microphone that performs this well”

Now, the company is offering three new mics in its C-Series, which promise a large slice of classic AKG sound for a fraction of the price of its flagship products.
The C114 is the most versatile of the new series as it’s the only one to feature multi-pattern operation, offering omnidirectional and figure-8 polar patterns alongside the standard cardioid response. A switch on the front allows selection of each of the polar patterns, that’s all the user-adjustable parameters on offer; there are no pad or high-pass filter controls as you find on AKG’s more expensive mics.
As a large-diaphragm, multi-pattern condenser microphone, the C114 features a 26 mm dual diaphragm, true condenser pressure gradient capsule. It’s an edge-terminated design, which is an AKG invention from the historic C12 mic that predates the C414. Like many classic capsules, it’s gold-sputtered, yet unlike vintage mics built with noisy (characterful, some might say) transformers, the C114’s circuit is a modern low-noise, transformerless FET design.
Image: Press
Along with its low self-noise, the mic also offers high headroom with minimum distortion. This means it can handle sound pressure levels (SPLs) up to 145 dB without introducing distortion, so reasonably loud guitar and bass amps can be recorded as well as close-mic’d drums and brass instruments.
A handy inclusion with the C114 is the shock mount, which helps minimise unwanted vibrations while recording.
As an unapologetic AKG C414 aficionado, it’s with some trepidation that I test this mic that has so much in common with its legendary stablemate. I needn’t have worried; the performance of the C114 is nothing short of superb. I’ve reviewed mics that cost three times the price of this that have left me unimpressed.
In terms of clarity, detail and transparency, I don’t believe you can buy a better mic for the money. I recently reviewed the Warm Audio WA-87jr SE, which is a fabulous competitor, but it’s a cardioid-only mic; you have to spend $70 more than the C114 to get the WA-87jr multi-patterned version.
Image: Press
Much of the wonderful AKG sound I have always adored is present and correct in the C114. The broad midrange is wonderfully faithful, neutral and correct with no spikes or dips in the response, and the low end is firm and richly textured.
However, it’s the treble quality that impresses me the most. It’s beautifully smooth with crystal-clear accuracy and no harshness at all. Voices are captured with a palpable honesty that is usually the preserve of far more expensive microphones. And like the gold-standard C414, it’s a brilliant all-rounder, bringing out the best in anything you put in front of it.
I am deeply impressed with the C114. The C-Series as a whole is very impressive, but the C114 is so impressive that I can see it being used in professional recording studios as well as home set-ups.
There will always be a place in the market for premium, expensive microphones that represent a manufacturer’s ‘statement’ product. Here, though, AKG is making a statement of its own; you can now buy a professional, studio-quality microphone that won’t break the bank.
Image: Press
Key features

Large diaphragm condenser microphone
Cardioid, figure-8 and omnidirectional polar patterns
26 mm edge-terminated capsule
Weight: 415 g
Comes with a shock mount

