Melda Production update plug-in line-up Melda Production are celebrating their 16th anniversary with an update to their range of over 100 plug-ins.

SoundCloud’s new store pays artists 100% of merch sale profitsThe internet has vastly shifted how we support our favourite artists. Rather than buying CDs, streaming has quickly become most people’s preferred way to consume music. As a result, physical CD sales aren’t what they used to be, and streaming revenue certainly isn’t enough to live on.
Nowadays, artists rely on merch sales more than ever. But merch sales can come with a load of hidden fees, meaning artists only get a fraction of the profits. Thankfully, the SoundCloud Store is here to change that.

READ MORE: Resident Advisor and SoundCloud team up to “improve music and event discovery”

Launching today, SoundCloud’s new online store allows a selection of SoundCloud Next Pro artists the opportunity to sell exclusive merchandise to fans. The best part? 100% of all profits will make their way back into artists’ pockets.
SoundCloud Store also boasts no upfront costs, as artists won’t have to pay for inventory or storage fees. Every hoodie, shirt or exclusive accessory will be made to order and immediately shipped out. And SoundCloud will notify fans about any merch an artist wishes to sell.
Of course, the store is in its early days. Only Wiz Khalifa, Denzel Curry, wolfacejoeyy, Bk The Rula, and Armani White currently have merch available. But SoundCloud is encouraging eligible Next Pro artists to apply, with hopes to expand the store in future.
This isn’t the first time SoundCloud has attempted to help artists make a living. In 2021, the streaming platform introduced Fan-Powered Royalties to aid independent artists, allowing those with a loyal, dedicated fanbase to earn more per stream. The shift earned Portishead 500% more revenue on a track than the band otherwise would have earned.
Alongside the artist merchandise, the store also boasts the exclusive SoundCloud Essentials Collection. The Essentials Collection will allow SoundCloud lovers to wear their music-loving heart on their sleeve, with selection of SoundCloud-centric tees, tanks, shorts and hats for grabs.
The SoundCloud Store is currently only available in the United States, European Union, and Canada. For more information, head to SoundCloud.
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MeldaProduction’s new V17 plugin update brings efficiency improvements and six new virtual instrumentsMeldaProduction has officially announced V17 of its plugin suite.
The latest version introduces MPluginManager as a new and easy way to manage all installations, licensing, and subscriptions from one convenient location. MPluginManager automatically detects and uninstalls older versions of plugins, ensuring you have the latest updates without downloading any unnecessary data.
Melda’s modular virtual instrument MSoundFactory also gains six new instruments, including Cyberpunk Bass, Trap Bass, Cyclicity, Ethereal Keys, Alchemist Whoosh, and Organic Scape — all of which are available for free for existing users.

READ MORE: Universal Music Group and Meta to tackle unauthorised AI-generated content and more in new “expanded global agreement”

Additionally, core efficiency improvements have been made across the board, with Melda updating the compatibility of all its plugins (“including the free ones”, says the brand) to meet current standards. Some plugins like the MTurboDelay feature a lot of new presets with the update.
V17 maintains backward compatibility with all previous plugins, ensuring a seamless transition if you’re upgrading from earlier versions. Users who have previously installed MeldaProduction plugins can also take the chance to restart their 15-day trial period with the new version.
That said, making a decision about which plugin to buy can be tricky when you’re on a tight budget or deadline. One way to have all of Melda’s 100-plus plugins at your disposal is via the brand’s “Subscribe-To-Own” program, which allows you full access to all of its plugins for a monthly fee. For just €15 a month (or €165 annually), you will own the perpetual licence for MCompleteBundle, which costs €2,099 if purchased.

Learn more at MeldaProduction.
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Tyler, The Creator slams “meme” musicians: “You’re taking up space”Tyler, the Creator has hit out at musicians who make “meme records” for “taking up space” in the industry.
The rapper – real name Tyler Okonma – did not mince words in his latest critique of the genre and the internet culture surrounding it. In a new teaser for the web series Mavericks with Mav Carter, the musician says, “There’s so many n***as out right now that aren’t musicians that are getting treated like musicians because they make meme records.”
“Publicly [they] will be like, ‘I don’t give a fuck about music. I just do this shit for money.’”

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He compares the phenomenon to the famous Spider-Man clone meme, saying, “When every publication is like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s put that out,’ you taking up space for n***as like me.”
Despite his comments, Tyler says that “I don’t wanna seem like a hater. Sometimes I have hater energy ’cause I just think I’m that good.”
Asked if his frustrations stem from how much he ‘cares about this art form’, the musician tells Carter, “I love this art form so much, bro.”
Reposting the clip of Tyler on X, rapper Russ commented, “Spot on. Making music solely to get rich is why the majority of the music sucks ass.”
The full episode will be released on YouTube later today (14 August).

