Using a Framework Mainboard for a Custom Gaming HandheldThe nearly final prototype case for the handheld Framework-based gaming system. (Credit: TommyB, YouTube)
Building your own handheld gaming console has been a popular project for many years, but recently it has become significantly easier to get a lot of power into a small package. Like many others, [TommyB] made his own Raspberry Pi SBC-based handheld in the past, which results in a rather bulky and underpowered package. A more performant solution would be to stuff laptop guts into a handheld case, but until Framework came onto the scene this wasn’t easy and would get you a sloppy one-off solution. With [TommyB]’s current handheld project he uses a standard Framework laptop mainboard, along with the official battery to get a very capable gaming system.
Getting the ergonomics and fit for the components just right took many tries, but eventually a prototype shell was designed that fits the Framework mainboard, the battery, twin Framework speakers, an 8″ LCD panel from Waveshare (connected via USB-C to HDMI) and mechanical switches for the buttons. These switches connect to an RP2040-based board that runs the GP2040-CE firmware, allowing the operating system to detect it as an XBox controller. Although still far from finished, it shows just how beneficial standard laptop parts are, with a massive gap in the market where Framework could make its own handheld shell available. We’re looking forward to [TommyB] demonstrating the finished version of his Framework handheld, and the inevitable upgrade from the 11th-gen Intel mainboard to one of the sparkling new mainboards with even better specs.
Thanks to [Keith Olson] for the tip.

Proper Routing Makes for Many Happy Return PathsHere’s a question for you: when your PCB has a ground plane layer, where do return signals flow? It seems like a trick question, but as [Kristof Mulier] explains, there’s more to return path routing than just doing a copper pour and calling it a day.
Like so many other things in life, the answer to the above question is “it depends,” and as [Kristof] ably demonstrates in this concise article, the return path for a signal largely depends on its frequency. He begins by explaining current loop areas and how they factor into the tendency for a circuit to both emit and be susceptible to electromagnetic noise. The bigger the loop area, the worse things can get from a noise perspective. At low frequencies, return signals will tend to take the shortest possible path, which can result in large current loop areas if you’re not careful. At higher frequencies, though, signals will tend to follow the path of minimal energy instead, which generally ends up being similar to the signal trace, even if it has a huge ground plane to flow through.
Since high-frequency signals naturally follow a path through the ground plane that minimizes the current loop, that means the problem takes care of itself, right? It would, except that we have a habit of putting all kinds of gaps in the way, from ground plane vias to isolation slots. [Kristof] argues that this can result in return paths that wiggle around these features, increasing the current loop area to the point where problems creep in. His solution? Route all your signal return paths. Even if you know that the return traces are going to get incorporated into a pour, the act of intentionally routing them will help minimize the current loop area. It’s brilliantly counterintuitive.
This is the first time we’ve seen the topic of high-frequency return paths tackled. This succinct demonstration shows exactly how return path obstructions can cause unexpected results.
Thanks to [Marius Heier] for the tip.

Global recorded music revenues grew 9.8% YoY to $35.1bn in 2023, says MIDiA ResearchMIDiA estimates that streaming revenues reached $21.9bn in 2023
Source

Check out VEMIA’s latest auction VEMIA’s latest vintage gear auction is on the horizon, and there’s already plenty of desirable gear set to go up for sale.

Shigeichi Negishi, The Godfather of Karaoke, at 100After a century as the life and soul of the party, the inventor of karaoke, Shigeichi Negishi, has passed away at the age of 100.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal‘s Matt Alt, Negishi’s daughter, Atsumi Takano, reveals that her father suffered a fall on 26 January. He died of natural causes shortly after.
Negishi invented the first-ever karaoke machine in 1967. According to the Wall Street Journal, his original invention started as somewhat of a joke; Negishi loved to sing, so when a colleague joked that he had an awful voice, he started daydreaming about how he might sound with a backing track.
His idea was simple: to create a machine that would play instrumental tapes. It didn’t matter if Negishi had a ‘bad’ voice – he made it his mission to create a machine that would allow him to sing his heart out over a backing track like a real popstar.
The 1967 Sparko Box was the initial karaoke machine prototype. Negishi ran a consumer electronic company, which allowed him access to a speaker, microphone, and tape deck. As Negishi revealed to online publication Kotaku, Negishi tested out the prototype with an instrumental version of Yoshio Kodama’s Mujo no Yume, before heading home and hosting the world’s first karaoke party in his kitchen.
However, Negishi never patented the design. Negishi and his partner believed it would the “cost and headache wasn’t worth it”, Alt wrote for Kotaku. At the time it would have been “extremely expensive and time-consuming to obtain a patent” – not to mention it required instrumental tracks to run, which would each require unique usage rights.

