ElevenLabs’ AI voice generation ‘very likely’ used in a Russian influence operationGenerative AI has a plethora of well-documented misuses, and now, it appears to be cropping up in state influence operations.
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Chainlink integrates with Coinbase tokenized assets platformChainlink will enable verifiable data transmission and crosschain interoperability for Coinbase’s Project Diamond.

3D Printer Eliminates the Printer BedAnyone who has operated a 3D printer before, especially those new to using these specialized tools, has likely had problems with the print bed. The bed might not always be the correct temperature leading to problems with adhesion of the print, it could be uncalibrated or dirty or cause any number of other issues that ultimately lead to a failed print. Most of us work these problems out through trial and error and eventually get settled in, but this novel 3D printer instead removes the bed itself and prints on whatever surface happens to be nearby.
The printer is the product of [Daniel Campos Zamora] at the University of Washington and is called MobiPrint. It uses a fairly standard, commercially available 3D printer head but attaches it to the base of a modified robotic vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner is modified with open-source software that allows it to map its environment without the need for the manufacturer’s cloud services, which in turn lets the 3D printer print on whichever surface the robot finds in its travels. The goal isn’t necessarily to eliminate printer bed problems; a robot with this capability could have many more applications in the realm of accessibility or even, in the future, printing while on the move.
There were a few surprising discoveries along the way which were mentioned in an IEEE Spectrum article, as [Campos Zamora] found while testing various household surfaces that carpet is surprisingly good at adhering to these prints and almost can’t be unstuck from the prints made on it. There are a few other 3D printers out there that we’ve seen that are incredibly mobile, but none that allow interacting with their environment in quite this way.

JMG Sound introduce DarkFire plug-in DarkFire offers a more flexible approach than most saturation plug-ins, providing users with some tone-shaping controls that affect only the generated harmonics.

The Blues Foundation Salutes The 2025 Keeping The Blues Alive Recipients During International Blues Challenge WeekThe Blues Foundation launches its 40th year by saluting the 2025 Keeping The Blues Alive (KBA) honorees during International Blues Challenge week, Tuesday, January 7 through Saturday, January 11. This year's KBA recipients are The Rhythm Room; Blues Blast Magazine; Charlie Hussey; Big Ed's Blues Jam; Little Steven's Blues School; Cincy Blues Society; Jefferson Street Sound Museum; and Ryszard Gloger.Keeping The Blues Alive Awards are chosen annually by a select panel of blues professionals, honoring those who have played crucial roles in advancing the art and commerce of blues. This year’s esteemed honorees will be recognized for their achievements at the Keeping the Blues Alive Awards brunch, taking place Friday, January 10 at 10:30AM, at the Hyatt Centric Hotel on Beale Street. Tickets are $80. and available on the blues.org website.The KBA ceremony is part of the Blues Foundation’s 40th Annual International Blues Challenge. This year's IBC Week kicks off Tuesday, January 7, 2025, with International Showcase performances on historic Beale Street, concluding with the Finals at Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre Saturday, January 11. Over a thousand musicians will converge in Memphis from across the globe, competing with their blues peers for the honor of winning — along with prizes and bookings — the International Blues Challenge, the world’s largest and most renowned blues music competition. Showcases, jams, panels, workshops, and master classes take place throughout Beale Street; spontaneous live music jams continue into the early-morning hours after the IBC performances conclude each evening, including unannounced appearances by well-known artists.This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the Rhythm Room, a cornerstone of the blues community in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the past three decades, the Rhythm Room has hosted thousands of performances by blues artists and has become a vital hub for the genre. In a city as large as Phoenix—the fifth largest in the U.S.—it remains the only venue offering weekly blues performances, making its role indispensable to the local music scene.Owned and operated by blues musician and advocate Bob Corritore, the Rhythm Room has faced numerous challenges in its mission to keep blues music alive in the Southwest. At a time when many blues venues are shutting their doors, Bob’s dedication and personal sacrifices have ensured that the Rhythm Room remains a sanctuary for blues fans and musicians alike.The Rhythm Room’s importance extends beyond its role as a live music venue. It attracts blues enthusiasts from across the country, providing local audiences with opportunities to see national and international blues acts, not just local talent. Moreover, the venue offers a unique benefit to musicians: many performers who play at the Rhythm Room are invited to stay an extra day to record in Bob Corritore’s world-class recording studio. These sessions often result in music that is distributed at no cost to the artists, providing additional income and exposure. This model of support is unparalleled among music venues globally.In addition to its contributions to blues music, the Rhythm Room is a steadfast supporter of the broader blues community. It has hosted the Phoenix Blues Society’s International Blues Challenge competition and has been a longtime advocate for the Blues Foundation’s HART Fund, organizing an annual benefit where all proceeds from ticket sales go directly to the fund’s mission of helping blues musicians in need.While the Rhythm Room welcomes artists across various genres, its unwavering commitment to blues music is what sets it apart. Few venues can claim such a strong and enduring dedication to preserving and promoting the blues. Through its exceptional efforts, the Rhythm Room has solidified its place as an essential institution for the blues community and beyond.The post The Blues Foundation Salutes The 2025 Keeping The Blues Alive Recipients During International Blues Challenge Week first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Stingray’s karaoke app is becoming a common feature in electric cars. Now the company has secured an expanded $352m credit facilityMontreal-headquartered music, media, and tech company is involved in numerous businesses, from advertising to streaming and conventional broadcast TV and radio
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100+ indie distributors in 20 countries have now signed up for The MLC’s data portal for unmatched royaltiesThe MLC says "millions of dollars" in royalties have been paid out thanks to its portal for indie distributors
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Trying to Shatter the World’s Fastest RC Car RecordThe RC car is controlled via an FPV setup. (Credit: Luke Bell, YouTube)
Fresh off a world record for the fastest quadcopter, [Luke Bell] decided to try his luck with something more own to earth, namely trying to tackle the world record for the fastest RC car, with the current record set at 360 km/h. Starting off with a first attempt in what will be a video series, the obvious approach seems to be to get some really powerful electric motors, a streamlined body and a disused runway to send said RC car hurtling along towards that golden medal. Of course, if it was that easy, others would have done it already.
With the quadcopter record of nearly 500 km/h which we covered previously, the challenge was in a way easier, as other than air resistance and accidental lithobraking there are no worries about ground texture, tire wear or boundary layer aerodynamics. In comparison, the RC car has to contend with all of these, with the runway’s rough tarmac surface being just one of the issues, along with making sure that the wheels would hold up to the required rotation speed. For the wheels you got options like foam, hard rubber, etc., all with their own advantages and disadvantages, mostly in terms of grip and reliability.
So far speeds of over 200 km/h are easy enough to do, with foam wheels being the preferred option. To push the RC car to 300 km/h and beyond, a lot more experimentation and trial runs will have to be performed. Pending are changes to the aerodynamic design with features also commonly seen in F1 race cars such as downforce spoilers, diffusers and other tricks which should prevent the RC car from (briefly) becoming an RC airplane.

