Cyber Monday 2024: Best deals for music producers, DJs, beatmakers and musiciansFollowing Black Friday, Cyber Monday is a time when tons of music tech manufacturers and retailers slash their prices, offering an array of limited deals, with many starting their offers weeks ahead.
Perhaps there’s been a specific hardware or software product that’s been on your radar this year, or maybe you’re just on the lookout for something new to freshen up your setup. Whatever you’re after, nabbing some juicy Cyber Monday sales might help keep your studio fresh, so it’s worth keeping an eye out.
To help you navigate through the sea of deals today, we’ve created a one-stop shop for the best Black Cyber Monday deals on the market. Be sure to check back here and save your time and money.
Editor’s Picks
Credit: Native Instruments
Native Instruments: Up to 90% with Black Friday plugin bundles – each only £44
Native Instruments’ Cyber Season sees the brand drop prices on loads of its plugins created by NI itself as well as its umbrella brands, iZotope and Plugin Alliance. You can take advantage of 50 per cent off Komplete 14, up to 66 per cent off with Kontrol S-Series MK3, and a selection of Plugin Alliance plugins for $29 each till November 28, 2023.
Find this deal at Native Instruments.
Credit: Cableguys
Cableguys: 73% off Cableguys Shaperbox 3 bundle
Cableguys’ Shaperbox 3 is something else. More specifically, it’s a tool that lets you manipulate audio in really cool ways. In our review of the third version, MusicTech wrote, “It was already a fantastic plugin, but the new additions, especially the Audio Triggering mode, make it a joy to work with. It’s powerful and inspiring. Whether we’re working on technical mixing tasks or wild sound design, we can’t imagine producing without it.”
Find this deal at Cableguys.
 
Credit: AIAIAI
AIAIAI: 30% off all headphones when you subscribe to its newsletter
AIAIAI specialises in innovative modular headphones, offering customisable solutions so you can shape your setup to your needs, save money – it’s good for the planet, too. Their TMA-2 series allows users to personalise headphones by choosing different speaker units, ear pads, headbands, and cables, catering to diverse preferences in sound, comfort, and style. Don’t sleep on this offer from AIAIAI!
Find this deal at AIAIAI.
Credit: Arturia
Arturia: 50% off selected plugins
If you know, you know. Black Friday and Cyber Monday is always an exciting time for fans of Arturia’s plugins. The brand delivers year on year with new high-quality software plugins that cater for music producers of many levels. Its range includes virtual instruments, synthesizers, and effects plugins that emulate classic analogue gear.
Find this deal at Arturia.
More Cyber Monday deals for musicians
Producer working in a music studio. Image: wundervisuals via Getty Images
What is Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are related annual events that kick off the holiday shopping season. Originating in the United States, it’s a weekend for brands to offer massive discounts and exclusive promotions that are only available for a limited amount of time.
The tradition began in the early 20th century. The term ‘Black Friday’ was coined to describe the chaotic Friday after Thanksgiving each year – a day when shops would offer their products for low prices. The term was officially used in the 1950s, but it was in the 1960s that it really turned into a global shopping phenomenon. It’s called ‘Black’ Friday because businesses would see their revenue transition from making a loss (‘in the red’) to making a profit (‘in the black’) during this period.
The term ‘Cyber Monday’ was later coined in 2005. It’s a follow-up day of deals after traditionally taking place on the Monday after thanksgiving and Black Friday, with offers exclusively taking place online. Arguably as important as Black Friday, Cyber Monday acts as an extra day to grab deals but from the comfort of your own home, meaning you don’t have to face the chaos of high street shoppers during the holiday period.
Black Friday sales sign at Walmart. Image: Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images
When are Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday takes place on 24 November 2023, with Cyber Monday following on 27 November 2023. Sales usually start at midnight on Friday but, as the event has expanded across the globe, many companies extend their Black Friday sales over the course of several weeks, starting as early as October. So, even if you think you might miss a Black Friday drop, you can still keep your eyes peeled throughout November to cop yourself a deal.
Typically, Black Friday and Cyber Monday fall annually on the final weekend of November, just a day after Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday marks the end of most of the price cuts, so you’ll want to head to the virtual checkout with those synths in your cart before midnight on Monday 27 November, or you might miss out.
Who has the best Cyber Monday deals for music producers, DJs and musicians?
Generally, retailers will have the most varied and extensive Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Some brands will host stellar offers directly, so it’s worth shopping around if you have time.
To help you out, we’ve listed the best music retailers hosting Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals below.

