iZotope’s FXEQ is not really an FX EQ at all — but at $49, it’s a steal£49, izotope.com
It’s funny how producers can spend hours honing the EQ on a part – bringing out the breathiness of a vocal, the depth of a bassline, or the glassiness of a guitar – yet rarely devote the same level of attention to shaping the tone of the effects being added.

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With its new FXEQ, iZotope has delivered a plugin that not only makes spectral shaping of effects an unavoidable and easy component of your workflow, but that also reveals just how sonically creative this approach can be.

What is FXEQ.. and what isn’t it?
On the surface, FXEQ is a relatively simple concept. It’s a multi-effect processor with five processing modules, each dedicated to an effect type: Saturate, Reverb, Delay, Modulate and Lo-Fi. Each module is fronted by an ‘EQ’ (the inverted commas will be explained shortly) intended to focus a module’s effect on a specific frequency or frequency range. These modules are arranged in parallel, and so each is fed an unadulterated dry signal and mixes its processed results into the plugin’s main output signal.
But hang on a moment… if the modules are parallel and combine their output signals, does this not mean that many copies of the original signal (or processed versions thereof) are being layered together?
Well, no, not exactly. iZotope says each module features an EQ, and it’s right there in the plugin’s name, but in reality, these are multi-band filters, not EQs. So, rather than boosting or cutting frequencies in the signal, they only allow the frequencies you specify to pass through to the module’s effect processor. Put another way, a module’s filter allows its effect to be targeted at specific frequency ranges, and a module will only output a processed version of those frequency ranges.
Quibbling over whether something’s an EQ or a filter may seem pedantic, but I do find the plugin confusing because of this inaccuracy. It’s also made for some amusingly cryptic descriptions in the plugin’s manual, as it tries to tiptoe around this conceptual discrepancy. A name like, ‘FXFilter’ or ‘FilterF’ would have sounded too much like a filter plugin, but I’m sure the development team could have come up with something less conceptually hamstringing than ‘FXEQ’.
Thankfully, once you grasp the EQ versus filter distinction, everything makes perfect sense.
Reverb module in iZotope FXEQ. Image: Press
What is iZotope’s FXEQ like to use?
The main area of FXEQ’s interface is taken up by a real-time spectrogram overlaid by various coloured curves. These curves visualise each module’s filter, with the colour of the curve matching the colour used on the module control panels arrayed across the bottom of the plugin window.
Each module’s filter curve can consist of up to six bands, and the shape of each band can be either low shelf, high shelf, proportional Q or band shelf. The last two of these are easier to think of as narrow and wide band-pass filters, respectively. Frequency, gain and Q/bandwidth of a band can be adjusted, either by dragging nodes in the visualisation, or via a panel that displays settings for the currently-selected node.
The actual processing modules feature a basic range of controls, although this doesn’t reflect the quality of the high-standard processing algorithms.
Each module offers a choice of models/operating modes, yet typically features only two dials and another switch or two. For example, the Reverb module offers a choice of Hall, Chamber and Plate models, has dials for controlling pre-delay and decay time, and buttons next to each dial to switch them between tempo-synced or free timing modes.
The blend of dry and processed signal is controlled by a global Amount slider, which determines the level of the mixed output from the processing modules. There’s also a button that disables the dry signal so that the plugin outputs only the processed signal (a conventional wet/dry balance control may have been less convoluted). There’s also an optional global limiter to catch the sudden signal peaks that filters can create.
Rather than feeling restrictive, this simplicity of operation is actually beneficial because it helps in focusing one’s attention on the spectral aspects of each module, which is what FXEQ is all about. That said, there are a couple of glaring omissions from these simple controls.
The first of these is that modules can’t easily be soloed. A module’s individual frequency bands can be soloed, so that you hear just that band of that module, but, if you’re using more than one filter band in a module, the only way to solo an entire module is to disable all of the other modules.
The second omission is that modules don’t have an output gain control. The only way to adjust a module’s output level is to adjust the gain of its filter bands – simple enough if using only one band, but a real pain when multiple filter bands are in play.

What effects can FXEQ create?
When used as though it were a stack of conventional effect processors, the plugin’s frequency-based approach literally forces you to think about the effects in spectral terms.
Suddenly, you’re concentrating on different aspects of the effects you’re using. Rather than just applying a saturation plugin and moving on, with FXEQ, you automatically start to explore which frequencies of a part respond well to saturation (or a reverb or a delay or whatever), and which sound better when kept clean.
But where I find FXEQ really comes into its own is when it’s approached in a more holistic way – not so much a collection of individual processors, but a single effect whose components combine to achieve countless creative results. A plain drum loop can be turned into a floor-filler with a thundering bassline, snappy snares and dancing percussion. A vocal can be given weight in the lower-mids, edginess in the upper-mids, and a light wash of reverb in the breathier registers. Synth pads can glow with close-to warmth whilst simultaneously sparkling in the distance. None of this feels convoluted to think about or complex to configure; it’s all just down to how FXEQ works.
And so, despite some shortcomings, I’m hugely impressed by the range and depth of effects that FXEQ can produce, and by how much it encourages sonic experimentation and creativity.
One thing I can’t quite believe, though, is the near-giveaway price of £49. It’s worth every penny!