Farewell to another legend: Shigeichi Negishi, inventor of karaoke, has died age 100. By automating the sing-along, he earned the enmity of performers who saw his machine as a threat to their jobs. It's an eerie precursor of the debate surrounding AI's impact on artists today. pic.twitter.com/ZOpLdSisb2
— Matt Alt (@Matt_Alt) March 14, 2024

While Matt Alt was entrusted to relay the news on the Wall Street Journal, Alt also took to X to reflect on Negishi’s passing, stating: “Farewell to another legend: Shigeichi Negishi, inventor of karaoke, has died age 100. By automating the sing-along, he earned the enmity of performers who saw his machine as a threat to their jobs. It’s an eerie precursor of the debate surrounding AI’s impact on artists today.”
Alt also shared a lovely behind the scenes snap of him and Negishi. The photo is from 2018 when Alt was interviewing Negishi for his book, Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World.
Alt reports that Negishi’s family still owns the original – and still functioning – Sparko Box.

What timing! Here's a behind the scenes photo of us from late 2018. pic.twitter.com/C6Nezh3iOW
— Matt Alt (@Matt_Alt) March 14, 2024

The post Shigeichi Negishi, The Godfather of Karaoke, at 100 appeared first on MusicTech.

Artist’s Pandora SoundExchange payments now go directly to UMGSince SoundExchange’s inception in 2003, 50% of song royalties from Pandora have been paid directly to artists after the digital PRO takes a 4.6% administrative fee. But artists whose records. Continue reading
The post Artist’s Pandora SoundExchange payments now go directly to UMG appeared first on Hypebot.

7 Great Ways to Build Buzz about New MusicGet fans excited and even eager to listen to new music with these seven great tips.....
The post 7 Great Ways to Build Buzz about New Music appeared first on Hypebot.

How to release and promote your first singleReleasing a single can be a daunting task for any artist. Whether an independent musician or a signed artist, you should take key steps to ensure your single is successful.....
The post How to release and promote your first single appeared first on Hypebot.

Simple de-essing with Black Salt Audio DSR Black Salt Audio's simple de-esser promises to offer enough power to tackle sibilance without negatively affecting the overall frequency balance of the vocal.

CMajor Releases FREE Pro-54 Browser-Based Synthesizer
Developer CMajor has released the Pro-54 Synthesizer, a faithful port of the classic Native Instruments Pro-53 synth. Surprisingly, it’s not a VST plugin. Instead of your DAW, it operates in a browser window. I didn’t get into music production during the early days of VST plugins and music software. However, I have a deep respect [...]
View post: CMajor Releases FREE Pro-54 Browser-Based Synthesizer

Global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023Growth is back! After a slower 2022, global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023 to reach $35.1 billion, compared to 7.1% in 2022, which means that the market is now more than double (124.5%) the size it was in 2015. 2023 was the year in which the industry settled back into a positive growth trajectory after the volatility of the pandemic and post-pandemic years. But the numbers also point to a market that is embarking on a major period of change.

The recorded music market is becoming more diversified, and although streaming is still the centre piece, its role is lessening. Streaming revenues hit $21.9 billion in 2023, up a relatively modest 9.6% on 2022. For the first time ever, streaming grew slower than the total market, to the extent that its share of total revenues actually fell (to 62.5%). Interestingly, over the same period, the five publicly traded DSPs grew revenue by 15.9%, and Warner and Sony collectively grew music publishing streaming revenue by 18.4%. Value is beginning to shift across the streaming value chain.

In other years, the recorded music streaming slowdown would have been cause for concern, but not in 2023. This is because other formats picked up the slack. Physical, after a decline in 2022, was up again (4.6%) in 2023, as was ‘other’. Interestingly, physical is emerging as the industry kingmaker: so far in this decade, over each of the two years that physical revenues grew, industry revenue growth was strong, and in the two years physical fell, industry growth was slow. Physical is the difference between good and great.

The growth in physical revenues, however, is more than just a revenue story, it reflects an industry strategic shift. Anticipating the streaming slowdown, labels and artists alike have been looking for diversification and new growth drivers, with superfans emerging as the central target. The strong growth of physical and ‘other’ revenues in 2023 are the first fruits of the new superfan focus.

The most compelling evidence for the superfan shift, is expanded rights. A subcategory of ‘other’, expanded rights reflect labels’ revenue from sources such as merchandise and branding. In short: superfan formats. Traditionally, expanded rights are not tracked as part of recorded music industry revenues, but last year, because of the industry’s growing fandom focus, we decided we had to include them, even if other entities still do not. 2023 underscored the importance of that decision. Expanded rights revenue grew by 15.5% to hit $3.5 billion – 10% of all global revenues. Expanded rights are one of the main building blocks of tomorrow’s music business.

