The Crow Hill Company releases Bridge Guitar, the latest addition to the FREE vaults series
The Crow Hill Company released Solo Bodhrán and Acid Synth earlier this year, before rebranding for Season Two. Bridge Guitar is the first release since the rebrand. Bridge Guitar focuses on a particular sound that started in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, around 2010: the rubber bridge sound. The rubber bridge innovation is credited to Reuben [...]
View post: The Crow Hill Company releases Bridge Guitar, the latest addition to the FREE vaults series

Arturia launch Software Season sale Arturia have just launched their Software Season sale, with some generous discounts being applied across their range of software instruments and effects for the next three weeks. 

Breaking Sound, StrmMusic expand Artist Showcases to 100 citiesEmerging artist series Breaking Sound will expand artists showcases into the US and is partnering with global artist accelerator StrmMusic.
The post Breaking Sound, StrmMusic expand Artist Showcases to 100 cities appeared first on Hypebot.

How AlphaTheta Chordcat puts 110,000 chords at your fingertipsAd feature with AlphaTheta
For producers ready to move beyond simple beats and start building full songs, harmony often becomes the stumbling block. Music theory — especially chord construction and progression — can feel like a foreign language. Chordcat, a new groovebox from AlphaTheta, aims to bridge that gap.
Unlike other beatmaking hardware, Chordcat puts harmony right at the centre of the creative process. Whether you’re using one of the 145 onboard sounds or controlling an external synth, its intuitive system lets you explore 110,000 possible chord combinations, all without needing to know what a secondary dominant is.
What is Chord Cruiser?
Chord Cruiser is Chordcat’s big idea: one part music theory hack, one part harmonic adventure. Simply load up a chordset, and the unit starts suggesting musically related chords based on what you’re playing. Each time you trigger one on the touchstrip, the X/Y pad gives you compatible alternatives that can be auditioned on the fly.

Chordcat doesn’t try to force you to pick the ‘right’ chords. Yes, there’s a logic to its suggestions, but you’re always free to go off-course and bend the rules a little. It’s reactive, rather than prescriptive, which encourages improvisation and exploration. Of course, you’ll want to trust your ears, but fostering a sense of what sounds good is an important part of the production journey.
Once you’ve found a chord you like, save it to the touchstrip, and Chordcat will update its suggestions accordingly. It’s quick, playful, and incredibly easy to lose track of time jumping between options. Ready to commit? Play or program your chords into the sequencer. Each pattern can last up to 8 bars, so there’s plenty of scope for musical twists and turns.
Chordcat’s Chord Cruiser. Image: MusicTech
Chordcat’s Chordsets
If Chord Cruiser is Chordcat’s engine, chordsets are its fuel — 18 curated collections of chords based on genre and function, each offering its own flavour. Five are focused on basic major and minor families, providing a clean slate for experimentation. The other 13 take cues from genres such as house, R&B, and future bass, leaning into stylistic norms like minor 9s and sus chords for electronic genres, and seventh-heavy voicings for pop and soul.
These chordsets are a smart way to sketch out harmonic direction, especially for producers used to building from samples or loops. And because the system reacts dynamically to each chord input, it’s easy to stumble into unexpected territory. Even without knowing the names of the chords being played, progressions tend to feel connected and intentional.

To keep things fresh, Chordcat often throws non-diatonic suggestions into the mix — chords that stray outside your chosen scale or key. It’s an easy way to add jazz-y or neo-soul inflections to a progression, without needing to know why it works.
Chord Voicing
Chordcat also pays close attention to voicing — the way individual notes in a chord are arranged. Rather than defaulting to root-position triads, it leans into more expressive shapes that often mimic the choices a skilled pianist might reach for.
By favouring smooth voice leading and minimising big leaps between chords, progressions feel immediately musical, even when you’re throwing in extended harmonies or borrowed chords.