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Ashun Sound Machines’ Leviasynth is an immense 16-voice algorithmic synthesizerAshun Sound Machines dropped a new synth monster at NAMM 2026 with the Leviasynth. This epic instrument is packed with technological capability: a 16-voice digital/analogue hybrid synthesis engine with serious sonic prowess.
ASM’s Leviasynth is centred around its algorithmic sound engine, which features eight oscillators per voice across seven synthesis types and over 140 configurable algorithms. Two independent layers can be stacked or split, with voices pairing into true binaural stereo sets for wide, independently modulated soundscapes.
The Leviasynth’s signal path blends two filters: a Q-compensated 4-pole low-pass analogue filter with pre-drive saturation for extra grit, and a digital filter boasting 18 models with morphing and drive. The engine supports phase modulation, linear frequency modulation, pulse width modulation, HTE sync, and three types of phase distortion. There’s also 13 envelopes, five LFOs, a modulation matrix, per-voice modulation offsets, and a macro control — you can keep an eye on this all via the full-colour touchscreen display.
ASM Leviasynth Keyboard version at NAMM 2026. Image: Sam Willings
The arpeggiator has eight different modes, such as ratchet, chance, and entropy, with individual controls for mode, octave, and gate to create highly precise runs of notes. Its sequencer allows for a huge 128 steps per track with drift options to imbue that imperfect human feel.
To help cut down on the inevitable choice paralysis that comes with such a dense piece of gear, the Leviasynth offers over 140 presets along with the ability to build and save original presets.
MusicTech’s commissioning editor, Sam Willings, got hands-on with the Leviasynth at NAMM 2026, and says: “The Leviasynth dragged me into its vast sound palette at NAMM for a lot longer than I planned. Its massive bank of inspiring presets, intuitive interface, and three-track sequencer had me hooked for about 30 minutes straight, building pads, sequences and squelching basslines.”
The keyboard version has 61 Polytouch keys for expressive tactility when using the 16 voices, but both models sport the touch screen. Its price tag is $1,799 for the desktop version and $2,499 for the keyboard version.
Check out more gear drops from NAMM 2026.
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Casio’s SX-C1 is a handheld sampler with a focus on funCasio is adding a new handheld sampler to its repertoire. At The NAMM Show 2026, the company had a prototype of the SX-C1 on show for attendees to play with. There is no release date or price point yet, but the sampler is already making a buzz in the music production world.
Members of the Casio team emphasised the word “fun” when discussing the product, which aligns with its design — it does look very much like a classic Game Boy. The SX-C1, crucially, is also a work-in-progress. Many details are not final and were labelled as “TBD” at NAMM 2026.
Alongside a 1.3-inch OLED display is a directional pad for moving across its built-in step sequencer, among other functions, and buttons labelled with letters for performing specific tasks. Further down, there are 16 LED-backed buttons with an 8-bit-esque font to add to the fun feel of the device. Jog wheels and sliders can adjust the built-in effects array and trim uploaded pieces of audio.

In terms of its technical capability, the SX-C1 can sample sounds at 16-bit/48kHz. It has a built-in microphone and an analogue audio input, and has 64GB internal storage with 10 banks of 16 samples. Its USB-C input can be used to transfer files between devices and stream audio to capture samples in real time. The USB-C can also power the device, and for full mobile functionality, AAA batteries are an option as well; however, currently, the battery life is advertised as two hours, which is far below the expected capacity. Even this is labelled as TBD, though.
We caught the SX-C1 at The NAMM Show 2026, where Casio was displaying two units and some basic info. You can check that out below.
Casio SX-C1 Sampler — lots still “TBD”. Image: Sam Willings for MusicTech
The last compact Casio sampler was the SK-1 keyboard, released over 40 years ago, in 1985. Among the users of the SK-1 were notable artists such as IDM originator Autechre and drum & bass legend DJ Hype. Who knows where the SX-C1 will end up if it makes it to retail?
Check out more gear drops from NAMM 2026.
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Carole King’s Tapestry Celebrates 55th AnniversaryLou Adler and Harvey Kubernik 2008 Interview

Carole King’s extraordinary career has defined American popular music for more than half a century. Born in New York City in 1942, she shaped the soundtrack of the 1960s with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and other classics written with her first husband Gerry Goffin. King was a leading figure in the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s, with dozens of hits and music awards. Her 1971 album Tapestry won four Grammys and remains beloved across generations in America and around the globe.

Yet King struggled to reconcile fame with her roles as wife and mother and retreated to the backwoods of Idaho, only to emerge in recent years as a political activist and the subject of the Tony-winning Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Carole King: She Made the Earth Move was published September 16, 2025 by Yale University Press.

Drawing on numerous interviews as well as historical and contemporary sources, this book brings to life King’s professional accomplishments, her personal challenges, and her lasting contributions to the great American songbook. Journalist and author Jane Eisner places King’s life in context, revealing details of her humble beginnings in postwar Jewish Brooklyn and exploring the roots of her musical genius.

“A robust celebration of a legendary musician.”—Publishers Weekly “A thorough knowledge of King’s musical output inform[s] Eisner’s sensitive investigation.” —Kirkus Reviews “A thoughtful, nuanced, and intelligent take on a reluctant pop star.”—Booklist.

Readers will come to understand the ways King’s four marriages intersected with her artistic production, her fruitful collaborations across genres, her conflicted relationship with fame, and her engagement with politics. Music is at the heart of this biography, and Eisner shows us that the key to understanding King’s music is to appreciate the centrality of the piano in her songwriting and performance. Throughout, Eisner describes how King created melodies and innovative chord structures that continue to resonate today.