Key features

Spectral multi-effects plugin (AAX, AU, VST3)
For macOS Ventura (13) and newer / Windows 10 and newer
5 parallel processing modules: Saturate, Reverb, Delay, Modulate and Lo-Fi
6-band, per-module filters
Global limiter

The post iZotope’s FXEQ is not really an FX EQ at all — but at $49, it’s a steal appeared first on MusicTech.

Fyre Festival acquired by LimeWire – after Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds loses bidding warBack in July, Fyre Festival’s Billy McFarland listed the Fyre brand on eBay. Now, the founder has confirmed the new owner – and its the noughties’ favourite music (and virus) sharing service, LimeWire.
LimeWire’s acquisition of the Fyre brand was announced yesterday on Instagram. “Big news: Fyre Festival has officially been acquired by LimeWire,” the post reads. “What could possibly go wrong?”

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Both McFarland and LimeWire are aware of the irony of the two brands joining forces. The ill-fated Fyre Festival was a total shambles, while LimeWire’s peer-to-peer file sharing was notorious for circulating malware. “Two of the internet’s most infamous names are now under one roof – and no, this isn’t about repeating past mistakes,” the post notes.
“Together, two of the most talked-about names in internet history are starting a new chapter: built on transparency, tech, and a healthy dose of humour.”
Speaking of humour, the announcement goes on to reveal another famous figure who lost out in the Fyre brand bidding war – Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds. “LimeWire secured the Fyre brand after a bidding war that even included Ryan Reynolds and his agency Maximum Effort,” the post reads.
Ryan Reynolds even provided a comment to be included in the announcement, saying: “Congrats to LimeWire… I look forward to attending their first event but will be bringing my own palette of water.”
Considering Reynold’s comment, the Canadian star was fully aware of Fyre Festival’s history. That being said, he’s clearly got a taste for investing and injecting new life into projects on the decline; back in 2020 he purchased Wrexham Football club alongside It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney. And the investment has proven to be a success – the 2024–25 season saw Wrexham playing their first League One match in 19 years.
Regardless, LimeWire already has plans in place for the future of Fyre Festival. However, Julian Zehetmayr, LimeWire’s CEO, notes that the days of it being a ‘festival’ are in the past. “We’re not bringing the festival back,” he explains. “We’re bringing the brand and the meme back to life. This time with real execution.”
Instead, Fyre will be “reimagined” to expand “beyond the digital realm and tap into real-world experiences”.
LimeWire’s acquisition follows on from LimeWire’s 2022 relaunch as an NFT marketplace. The company also recently announced its plan to “democratise the creative space” with its AI Music Studio.

