Gary Kelly and Jason Kawejsza promoted to key roles at Interscope Capitol Labels GroupKelly appointed Chief Revenue Officer and General Manager; Kawejsza named Executive Vice President, Head of Business & Legal Affairs
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Why Sacred Society use spatial audio to enhance relaxing ambient musicFor thousands of years, people have used sound and music as methods for healing. Sacred Society Music Group is putting those methods in the hands (and ears) of the listener using the power of spatial audio, creating sonic landscapes with ambient music that induces visceral experiences.

READ MORE: Audient’s ORIA is the Atmos interface that engineers have been waiting for

Sacred Society Music Group (SSMG) is the record label arm of the Sacred Society Wellness Center, based in Denver, Colorado. Every song SSMG releases is mastered in 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos with one thought in mind: “We’re completely surrounding you,” says Bradley Roulier, one of the co-founders of SSMG, also a co-founder of Beatport and a member of the dance music project Manufactured Superstars.
Members of the Sacred Society Music Group
Studies have shown that surrounding oneself in sound baths benefits emotional and physiological health. Sacred Society Wellness Center hosts sound baths in a fully equipped Atmos room, but SSMG also streams its music on Atmos-compatible platforms like Amazon Music, Tidal, and Apple Music.
By making these Atmos mixes readily available, SSMG is enabling people to listen to their music for self-healing, and in 2024, more and more people are looking for ways to heal themselves.
In February of this year, “#selfhealers” on Instagram had 955,000 posts. In June 2020, it had 160,000. Furthermore, the self-improvement market in the US was worth $9.9 billion in 2019 and was expected to reach $13.2 billion by 2023, according to a Gitnux study from last year.
“When we were 22 years old, we weren’t depressed,” says Roulier, who was throwing raves as early as the late 90s. “There wasn’t this isolation that people have [today]. You’re going to spend a lot of time by yourself, so what can you do when you’re by yourself to help yourself? You can have all these people around you to give you support, but at the end of the day, it’s you. You’re the one that has to get yourself out of bed every morning. Society is making it really okay to do whatever it is to make you feel better.”
SSMG is equipping people to feel better through three playlists: FOCUS, ENJOY, and REST. Each playlist is curated for eight hours of the day.
Adelio Lombardi in the Kali Audio Atmos studio
FOCUS is for working, studying, or any activity that requires consistent attention. The playlist includes tracks like Blissful Afternoon that employ lighter beats and smoother motions around the Atmos soundscape. It’s active enough to maintain the listener’s attention, but not so intricate as to be distracting.
ENJOY is for relaxing after work. Ancient Chant is in the ENJOY playlist because it demonstrates the full power of Atmos. Drums, vocals, and dozens of other different sounds shift through the 12 speakers, placing the listener inside a cocoon of chillout music as they dance, cook, or do anything that lights them up.
Finally, REST, the sleep playlist, is almost entirely ambient. Many of the tracks like “Dream Space” have no drums at all. Instead, they submerge the listeners in fluid frequencies. No one sound captures any attention. It’s pleasant music to help clear thoughts from the mind. Perfect for winding down at the end of the day.
Roulier’s had trouble sleeping for years, and he listens to the REST playlist in Atmos every night as part of his routine before bed.
“Sleep is the most important aspect of our lives. When you rest is when you heal and recover. If you’re not rested, it’s really hard to have a good day,” Roulier says.
Adelio Lombardi in the Side 3 studio
“I’m 50 years old. When I was 45–46, I started having these issues with sleeping and anxiety. I turned to [ambient music] as my medicine, and it worked. It made me a believer,” says Adelio Lombardi, another co-founder of SSMG, founder of Side 3 Entertainment, and owner of Side 3 Studios.
Lombardi and Roulier have known each other for 20 years, and their team masters every SSMG release in Lombardi’s Kali Audio Atmos studio.
This collaboration was sparked about a year ago, while Roulier was working with Barbie Beltran, founder of the Sacred Society Wellness Center, on a spa that would feature immersive music for sound baths and other wellness activities.
That project fell through when Lombardi had just started working in Atmos.
“I was like, ‘Dude, if you want to do it next level, come check this out.’” Lombardi said to Roulier. When Roulier heard music in Lombardi’s studio for the first time, the thought of a rainstorm immediately popped into his mind.
“I have a vision of doing a track of a West Coast storm. You’re on a beach on the West Coast. You can see a thunderstorm coming from miles away. There’s nothing you can do. The storm rolls in, comes in super heavy, and leaves. Kind of a metaphor for life. Storms are going to happen, and we can translate that through our music,” Roulier says.
Adelio Lombardi in the Side 3 studio
Shortly after connecting with Lombardi via the Atmos studio, Roulier brought in Andy Flebe, Head Engineer and Studio Manager at Side 3 Studios, to serve as the lead engineer for SSMG, and Jeziel Quintela, who worked with Roulier on Manufactured Superstars, to be their in-house producer. Quinetela has made 23 of the over 50 tracks SSMG has released.
Quintela starts his SSMG productions in Ableton Live, using popular wavetable synthesizers like Xfer’s Serum. Oftentimes, there is a specific healing intention behind the tracks as well.
For example, Beltran wanted to release a track with a focus on sounds in the frequency range of 20-300Hz. That’s around the fundamental frequency of bees’ wings when they fly, which is reported to help people relax. From there, Quintela picked chords that resonate with the notes produced by that fundamental frequency range as the basis for the track Dance of the Bees.