Simple menu options let you tweak voicings and inversions on the fly, so you can shape things based on what sounds good to you. And if you’re curious about the underlying mechanics, these voicings can help you understand how chords are built and connected.
Scales and Keys
The chords are in place, but what about melody? Chordcat’s scale and key functions ensure any notes you play fit with the chosen tonality. Choose E minor blues, for example, and only the notes from that scale are mapped to the touchstrip. With clashing notes effectively removed, you can play around without overthinking.
Scale mode is also an intuitive way to explore modal tonality and the feelings it can evoke. For a dreamy and ethereal vibe, Lydian’s a solid bet. Creating something darker and more ominous? Give Locrian a try.
From Beats to Songs
Grooveboxes aren’t typically known for their chord-creating abilities, and that’s where Chordcat breaks from the pack. Its deep integration of chords, scales, and voicings helps you with sketches but also actively encourages full song building.

With the pattern chain function, it’s easy to flesh out simple ideas into structured arrangements: intros, verses, choruses, whatever the track calls for. It’s a natural progression from beatmaking to proper songwriting territory.
By lowering the barrier to harmonic exploration and offering tools that react musically, Chordcat makes it easy to follow an idea from spark to structure, even without a formal music education, giving producers a fast and accessible way to bring chord-driven music to life.
For a hands-on look at the workflow, sounds, and sequencing, check out AlphaTheta.com
The post How AlphaTheta Chordcat puts 110,000 chords at your fingertips appeared first on MusicTech.

Proven Strategies to Sell More Tickets To Your Next Live ShowStruggling to fill the room? Here are seven proven strategies to sell more tickets to your next live show. While it's written from the artist's point of view, the strategies work for venues, promoters and festivals too.
The post Proven Strategies to Sell More Tickets To Your Next Live Show appeared first on Hypebot.

Get Honeycomb Bass OD by Canvas Audio FREE for a limited time
Canvas Audio is currently offering a sitewide sale on plugins and sample packs. Amid all discounts, you can also pick up their new Honeycomb Bass OD free of charge. The list price is $49, so if you want to buzz up your low end without lowering your net worth, this is the time. You can [...]
View post: Get Honeycomb Bass OD by Canvas Audio FREE for a limited time

Boss announce the RT-2 Rotary Ensemble Boss' latest pedal promises to accurately recreate the much-loved sound of a rotary cabinet, as well as adding a modern twist thanks to multiple operation modes.

Tomorrowland’s main stage destroyed in huge fire less than 48 hours before the eventTomorrowland’s main stage has been destroyed in a large fire, representatives for the Belgian festival have confirmed.
The fire broke out at around 5pm CEST on 16 July, with less than 48 hours to go until the event kicks off. Representatives have also confirmed that no people have been injured by the blaze, and while the main stage is out of action, the rest of the festival is currently due to take place as normal.
In an official statement shared to the Tomorrowland website, the festival has confirmed that doors to its DreamVille campsite have now opened, and that more details about the festival weekend – which runs from Friday-Sunday – will be shared soon.
“At 10:00 this morning, doors to DreamVille (campsite) have opened to welcome all DreamVille visitors. All Global Journey activities in Brussels and Antwerp will also take place today,” it states.
“It’s impossible to put into words what we’re feeling. The Orbyz Mainstage of Tomorrowland Belgium 2025, a creation born from pure passion, imagination, and dedication, is no more. This wasn’t just a stage. It was a living, breathing world.
“From the very first sketch on a blank page, to countless hours of conceptual design, artistic collaboration, engineering, crafting, building, every single piece of Orbyz carried part of our soul. But, we hold on to the magic Orbyz gave us. To the dreams it carried. To the team who gave their all.”
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It concludes, “We spent the night working on possible solutions for the Mainstage area.  No other parts of the festival venue, stages or areas were impacted. All detailed info about the festival weekend will follow in the coming hours.”

The main stage at Tomorrowland has been completely destroyed by a fire. pic.twitter.com/HQr5jHv2E7
— (@concertleaks) July 16, 2025

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The cause of the blaze currently remains unknown, though unofficial reports claim that fireworks were set off in the area. Reports also suggest that a demolition of the stage has begun, and that cranes are securing “its skeleton”.
We will update this story with more information as we get it.
The post Tomorrowland’s main stage destroyed in huge fire less than 48 hours before the event appeared first on MusicTech.