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Techivation has released M-Imager, a spectral stereo widening plugin for macOS and Windows. M-Imager is Techivation’s take on clean, natural-sounding imaging and stereo expansion. After my initial test, I have to say it’s a seriously impressive tool if you’re into subtle but precise mix enhancement. It’s designed to widen mono or stereo tracks without introducing [...]
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The Toronto Film Festival Premieres Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC Elvis Presley In ConcertBaz Luhrmann directed, co-produced, and wrote the screenplay for the 2002 acclaimed biographical drama, Elvis, with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner.Luhrmann emerged from the documentary world in 1983 when he conceived and appeared in the television movie Kids of the Cross. He and I spoke in 2001 for a story in Hits magazine (it was reprinted in 2014 for Baz Luhrmann Interviews, published by University of Mississippi Press, edited by Tim Ryan).At the time, Luhrmann was promoting his award-winning theatrical feature, Moulin Rouge. I asked him about the importance of music soundtracks in films and documentaries.   “That’s why we’ve got audiences who clap and cheer at the songs in cinemas,” Luhrmann replied. “They are not cheering the projectionist. What they are doing is communing with everybody else in the room. Nothing is more powerful than that in doing music. If you can shackle music to story—I know it sounds dramatic, but if you can do that—you unleash an unstoppable force.”In late 2024 Baz hinted he would soon return to the music documentary universe.“We’ve found reels and reels of never-before-seen footage of Elvis on Tour [1972] and That’s the Way It Is [1970],” Luhrmann posted on Instagram in October 2023.“Stay tuned.”He showed an accompanying video of a cardboard box with a Warner Bros. label that had “Elvis outtakes box” written on the side.Meanwhile, in November 2024, Netflix streamed Return of the King: The Fall & Rise of Elvis Presley (2024), a documentary directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Jason Hehir. Interviewees included Luhrmann, as well as Priscilla Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Corgan, Robbie Robertson, Jerry Schilling, and Darlene Love.I saw the December 1968 Elvis: The ‘68 Comeback Special on NBC-TV. Afterwards, my father and mother went to see one of Presley’s August 1969 shows at the International Hotel in Las Vegas and gave an enthusiastic review.On November 14, 1970 I took three buses from West Hollywood to Inglewood to see Elvis Presley’s debut at the Forum, his first concert in Southern California in 13 years. In 1968 I saw the Doors at the Forum, the Rolling Stones twice in 1969 at the same venue and now Elvis. It was a devoted beehive hairdo crowd like a casting call from another era. Thousands of cameras clicked and flashed when Elvis emerged on stage. Presley’s voice sounded terrific as I sat in the colonnade section.Between 1972 and 1976, Grelun Landon, the veteran and well-respected head of public affairs at RCA Records in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd. arranged for me to attend a slew of Elvis 1972-1976 concerts as a music journalist and briefly meet Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. “I have a feeling in 10 years or sometime in the future you may still be writing about Elvis,” suggested the USC graduate.Around October of 1972, Grelun invited myself, Rodney Bingenheimer of GO! magazine, and Canadian music journalist and Hit Parader magazine contributor Larry LeBanc to a screening of Elvis On Tour, which chronicled Presley’s ’72 US personal appearances and concerts. It was directed by Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel and released by MGM in November 1972. That same month I heard the filmmakers speak at an RCA Records college seminar.“I was there at the MGM screening in Culver City,” LeBlanc emailed me in September 2025.“Grelun invited me and he introduced me to Parker. Huge theatre with maybe 35 of us with incredible sound and picture. I knew Rodney a bit and I said hello. Parker was at the concession stand handing out popcorn.”  Landon later made sure I viewed the first live broadcast of Elvis’ Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite in January 1973, along with RCA Records employees. Imagine hearing Elvis Presley and that TCB band through those Altec 604E Super Duplex monitors inside RCA Studios…My only personal sighting of Elvis Presley locally was on a Saturday afternoon during the summer of 1967. I was a teenager, in Dr. Morris Feldman’s Picwood Dental office in West Los Angeles near the MGM studio in Culver City. Presley arrived in a Rolls-Royce, flanked by two guys and immediately into the dentist chair. Dr. Feldman told me Elvis broke a tooth during the filming of a movie called Speedway.  Last century I interviewed the legendary songwriting and production team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller about working with Presley. Their tunes are covered on Elvis On Tour, including “Hound Dog.”“Hound Dog” was initially written at the request of Johnny Otis, the bandleader and A&R man for Big Mama Thornton, who wanted Leiber and Stoller to listen to his acts and see if they could write some songs for them.“Elvis knew the Big Mama ‘Hound Dog’ record, because he was a student,” underlined Mike Stoller. “And it was a woman’s song. Jerry wrote the lyrics for Big Mama and I think we recorded it in 1952, and it was released in early ’53. It was a big R&B hit. In 1956 Elvis heard a lounge act doing it in Las Vegas.”“Jerry and I actually produced, without credit, the records, our songs in particular, that were in the M-G-M film Jailhouse Rock,“He asked for us to be there. We had never met him before. He was a very good-looking young man, very energetic. I mean, he just kept going and going in the studio. He’d say, ‘Let’s do another one!’ And it would go on and on until he felt he had it. The studio was booked for the day, and we were used to three-hour sessions.”“He loved doing it,” reinforced Jerry Leiber. “He wasn’t someone who was doing it and wanted to go home, like a lot of people. He had more fun in the studio than he did at home. He was very cooperative and a workhorse.”“I ended up spending a little more time with him than Jerry,” added Stoller, “because I played the role of his piano player in Jailhouse Rock, which Jerry was supposed to play, but he had to go to the dentist that day,” Mike volunteered. “He had ‘The Memphis Mafia’ around him. They were his boys. he would be nice to other people but did not interact that much. We met him in the studio. He had seven or eight guys hanging around. He had his entourage, Lamar, Red, and his cousins. He traveled with his environment. And The Colonel was smart. He let him travel with his entourage and it kept him insulated. And nobody could get to him, by the way, if you tried to lay an idea on him just because he was there.”“I thought he was the greatest ballad singer since Bing Crosby,” Jerry testified. “I loved to hear him really do a ballad, because we were writing rhythm & blues, torch ballads. As far as I’m concerned, nobody cuts Little Richard on rhythm tunes. You have to go far and wide. But Presley was the ultimate in the ballad. It was just his singing. Pure talent.”“It was just his singing,” added Mike. “Later, when he was in Las Vegas, when he was so large, he was poking fun at himself, and he would do this thing with the scarf, tossing it back to the audience. He would do 20 of those. That was the show. Sure, he could still sing, but it wasn’t like it was before and it was clouded by all this show biz. I mean, there is nothing wrong with relating to an audience, but it was mannered.”“He’d become somewhat of an imitation of what he was,” summarized Leiber, “coupled with some show biz schtick that he thought, and some of his managers thought, and the room owners thought, would go down.”In 1976 and 77 I reviewed two Elvis Presley concerts for Melody Maker. My 1977 article was headlined “The King Has Lost His Crown.” Presley was now forgetting lyrics and dropping the microphone in performance. This was a man who was sick and should have been off the road.  