 
Quintella makes these tracks in stereo, but because they will be mastered in Atmos, he can get creative with other elements like reverb and layering.
“When you create a pad, you can layer more sounds. More pads, more of a lead sound, more of an analogue sound, and from that, you can add texture to it. You can notice the difference in all of the speakers. In stereo, it’s just in two ears. You cannot hear the dynamics in all the sounds and the layers,” Quintela says.
When Quintela passes a track to Flebe for engineering in Atmos, Roulier listens to every speaker in the room individually. He checks what sound is coming from where and provides notes on what sound may need more volume or may need to come from a different angle. After he approves the final master, SSMG releases the track.
Adelio Lombardi in the Side 3 studio
“Pretty much all the time, stuff is coming out of every speaker. Especially in ambient, because ambient by nature doesn’t have drums,” Roulier says. “We’re trying to fill this space around you.”
“You want to maximize the tech, but you don’t want to make it a circus either. Immerse a person, but if it’s a relaxing song, you don’t want to have 90 million things flying around you just because you can,” Lombardi says. “You can have all the tech in the world; if the music sucks it doesn’t matter.”
While Atmos systems aren’t standard tech for consumers yet, they are becoming much more accessible.
For home theaters, a Polk Signa S4 soundbar is $299. Then, for headphones, there are RIG gaming headsets with Atmos capabilities for as little as $29.99. These certainly don’t come close to the 7.1.4 studio at Side 3, nor to the 64-speaker setups Dolby has created before. But they can give you a taste, at least.
However, SSMG ensures every song they release, regardless of format, will provide the desired sonic effect of FOCUS, ENJOY, or REST. In addition to the Atmos mix, Flebe also makes a stereo mix for each song. He does it immediately after the Atmos mix is approved to ensure the ideal sound is still in his head.
Adelio Lombardi in the Side 3 studio
Once the stereo mix is complete, Roulier AB tests the songs on numerous systems. He listens on headphones, laptop speakers, Alexa Studio, and his Sonos Arc system, which mimics Atmos by firing sound at different angles out of its three speakers. So far, Roulier has only taken down two tracks for additional polishing before posting them again.
“I put our song on a YouTube channel, and it still sounded cool,” Lombardi says. “The Atmos file is going to adapt to what you have, and it’s going to give you the best it can deliver you.”
No matter how the track is delivered, SSMG’s core intention is always to make people feel good. They want you to feel like you’re being celebrated at a sacred ceremony 2,000 years ago every time you play one of their songs.
“When you’re listening to this, you’re the most important person in the universe,” Roulier says. “This is all for you.”
Learn more at sacredsocietymusic.com.
The post Why Sacred Society use spatial audio to enhance relaxing ambient music appeared first on MusicTech.