Earlier this year, Tyler, the Creator chimed in on the AI debate, explaining why he was unphased by the technology as far as music-making is concerned.
“It might have its perks but I’m always ahead of even myself, so the AI will never catch up to me creatively,” he said. “It’ll only be a reference point of what I already did, not where I’m going because it’s not me.”
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We dare you to try and reach Elektron Digitakt II’s limitations£899/$999, elektron.se
You know a company’s influence is crystallising when its name enters common usage. ‘Google’ and ‘Photoshop’, for example, are as much verbs as they are product names, while in music, ‘Hammond’ tends to be applied to organs of all sorts of brands.
Elektron, it seems, is rising to a similar stratum. More and more, in various manners of speaking, performers and producers talk about playing Elektron to ostensibly describe a particular role or workflow. Often the word is used as an adjective for a style of performative sequencing, generally with multiple units synced over MIDI. The Elektron workflow is also an increasingly ubiquitous term, referring to the Swedish company’s rather unique approach to the user interface. One wonders how long it’ll be before other developers look to appeal to those specific skills Elektron users (excuse us: Elektronauts) will have honed through this workflow.

READ MORE: ROLI Seaboard Block M has the most expressive power you’ll find in a portable instrument

The original Digitakt is one of the most popular drum computers and samplers on the market. It has eight audio tracks and eight MIDI tracks on a sensibly laid-out interface with an incredibly well-considered sequencer, boasting over 400 factory sounds for massive sound-sculpting potential. Sampling into its memory via a line input is quick and intuitive, and it’s in the blend between those sounds and the ones already onboard where the magic happened.
In many ways, the Digitakt turned the page for Elektron. Announced at 2017’s NAMM show, it marked a move away from Elektron’s larger instruments, like the 2001 Machinedrum, and into more compact designs. The Digitone eight-voice synthesizer followed in 2018, along with its sibling, the keyboard-equipped Digitone Keys and, in 2022, Syntakt drum computer and synthesizer.
Digitakt has become incredibly dear to Elektron and its user base. Which also means that too much of a departure could be a mistake; it wouldn’t be the first time public opinion has judged an original model to be preferable. But, too similar, and there’s simply no point.
The screen on the Digitakt II
When it comes to Digitakt II, on the surface, it looks more in danger of the latter– except for a noticable price hike. Perhaps expected, though, considering the original Digitakt was released the seven years ago into an economically unrecognisable music technology world.
In any case, little on the panel separates the Digitakt II from its predecessor. But this is to be respected, whether you’re new to the Elektron ecosystem or not. Elektron’s signature workflow for this format of machines— sequencer buttons in two rows along the bottom, eight encoders on the top right, a screen on the left— has been proven to work marvellously and really needs no overhaul.
The Digitakt’s primary strength is the speed and ease of use, paired with a well-designed signal flow and robust effects that are actually useful. It’s a breeze to capture sounds at the line input and feed them through its architecture, hitting its transport buttons with gusto to performatively record and play them. All of that prowess has been carried forward into Digitakt II.
On the subject of buttons: if there’s any bugbear with Elektron’s design, it’s the insistence on using the most rattley buttons imaginable, even if they are supremely satisfying to hit. This machine could capably double as an acoustic shaker if required. Alas, we digress.
Sampling on the Digitakt II
Clues remain of major upgrades under the hood. A keyboard setup button has appeared on the left, and another row of LEDs sits above the Page button; an FX button has joined the five parameter buttons (TRIG, SRC, FLTR, AMP and LFO).
“The Digitakt experience, but multiplied”, is how Elektron opens Digitakt II’s manual, and it’s not wrong. Digitakt’s eight mono tracks expand here to 16 stereo tracks, any of which can be assigned to output MIDI to seamlessly integrate other gear into sequencing. Digitakt’s sequencer had a 64-step limit; Digitakt II doubles that. While Digitakt had 1GB of internal storage accompanied by 64MB of RAM, Digitakt II has a capacious 20GB plus 400MB of RAM. Digitakt allowed 128 samples per project and now Digitakt II allows 1024 – we challenge anyone to reach that limit.
From sample storage to sequence length and variance between patterns, we find ourselves nowhere near the limitations of Digitakt II. It allows over five times the Roland SP-404MKII’s samples-per-project allowance, for instance, and 4GB more internal storage. It doubles the track allowance of the Polyend Play. While it doesn’t trounce these competitors in every department (the effects section of the SP-404MKII is best-in-class, for example), it all suggests that this is a workhorse of an instrument that will serve its users for a long time to come.
The OS 1.50 update to the original Digitakt introduced workflow enhancements that now constitute the core of Digitakt II, namely the SRC page and Machines for delivering samples in various ways. These consist of the Oneshot, which linearly plays samples forward, backward or looped; Werp allows samples and loops to automatically stretch to the tempo of a project or pattern by warping audio and chopping it into quantised sections. Stretch, well, stretches audio into the tempo of your project or section with a granular-style engine, while Repitch does the same but with a more traditional pitching method. Grid lets you slice a sample into segments to be triggered individually. Each feature brings its own distinctive flavour into the mix and makes for huge variety, even within sequences consisting of reasonably homogenous sounds.
Back of the Digitakt II
Sonically, the Digitakt II leaves very little to complain about. The onboard sounds are rich and varied– deep kicks, industrial clatters, sizzling hats, garage-reminiscent woodblocks, it’s all here– and its sampling fidelity is flawless. The Machines’ audio editing imparts minimal artefacts into the samples, and the choice selection of effects sounds adds all the sparkle one could ask them to.
In essence, Digitakt II breaks into entirely new territories of functionality. One thing it takes pains to retain is the purity of its purpose as a drum computer and sampler. While it can manipulate samples any which way, to the point of making new sounds entirely, it’s not a synthesizer and nor is it pretending to be. There’s Elektron’s Syntakt and Digitone for that. We could cite all the ways it pushes the boundaries of that role, for instance the brilliant, exquisitely-detailed multi-mode variable filter, or the Euclidean sequencer, which allows for mathematically complex sequences of pseudo-irregular patterns. We could list the brilliantly tweakable and cutely animated effects, from delay to bit-crushing, or the well-expanded modulation capabilities, but if we did, you’d be here all day.
What we can say is that it’s a pleasure to operate, it sounds fantastic and it has all the connectivity, memory and functionality one could hope for from a machine like this. And that’s without the Overbridge software package which, at the time of writing, isn’t available for Digitakt II. It’s highly playable, with all manner of handy functions that we’ve come to expect from Elektron by now, but here the developer has outdone itself.
We can likely expect a Digitone II and Syntakt II. If those upgrades are as expansive as this, the Digitakt II looks set to lead the charge, possibly influencing the entire groovebox market, all over again.