Layoffs at CD Baby as DIY & Indie Music Distributors struggleThere are layoffs at CD Baby, one of the largest DIY and independent music distribution services.
The post Layoffs at CD Baby as DIY & Indie Music Distributors struggle appeared first on Hypebot.

Singer-Songwriter Cape May Conference returnsAfter a five-year hiatus, the Singer-Songwriter Cape May conference returns on March 28-29, 2025. Singer-Songwriter Cape May Conference returns Helmed by music industry veteran John Harris, the Singer-Songwriter Cape May conference will. Continue reading
The post Singer-Songwriter Cape May Conference returns appeared first on Hypebot.

Two notes’ Genome goes standalone With the release of Genome v1.6, the suite is now available as a standalone application as well as a DAW plug-in, and has also gained two new TSM-Ai Amplifiers and 10 additional DynIR cabinet models.

Christmas Music Dominates Streaming: The Ever-Expanding Holiday SeasonLearn how Christmas music dominates streaming in the ever-expanding holiday season as its influence on pop culture grows.
The post Christmas Music Dominates Streaming: The Ever-Expanding Holiday Season appeared first on Hypebot.

Wire Grind Audio releases FREE Rasp Distortion Plugin for Windows
Over the weekend Wire Grind Audio dropped Rasp, a Windows-exclusive plugin that can add grit, noise and a raspy sound to tracks. Now you might be thinking that sounds a whole lot like distortion, but the dev explains that while Rasp sounds similar to distortion, it is not a conventional distortion effect.  Wire Grind Audio’s [...]
View post: Wire Grind Audio releases FREE Rasp Distortion Plugin for Windows

Melda release Analog Empire: Pads & Strings The latest add-on for Melda Productions’ MSoundFactory software instrument platform has arrived, delivering a collection of 32 pad and string sounds.

UK’s “largest outdoor spatial audio festival” will debut in London next year: “The process has been a physics-bending exercise”London’s Crystal Palace Park is set to host the “largest outdoor spatial audio festival” the UK has ever seen next summer.
Presented by Polygon Live, in partnership with Full Fat 360 and OpenLab, Polygon Live LDN will take place from 2-4 May 2025. The event will also be the first to use Polygon Productions’ dual-dome design.

READ MORE: Watch French DJ Michael Canitrot close out the Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening ceremony with a mighty audio-visual performance

Every dome boasts a 12.1.4 immersive system, with 12 L-Acoustics speaker arrays surrounding the audience, one giant festival-grade sub-wall for “earth-shaking bass”, and four overhead line arrays “raining crystal-clear sound” from above.
The total count amounts to a little less than 100 speakers in over 25 unique positions – or “five times the speakers a stage of similar size would use” according to Polygon.
Among the acts confirmed to appear are Jon Hopkins, Photay, Gold Panda, Arooj Aftab, Nitin Sawhney, Tinariwen and electronic musician slash AV producer Halina Rice, who released her third album in October. Polygon is also working with a team of specialist lighting engineers to create a custom-designed lattice of lights that will move in sync with the artists’ music.
“We’re doubling up on everything so that we can offer outdoor spatial audio to a larger audience,” says David Lopez de Arenosa, Polygon’s technical director. “The process has been a physics-bending exercise, but we have created a solution that neither compromises the quality of the sound, nor the intimate spaces that Polygon is known for.”
Last month, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) revealed a troubling trend in the UK festival scene: 72 festivals have been cancelled or postponed in 2024 – twice the amount compared to the previous year.
This alarming statistic is part of a broader decline, with a total of 204 events disappearing from the British festival calendar since 2019, exacerbated by challenges such as rising costs and logistical hurdles faced by independent organisers.
Tickets to Polygon Live LDN are available at Polygon Productions.
The post UK’s “largest outdoor spatial audio festival” will debut in London next year: “The process has been a physics-bending exercise” appeared first on MusicTech.