Avid release Pro Tools 2024.3 The first Pro Tools update of 2024 introduces MIDI effects plug-ins, custom live re-renders for the integrated Dolby Atmos Renderer and enhanced integration with Pro Tools Sketch.

You can get a VCA Compressor from Softube totally free for a limited timeSoftube’s VCA Compressor plugin is currently free, and it’s branded as a “meticulous model” of a famous 1970s compressor – seemingly having taken inspiration from the DBX 160 of 1976.
The compressor already forms part of Softube’s Icons: The Compressor Collection, which is priced at €299, and is now available separately at no cost.

READ MORE: Softube Console 1 Channel MK III promises console-like mixing in your DAW

“Quirky and characterful, the legendary hardware we used to model our VCA Compressor is unique and highly acclaimed,” says Softube. “Much of that is owed to its famed hard knee compression curve and the harmonic content it adds in the gain stages.
“We left the grabby, vintage character and the unique attributes – such as RMS level detection and feed-forward gain reduction – intact,” says Softube. “But gave VCA Compressor a slate of modern features for mixing and production. The combination delivers snap and sheen in spades, plus superior Softube sound quality and an enhanced workflow.”
Controls available within this plugin include drive, dry/wet, compression, ratio, attack and release. There’s also a Sidechain section (with a punch switch and dials for filter/external level), and further switches for HF make-up and stereo link.
Check out more in the walkthrough below:

MusicTech rated The Compressor Collection an 8/10 in our review. We noted that the bundle offered well-judged new features which increased the flexibility of the processors, and that their aesthetic made them look just as good as they sound.
However, we also noted that there was no way to monitor the sidechain signal and that the Modern Extended Features of the plugin window were not accessible from all host DAWs.
View more of our choices for the best mastering compressor plugins and software processors.
You can get the free VCA Compressor plugin now via Softube.
The post You can get a VCA Compressor from Softube totally free for a limited time appeared first on MusicTech.

Pandora AMP adds spotlight picks, custom Bios, cover photosPandora does not get the headlines that its streaming competitors do, but with 50 million monthly active users, it would be a mistake not to include Pandora in every music marketing plan.....
The post Pandora AMP adds spotlight picks, custom Bios, cover photos appeared first on Hypebot.

TikTok offers Musicians new ways to make money and grow an audienceTikTok is under fire from Congress, music publishers, and the world's largest music group, but it's battling back on multiple fronts. In addition to asking users to call their Representatives, its trying to keep creators happy by offering them new ways to monetize content and grow on the platform.....
The post TikTok offers Musicians new ways to make money and grow an audience appeared first on Hypebot.

BEWARE: OpenAI Sora text-to-video AI may be the most dangerous threat yet!Attorney Wallace Collins looks at OpenAI's new text-to-video tool and its implications for creators and rightsholders.....
The post BEWARE: OpenAI Sora text-to-video AI may be the most dangerous threat yet! appeared first on Hypebot.

The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me was recorded in a toilet with an SM58The Human League lead singer, songwriter, and co-founder Phil Oakey has reflected on the recording of the band’s 1981 hit song Don’t You Want Me.