Key features

Digital drum computer & stereo sampler
16 audio tracks for stereo or mono samples, or MIDI
128-step sequencer
Euclidean sequence generator
20GB internal storage and 400MB RAM
Effects: delay, reverb, chorus, bit reduction, sample reduction, and overdrive per track
Dimensions: 215 x 176 x 63 mm
Weight: 1.48 kg

The post We dare you to try and reach Elektron Digitakt II’s limitations appeared first on MusicTech.

Techivation introduce AI-Impactor Techivation's latest AI-series plug-in is described as an intelligent attack enhancer that’s been designed to make any sound stand out and cut through a busy mix.

Gemini Live first look: Better than talking to Siri, but worse than I’d likeGoogle launched Gemini Live during its Made By Google event in Mountain View, California, on Tuesday. The feature allows you to have a semi-natural spoken conversation, not typed out, with an AI chatbot powered by Google’s latest large language model. TechCrunch was there to test it out firsthand. Gemini Live is Google’s answer to OpenAI’s […]
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Roblox strikes deal with DistroKid – but indie artists won’t be paid any money from itRoblox revenues are forecast to hit $3.5bn across the course of this year
Source

McDSP Live Pack II bundle goes native A new version of the Live Pack II bundle has arrived, offering support for Waves and Fourier Audio's VST3 host systems as well as all major DAWs.

5 impactful sound design tips from Mad Keys
Veteran producer and instrumentalist Mad Keys shares five essential sound design tips that inspire his creativity.