In my story I suggested hospitalization.I didn’t think Grelun and Colonel Parker in 1977 had any real idea how ill and troubled Elvis was in the mid-seventies, although the well-kept secret in summer of 1977 was finally let out of the bag when Presley confident and bodyguard Red West published Elvis What Happened? His book based on intimate accounts of Elvis' former bodyguards detailed the singer’s medical condition and alleged drug-use.And, it slowly dawned on me, as 1977 unfolded, and the first wave of punk rock music and a number of original acts and unique singer/songwriters were emerging, that Elvis was basically a guy stuck doing cover versions, formulaic movies, and Las Vegas residencies, and wishing and hoping he could improve his live act, tour the world or really stretch out as an actor.I was subsequently taken out to lunch at The Hollywood Ranch Market by a concerned Grelun Landon after my pieces were published. It was Grelun who had introduced me in 1974 to Vernon Presley at an Elvis concert in Anaheim. Vernon and guitarist James Burton could walk around the Convention Center during intermission and not be recognized. The crowd came to see Elvis but I came to check out his band, too.In 1976 I interviewed Emmylou Harris in Studio City for Melody Maker before she did her first show at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. Glen D Hardin and James Burton were at her rehearsal. At the time I was driving a 1959 Cadillac with big fins. Burton’s ride was a new Cadillac El Dorado. James was delighted to chat about Elvis and the Shindig! television series. He was in the house band where I attended tapings at the ABC-TV studios on Prospect Ave.During 2007, I conducted an interview with Jerry Schilling, author of Me and a Guy Named Elvis, published by Penguin/Gotham Books. Jerry was a longtime Presley insider and a trusted employee. “Something happens when Elvis got to be in front of a live audience. He decided to put a band together and do a month at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. I became involved in what was happening around him, even though I wasn’t working for him. RCA studio in Hollywood. Colonel Parker is never there for rehearsals or recordings.“I watched a guy put a rock ‘n’ roll band together. That’s what he does. He started by picking James Burton. That’s where Elvis was a genius. That’s where he was the most underrated producer in musical history. Whether it be in the studio or putting the band together. Whether it was ‘I hear voices here,’ ‘play this line here.’ The guy was a great producer.“The ’68 special inspired him but he was doing what he had not been able to do for years. He was doing his thing and he was doing it being able to choose the people he was able to do it with. Being able to choose what songs and not being told what has to be in the soundtrack. What he had to wear. He was out of prison, man.“I remember being at Elvis’ house with a list that Joe, maybe Charlie Hodge a little bit, ‘here’s some of the musicians that people are suggesting.’ What do you think of this, this and this? Elvis pretty much picked and chose.  He knew who James Burton was. He knew who Ronnie (Tutt) was. Ronnie was the guy who did what DJ had come in and done. He could accentuate Elvis’ moves, but more importantly, when there were bigger name drummers in the audition, like Hal Blaine. I remember what Elvis told me and Joe. He would come over and we both thought he was gonna go for Hal Blaine. It was the obvious choice. And he said, ‘watch this guy’ (Ronnie). Elvis came over and he said, ‘I need one guy on stage that has my temperament. Ronnie Tutt. That’s why Ronnie Tutt has the job.’”  In 2007, I was interviewed for MGM Home Entertainment’s deluxe DVD edition of Presley’s film, Jailhouse Rock. During 2008, I penned the 5,000-word liner notes for the fortieth-anniversary edition of Elvis: ’68 Comeback Special.Elvis may have left the building, but we’re still watching.On September 5, 2025 at The Toronto Film Festival. Luhrmann premiered EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert. Luhrmann teamed with Sony Music Vision and the Authentic Brands Group for the venture.   Baz Luhrmann is a pioneer of pop culture working across film, opera, theatre, live events, fashion, and music. His singular cinematic language continues to captivate audiences through a unique fusion of classical artistry and bold, contemporary style that has ignited imaginations around the world and made Luhrmann the most commercially successful director in Australia with four of the country’s top-ten grossing films.In his director’s statement provided to me from Sony Music Vision, Luhrmann detailed his new endeavor.“During the making of Elvis (2022), we went on a search for rumored unseen footage from the iconic 1970s concert films Elvis: That’s the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour that had reportedly been lost. My initial thought was that, if we could find it, we may be able to restore the unused footage and use it in our Elvis feature, starring Austin Butler. I had researchers go into the Warners Bros. film vaults buried in underground salt mines in Kansas and, to the astonishment of all, we uncovered 69 boxes (59 hours) of film negative that hadn’t been seen. In addition to this, Angie Marchese (VP of Archives and Exhibits, and curator at Graceland) was able to unearth some never before seen Super8 from the Graceland Archives. It has taken over two years to restore the footage to a quality that it has never been projected at previously.“Whilst some of the negatives had been printed and used in previous productions, there were many ‘never before seen’, shots, sequences and performances; so, if portions of these cuts were out in the public realm, they were generally poor-quality bootlegs. The team had to meticulously restore sound from the many unconventional sources that were also unearthed. Throughout this incredibly detailed process, one of the great finds has been unheard recordings of Elvis talking about his life and his music: from the 1970 Vegas show, on tour in 1972 and even precious moments of the 1957 ‘gold jacket’ performance in Hawaii. I knew that we could not pass up this opportunity. It was these discoveries that gave the inspiration for the new film. What if, instead of reduxing the previous works, we made a film that wasn't a documentary and wasn't a concert film?“What if Elvis came to you in a dreamscape, almost like a cinematic poem, and sang to you and told you his story in a way in which you haven’t experienced before? And what if we were able to work with the likes of Peter Jackson and the team at Park Road Post Production and other high-end technicians, and bring this original footage to a quality, to be seen on the big screen in a way in which it could not have been realized until now?“What if we took both known recordings of Elvis telling you about his life and could reconstitute his own personal voice at a sonic level never before heard? Sonically, what if we could both reconstitute and remix the original orchestrations but at the same time imagine what he might do with his classic musical works through a contemporary prism? And what if in a world where Artificial Intelligence can make all sorts of illusions, the illusions were made from authentic and original material and restored with meticulous human craft? We asked the what ifs and answered them in what we presented at Toronto International Film Festival’s 50th Edition.”In EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, Elvis takes the audience through the journey of his life, through both classic and contemporary musical prisms, weaving unseen footage with iconic performances.  After serving abroad in the US Army, Elvis Presley continued to an acting career and became one of Hollywood’s highest paid actors by the 1960s. In the meantime, the Beatles as well as phenomena such as the Summer of Love in San Francisco and the anti-Vietnam War movement had a huge impact on music and culture. A year after the Summer of Love, Elvis put on his ‘68 Comeback Special, which was his first appearance on TV in front of a live studio audience in over eight years and a visual and musical presentation that cemented his reputation as one of the great performers of all time. Sony Music Vision promotional materials further touted EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. “Elvis returned to the stage in Las Vegas at the International Hotel on July 31, 1969. The Vegas residency was hugely successful. When he was in residency, he typically played 2 sold-out shows per day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks straight, for approximately 7.5 years (July 1969 - December 1976). He sold more than a million tickets throughout the residency.  The footage Luhrmann uses in EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert was collected by large MGM cameras over various nights of his Vegas residency in 1970 - shot in 35mm anamorphic.“In 1970, Elvis embarked on his first concert tour since 1957. His 1972 Summer tour included 4 sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. In EPiC, Luhrmann utilizes footage from tour engagements captured in 1972 alongside recordings from 6 different Vegas residency shows. Together, the Vegas and tour footage constitute Elvis Presley’s return to the stage at the height of his career and reinvention as an artist at the start of a new decade.  When producing his feature film Elvis, Luhrmann discovered that there were reels of footage from Elvis Presley’s concert performances in Las Vegas during the 1970s. With the assistance of Warner Brothers, his team was able to locate the lost footage as well as many 16-track audio recordings.