READ MORE: Moby breaks down how he made his classic track Extreme Ways

Speaking to WA Today, Oakey reveals that the track’s rather unconventional recording location was chosen due to the superior acoustics it offered over any other parts of the Sheffield studio they were in.
“At one stage, while I was recording with the headphones on, our producer Martin Rushent sent the engineer to scare me by jumping down from above,” the musician recalls.
“Someone kept flushing the toilet behind me as well. Martin had quite a lot of little jokes for the artists and we did record that song in a toilet with quite a cheap microphone, a Shure SM58,” says Oakey. “But I’m not complaining.”
The synth-pop band is set to kick off their Australian tour this week, and the members have shipped out their synths from Sheffield in preparation for it.
“We can’t hire them in because then we’d sound like a cover band,” Oakey says.
Speaking about his love for electronic instruments and the annual Synthfest UK that’s held in Sheffield, he says: “It’s truly fantastic. You just walk into a room where there’s hundreds of bald guys with round glasses making horrible noises. I’ve bought two different voltage-control filters in the last two days alone. You can’t ever get enough of it.”
Elsewhere, Oakey also reflects on the band’s achievements over the years, a feat he attributes to being “incredibly lucky”.
“We’re not musicians. We never trained. We’ve managed to continue as a band by always just feeling lucky about everything we’ve ever done. I have never been the greatest songwriter in this group. I’ve never been the best singer in this group. I’m not a very good frontman or anything, we just do our best and hope that the audience will fill in the rest.”

The post The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me was recorded in a toilet with an SM58 appeared first on MusicTech.

Waves MaxxVolume Is FREE For A Limited Time (Ends Soon!)
Mastering.com and Waves Audio are offering the MaxxVolume plugin as a free download for a limited time. The offer will soon end; however, we don’t know the exact end date. We already covered a similar MaxxVolume deal in September last year. If you missed that opportunity to get MaxxVolume for free or simply want to [...]
View post: Waves MaxxVolume Is FREE For A Limited Time (Ends Soon!)

Best free sample packs for future bass soundsAd feature with BandLab Sounds
In future bass music, there’s no point keeping things subtle. As masters of the dark arts like REZZ, Zeds Dead and WHIPPED CREAM show us, boisterous, ear-grabbing basslines and dramatic, ethereal atmospheres make a successful pairing.