All who have been moved by King’s work will relish this deep insight into her unique creativity. Carole King’s songs have become worldwide anthems to friendship, longing, and love.

Jane Eisner is a journalist, educator, and nonprofit leader. From 2008 to 2019 she was editor-in-chief of The Forward. Under her leadership, The Forward became the most influential Jewish news outlet in the country and won numerous regional and national awards. From 2019 to 2023, she was director of academic affairs and an adjunct professor at Columbia School of Journalism.

From 1980 to 2005, she worked at The Philadelphia Inquirer as a reporter, foreign correspondent, editorial page editor, and national columnist. She was vice president of the National Constitution Center from 2006 to 2008. She is known for her interviews with President Barack Obama, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University, Columbia Journalism School, and was the first Katharine Houghton Hepburn Fellow at Bryn Mawr College. She is the author of Taking Back the Vote: Getting American Youth Involved in Our Democracy.

King was inducted into the Rock and roll Hall of Fame in 2021. At the time Carole wrote: “I wanted to be a songwriter so I could meet all the great artists and they would know who I was. I thought being inducted into the Rock Hall as a songwriter with Gerry Goffin was the pinnacle. Until now. Thank you for ALSO inducting me as an artist. And to my fans always.”

The apt choice to induct the 79-year-old King at the Oct. 30 Rock Hall ceremony was Taylor Swift. In her speech, Swift, born 18 years after Tapestry was released, called King “the greatest songwriter of all time.”

The 1971 landmark Tapestry album from singer/songwriter and pianist Carole King, produced by Ode Records label owner Lou Adler, with engineer Hank Cicalo at the board in California at A&M Studios in Hollywood, spent 15 weeks at #1, garnered four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female) Record of the Year, “It’s Too Late;” and Song of the Year “You’ve Got a Friend.” 

Producer Quincy Jones was a 1972 Grammy recepient for an arrangement on his own L.P. of King’s “Smackwater Jack.” The album resided fulltime on the music record charts for six years, generating over 24 million in sales worldwide, making it one of the most successful discs of all-time. 

The first-pressing of Tapestry, as an LP, arrived in March 1971 with little fanfare and modest expectations.  55 years later it holds an exhalted place in the pantheon of pop music; a triumph of master craftsmanship married to a feminine sensibility that transformed both its audience and the marketplace. 

King’s Tapestry was re-relased with a second CD of live performances in retail outlets on April 22nd 2008 on the Epic/Ode/Legacy record label, a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

In 2008, Lou Adler invited me to write the 5,000-word liner notes to this Tapestry Deluxe Edition CD released by Sony Legacy Recordings.

During 2009, I also penned a liner note essay for Sony Legacy’s THE ESSENTIAL CAROLE KING. Author and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Andrew Loog Oldham (founding manager and producer of the Rolling Stones) also wrote an essay for the compilation, produced by Lou Adler, Steve Berkowitz, and Rob Santos.  

The 2008 Tapestry model finally offers a chance to experience Carole King in "unplugged" recital. The second CD in the deluxe package finally realizes Adler's decades-long dream concept, as it marries a newly remastered version of the classic 12-song album with a second CD containing previously unreleased live piano-voice concert versions of songs from the album (in the same order) recorded in 1973 (Boston; Columbia, Maryland; and New York's Central Park), and 1976 (San Francisco Opera House).  Tapestry Live underscores, as Adler knew before anybody when he signed King to Ode, that Carole King had an instinctive grasp of the job she was born to do. 

With Tapestry Live, King has reimagined her monumental 1971 iconic effort and employs a new and different set of vocal and piano musical muscles to her now proven soul-bearing copyrights inhabiting the concert stage.  The unwinding drama built around King’s grand Steinway refurbished visions are displayed in a live setting.

In the April 29, 1971 issue of Rolling Stone, Jon Landau opined, “Carole King’s second album, Tapestry, has fulfilled the promise of her first and confirmed that she is one of the most creative figures in all of pop music. It is an album of surpassing personal intimacy and musical accomplishment and a work infused with a sense of artistic purpose. It is also easy to listen to and easy to enjoy. The simplicity of the singing, composition, and ultimate feeling achieved the kind of eloquence and beauty that I had forgotten rock is capable of. Conviction and commitment are the life blood of Tapestry and are precisely what make it so fine.”