“Luhrmann first met Jonathan Redmond when editing Moulin Rouge! and they have since formed a longtime creative partnership through various projects, including Australia, The Great Gatsby and Elvis. Jonathan, whom Luhrmann refers to as “Jono,” is both an editor and executive producer for EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert. As Luhrmann likes to credit, Jono is the driving creative force on the project.“It took two years to locate the negatives which Luhrmann’s team then worked with Warner Brothers to scan in 4K. They also found Super8 footage that has never been seen before. Enter Peter Jackson and his team at Park Road Post Production, who worked to restore not just the 8mm but the 16mm and 35mm anamorphic, as well. Ultimately, Luhrmann worked with over 59 hours of rare footage, including anamorphic 35mm, as well as 8mm from the 1950s. “Many of the audio tracks did not sync to the footage, so the team utilized lip reading to match the tracks to specific footage. Warner Brothers provided over 2,300 rolls of Elvis archive material to assist in the process.  While Luhrmann's hands-on work in music is well known (he is credited as executive music producer) he’s identified Jamieson Shaw, a longtime collaborator of Luhrmann’s, as overall music producer, bringing together new material that was recorded for the project with the classic audio.“There are over 70 pieces of music in the film performed by Elvis, either in Las Vegas or on tour as well as in rehearsals and some classic recordings from his life-long catalog. The film captures covers from notable artists such as the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles, Dusty Springfield, Bob Dylan, Del Shannon, Three Dog Night, Brenda Lee, Edwin Hawkins and the Righteous Brothers.“During the making of Elvis, Luhrmann had an office at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee for 18 months. While living in Memphis, Luhrmann was introduced to Angie Marchese, VP of Archives and Exhibits and curator at Graceland, who provided the production with newly discovered 8mm footage of Elvis performing in Hawaii. Luhrmann’s time at Graceland and the people he met there informed both the production of Elvis and EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.”  At the movie premiere in Toronto, Luhrmann explained to the audience about Presley’s residency at the International Hotel from 1969 to 1976. “It’s not a documentary, not a concert, but ‘a tone poem.’”On stage, Luhrmann mentioned he had heard about some "mythical footage" that he wanted to research. Baz had the funding and the resources to go into "the salt mines in Kansas" where Warner Bros. had kept their negatives and found 59 hours of footage. 15 hours of it had no sound at all."Elvis said, 'I need to show the audience what I can do. I need to get back to being Elvis.' And that is what drove him," stated Luhrmann.   EPiC footage implements revealing segments of Presley speaking to his band for 45 minutes, "about his life and he was so unguarded.”  “There's a lot being said, but I'd like to have the opportunity to tell my side of the story,” remarked Elvis.Reviewer Owen Gleiberman in Variety praised EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.“Think back to the greatest concert you ever saw - it could be Springsteen or U2 or the Stones, or Lady Gaga or the Ramones, or Taylor Swift or Radiohead, or (in my case) two concerts from the '80s (Prince and X) and one from the 2000s (Madonna on her Confessions tour). Now think back to the greatest moment in that concert, the one that gave you chills you can still feel. That's the kind of experience I predict you'll have watching EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, an extraordinary new documentary directed by Baz Luhrmann, the director of Elvis. “Diving into this treasure trove of unseen performances, working with the editor Jonathan Redmond, Luhrmann has fashioned a streamlined and exquisitely paced concert film…And when the movie is over, you want to applaud the showmanship: Elvis's, and also Baz Luhrmann's. He reveres Elvis too much to let any excessive flash get in the way. There's a purity and natural-born dazzle to EPiC. What you see is what you get: Elvis in the raw, driven by the awareness that it doesn't get any better than that.”  (Harvey Kubernik is the author of 20 books, including 2009’s Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon, 2014’s Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972, 2015's Every Body Knows: Leonard Cohen, 2016's Heart of Gold Neil Young and 2017's 1967: A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love. Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz. In 2021 the duo wrote Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child for Sterling/Barnes and Noble. Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s Docs That Rock, Music That Matters. His Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Scenes) is scheduled for 2025 publication.     Harvey wrote the liner notes to CD re-releases of Carole King’s Tapestry, The Essential Carole King, Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish, Elvis Presley The ’68 Comeback Special, The Ramones’ End of the Century and Big Brother & the Holding Company Captured Live at The Monterey International Pop Festival.During 2006 Kubernik appeared at the special hearings by The Library of Congress in Hollywood, California, discussing archiving practices and audiotape preservation. In 2017 he lectured at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in their Distinguished Speakers Series. Amidst 2023, Harvey spoke at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles discussing director Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz music documentary.In 2014, Kubernik was a consultant and interviewed about the musical legacy of Los Angeles for the Australia television series Great Music Cities for Australian subscription television broadcaster XYZnetworks Pty Ltd (www.xyznetworks.com.au). Slash, Brian Wilson, Steve Lukather and Keith Richards were also lensed for producer Wade Goring’s project. Kubernik appeared as an interview subject for director Matt O’Casey in 2019 on his BBC4-TV digital arts channel Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac’s Songbird. The cast includes Christine McVie, Stan Webb of Chicken Shack, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Christine’s family members, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Mike Campbell, and Neil Finn.Harvey was lensed for the 2013 BBC-TV documentary on Bobby Womack Across 110th Street, directed by James Meycock. Bobby Womack, Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones, Regina Womack, Damon Albarn of Blur/the Gorillaz, and actor Antonio Vargas are spotlighted.Kubernik served as Consulting Producer on the 2010 singer-songwriter documentary, Troubadours: Carole King/James Taylor & the Rise of the Singer-Songwriter, directed by Morgan Neville.Kubernik is in a documentary, The Sound of Protest now airing on the Apple TVOD TV broadcasting service. https://tv.apple.com › us › movie › the-sound-of-protest. Director Siobhan Logue’s endeavor features Smokey Robinson, Hozier, Skin (Skunk Anansie), Two-Tone's Jerry Dammers, Angélique Kidjo, Holly Johnson, David McAlmont, Rhiannon Giddens, and more.Harvey is interviewed along with Iggy Pop, the Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston, Love’s Johnny Echols, the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs and Victoria Peterson, and the founding members of the Seeds in director Neil Norman’s documentary The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard. This November 16, 2025, a DVD with bonus footage of the documentary is scheduled for release via the GNP Crescendo Company.The New York City Department of Education will be publishing in 2025 the social studies textbook Hidden Voices: Jewish Americans in United States History. Kubernik’s 1976 interview with music promoter Bill Graham on the Best Classic Bands website Bill Graham Interview on the Rock ’n’ Roll Revolution, 1976, is included). The post The Toronto Film Festival Premieres Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC Elvis Presley In Concert first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Making a Laptop with a Mechanical KeyboardA laptop is one of the greatest tools at the disposal of a hacker. They come in all manner of shapes and sizes with all manner of features. But perhaps the greatest limit held by all laptops is their chiclet keyboard. While certainly serviceable, a proper mechanical keyboard will always reign supreme, which is why [flurples] built a laptop around a mechanical keyboard. 
Such a keyboard could not fit inside any normal laptop, so a custom machined case was in order. The starting point was a standard Framework Laptop 13. Its open source documentation certainly helped the project, but numerous parts such as the audio board and fingerprint sensor are not documented making for a long and tedious process. But the resulting machined aluminum case looks at least as good as a stock Framework chassis, all be it, quite a bit thicker.