Thomann
zZounds
Amazon
Plugin Boutique
Loopmasters
Reverb
Sweetwater

Don’t forget that these are just online sales. Cyber Monday is historically a brick-and-mortar affair. If you can brave the chaos of the in-person sales, try heading to your local music gear store on Cyber Monday to see what else you can get your hands on.
The post Cyber Monday 2024: Best deals for music producers, DJs, beatmakers and musicians appeared first on MusicTech.

Classical Highlights for November 2024As autumn continues in the northern hemisphere and the temperature outside falls, the instinct it to turn to more cozy settings, which is perfect for chamber music. Two outstanding classical releases covered this month fit that bill. One is violin sonatas by the friends Brahms and Schumann, performed by Yuuko ShioKawa and András Schiff. The other features chamber works by Igor Stravinsky, conducted by Barbara Hannigan (pictured).

Death Clock app predicts the date of your deathA new app called Death Clock predicts the date of its users’ deaths and offers tips on how to push that date back. TechCrunch wrote about an iPod Death Clock app way back in 2006 — but developer Brett Franson told Bloomberg that with an AI trained on more than 1,200 life expectancy studies, his […]
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Creating a Signature Wood JointWe really love when makers make their construction techniques evident in an aesthetically-pleasing way, and [Laura Kampf] has created a clever joint that reveals how a piece is made.
[Kampf] is a big fan of using her domino joiner, which is similar to biscuits or dowel joinery, but she didn’t love how it hid the construction of the joint. She first figured out an “off label” use of the joiner by running it from the outside of the joint to show the exposed domino from one end.
Building on the concept to show an interesting contrast on both sides of the joint, she drilled a hole perpendicular the domino and placed a dowel through it, creating a locking joint. The choice looks great once a finish is applied to really accentuate the contrast, and another bonus is that if glue is only applied to the dowel and domino, it becomes trivial to separate the joint if needed by drilling out the dowel.
If you’d like to see some other interesting ways to join wood, how about this laser-cut wedge tenon, soda bottle heat shrink, or this collection of CNC joints.

Black Friday ain’t over: get $200 off the Universal Audio Apollo Twin X DUO interface – AND get $2,289 worth of UAD plugins absolutely freeBlack Friday might be over, but we’re well and truly in the thick of Cyber Weekend, and that means there’s still hundreds of discounts to be taken advantage of across all the biggest online music retailers.
Sure, if you’re in the market for a new audio interface, there are plenty of affordable options available, like Focusrite’s Scarlett range, for example (psst: you can still get a 4th Gen Scarlett 2i2 for just £144 in this post Black Friday deal).
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But if you’re after a little more firepower – something a little more high-end – you won’t go wrong with the Universal Audio Apollo Twin X DUO. And it’s discounted by $200 at Sweetwater for a limited time for Cyber Weekend.

READ MORE: Black Friday music deals 2024: These deals on synths, DJ controllers and plugins are still live – don’t wait to grab a bargain

Boasting next-generation elite-class AD/DA, the 2nd generation of the Apollo Twin X DUO offers the lowest distortion and widest dynamic range of any Apollo Twin available to date. It also gives powerful onboard plugin processing, providing you with award-winning emulations of studio classics that you can track in real time.
Elsewhere, the Apollo Twin X DUO features Monitor Correction, so you can adjust playback sound to suit any room or recording environment, Bass Management for optimising your subwoofer for maximum low-frequency detail, and so much more.
And the icing on the cake? If you grab this interface right now with a discount of $200, you’ll get $2,289 worth of UAD plugins absolutely free.
For more information, head to Sweetwater.
The post Black Friday ain’t over: get $200 off the Universal Audio Apollo Twin X DUO interface – AND get $2,289 worth of UAD plugins absolutely free appeared first on MusicTech.