By late 1970, the rock music scene was going through a huge sea change. The glory days of worshiping bands such as Love, Buffalo Springfield, The Doors was fading into a narcotic distance. The deaths of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin (and Jim Morrison just around the corner), the ongoing horror of Vietnam, and the break up of The Beatles all contributed to a subtle but overt change that made the audience desire a different relationship with the music. And that was an intimate, one on one rapport with the message, and that message was delivered by the artist and the singer-songwriter.

Carole King was one this new genre’s throughbreds; a veteran of the late-50’s and early ‘60s immortal Brill Building scene, and artist with an immaculate pedigree. After writing hits for The Byrds, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin and others, by 1968 she had become Canyon-ized, a fixture in this new music community...

Released in late-March 1971, Tapestry struck a universal chord at an opportune time in pop and rock music history - the intersection of folk-rock's introspective and a socially conscious sense of disturbing forensic romanticism in a planet-gone- wild. With the escalating rise of West Coast naturalism centered in the saturated Los Angeles music sector known as Laurel Canyon.

Just prior to Tapestry coming out was the deregulation of the FM bandwidth, which resulted in a mini-explosion of so-called new 'progressive' or 'underground' or 'free-form' radio stations eager to spotlight their own artists and playlists separate from the mainstream Top 40.

In 2003, as yet another milestone of its importance, Tapestry was one of 50 recordings selected by the Library of Congress and placed in the National Recording review.

In a recorded conversation between Carole King and Lou Adler inside A&M Studio B on October 18, 1972, in Hollywood, Ca., King shed some light on her songwriting aspect of Tapestry.

“The music is always again inspiration but I have more control of the musical inspiration. In other words, if I get a musical idea, if I just get a glimmer of a musical idea, I can make that go much more how I want it to go. If I get a lyrical inspiration, I really have to work hard at controlling it. I really can’t control it. And most of the good lyrics that I have written have just sort of come to me without any control.

“The only control that I excert is in editing which I’ve always done to Gerry’s lyrics and Toni’s lyrics. I’m a very good editor and that’s the craft. Once I got to the stage of recording, I have feelings of wondering about whether it going to make it or not for a time, but the big questions about, you know, whether it’s going to make it or will people like it, all the big insecurities really happen when I’m writing the song. Once the song is being written and once it’s finished and I play it for you, and a few people whose opinions I respect, I begin to get a feeling. Sometimes I already have the right feelings. Sometimes I don’t know. When I write my own lyrics, I’m conscious of trying to polish it off but all the inspiration is really inspiration, really comes from somewhere else.”

In their 1972 interview Adler conducted with Carole at studio B at A&M Records, she disclosed the album title origins.

“It is typical of the magic that seems to surround that album, a magic for which I feel no personal responsibility, but just sort of happened, that I had started a needlepoint tapestry, I don’t know, a few months before we did the album, and I happened to write a song called ‘Tapestry,’ not even connecting, you know, the two up in my mind. I was just thinking about some other kind of tapestry, the kind that hangs and is all woven, or something, and I wrote that song. And, you being the sharp fellow you are, (giggles), put the two together and came up with an excellent title, a whole concept for the album.”

In 2008 I interviewed Lou Adler at his office in Malibu, Ca.  

Q: You’ve always been a song man.

A:   Going back to my early days with Sam Cooke and Bumps Blackwell. The first thing that Bumps, Sam’s producer, a man from Seattle who had worked with Quincy Jones when Quincy was 16 or 17. Bumps took us to school. He made us go through stacks of demos, made us break them down. ‘What was good about the first verse?’ ‘The second verse?’ ‘The bridge, and how do you come out of the bridge?’ So, from the beginning part of my career in the music business I was a songman. That was very important to me. When I’m working with Carole on the songs from Tapestry, and she is playing me these songs, she is playing songs that are the best. From track to track, you don’t get a bad song. You might get one song that I would have had a problem with sequencing, but they’re solid songs even just with piano and voice.

Q: Tell me about your stint at Aldon Music in the very early 1960s that later in the decade became Screen Gems Music, who were the publishers of Carole’s songs on Tapestry?

A: Lenny Waronker brought Randy Newman to meet me and I gave Randy a stack of Carole King demos. I thought that was the best education that anybody that wanted to be a songwriter could have. I mean, at one point I said to Snuff Garrett, who was producing Bobby Vee, “I’ll let you hear this, but you’ve got to give me the demo back,” because they were keeping the demos.