The resulting laptop retains three of the four modular input ports the Framework is known for, but one was sacrificed for a USB-A hub and HDMI port exposed by a custom carrier. Only one of the USB-As is externally accessible, with one used as a mouse dongle hider, and the other for keyboard connectivity.
The keyboard itself uses Kailh Choc Sunset switches, with the PCB resting on o rings for a more consistent typing experience. The key caps come from two sets of caps, with the shift and escape keys being dyed an excellent shade of orange. Sitting on the right hand side below the keyboard is a trio of rotary encoders. Using low profile encoders, the knobs blend neatly into the overall laptop, perhaps being invisible at first glance.
The rotary encoders forced a speaker arrangement redesign. Instead of siting next to the battery where the rotary encoders now are, they are attached to the top cover above the battery. This change required lengthening the speaker connector cables, but otherwise worked extremely well.
If you enjoy the work of laptop case replacement, make sure to check out this Toshiba Libretto get a fresh lease on life with a re-designed case. 

Calvin Harris files legal action against Thomas St. John, after firm’s US company filed for bankruptcy citing $11m+ in debtsHarris filed an arbitration demand accusing his former financial advisor of pocketing $22.5 million
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23 Preschool/Young Fives Music Lesson Plans And Activities (2025)Teaching music to young children is a great way to start a student’s love of music early on.