Cheap DIY Button Pad Uses Neat Punchcard TrickA StreamDeck is effectively a really cool box full of colorful buttons that activate various things on your PC. They’re fun and cool but they’re also something you can build yourself if you’re so inclined. [Jason] did just that for his sim racing setup, and he included some nifty old-school tech as well.
An ESP32 is at the core of the build, listening to button presses and communicating with the PC. However, the build doesn’t actually use regular buttons. Instead, it uses infrared sensors wired up in a matrix. This was an intentional choice, because [Jason] wanted the device to be reconfigurable with different paper card overlays. There are ways to do this with regular buttons too, but it works particularly well with the infrared technique. Plus, each button also gets a Neopixel allowing its color to be changed to suit different button maps.
What’s really neat is that the button maps change instantly when a different overlay card is inserted. [Jason] achieved this with an extra row of infrared sensors to detect punched holes in the bottom of the overlay cards.
Once upon a time, even building your own keyboard was an uphill battle. Today, it’s easier than ever to whip up fun and unique interface devices that suit your own exact needs. That’s a good thing! Video after the break.

UnitedMasters launches new $20-a-year subscription tier that allows artists to keep 100% of royaltiesOnce again, the indie artist services and distribution platform is bringing down the cost of doing business for artists
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Metro Boomin Continues ‘Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes' Grant ProgramLast night, GRAMMY®-nominated, diamond-certified producer and global superstar Metro Boomin descended on Atlanta for the 6th stop of his highly anticipated ‘We Trust You’ tour with Future at the State Farm Center. Metro and Future performed a collection of their top hits, including “Like That” and “Type Shit” from their #1 Billboard 200 album We Don't Trust You, which holds the #1 spot on the Apple Music charts in over 80 countries and was also the most streamed album in a single day of 2024. 

Also, making its 6th tour stop was Metro Boomin's Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes grant-giving tour program, a national, multi-city initiative providing $20,000 in grants and show tickets to selected single mother non-profit organizations in each market of the ‘We Trust You’ tour. 

The first recipient of the night was the Atlanta Mission, an Atlanta-based organization and registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of those experiencing homelessness through customized services offering a path forward amidst challenging circumstances. Followed by the second grant recipient Solomon’s Temple, a holistic emergency and transitional shelter for homeless women and their children, driven by a mission to treat the root causes of homelessness in Atlanta.

Both organizations were gifted $20K from Metro to help further the work for their important causes as he takes the 'Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes' tour grant program to all 21 markets of his national, multi-city 'We Trust You' tour. Metro officially launched the grant program at the first tour stops in Kansas City and St. Paul. Metro initially launched his ‘Single Moms Are Superheroes’ initiative in 2017, hosting annual give-back activations. In December of 2023, he partnered with St. Louis-based non-profit organization RUNG for Women and presenting sponsor Amazon Access to launch his grant-giving program in honor of his late mother, Leslie Joanne.The post Metro Boomin Continues ‘Leslie Joanne Single Moms Are Superheroes' Grant Program first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Stemfie, The 3D-Printable Construction SetConstruction kit toys are cited by many adults as sparking great creativity and engineering talent in their youth. LEGO, Meccano, K’NEX, Lincoln Logs—these are all great commercial options. But what about printing your very own construction kit at home? Meet Stemfie.
Fundamentally, Stemfie isn’t that different from any other construction kit you might have seen before. It has various beams and flat plates that are full of holes so they can be assembled together in various ways. It also uses bolts, spacers, and small plastic nuts that can be tightened using a special hand tool. Think of a mixture between LEGO Technic and Meccano and that will get you in the ballpark. It includes neat motion components too, including gears, wheels, and even a large flat spring!
What can you build with it? Well, as every construction kit toy says, you’re only limited by your imagination! However, if your imagination is especially small, you can just use the Stemfie 3D YouTube channel for inspiration. It features everything from a ping pong ball catapult to a rubber-band driven car. Plus, since it’s all 3D printed, you can simply scale up the parts and build even bigger designs. Like a giant catapult that can hurl entire water jugs. Fun!
We’ve seen other projects in this vein before. One of our favorites is [Ivan Miranda]’s giant 3D printed assembly kit that he uses to build big monster toys.