“Well, the thing that she did in singing and playing -- and she also sang all the parts that eventually would show up on the followup records, the hits.  Once a producer got a hold of her record, she pretty much laid out the arrangement. Both instrumentally and the vocal parts that would end up on the record. Her demos when I first started working for Aldon Music, the way that we worked, Donnie Kirshner, myself and Al Nevins, and the staff would find out what particlar artist that had a hit and was looking for follow ups.

“That assignment was then given to all the writers to go to their cubicles and knock out some songs. They were there from the beginning.  And actually, wrote the song.  I mean, she -- History shows most of her hits, until she became a recording artist and wrote “You’ve Got a Friend” and “So Far Away,” were with Gerry Goffin. They didn’t just write records, like in ’58 and ’59, for Fabian and Avalon.  But they wrote songs first, and then wrote the record and showed how the song sould be interpreted.

Q: Some thoughts about Gerry Goffin who co-wrote a few tunes on “Tapestry.”

A: Gerry Goffin is one of the best lyricists in the last 50 years. He’s a storyteller, and his lyrics are emotional. “Natural Woman,” “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” both on “Tapestry.” These are perfect examples of situations, very romantic, almost a moral statement. Coming out of the 1950s, with the type of bubble gum music, and then in 1961, Gerry is writing about a girl who just might let a guy sleep with her and she wants to know, “is it just tonight or will you still love me tomorrow?” Goffin could write a female lyric. If he could write the words to “Natural Woman,” that’s a woman speaking. Gerry put those words into Carole’s mouth. He was a chemist before he was a full-time lyricist. He’s very intelligent and obviously emotional.

Q: What about Carole’s growth as a songwriter?

A: Watching her writing her own lyrics as the principal lyricist I saw her develop as a lyrtic writer, “You’ve Got a Friend.”  A famous Carole King song. She was not confident as you can imagine then in writing lyrics, having worked with Gerry, as I’ve said, arguably one of the best lyricists over the last 50 years, maybe. But she gained her confidence within this Tapestry album and I think she had been writing a little bit, but really once we started on Tapestry she felt confident enough to complete those songs. 

“We went by songs. The only thing we reached back for, which was calculated in a way, which of the old Goffin and King songs that was hit should we put on this album? And, that’s how we came up with “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” I thought that song fit what the other songs were saying in “Tapestry.” A very personal lyric. 

“Tapestry was such a partnership between Carole, myself, Hank Cicalo, the engineer, and the musicians, so it’s hard to say anyone suggested because we did it all together. Because it was really that kind of record.  On Carole’s demos that leads to the sound on Tapestry, her piano out front, and the bass drums, maybe a guitar, but she put in all the parts. Within her piano you could hear a string part, or hear another background part, and she did the background parts. After The City album and Writer Carole began writing for herself.

Q: Talk to me about Carole King in 1970, before her “Writer” debut solo LP on your Ode Records label, and just before “Tapestry” began.

A: The climate of the late ‘60s had no women in the Top Ten charts, except Julie Andrews on ‘The Sound Of Music’ soundtrack. Before the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 I flew to New York and tried to sign Laura Nyro. I invited her to perform at the festival.   Carole was in a group the City, who I produced for Ode in 1968. The L.P. was called “Now That Everything’s Been Said.” The City’s album was supposed to be a group, even though it sounds a little like ‘Tapestry,’ not so much in the subtleties, but in the way that group plays off of each other. At the time Carole did not want to be a solo artist. She wanted to be in a group and she was more confortable in a group. She didn’t want to tour that much or do any interviews. And we started to get those kinds of songs that would then lead us to Tapestry.

“Toni Stern, a writer for Screen Gems, collaborated with Carole earlier on the Monkees’ Head soundtrack and The  City album, and Carole’s debut album Writer. I knew her a little bit. She was introduced to Carole by Bert Schneider of RayBert Productions, producers of the Monkees. I saw her when the songs were presented with Carole to me for Tapestry.

“Danny Kootch and Charlie Larkey were on The City’s Now That Everything’s Been Said  album, they are the core certainly of Tapestry. Larkey on both electric and acoustic standup bass and his relationship with Carole at the time, husband and babies to be.  And father of babies to be.  His bass was very important to the sound and feel of Tapestry.