FL Studio 2025, as reviewed by a Logic Pro user: “Fun and frustrating”For almost as long as I’ve been alive, FL Studio has been a mainstay of music production, but as a Logic Pro user, I’ve always thought of ‘Fruity Loops’ as the scrappy cousin of the DAW family. With the arrival of the 2025 update, now seems like the perfect time to switch over and check out what’s on offer.
With headphones on and coffee in hand, I dive in to find out why this venerable DAW has stood the test of time.

READ MORE: Ableton Live 12 is still one of the best DAWs out there

Opening up a new project, I’m greeted by a sleek, sophisticated, and decidedly ‘pro-level’ looking UI. In the spirit of the software, I start with some looping sequences to get a sense of what FL Studio can do. Right away, I’m impressed by how easy I can get up and running with a basic groove.
The piano roll is frictionless to use, with a brush tool that lets me simply ‘paint’ patterns into song arrangements. The automation features are equally well designed and make it quick to draw velocity and other parameters. There’s a powerful bank of stock plugins and samples too, most of which have easily accessible controls if you want to shape your sounds.
FL Studio 2025 interface. Image: Press
What is FL Studio Gopher?
Getting the hang of those essential features is a breeze, but I must admit, I did have some help. Accompanying me on my journey was Gopher, Image-Line’s brand-new AI chatbot. This is my first big surprise, and a pleasant one at that. Gopher isn’t just a marketing gimmick; it’s a genuinely useful tool that teaches me the fundamentals of FL Studio faster than any DAW I’ve ever used.
Dozens of annoying questions are met with helpful answers. ‘Where did my window disappear to?’, ‘How can I copy one plugin to another?’ and plenty of queries that begin with ‘What’s the shortcut for…’
To be clear, you shouldn’t expect ChatGPT levels of performance here. The lag time between question and response is noticeably slow, but even with that limitation, Gopher saves me precious time that I might previously spend trawling SEO-stuffed blog posts or sifting through YouTube tutorials.
Gopher in action in FL Studio 2025. Image: Image-Line
Recording in FL Studio 2025 is…meh
However, even with a chatbot at my side, getting to grips with how FL Studio handles audio recording almost broke my brain.
On any other DAW I’ve used, setting up a basic recording usually involves a couple of easy steps. In FL Studio, it’s a manual process that requires a fair bit of work just to create a recording channel in the first place.
It’s not just audio either, even recording MIDI is a chore. During a recording, nothing appears in the Playlist arrangement, giving you no visual indication that you actually hit record. Clips of finished recordings can also sometimes appear in random places on the timeline, with no clear reason for their destination.
In practice, this makes capturing a performance on a MIDI keyboard, or even using the computer keyboard as a live input, seem like much more trouble than it’s worth. Rather than lose the creative flow, I find myself regularly resorting to the mouse input to draw MIDI notes and program drum beats rather than using my MIDI keyboard.
In 2025, this workflow feels less like a quirk and more like a limitation. By not updating this aspect of FL Studio (which many producers online have pointed out could be done better), Image-Line is reinforcing the programming and sequencing aspects of making music while placing unnecessary barriers to recording music with a microphone or MIDI keyboard.
FL Studio 2025 sequencer. Image: Press
But that sequencer is still iconic
Since its release in 1998, the beating heart of FL Studio has always been its sequencer. Even in the current version, it’s hard to tell exactly where the sequencer ends and the DAW begins. On the one hand, this gives everything a strong rhythmic bent that is exceptionally well suited to electronic production styles like trap, hip-hop and EDM.
However, this also means that FL Studio tends to steer you in these directions even when you don’t want it to. Technically, it has all the features you’ll find in any of the major competing DAWs, but the workflow is so oriented around gridlines, sequencing, and programming that my attempts to make some ambient music or bring in live audio feel uninspiring at best.
Should you get FL Studio 2025?
All that aside, FL Studio is still a very accessible DAW. Price-wise, there are four tiers, with the Producer Edition hitting the sweet spot at a very affordable price of £199.
What makes this deal even sweeter is that for over 25 years, Image-Line has stood by its oft-quoted tagline: “Free updates since 1998”.
It’s true — once you purchase FL Studio, you own it for life with free access to any future versions. Having lost my copy of Pro Tools when Avid shifted to a subscription-only plan and felt the sting of a macOS update robbing me of my old copy of Ableton Live, I love that FL Studio has stuck to this commitment.
By comparison, Ableton Live 12 Standard is priced at £259, but you will eventually have to pay to upgrade to the next edition. Logic Pro comes in at a similar price of £199 and does have free updates, but the hidden premium lies in the cost of buying a Mac computer to run it in the first place.
FL Studio 2025 mixer. Image: Press
The FL Cloud subscription — worth it?
While the DAW itself may come with a permanent licence, FL Studio hasn’t sidestepped the subscription craze entirely.
FL Cloud is an optional add-on at £8.99 or £12.50 per month for the Plus/Pro tiers, and gives you access to over a million royalty-free samples, third-party plugins, integrated music distribution with DistroKid, and AI mastering tools — all of which are built directly into the DAW.
Even if you don’t subscribe, there are plenty of free samples in the catalogue you can rummage through.
My verdict
Overall, FL Studio goes deep but not necessarily wide.
Its strong sequencing and programming capabilities are a lot of fun and feel creatively satisfying, but its unique workflow means that rhythmically focused production is still the best kind of music to make with it.
As long as you’re on board with that there is plenty here to love: FL Cloud feels like good value for money, turning it into a one-stop creation and distribution platform, the utility of Gopher helps you learn the interface lightening fast, and FL Studios well-furnished catalogue of instruments, plugins, effects and samples is a great foundation for any new producer.
Having gotten my first bite of FL Studio, I can’t wait to see what another 25 years of free updates will bring.