Is Houghton the UK’s best underground dance festival?Against the odds, Houghton has become a gem in the UK festival calendar. After attending its fifth edition from 8 – 11 August, it’s easy to see why Norfolk’s non-stop woodland rave, which runs from 5 pm Thursday to 3 am the following Monday, is so beloved by the UK underground scene.
Arguably, the many challenges that curator Craig Richards and festival producers Gottwood have faced along the way — Houghton 2019 was cancelled on opening morning due to a storm and the following two were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic; even an “unwell” Quarry stage at the 2024 festival can’t go ahead due to flooding — are now a distant memory.
Rather than being defeated, however, the team have triumphantly powered through to create an event that really is in a league of its own. What makes Houghton so special, though? In a nutshell, it’s a combination of several things: the setting, sound quality, visual design, staging, programming and crowd.
[Full disclosure: Houghton invited MusicTech to the festival with a free guest pass. Our writer paid for travel, accommodation and other expenses; no other fees were involved.]
Credit: JakeDavis/@jakephilipdavis/@khromacollective
Set around a huge tranquil lake within the expansive grounds of Houghton Hall — a Palladian-style mansion built in the 1720s for Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole — you’ll struggle to find a more naturally stunning festival location in the UK. With the majority of stages nestled between towering trees festooned with lights that pulse to the music, discovery is a key focus at Houghton; something remarkable, and often jaw-dropping, awaits around every corner.
Among the standouts are woodcarver’s dream The Armadillo which, shaped like its namesake, is illusionary and entirely unique, and 24-hour stage Terminus where, deep into the forest, the DJ arriving behind the decks remains a mystery. Then there’s The Pavilion which, teetering on the water’s edge, hosts marathon sets from huge names like vinyl crate-digger Tini and Ricardo Villalobos. Contrastly, Houghton also boasts many intimate spots, like Trevino’s pop-up record store, and Giant Steps’ igloo-shaped dome which, furnished with fake plants and stacked speakers, becomes packed for a tiny-capacity set from Hunee.
Unlike some festivals where audio quality can be shoddy and bleed between stages, here there’s much consideration to ensure that’s not the case. With the distance measured perfectly, there is no room for poor sound at Houghton; instead, sound systems are impressively strong yet crisp wherever you are.
Credit: Daisy Denham / Khroma Collective
This ties in with the audio-visual aspect of the festival; the vast majority of stages have large screens behind the performance space showing Houghton’s own visuals, meaning there is always plenty to keep the eye’s attention as well as the ears. The most impressive are D&B Audiotechnik’s dedicated A/V farm shed-club Warehouse, and Tantrum, where the screen behind the DJ decks looks as though it’s been split into three rows of retro-televisions.
The expertly -curated programming — albeit niche — is top-tier across the entire weekend. While the majority of UK dance festivals tend to focus on big-name DJs, Houghton deviates. Alongside sets from top selectors like Ben UFO, SHERELLE, Saoirse and Shanti Celeste, as well as a healthy amount of back-to-backs (Call Super B2B Palms Trax is particularly fun), the programme is full of live shows from cult favourites who scarcely perform in the country, let alone the countryside, including Radioactive Man, Wajatta, African Head Charge, Sansibar, Burnt Friedman and a special collaboration between Object Blue and Natalia Podgórska.
The weekend’s runaway highlight, though, is a rare performance from constantly-beaming Japanese electronic artist and video game composer Soichi Terada, who plays his Korg Kaossilator up high for all to see. Performing on the Darren Smart Memorial stage — an industrialist shipping container with royal red curtains flanking the tech set-up — the Ape Escape soundtracker gets the Houghton crowd really moving. From waving their arms in the air as one to joining in with a synchronised dance routine and then pogo-ing on the spot, the audience interaction at his show proves that Houghtoners — a London-centric bunch who varyingly sport Von Dutch and wave BRAT hand fans, are dressed as Star Wars characters (lightsabers included), or barristers in wigs — are perhaps slightly less edgy than you’d imagine. Hell, there’s even a punter carrying a huge mop around. It’s a sight to behold, and perhaps not one you’d expect at this kind of festival, but with flashing neon strobes and a stunning sunset to boot, the joy is unparalleled.
Credit: Jake Davis / Khroma Collective
There’s plenty to enjoy away from the music too: where else would you be able to board a train (if you manage to get a ticket) and tour a sculpture garden full of Anthony Gormley statues (many of which are heads sticking out of the ground)? Alongside art, well-being is an equally prominent focus of Houghton – party hard, but look after yourself.
With a large relaxation tent offering reggae yoga, sound baths and breathwork meditations, The Orchard is a relaxed retreat area designed for escaping the noise from elsewhere. Fittingly, the Pinters stage gives space for festival-goers to relax on deckchairs, legs outstretched on wooden mushroom stalls, while in conversation interviews take place and the likes of London-based rapper, DJ and producer James Messiah share thought-provoking poems.
Suffice it to say, we had a blast at Houghton. With the vast majority of festivals now dominated by corporate sponsorship, as well as copycat line-ups and poor sound quality, Houghton offers a singular yet sustainable vision of the future. For all its high-tech innovativeness, though, there’s a charmingly DIY spirit that runs through it all; if the UK music industry had its own Olympics, Houghton would undoubtedly score golds across the board.
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