“As music often does, it becomes the soundtrack of the particular time.  What I think happened in ’70 or late ’70, ’71, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell and Carole, is that the listening public and the record-buying public bought into the honesty and the vulnerability of the singer-songwriter, naked in the sense -- You know, what James was singing about, “Fire and Rain.”  Their emotions that they were laying out there allowed the people to be okay with theirs.  And I think the honesty of the records, there was a certain simplicity to the singer-songwriter’s record, because they either start with vocal-guitar or piano-voice.

Q: Reflect on Tapestry.

A: I really knew that it was special.  It brought out emotions that no other record at least at that time had. Tapestry was really special and hit a real chord with the public.”

Q: The pre-production period was fundamental to Tapestry. You cited the influence of jazz vocalist June Christy’s Something Cool LP with arranger Pete Rugolo.

A: It’s one of the first albums that I started noticing sequence and continuity of songs and thoughts, so that it wasn't a roller coaster emotional ride, it was a smooth ride. Musically, if there's one other thing, Peggy Lee with George Shearing, who connected some instrument to his piano playing. He doubled the vibes, he doubled the guitar, you know? You'll hear on Tapestry, if you go back and listen to it, I doubled a lot of Carole's parts with Danny Kortchmar's guitars.

So, for me as a producer, those were two real influences, but especially the June Christy album. Carole’s piano playing on the demos dictated the arrangements. What I was trying to do was to re-create them in the sense of staying simple so that you could visualize the musicians that were playing the instruments. And also tie Carole to the piano, so that you could visualize her sitting there, singing and playing the piano, so that it wasn't 'just the piano player,’ it was Carole. And that came from the demos, which would start with Carole playing and singing, as well as doing some of the string figures, always on piano.

During pre-production I had in my mind to use a lean, almost demo-type sound. Carole on piano playing a lot of figures with a basic rhythm section, Russ Kunkel and Joel O’Brien on drums, Charles Larkey, bass, Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, guitar, Ralph Schuckett on the electric piano, along with David Campbell doing the string section.

“I also had Curtis Amy on sax and flutes, his wife Merry Clayton, and Julia Tillman. James Taylor added acoustic guitar to ‘So Far Away,’ ‘Home Again’ and ‘Way Over Yonder’ on the album. James is also on ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ and along with Joni Mitchell is one of the backing vocalists on ‘You’ve Got a Friend.’”

Q: Explain to me about selecting the songs for Tapestry.

A: In selecting the songs, we had 14 songs that we were considering. One of which was “Out In The Cold” that didn’t make the initial album. Which we later issued as a bonus track that’s on CD. Carole would play the songs, some that she had written, or was finishing, and some that she wrote during the album. Everything that we selected I obviously felt should be on the album and we didn’t have that many songs that we were leavng out.

The pre-production consisted of coming up to my office on the A&M Records lot.  We eventually recorded all of those tracks in the A&M Studios, B and C. After Carole would play all the songs, and at that point we think about musicians that would fit. We had this little core group of musicians. The difference on the tracks realy lies with the drummer. On things like “Home Again” and “So Far Away” was Russ Kunkel, and on the more uptempo ones was Joel O’Brien.

Q: Tell me about the initial playback of Tapestry.

A: I recall wallking out of the studio after a playback with Danny Kooch, and he said, “what do you think of this?” He misinterpreted I think when I replied, “it’s the musical equivilent of Love Story, which was a number one move at that time. And Kootch, felt, “that’s a little soft.” What I meant was that it was an emotional album that was going to be very big and bring out emotions in people that no other record at least until that time had.

Q: What about the post-production after the recording aspect was completed.

A: Carole never expressed this is really good or this is going to be really big. I think she was happy with what we were doing. During the Tapestry sessions she was very confident, very business-like and organized.

“She takes problems that occur in the sessions as good as anybody I ever worked with, fine, get it fixed. She had a real calmness about her., if there is a fire you don’t see it on the surface as far as the post production, after you do all the recording, mixing, I closed the doors to the mixing room, and I played Carole the mixes after they were done, if she had any suggestions we would then go in and fix the mix. But she never asked to be there during mixing and I don’t feel she felt left out.

“When I felt the mix was final to a point, then she would listen and might have suggestions or comments like, ‘That’s it,” “That’s fine” or “I think the vocal has to be up or you missed that part.”