Most people really struggle with this age group, but when you come armed with some great preschool music lesson plans and activities.

So I sorted through my favorite music lessons to share with you.

Note: You don’t have to be a music teacher to use these either. Preschool teachers can use these too.

Save time with these 60 FREE Music Resources to use in your room right away!

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Peas Porridge Hot

This simple chant has been around for literal centuries, and it’s one of the first action songs I teach my preschool students.

The words go like this:

Peas porridge hot. (Ah!)

Peas porridge cold. (Br!)

Peas porridge in the pot

Nine days old. 

–

Some like it hot. (Ah!)

Some like it cold. (Br!)

Some like it in the pot

Nine days old. 

With this chant, I like to have them practice the steady beat on different body parts.

Body percussion is the best way to reinforce the steady beat at this age.

Percussion instruments are great, but the students get too distracted right away for real practice.

Do a little bit of moving every time, and then hand out instruments.

(Really, any of the nursery rhymes will do a great job in preschool.)

The Ants Go Marching One By One

When it comes to movement activities in preschool, we really want the kids to do two main things:

Move to the steady beatMove freely, matching the feeling of the music

Of these, the most important thing, in my opinion, is keeping a beat.

This song is one that most people have heard of, and it’s great for steady beat movement.

March around the room while singing or listening to this song.

As a bonus, it’s appropriate for the preschool grade level, too, as it features counting.

The Crabfish

The Crabfish is a great songbook with a haunting melody.

Either sing the folk song and book yourself or listen to it and follow along with the recording at the link.

Or better yet, do both!

This is one of my favorite songs to do with any level, and it’s a regular in my preschool classroom.

Check out The Crabfish lyrics and history in my article at the link.

Johnny Works With One Hammer

Movement games where we add in more moves, taking a simple song and making it even more fun for music time is always a blast.

This song adds in motions and works on gross motor skills.

It’s silly, and the kids love it.

Shake And Shake And Freeze

Here is a game with a bit more practice on fine motor skills for preschool on top of the musical skills we work on.

Listen and move to the video first, and then break out the egg shakers.

Egg shakers (or shaker eggs, as they’re sometimes called), for those who don’t know, are plastic eggs with little beads inside, just like maracas.

Found Sound Band

I love doing Found Sound Bands.

I take a simple song and add a steady beat.

Then, I show them how we don’t need “real” instruments to keep the beat.

We can use a lot of different sounds to make a unique band. 

After setting a few safety ground rules, let kids explore and find their own ways to make music and play different instruments.

This is always a favorite from 3 year olds to 10 year olds! 

Herman The Worm

Sometimes, you just have to be silly. 

A lot of preschool music is creating fun, musical experiences where the students can hear different types of music and practice the steady beat. 

Herman the Worm is just another example of this (with emphasis on the silly part!). 

Check out the video and learn it yourself to sing with them. 

You may want to slow it down a bit when you teach it to them the first time. 

Aquarium Movement From Carnival Of The Animals

Classical music and expressive movement shouldn’t be ignored. 

Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals is one of the perfect pieces for this age level. 

It’s short enough that it’ll hold their attention, and there are enough changes in the song to make the movement go well. 

Check out more directions for what I do with this (and other classical pieces besides) in my list of classical music to teach emotion. 

Save time with these 60 FREE Music Resources to use in your room right away!

Stop searching the whole internet to find good activities. I’ll help you cut to the chase with my favorite 60 FREE resources.

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Mother Goony Bird

I decided to bookend the previous preschool music lesson with two silly activities, I guess! 

This silly song is similar to Johnny Works With One Hammer. 

We move to a steady beat and keep adding moves until we look pretty silly. 