READ MORE: REZZ just wants to keep it simple

Whether you want to cause carnage or transport ravers to an epic space, creating electronic sounds for future bass music can be tough. Introducing a sample into the mix can help inspire you and drive your project forward.
We’ve partnered with BandLab to gather a selection of the best sample packs from the BandLab Sounds platform that suit this ruckus future bass sound. They’re all completely free, instantly downloadable, and royalty-free. There’s a range of sounds on offer, from modern, hard-processed bass riffs, to psychoacoustic textured bass and subs and packs that deliver otherworldly inspiration with ethereal melodies.
Big Room Bass Vol. 1, 2 & 3
Credit: BandLab
Big Room Bass has become so popular among producers that BandLab has gone on to release two more editions. This trio of free sample packs are full to the brim with speaker-rattling bass risers, atmospheric effects, “sizzling basslines”, and loads more.
In each, you’ll find 100 loops that will elevate any project, whether it’s in the style of DnB, dubstep or house.
Download Big Room Bass Vol. 1
Download Big Room Bass Vol. 2
Download Big Room Bass Vol. 3
Textured Bass II
Credit: BandLab Sounds
When it comes to future bass, a track’s distorted, dark bassline tends to be the track’s main character. Pushing melodies to the back, it’s important to let your crushing bass sit front and centre, growling, giving your track a dose of raw attitude.
One way to make your basslines rich is with a textured bassline. This sample pack, Textured Bass II, contains 100 loops of “ripped, modified and manipulated” bass riffs that add another layer to your track.
Download Textured Bass II
Textured Subs
Credit: Textured Subs
You can’t make bass-heavy music, without a strong sub-bass.
This pack, Textured Subs, is sure to rattle ravers’ skulls, featuring 80 loops of “hard-hitting sub-basses processed with psychoacoustic magic”, BandLab says. There are processed 808 bass hits, driving reese basses, analogue basses and loads more on offer.
Download Textured Subs
Dubstep Essentials
Credit: BandLab Sounds
Dubstep has evolved vastly from its beginnings in the London suburb of Croydon. Today, the typically 140 bpm, head-bopping genre has been amplified, compressed, distorted, and able to cause chaos in huge venues — not just grimy basements.
This sample pack, Dubstep Essentials, explores sounds that suit many facets of modern dubstep. You’ll find punchy dubstep beats, dramatic synth leads and arps, strings, pads – all the sounds you need to build up to that bassy drop.
Download Dubstep Essentials
Kawaii Future Bass FX & Kawaii Future Bass Vol. II
Credit: BandLab Sounds
Kawaii future bass is a subgenre of future bass, known for its happy and cute timbre and strong Japanese pop culture influences. It’s all about rising, rising, rising… and then switching up on the drop with a booming bass and a dramatic crash.
These two Kawaii bass-orientated sample packs, Kawaii Future Bass FX and Kawaii Future Bass Vol. II, help deliver those main stage moments, offering “ambient melodies, swooshing downlifters, and impactful sub drops” that tie segments of a track together. There are also some gnarly drum loops.
Download Kawaii Future Bass FX
Download Kawaii Future Bass Vol. II
Future Bass
Credit: BandLab Sounds
The fundamentals of future bass lie in the relationship between the drums and bass. This pack, aptly called Future Bass, is sure to give you the tools to build a strong basis for a future bass track that will get the crowd moving.
The free sample pack focuses on the more upbeat side of bass music. Inspired by the likes of Flume and Marshmello, it features 98 loops, from intense, scene-setting basslines to shuffly hi-hat sequences, intriguing claps and clean percussion.
Download Future Bass
ARIUS: Bass Lab
Credit: BandLab Sounds
When they’re not delivering mindblowing live shows, Australian EDM duo ARIUS are busy helping producers by creating their own awesome free-to-download sample packs. These packs reflect the duo’s own dubstep-led sound, offering destructive low-end sonics and high-end dreamy melodic elements.
This collection, Bass Lab, follows that thumping sound, offering melody loops, dramatic risers, plucks, chords, and one-shot samples of slamming snares and kick drums.
Download ARIUS: Bass Lab
Ambient Downtempo
Credit: BandLab Sounds
Although electronic music can be high-energy, brash and chaotic, at times it’s allowed to be soft, sombre and melancholic. If you’re more inclined to create the latter, you might find inspiration in downtempo, ambient sounds evoking the likes of Photek, Phaeleh or Kelly Lee Owens.
This BandLab sample pack, Ambient Downtempo, features 50 electronic loops that can be layered to produce mellow soundscapes. Even if you’re building up to a big drop, this diverse collection of sounds – synths, pads, bass, drums, voice samples and effects – set the tone instantly.
Download Ambient Downtempo
Jordan Blackmon: Low-Budget Sci-Fi
Credit: Jordan Blackmon
Jordan Blackmon is an American artist who up until recently was the live guitarist for Toro Y Moi. Now, he goes solo, having created a wide-ranging catalogue of music, dipping his toe in funk, soul, or even experimental noise.
This sample pack, Jordan Blackmon: Low-Budget Sci-Fi, has been created using Blackmon’s array of specialist hardware in his studio. Included are a series of one-shots that evoke retro sci-fi movies. They feel very Solaris – and when played as melodies, will give you an eerie vibe that works well with bass-heavy, dark music.
Download Jordan Blackmon: Low-Budget Sci-Fi
For more sample pack guides, head to MusicTech.
[Editor’s note: MusicTech and BandLab are both part of the Caldecott Music Group.]
The post Best free sample packs for future bass sounds appeared first on MusicTech.

Becos FX unveil CIQ Stella Pro Compressor MK2 The latest version of the CompIQ Stella Pro introduces feed-forward compression, switchable voicing modes, enhanced side-chain filtering and an optional transformer-balanced output. 

Unionised YouTube Music staff reportedly “laid off” in the middle of Austin City Council meetingA group of YouTube Music staff were reportedly “laid off” in the middle of a meeting with Austin’s City Council, where they sought a resolution that would urge the company to negotiate with their union.
According to Complete Music Update, the workers have been embroiled in a year-long dispute with YouTube and its parent company Google (Alphabet) over new rules restricting remote work and a refusal to engage in negotiations with union representatives.