Key features

Gopher: an integrated AI chatbot for answering FL Studio and music production questions
FL Cloud subscription includes additional sounds, plugins, effects, music distribution and AI mastering
Comes with 94 instruments and effects (Producer Edition)
Support for up to 500 tracks
Inbuilt stem separation tool
Lifetime free updates
Runs on Windows and MacOS

The post FL Studio 2025, as reviewed by a Logic Pro user: “Fun and frustrating” appeared first on MusicTech.

Native Instruments Glaze 2Glaze 2 - Next-gen vocal instrument Pop and hip hop vocal instrument featuring special chord presets for gleaming textures and pads. Unlock instant, complex harmonies with over 30 custom chord sets and background vocals mapped to keys. 150 presets with an extensive range of sound sources and custom Kontakt effects macros. Part of the Play Series: Hard-hitting presets and real-time control in an intuitive interface. Chord progressions at the touch of a key The follow up to one of our most-loved instruments, Glaze 2 brings vocal heat straight to your studio with bigger, bolder stacked chords, pads, and leads. With even more voices and the slick sounds of the talkbox, it'll be your new go-to vocal instrument for everything from polished pop to edgy hip hop. Laying down vocal harmonies is a piece of cake, giving your beats extra flair to set them apart. Get ready to play, twist, and tweak your way to unique vocal vibes that hit just right. Glaze 2 was crafted in collaboration with Curtis 'Sauce' Wilson and Rochad Holiday – engineers behind the sounds of Ne-Yo, Ariana Grande, Will Smith, and Dr Dre. About the Play Series When inspiration strikes, just play. The Play Series instruments put outstanding sound quality in an easy-to-use package. Each has a distinctive sound and character, offering a comprehensive selection of carefully designed presets and focused controls for modifying them. Whether you're new to production or a seasoned pro, the Play Series can inspire your tracks. Read More