Q: The sequencing on Tapestry was crucial.

A: When I started sequencing Tapestry, I remembered and thought the sequenceing on June Christy’s Something Cool was incredible, the transition from song to song just kept you in the album. It was something that I tried to accomplish with Tapestry.

“I took the tapes home and I went through a lot of changes. I finally fixed on the sequence and took a vacation to my house in Mexico that had a small cassette player and that’s when I came up with the final sequencing. But I went through a lot of changes.

“John Phillips of the Mamas & Papas influenced me a lot on sequencing and what the final chord on one song is to the first note on the next one so it’s not jarring music transitions.

“Sequencing meant a lot in those days, the journey, or the experience or the adventure of lisitening to a new album and sitting down by yourself puttng on that vinyl, The story that it told, the sequencing was very important. I was sequencing for the person who was listening at home, alone.

Q: How does Tapestry fit into Carole’s body of work?

A: Well, I think it is the epitomy the matching of the songwriting with her piano playing. And her vocalizing. The producion allows all of those things to be forefront. It’s not a ‘Spector’ sound as her own sound. We got a little away from the subsequent albums we did after that.

“The group of Tapestry songs have that many right songs on an album, songs that compliment each other. Songs that trasmit everything that is right about Tapestry. What would I do different? Everything was done right for whatever the reasons were. Once again, it’s Carole King as a songwriter.

Q: Tell me about the atmosphere at A&M Records when you produced Tapestry. You did the album on their lot. They distributed your Ode label.

A: A&M itself, you can’t imagine the heads of some labels coming to some sessions and then standing next to you and saying thing, but with Herb (Alpert), because we had been previous business partners and his musicianship, and my respect for him, as co-head of that label, I was totally confortable with that.

“You could talk to him on a music level.  I had my own promotion man within the A&M structure so that helped a lot. The people at A&M loved music. They were not there for any other reason. The fact that a musician who co-owned a label. As far as the first Tapestry playback and the advance buzz, you didn’t have to do much.

We sent out the mailing to radio stations and record reviewers. The first review we got back from The Long Beach Press Telegram was a bad review. Whoever wrote it talked about Carole’s voice being thin. But there was no other plan other than get it out there and let people hear it. The response on the lot itself, visualize it at the time was like a college campus.

“Everybody talked to each other about all the products during lunchtime, and the word on the A&M lot was fantastic, and the kind of responses that validated what we had done. ‘This album is so personal.’ ‘This album I can listen to over and over and it reminds me of things that I’m going through.’ That permeated throughout the years it has continued to sell.

“Each time from vinyl to CD to downloads. Somebody buys Tapestry again because they want to listen to Tapestry in the new mode. It just became personal to everyone who listened to it. There were enough songs in there for people to pick up this song and that song. “So Far away” is my favorite song. At the time of the initial release, we were still thinking AM radio as far as singles. FM radio still had an undergound feel to it.

“The choice of “It’s Too Late” as a single came from (A&M co-owner) Jerry Moss. The differnce between Tapestry and other albums I had been involved in was the word of mouth. On “It’s Too Late” Curtis Amy is on sax. He had played on the Doors’ “Touch Me.” But the distinctive flavor he added to “Tapestry” was his flute. 

“He hadn’t played flute in a very long time and he was nervous about it ‘cause he had just been playing sax. I said, ‘we’re gonna use flute on this.’ Curtis said, ‘Give me a couple of days to work on it.’Curtis and his wife Merry Clayton were both fantastic and were a very important part of Tapestry.

(Harvey Kubernik is the author of 20 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 the duo 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 January 2026 from BearManor Media.

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 heralded Distinguished Speakers Series and also a panelist discussing the forty-fifth anniversary of The Last Waltz at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2023).The post Carole King’s Tapestry Celebrates 55th Anniversary first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Anduril has invented a wild new drone flying contest where jobs are the prize This is a race series for software programmers and the brainchild of founder Palmer Luckey, he tells TechCrunch.