READ MORE: Music labels suing Twitter/X for copyright infringement partially allowed to move forward with lawsuit

Jack Benedict, a data analyst for YouTube Music, said during the meeting, “It’s been over a year since we first went on strike over our employer’s return to office policy”. He added that employees opposed the mandate not because they didn’t want to work from YouTube’s Austin office, but because the post-COVID policy change was “essentially a lay off against a large percentage of our team who didn’t live in the Austin area”.
“Again in September we went on strike over our employer’s refusal to bargain with our union,” Benedict continued. “To this day they refuse to come to the negotiating table and Google still refuses to acknowledge us as their employees even after countless losses in court which say the contrary.”
The latter refers to Google’s insistence that the workers were contracted via third-party professional services Cognizant, and should therefore be bargaining with “their employer” instead. This is despite a January ruling by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which deemed Google’s refusal to bargain with unionised workers as illegal.
In the video below, Benedict, who’s a member of the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA), was speaking on the podium when his coworker walked up and said: “Not to interrupt but they just laid us all off”.

He later released a statement calling the move “devastating”, saying: “We have been fighting for years now to get Google, one of the most powerful and well-resourced companies in the world, to negotiate with us so that we could make a living in exchange for the work we do to make their products better. It is disgusting that Google has taken this path when confronted with its workers’ modest demands to be treated fairly on the job.”
In a statement to The Verge, Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini said that the decision to fire the team was made by Cognizant, and that “Contracts with our suppliers across the country routinely end on their natural expiry date.”
The post Unionised YouTube Music staff reportedly “laid off” in the middle of Austin City Council meeting appeared first on MusicTech.

Long live pub raves: How big-name DJs are helping to save British pubsPint-flinging pub raves are on the rise: Nia Archives recently brought her jungle beats to a packed Sebright Arms in Hackney, Disclosure DJ’d in the garden of the People’s Park Tavern last summer, and London’s DIY party crew The Cause take over Peckham’s iconic The Greyhound this week. Oh, and who can forget that viral clip of Fred Again.. behind the decks while serving Guinness during his secret after-party at Dublin pub Doyle’s?

READ MORE: How Ghost Funk Orchestra weave NASA’s Apollo missions into their music