Dr. Dre upgrades his Aftermath Entertainment StudioAccording to a report from Solid State Logic (SSL) on Wednesday, "Hip-hop artist, producer, record executive and entrepreneur Dr. Dre has upgraded the main room at his Aftermath Entertainment studio facility in Los Angeles to a 96-input Solid State Logic Duality Fuse SuperAnalogue mixing console. Dr. Dre, whose influential debut solo album, 1992’s The Chronic, introduced G-Funk to the world and defined West Coast hip-hop, has owned or worked on every model of large format SSL analogue music console since the E series, commenting, 'The first love of my life was the SSL board.'""Aftermath Entertainment’s Head engineer, Quentin 'Q' Gilkey, has worked not just with Dr. Dre but also many of the artists on the label’s roster, including Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson.Paak, The Game and Earl Sweatshirt," they said. "He began working with Dr. Dre 15 years ago, becoming Aftermath’s lead engineer in 2014. He reveals that there were two main reasons for the upgrade to the Duality Fuse."Firstly, Gilkey says, “Because Dre mixes utilizing the whole board — in our case, all 96 channels — we require a method that allows us to recall at a fast pace, and Total Recall offers this.” The fact that multiple people can work simultaneously to recall the console’s previous settings was a major influence on Dre’s decision to purchase a Duality Fuse, he says.Secondly, he continues, older analogue consoles inevitably require maintenance, resulting in downtime while issues are resolved. “With the Duality Fuse, we knew we were not going to have to deal with that issue. In today’s studio, things move much faster than when tape was involved. Now, we’re able to retain that analogue sound without the analogue maintenance that once stood in our way and remain creative.”Aftermath Entertainment has relied for decades on SSL analogue consoles for the depth and punch they deliver, Gilkey says. “There is nothing like the depth you get from mixing on an SSL. Duality Fuse has somehow taken that to a new level, and we hear it. That is the biggest difference to my ears — when everything is spread out and mixed on the Duality Fuse you can really accentuate and elevate the height, width and depth, compared to when mixing in-the-box.”"Duality Fuse’s 4-band parametric equalizer is based on SSL’s '242 Black Knob' EQ, which was originally developed for the original 4000 E series console," they said. "It can be switched to deliver the characteristics of SSL’s G series console EQ, allowing engineers to choose per-channel between the grit of the ‘E’ or the precision and tightness of the ‘G’ as needed in a session."“We have all 96 channels set to G-EQ,” Gilkey reports, “which maybe plays into the punch and great harmonic gain we get from the Duality EQs. You can also add harmonic drive to each channel path on the Duality, and you can push the EQ and compressors differently than, say, the 9000 K, which we previously owned.”Correct gain staging also often gets overlooked, Gilkey believes. “When done right, and you push the EQs to the edge of distortion, you get an incredible sound out of the SSL, especially with drums and low frequencies.”The following info is directly from SSL.Adding Fusion for sonic flavoringSSL’s Duality Fuse features an integrated Fusion analogue mix bus processor, adding another layer of sonic colors, particularly flavours the Vintage Drive and Stereo Image processors offer: “The Fusion is an incredible tool,” Gilkey enthuses. “I couldn’t be happier with a piece of hardware. I’ve always said that SSL’s give depth to any sound when used properly and the Fusion takes it to a new level in harmonic distortion and stereo field.”Gilkey and the Aftermath team had previously tried to persuade Dre to switch out his 9000 K for a Duality, but he resisted until they were working on Snoop Dogg’s new Missionary album, Gilkey recalls. “We’re sitting in Dre’s studio with Eminem and Dre’s playing him the album. Dre asks Marshall [Eminem], ‘Hey, don’t you use a Duality? How do you like it, and is the recall faster?” Marshall praises the Duality and Dre turns to me and says, “Let’s order one”. And that was it.”It was an easy transition from the older SSL console to the new Duality Fuse, Gilkey says. “An SSL team came in and gave us a crash course over two days on new features, routing, etcetera, which really made it painless for us. But if you have experience with SSL’s previous large format consoles, you will be able to sit down and navigate this rather easily. Visually, it is an easy transition; the difference comes in sonic options — you have a lot more now.”The Aftermath team workflowThe Aftermath team’s production workflow integrates seamlessly with the Duality in the studio. “Usually, we have Dre’s production team all set up at their computers running Logic, Pro Tools, etcetera. Each computer has its own interface which is output to the Duality on individual channels. Dre sometimes likes to ‘EQ to tape,’ as he would say. Once we like the sound of those specific channels the signal is sent direct out to Pro Tools, where they’re recorded. Sometimes we’re capturing a single producer recording a single sound or sometimes all five producers at once.”As those elements are captured in Pro Tools, Gilkey continues, “I’ll organize and arrange all the files for playback, outputting each separate sound to individual channels for Dre to have control over level, EQ and compression as we’re creating. In essence, once we’re done with the production, we also have a great rough mix ready to be printed. When it comes time to mix, we’ll check all levels for proper gain staging from Pro Tools then zero all EQ and compression to give Dre a blank slate to start with.”The post Dr. Dre upgrades his Aftermath Entertainment Studio first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Bitcoin resistance at $120K normal due to ‘frothy’ open interest near all-time highsBitcoin shows its first major bearish signal in weeks, yet strong dip-buying and key support levels keep the bullish outlook intact.