Tailwheel Trainer Go-Cart To Avoid Wrecked PlanesTaildraggers remain a popular configuration for small aircraft, but they come with a significant risk during ground handling: ground loops. If the tail gets too far off course, it can swing around completely, often damaging or destroying aircraft if a wing hits the ground. Avoiding ground loops requires good rudder and brake control, and there currently isn’t a good way to learn it without getting into an actual aircraft. [Trent Palmer] is a pilot and who has been thinking about this problem for a few years, so he built a 3-wheeled electric go-cart to help pilots train their ground handling.
The cart is controlled exactly like a taildragger, with a pair of rudder pedals connected to the single steerable via cables, and springs to add some response delay. Independent hydraulic brakes on each main wheel, operated by toe pedals, further simulate the control on many aircraft. The main wheel are controlled with a throttle lever, with a differential to allow them to rotate at different speeds. The cart is unforgiving, and requires constant corrections with the pedals to keep it going straight.[Trent] had few pilot and non-pilot friends try out the cart, and even the experienced tailwheel pilots got into ground loop. It might be bit too sensitive, but everyone agreed that mastering this cart would significantly improve ground handling skills in actual aircraft.
Repairing a damaged aircraft can cost several thousand dollar, so a cheap training tool like this could prove invaluable flight schools and even individual pilots. [Trent] doesn’t have big plans for commercialization, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it goes that way.
Taildraggers are especially popular as bush planes, with many tracing their heritage from the humble Piper J-3 Cub. We’ve seen some extreme extreme modern bush planes, like [Mike Patey]’s Scrappy and Draco builds.

LAST DAY to Update Artist Profiles for Bandsintown High NotesSunday December 1 is the last day for musician to update their Bandsintown For Artist profiles to make the most of Bandsintown High Notes 2024. This popular live music year in review for both artists and fans will be released early in December.
The post LAST DAY to Update Artist Profiles for Bandsintown High Notes appeared first on Hypebot.

Last Week in DIY and Independent Musician NewsLast week, DIY and independent musician news ranged from Bandsintown High Notes to a Superfan debate, botted playlists and more…
The post Last Week in DIY and Independent Musician News appeared first on Hypebot.

Air Music Tech’s New $99 Multiband Filterbank is FREE Until December 2nd
Air Music Tech launched its new Multiband Filterbank plugin on Friday and is offering it for free from now until December 2, 2024, saving you $99.  Multiband Filterbank is a release for Windows (VST2, VST3, AAX), macOS (VST2, VST3, AAX, AU, desktop standalone), and MPC (standalone).  Air Music Tech describes the plugin as offering the [...]
View post: Air Music Tech’s New $99 Multiband Filterbank is FREE Until December 2nd

The Crow Hill Company releases Wavering Choir for the FREE Vaults series
The Crow Hill Company’s Vaults series is a treasure trove of free sounds with a twist, and their latest addition is the Wavering Choir. The twist is that the contents of the vault are ever-changing. Each new release remains in the vault for six months, and a previous release is removed with each new addition. [...]
View post: The Crow Hill Company releases Wavering Choir for the FREE Vaults series

Icon Drums Classic Rock from Spectre Digital Spectre Digital have announced the release of what they say is the ultimate drum library for producers who demand the best-sounding drums for their classic and modern rock productions