The best news for fans is that many of these events are free entry, meaning no cash barrier for ravers, plus more pennies for pints to support local venues. Last year was the worst on record for venue closures, with 16 per cent closing for reasons including vast rent increases, rocketing operating costs and crazy energy bill raises.
There is a stark difference, however: 2023 was the best year on record for the commercial end of the sector, says George Fleming, founder of campaign group Save Our Scene (SOS), which has been standing up for UK music culture since May 2020.
“We want to highlight that the issues our sector is facing aren’t just about music venues. It’s also affecting our community spaces, such as pubs,” he says. “We wanted to shine a light on that fact,” he adds, citing that the UK is currently seeing two pubs close every day. “In reaction to the current demise of our pubs and venues”, SOS launched their Culture Calling campaign last winter with the aim of getting the UK Government to reduce VAT to 12.5 per cent (down from 20 per cent) for the hospitality and cultural sectors.
Pub fireworks
At the start of that campaign, BRIT-Award-nominee Charlotte Plank got in touch with SOS to show her support. This resulted in them teaming up to host a bonfire night d’n’b rave — complete with fireworks — on the doorstep of Hackney pub Anchor & Hope in November 2023. “The Anchor had no idea what was coming,” Fleming recalls, but the pop-up — which also saw sets from Danny Byrd, Lens and Issey Cross — resulted in “their busiest ever night”.
Rudimental-collaborator Plank has similarly fond memories. “It was mad! We docked a barge outside The Anchor & Hope in Hackney,” she recalls. “It was rammed and so good of the pub to let us use their space, allowing hundreds of ravers to come drink ’em dry of booze and gatecrash their firework night. It was such an amazing, surreal experience.”
Considering the “huge success” of that d’n’b rave — 900 people attended at short notice, which generated hundreds of supportive emails to MPs, as well as providing the pub with a record taking on the bar — Fleming thinks “it’s time for the top end to step up”. Like Plank, who “genuinely cares and loves her scene”, he feels that artists with influence — many of whom have come through the grassroots circuit, playing in small pubs and venues — “could definitely do more to support the spaces and people who helped nurture and develop them”.
But how could this be achieved? Fleming thinks the answers are pretty simple: “whether it’s implementing a ticket levy on their big shows, ensuring funds are filtering down, or even playing events in small pubs and clubs to help drive needed awareness and funds to those spaces, we all have a responsibility to stand up for our grassroots, rather than just focusing on the commercial end of the sector.”
Laurence Guy at the White Hart
One artist who has been making all this seem effortless is Laurence Guy. The British electronic producer hosted his album launch party at his local, The White Hart, in Stoke Newington last summer, and even left some exclusive dubplates behind the bar. “It was one of the best nights of the year,” he says. In fact, Guy loved it so much that he returned to the pub at Christmas to throw another free party which resulted in, as he puts it, “rowdy vibes”.
The idea of doing the pub parties in general was inspired from the first DJ gigs that Guy and his friends used to put on in their hometown. “We just needed a room and some speakers and had the time of our lives,” he says, adding that it was usually a pub or village hall. “Everyone would show up and it would boot off.”
The Christmas party idea, Guy adds, was a nod to his mates who used to run a festive get together called ‘Unwanted Wooly Garments’ every year back home. “The atmosphere at both parties was rowdy, which is exactly what I was after — something chaotic and messy and not glossy or overproduced; something free and for the fans and friends.”
These goals largely sum up the ethos of throwing a pub rave in the first place. “For me, it boils down to wanting to run a party for the party’s sake, rather than for money or tactics,” he says. Instead, Guy sees it as “a way of connecting with my fans and building a community without asking for anything in return”. He feels this is even more important considering the ongoing cost-of-living crisis: “times are tight for everyone right now, so why not offer something easy and free to the people that support my music so much?”
Pub selfie with Laurence Guy and friends
What Guy enjoys most about the pub parties is the intimacy that they enable. “I invite my friends to DJ, I can chat to fans, everyone mingles. We don’t hire the pub out, we just set up our speakers on their usual Saturday night, right in the thick of it,” he says. Guy also likes the possibility of doing different things in the future: “maybe on the next one I can invite fans to come DJ or bring their demos to play, or it could be an early listening party for a release,” he adds. The crucial point is, he reaffirms, “to keep it small and keep it free”.
From a DJing perspective, Guy adds that there are many benefits to such pub parties. “You can be a bit more fast ‘n’ loose with the music selection. Maybe play a few more classics and fun stuff. Also, and probably most importantly, you can genuinely get to know the crowd and create a really lovely atmosphere.” The only “downside”, as he puts it, “is that you can’t install a state-of-the-art soundsystem”. He’s not so worried about that, however: “this is balanced out by the vibes in my opinion. I love both the full club experience and these small parties in equal measure for different reasons”.
With all this in mind, Guy says he could see more high-profile pub parties popping up across the country. “There’s plenty of places to do it!” He enthuses, before outlining his one concern. “If it becomes more of a ‘thing’ and we end up in a situation where the events are ticketed or too ‘produced’, then the essence would be lost for me.”
Guy’s comments are extremely timely, especially as iconic South London boozer The Greyhound gears up to reopen six days a week and with a DI Audio soundsystem. Under the helm of the capital’s DIY party crew The Cause, the 240-capacity two-floored Peckham pub has been reinvented with help from South London music heads Warren Mansfield (Zsa Zsa Sapien), Nathan Saoudi (Fat White Family / Dash The Henge), Oliver Mosley (Meat Raffle dancer) and Matt Pryer (former general manager of Rye Wax).
Laurence Guy behind the bar
To kick things off, there will be two weekends (Thursdays to Sundays) of move-in parties with Ambient Babestation Meltdown, FYI Chris, Meg Paine, Richard Sen, Tom Unlikely and Al White’s ‘Avant Practiced’ jam among the artists booked. The Cause’s former and current residents will also play alongside the odd special guest, and there will be regular pub quizzes with a musical twist.
“Nearly nine months in the making, we are really proud to present our latest venture,” says Eugene Wild, co-founder of The Cause… “our first tiptoe into the pub game, with a twist we all hope you will love!”
So, with The Greyhound reopening this week and 300-capacity Shoreditch boozer Horse & Groom having hosted dance favourites since 2007 (including Dimitri From Paris, Greg Wilson, Move D, Jamie Jones and MK), things are moving in the right direction. Add to that the rise of “anywhere but a club” party-throwers Lab54 — who teamed up with rising Irish duo NewEra to transform Dublin pub The Wellflington into a nightclub complete with strobe striplights — and it’s clear that, alongside Save Our Scene, such initiatives are making a positive impact by thinking outside of the box.
“These aren’t just boozers, they are essential spaces which are vital for communities to have access to,” affirms SOS’s George Fleming. “I sometimes think, if I was a lonely elderly man and my local pub shut down, what else would I have? The cold park bench? These pubs provide human connection, which is the most important thing we need for a happy existence.” He draws a stark conclusion, however: “We’ve got fewer licensed spaces now than since venue records began – it needs attention.”
The White Hart
We’ll leave the last word to someone who knows this better than most. “Historically, pubs were at the heart of communities,” recalls Charlie Short, general manager of The White Hart. “But, after the last few years, and with the current issues, we need connection more than ever. Dancing together is more than just a Saturday night out,” he attests. “It’s a chance to connect and release; these events are medicine for the modern world.”
The post Long live pub raves: How big-name DJs are helping to save British pubs appeared first on MusicTech.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Playing Piano MontunoIntroductionUnlock the rhythmic magic of Latin piano with our comprehensive guide to mastering the Montuno style. In this blog post, we’ll break down an 8-step exercise based on the iconic piano arrangement from Gloria Estefan’s “Conga.” Whether you’re a seasoned pianist or a beginner looking to delve into the world of Latin grooves, this step-by-step breakdown will help you understand the nuances of playing a Montuno.