If your music strategy is ‘quick hits’ on the US charts in 2025… good luck.Luminate's new midyear report shines a light on the declining global market share of the United States – and of the biggest hits within the US
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Native Instruments Kinetic MetalKinetic Metal Kinetic Metal is a unique and inspiring Kontakt instrument by Native Instruments, designed to create ethereal soundscapes, evolving textures, and delicate tonal percussion from unconventional metallic sources. Developed in collaboration with renowned sound designer Jeremiah Savage, this instrument takes the essence of various non-traditional metal objects and transforms them into a versatile palette for cinematic scoring, ambient music, and experimental sound design. At its core, Kinetic Metal blends creatively sampled metallic sounds—ranging from cauldrons and broken clocks to kettles and swords—with artificial waveforms. Each patch within the instrument is a multi-layered combination of four distinct sampled sounds and four artificial waveforms, offering a rich sonic foundation. The instrument's intuitive interface, featuring two large "Forge" and "FX" wheels, allows for dynamic and expressive manipulation of these sounds. The Forge wheel morphs between the different "personalities" of a patch, providing continuous sonic evolution, while the FX wheel controls a custom set of effects tailored to blend seamlessly as the wheel is turned. This design encourages hands-on exploration and provides a wide range of sonic possibilities. Beyond manual control, Kinetic Metal incorporates an "Auto-motion" feature, allowing producers to set one or both of the main wheels in motion automatically. This creates evolving sound beds and textures, freeing the user to focus on performance while the sound morphs independently. The instrument is a powerful tool for sound designers and producers seeking to add unique, atmospheric, and percussive elements to their compositions, providing a distinctive sonic signature that is both organic and otherworldly. Features: Unconventional Metallic Sources: Features creatively sampled sounds from diverse metal objects such as cauldrons, broken clocks, kettles, and swords. Hybrid Sound Design: Combines four distinct sampled metallic sounds with four artificial waveforms within each patch for rich, multi-layered textures. Forge Wheel: Morphs continuously between four different "personalities" or sonic combinations within each patch. FX Wheel: Controls a custom set of effects designed to blend and evolve with the sound as the wheel is turned. Eight Sliders: Allows for manual adjustment of the level of each sample and waveform in the mix for fine-tuning. Auto-Motion Feature: Enables automatic, continuous movement of the Forge and/or FX wheels for evolving soundscapes. Over 200 Multi-Layered Patches: Provides a wide array of ready-to-use sounds for various musical applications. Intuitive Interface: Designed for easy manipulation and expressive performance. https://youtu.be/uw8Xumali4w?si=9gH8OjyavCB57b6A Read More

Mini Car Racing Game Really Shows Off Multicolor PrintingQuality 3D printing is a common hobbyist tool nowadays, and [wontonnn]’s mini arcade car racing game really shows off how 3D printing can bring parts from functional to fantastic. There are quite a few details we like in [wontonn]’s design, so let’s take a closer look.
The mini mechanical game is one of those treadmill-based car racing games in which the player navigates a little car between an onslaught of belt-borne obstacles. A little DC motor spins things up in a modular side assembly, and a hand-cranked option is available. The player’s car attaches via a magnet to a steering arm; if the player’s car gets knocked off the magnet, game over.
Treadmill belt segments print as large pre-assembled pieces, with ends that snap together without connectors. Belts like this are sometimes tricky, so this is worth keeping in mind should one ever need a similar part. Since there are no external fasteners or hardware to depend on, one could resize it easily to suit their own project purposes.
The finishing touches on the whole assembly look great. It used to be that the sort of colors and lettering seen here would come from a sticker or label, but [wontonn] gets clean lines and colors by raising (or sinking) different parts of the design. The checkerboard pattern, for example, has the light squares raised for printing in a different color.
Electromechanical arcade games have an appeal all their own, being a fusion of both mechanical and electric design that comes together in a special way. Want to make your own? Get inspired by the classic Lunar Lander reimagined, or check out this LEGO treadmill racer that takes an entirely different approach to the concept.