Bumping Up And Down In My Little Red Wagon

Maybe it’s just music teachers from my generation, or maybe it’s just me, but I love Raffi. 

His fun songs and shows for kids were part of why I wanted to become a music teacher. 

This song is one of my favorites of all the ones he’s done. 

You get to bump up and down and invite students to pick different tools (or silly things) to use for movement prompts in practicing the steady beat as we fix the wagon. 

Marching Band Follow The Leader

Following the leader is another great way to engage the body while moving to music. 

I’m a marching band fan myself, so it’s no surprise one of my go-to’s is to pop on a standard march and lead the kids around the room. 

Give them egg shakers, rhythm sticks, or hand drums if you feel brave. 

I usually come with different beat motions for the first few times we play before adding in the non-pitched percussion.

One of my favorite marches to do this with is the Stars And Stripes Forever.  

Pro-tip: Stick with easy moves for a while first (patting, tapping nose, touching the head) before doing harder ones like crossing the midline (great for brain development). 

Did you know that following the leader requires students to focus on one person? (Duh!)

This helps a lot with social skills too.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Little Bunny Foo Foo is a classic finger play activity with a great steady beat. 

After the students know it really well, I like to extend the learning in a couple of different ways: 

Acting out the storyAdding instruments to match parts of the storyPlaying the steady beat while singingWatching/reading other variations and discussing how they’re the same and different. 

Apples And Bananas

Who doesn’t love this song with preschoolers?

It’s so much fun! 

Plus, you get to practice some good vowel sounds. 

Any time we can get cross-curricular with important concepts like speech and letter sounds is a big deal with this age group. 

B-I-N-G-O

When I was first teaching, I remember standing with one of my pre-K teachers in the hall as her kids took a bathroom break. 

Those waiting in line were a little impatient about how long another one of their friends was taking. 

I jokingly said: “Well, these preschoolers don’t have a lot of patience, do they?”

She looked at me deadpanned and responded: “That’s the understatement of the century!”

In music, we can help develop self-control and patience through songs that require focus and waiting. 

B-I-N-G-O removes a letter each time on the chorus, forcing the students’ brains to wait for the spot where those words would be. 

Bonus: It also prepares them for learning quarter rest faster in their older grades. 

Hokey Pokey

Fine motor control and knowledge of body parts are two of the key elements of preschool education. 

And this song hits both of these in spades! 

Play this song for maximum fun and learning with music.

10 In The Bed

Counting backward is almost as important as counting forward, and doing it with a song helps the students learn it even faster! 

There’s a reason there are so many catchy kid songs and music activities that help them learn better. 

We’re On Our Way

This is a fun one I like to use as we’re getting closer to a holiday. 

Even if they’re not going anywhere for a break, the students can still sing about the stuff they’ll find at home. 

It provides a great chance to get to know the kids when you only see them for a limited amount of time. 

Musical Coloring

Art and music go together really well. 

Whether you tell students to simply color what they feel or tell them a story to draw while music plays, musical coloring is a slam dunk in terms of creativity and listening. 

Classical music works best here, especially if it has a clear feeling to it. 

Check out these classical songs that teach dynamics in our article at the link.

Name That Tune

For Name That Tune, you’ll want to make a playlist of kids’ songs they know well (Disney songs, for example) or learn how to play them yourself on an instrument such as the recorder or piano. 

Then, give them a hint of the song or play it without words to have them guess what it is. 

Split into teams or keep track of how many they got right to keep it even more interesting. 

Pro-tip: Make your last tune the next one you want to sing or play with on your preschool music lesson plan. 

Build Your Own Musical Instruments

Building your own musical instruments is a big undertaking, but it’s one a lot of people love to do. 

I’ll admit I don’t have much experience in this, so I’ll link you to this article for specific ideas on building DIY instruments. 

Freeze Dance

Freeze Dance is always a blast. 

Put on a song they know and tell them to dance. 

Give them specific dance moves if they don’t have ideas for how to move on their own. 

Then, pause the song regularly to “trick them.”

When the song pauses, they have to freeze.

Some people make it a competition and make those who don’t stop fast enough sit out.

I don’t always do that, but if I do, I’ll also let everyone back in after a minute of sitting out. 

Check out my article on how to play freeze dance for more ideas.

Scarf Dancing

Getting out fabric scarves and adding them to your movement refreshes the same activities you did before, but now it feels new to your kids. 

Do this with classical music or songs that have a motion to them. 

Check out my dancing with scarves lesson plan template for help in organizing and teaching with these. 

Trust me, adding onto activities with scarves is a lot easier on your lesson planning than always coming up with new stuff.

Online Music Games (PBS Kids)

If you have access to technology, it may not be a bad idea to offer them some time (on occasion) to explore music games. 

I don’t like to use too much of this as it’s nowhere near as good as making actual music. 

But if you show them certain games on PBS Kids or Chrome Music Lab, they can explore more at home too! 

Check out our list of the best online music games for the classroom. 

Save time with these 60 FREE Music Resources to use in your room right away!

Stop searching the whole internet to find good activities. I’ll help you cut to the chase with my favorite 60 FREE resources.

Get it now!

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