Change was not constrained to formats. Market shares took some interesting turns, too. Non-major labels had a great year (and we’re calling them that, rather than independents, because a lot of the bigger ‘independents’, such as HYBE, have little in common with what people think of as traditional indies). Non-majors grew revenues by 13.0% in 2023, compared to 9% for the major labels. This meant that non-major label market share was up for the fourth consecutive year, reaching 31.5%. (Though, note this is measured on a distribution basis, not an ownership basis. Therefore, independent revenue that is distributed via a major record label or a wholly owned major label distributor will appear in the revenue of the respective major record label. So ‘actual’ non-major share is higher).

Non-major labels had a great year in expanded rights, outgrowing the market, in large part thanks to Korean labels, which accounted for nearly 70% of non-major label expanded rights revenue.

In stark contrast, 2023 was a tough year for artists direct (i.e., self-releasing artists), with various streaming market developments seeing them grow streaming revenue and their number of streams much more slowly than in previous years. 2023 was the first year artists direct lost market share. Streaming revenue grew just 3.9% in 2023, compared to 17.9% in 2022 and 35.5% in 2021. The result was a 0.4 point decline in streaming market share. Despite a difficult 2023, artists direct revenue in 2023 was 57.7% higher than in 2020, though the impending streaming royalty changes will likely see growth slow further.

On the majors’ side of the equation, Universal remained the largest label group, with its $10.0 billion representing 28.3% market share, but for the first time since 2020, Sony was the fastest growing major, increasing revenues by 11.6%, growing market share 0.3 points to 20.3%

Concluding thoughts

2023 was a very positive year, and it may prove to be the one we look back upon as ‘when things started to change’. Streaming growth slowed, on the recordings side of the equation, at least; monetising fandom became a serious part of the industry; non-majors locked into long-term market share growth; and self-releasing artists started to see a clear divergence between what they streamed and what they earned. 

The industry is beginning to bifurcate between the traditional, streaming-focused business, and a new one in which fandom and creation will take centre stage. Welcome to the first year of tomorrow’s music business.

MIDiA clients read the full report here

Cizzle VCO module from ALM/Busy Circuits The latest ALM/Busy Circuits module delivers a pair of oscillators that aim to bring the sound of Casio’s CZ-series synthesizers into the modular world.

VC Arjun Sethi talks a big game about selling his company-picking strategies to other investors; he says they’re buying itArjun Sethi speaks with the confidence of someone who knows more than other people, or else who knows that sounding highly confident can shape perception. Either way, when he tells me over Zoom that “in five years, I’ll have 50% of the world’s private data” at his fingertips, and that it will be “impossible to […]
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RP2040 Boot Loader is a Worm[Hunter Adams] has written a secondary bootloader for the RP2040 that uses an IR link and can be extended to behave like a polite worm virus. This allows the easy updating of a large cluster of co-located RP2040-based controllers. This could be handy in applications like swarm robotics or virtual cattle fencing. The project he demonstrates in the two videos ( below the break ) uses a pair of IR transmitters/receivers. But he purposely wrote the boot loader to be independent of the serial link, which could be infrared, radio, audio, or just wires.
Not only did [Hunter] make a boot loader, but he documented the entire boot process of the RP2040 chip. Whether or not you need a secondary bootloader, this is an excellent resource for understanding how the RP2040 responds to power cycling and resets. The boot loader code is available at his GitHub repository.
You may recall that [Hunter] is the lecturer of Cornell University’s Designing with Microcontroller classes, whom we’ve mentioned before. We’ve also covered some of his students’ projects as well, like these air drums and this CoreXY pen plotter.

Simple NTP Clock Uses Custom RGB 7-Segment DisplaysA great majority of hackers build a clock at some point. It’s a great way to get familiar with electronics and (often) microcontrollers, and you get to express some creativity along the way. Plus, you get something useful when you’re done! [Tadas Ustinavičius] recently trod this well-worn path and built a neat little NTP clock of their own.
The build uses an ESP 12F as the core of the operation. It’s charged with querying an NTP time server via its WiFi connection in order to maintain accurate timekeeping around the clock. For display, it drives a series of custom 7-segment displays that [Tadas] built using 3D-printed housings. They use WS2812B addressable LEDs and thus can display a rainbow of colors.
For initial configuration, the phone creates its own WiFi hotspot with a web interface for changing settings. Once configured, it connects to the Internet over WiFi to query an NTP server at regular intervals.
It’s a simple build that does a simple job well. Projects like these can be very valuable, as they teach you all kinds of useful skills. If you’ve been working on your own clock design, don’t hesitate to let us know. You can use a microcontroller, relays, or even a ball.