Step 1: Embracing the Chord Progression The foundation of any Montuno lies in its chord progression. In this case, we’ll explore the common structure found in many Latin tunes: I minor – bVII – bVII – I minor (or Em D | D Em in E minor). Dive into the importance of repetition and understand why this progression is the backbone of Latin piano playing.

Step 2: Crafting Compound Lines Montunos are characterized by compound lines, combining melodic patterns and rhythmic intricacies. Explore the melodic line played in octaves and the rhythmic pattern within the Montuno. Practice the melodic line on downbeats, emphasizing the importance of hearing and playing the accents.

Step 3: Mastering 16th Note Syncopation Delve into the heartbeat of the Montuno by practicing the essential 16th note syncopation. Learn the basic rhythm that gives the Montuno its groove, and discover the significance of placing accents on the syncopated notes.

Step 4-7: Building Layers of Complexity Gradually build the complexity of your Montuno by incorporating syncopation into the melodic line and inner rhythm. Explore playing with both hands, focusing on the left hand in step 7 to expose weaknesses and enhance syncopation skills. In the video tutorial we show you all the these steps in detail.

Step 8: Polishing the Montuno Refine your Montuno by addressing specific challenges on each hand. In step 8, focus on the right hand while omitting octaves on specific notes for smoother and more efficient play. Finally, play the entire Montuno, bringing together all the elements you’ve practiced.

Conclusion: Congratulations! You’ve navigated the intricate steps of mastering the Latin groove through the art of playing Piano Montuno. As a bonus, “exclusive access” members of the mDecks Youtube Channel can access a downloadable PDF linking to this video and a call & response video for further practice. Join our community and enhance your Latin piano skills.

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