Strymon Strymon NightSky Experimental Reverberant Synthesis Plugin The Strymon NightSky plugin is an expansive sound design workstation that redefines the traditional concept of reverb. Originally released as a celebrated hardware pedal, this software adaptation brings Strymon's "reverberant synthesis" directly into the DAW environment. Unlike standard reverbs that aim to simulate physical spaces, NightSky is designed for deep manipulation of pitch, harmonics, and time. It allows users to sculpt atmospheric washes and otherworldly textures through a combination of a variable-rate reverb core, advanced modulation, and a dedicated voice section. At the heart of the NightSky is a unique engine that treats the reverb tail as a sound source for further synthesis. By integrating a four-pole resonant filter, a versatile distortion section, and an eight-step sequencer, the plugin transcends simple ambiance. Producers can create rhythmic pitch-shifted tails, shimmering harmonic overtones, and evolving cinematic pads that react dynamically to the input signal. Whether applied to synthesizers, guitars, or orchestral tracks, the NightSky provides a hands-on, menu-free interface that encourages experimental exploration and instant sonic transformation. The plugin architecture mirrors the hardware's intuitive layout, offering three distinct reverb textures: Sparse, Dense, and Diffuse. These engines provide the foundation for everything from granular-sounding reflections to plate-like density and slow-building washes. With the addition of "Variable Process Rate" technology, the NightSky can simultaneously shift the size and pitch of the reverb core over a 2.5-octave range. This capability, paired with the onboard sequencer, enables the creation of complex melodic and rhythmic patterns that were previously difficult to achieve without a complex chain of multiple effects. Features: Three Reverb Textures: Choose between Sparse (granular), Dense (plate-style), and Diffuse (atmospheric wash) engines for varied reflection behaviors. Variable Process Rate: Allows for real-time continuous control of reverb pitch and core size simultaneously. 8-Step Sequencer: A powerful tool for sequencing pitch changes of the reverb core, capable of running at a tapped tempo or synced to MIDI clock. Voice Section: Dedicated controls for Shimmer, Glimmer, and Drive to enhance the harmonic spectrum of the reverberated signal. Synth-Style Filter: Includes a 4-pole, 24dB/octave resonant low-pass filter for sweeping the reverb output. Modulation Section: Features six selectable waveforms (triangle, square, ramp, saw, random, and envelope) with multiple modulation targets. Quantized Pitch: Size and Pitch controls can be set to smooth operation or quantized to half-steps and specific musical scales. Infinite Sustain: A dedicated "Infinite" function allows for the freezing of audio within the reverb core to create endless drones. Integrated Drive: Soft-clipping non-linear saturation that can be applied pre or post-reverb for added grit and character. Preset Management: Instant access to 16 on-board presets with the ability to store hundreds more via the plugin interface. Scalable UI: High-resolution user interface that can be resized to fit any modern screen setup. Full Automation: Every parameter is automatable within your DAW for complex, evolving soundscapes. https://youtu.be/80JzrfNG8p0?si=_5N0FMPqTg-XI1OW Read More

Servicing the ‘Not Serviceable’ Bearings on a Vacuum Power HeadEveryone knows that bearings are a consumable wear item, and that the power head of a vacuum likely contains bearings that will eventually need to be replaced. Yet when the manufacturer wants you to toss out the entire roller and pay $80 for the privilege, that feels rather steep and unnecessary. In the case of [Mark Furneaux], the roller in the power head of his Filter Queen brand vacuum felt particularly over the top to toss, since it’s all fancy wood with very durable brushes.
One of the bearings had stopped being a bearing, resulting in the plastic that held it in place beginning to melt. Fortunately the damage hadn’t progressed to the point where printing a replacement was necessary, so instead it was time to figure out how to remove the bearings without permanent damage. The trick that the manufacturer used was to peen the ends of the metal shafts that the bearings fit onto, requiring some Dremel action to convince them to come off.
After some careful modifications like this, the remnants of the old bearings came off and their replacements could go on. Due to the metal shaft modifications, it is now mostly the plastic caps on either end which grip the bearings, but it seems to work well enough. For $2 in bearings and some labor on [Mark]’s end, he managed to keep a perfectly good roller brush out of the landfill, and future bearing replacements should be much easier.

David Checa joins Warner Chappell Music Colombia as Managing DirectorThe industry veteran will oversee WCM’s operations in one of Latin America’s most influential music markets.
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Loudness Penalty Studio updated to version 1.5 A free update has been released for MeterPlugs' Loudness Penalty Studio, bringing a range of performance improvements, new analysis tools and expanded reporting features in version 1.5.