Bluesky promises more verification and an ‘aggressive’ approach to impersonationAs more celebrities and popular influencers join Bluesky, the fast-growing social media service has been facing more concerns around impersonation and verified identity. The Bluesky Safety team posted Friday that the company has updated its impersonation policy to be “more aggressive,” adding that “impersonation and handle-squatting accounts will be removed.” The company said it should […]
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It’s Like LightScribe, But For Floppies!Back when CD-Rs were the thing, there were CD burner drives which would etch images in the unoccupied areas of a CD-R. These so-called LightScribe drives were a novelty of which most users soon tired, but they’re what’s brought to our mind by [dbalsom]’s project. It’s called PNG2disk, and it does the same job as LightScribe, but for floppies. There’s one snag though; the images are encoded in magnetic flux and thus invisible to the naked eye. Instead, they can be enjoyed through a disk copying program that shows a sector map.
The linked GitHub repository has an example, and goes in depth through the various options it supports, and how to view images in several disk analysis programs. This program creates fully readable disks, and can even leave space for a filesystem. We have to admit to being curious as to whether such an image could be made physically visible using for example ferrofluid, but we’d be the first t admit to not being magnetic flux experts.
PNG2disk is part of the Fluxfox project, a library for working with floppy disk images. Meanwhile LightScribe my have gone the way of the dodo, but if you have one you could try making your own supercaps.

Saving a Samsung TV From the Dreaded Boot Loop[eigma] had a difficult problem. After pulling a TV out of the trash and bringing it home, it turned out it was suffering from a troubling boot loop issue that basically made it useless. As so many of us do, they decided to fix it…which ended up being a far bigger task than initially expected.
The TV in question was a Samsung UN40H5003AF. Powering it up would net a red standby light which would stay on for about eight seconds. Then it would flicker off, come back on, and repeat the cycle. So far, so bad. Investigation began with the usual—checking the power supplies and investigating the basics. No easy wins were found. A debug UART provided precious little information, and schematics proved hard to come by.
Eventually, though, investigation dialed in on a 4 MB SPI flash chip on the board. Dumping the chip revealed the firmware onboard was damaged and corrupt. Upon further tinkering, [eigma] figured that most of the dump looked valid. On a hunch, suspecting that maybe just a single bit was wrong, they came up with a crazy plan: use a script to brute-force flipping every single bit until the firmware’s CRC check came back valid. It took eighteen hours, but the script found a valid solution. Lo and behold, burning the fixed firmware to the TV brought it back to life.
It feels weird for a single bit flip to kill an entire TV, but this kind of failure isn’t unheard of. We’ve seen other dedicated hackers perform similar restorations previously. If you’re out there valiantly rescuing e-waste with these techniques, do tell us your story, won’t you?

This Apple laptop is perfect for music production – and you can save $100 during Cyber WeekendWhether you’re a hobbyist bedroom producer or a professional pumping out tracks to millions, you need a fast-performing and reliable computer as the heart of your production rig.
There’s a reason so many producers use Apple laptops for their music production; they feature an intuitive user interface which doesn’t get in the way of your creative workflow, and have top-quality processing power so you don’t need to worry about bottlenecking. And right now at Sweetwater, you can grab a 15-inch MacBook Air M3 in a Midnight finish at a $100 discount.
[deals ids=”1VY1VKAIuN0oAfQeuQTh8l”]
So let’s dive into some of the specs that will make this your best choice of machine for music production. First up, it’s got a “blazing-fast” M3 chip – meaning it can handle whatever mix you throw at it – a super-portable, lightweight design and up to 18 hours of battery life so you can take it on the move no problem, a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display driven by a 10-core GPU, and two thunderbolt ports for plugging in your audio interface and any other external gear.

READ MORE: Black Friday music deals 2024: These deals on synths, DJ controllers and plugins are still live – don’t wait to grab a bargain

We don’t expect this deal to last long, so don’t wait around if you want to get your 15-inch MacBook Air M3 for only $1,199 down from $1,299.
For more information, head to Sweetwater.
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