Altman describes OpenAI’s forthcoming AI device as more peaceful and calm than the iPhoneAltman and Ive tease a simple AI device aimed at calm, distraction-free computing, launching within two years.

Here’s what happened in crypto todayNeed to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

The Music Connection December 2025 Playlist is Live!Listen along with MC!

Our monthly issue playlists allow you to hear the featured artists as you read about them, and the December, 2025 Special Year End playlist is live now!

Check out cover star Leon Thomas, the DIY Spotlighted Marina Fleming, and all of the artists included in our Favorite Signing Stories of 2025, Top 20 Albums of 2025, Top 25 New Music Critiques, Hot 100 Rising Artists and Bands, Album Reviews, and Live Reviews (as long as they are on Spotify).

Hear the playlist here

While you're there, please "Like" the playlist and "Follow" Music Connection's profile so you'll never miss the chance to listen along with MC!

Previous playlists:

Hear our November playlist here!

Hear the October playlist here!The post The Music Connection December 2025 Playlist is Live! first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Ultrasonic Cutting on the CheapWhen you think of ultrasonics,  you probably think of a cleaner or maybe a toothbrush. If you are a Star Trek fan, maybe you think of knocking out crew members or showers. But there is another practical use of ultrasonics: cutting. By vibrating a blade at 40 kHz or so, you can get clean, precise cuts in a variety of materials. The problem? Commercial units are quite expensive. So [Electronoobs] decided to roll his own. Check it out in the video below.
There are dreams and then there’s reality. Originally, the plan was for a handheld unit, but this turned out not to be very practical. Coil actuators were too slow. Piezo elements made more sense, but to move the blade significantly, you need a larger element.
Taking apart an ultrasonic cleaner revealed a very large element, but mounting it to a small blade would be a problem. The next stop was an ultrasonic toothbrush. Inside was a dual piezo element with an interesting trick. The elements were mounted in a horn that acts like an ultrasonic megaphone, if you will.

These horns are available, and he found an off-the-shelf solution with four piezos and a large horn that seemed promising. Driving the elements, though, requires a 40kHz 100VAC signal. His original board didn’t work — but he’s not giving up. But, for now, he used a simple circuit on a breadboard. However, it didn’t make a strong vibration, even with a larger horn.
Comparison with ultrasonic cleaners showed that his output voltage wasn’t enough. The expedient answer was to buy an ultrasonic cleaner kit (who knew they came as kits?) and use the boards from it to drive the horn and the blade. That worked very well.
His current thinking is that the cleaner driver may be too large, since the blade and horn get hot in use. But he still encased it with a 3D printed case and wound up with a usable tool. His next version should be portable and maybe run a little cooler.
Ultrasonic sensors are, of course, super useful. Or you can always levitate tiny things with it.

One of Suno’s latest investors will be of particular interest to the music industry…Hallwood Media has invested into Suno after signing ‘artists’ whose music was created on the generative AI platform
Source

Joyned’s MU16 becomes first Milan USB interface Audio networking specialists Joyned have announced the upcoming launch of the MU16, a new class-compliant USB audio interface that becomes the first unit to offer Milan network connectivity via USB. 

Wellencraft New World Collection BundleNew World Collection Bundle New World Collection Bundle is a series of traditional instruments from the Americas, beginning with the north coast of Colombia, a region in the Caribbean and South America. We have designed these virtual instruments so that you can play them easily, offering multiple ways to use it. Currently you get in a nutshell: one multi-sampled Tambora and one multi-sampled Alegre, two mixes of up to seven mics, 271 loops, 433 MIDI grooves, 92 sound design elements, effects and more. We recorded the Alegre in its homeland Colombia, the second instrument of our New World Collection, capturing its organic and authentic sound. The Alegre is a traditional conical drum from the north coast of Colombia, a region in the Caribbean and South America. We have designed this sample library to be easy to play and to offer you a variety of ways to use it. In short, you get one multi-sampled Alegre, two mixes of six mics, 191 loops, 275 MIDI grooves, 51 sound design elements, effects, advanced loop editor and more. ALEGRE requires the FULL version of Kontakt 6.8 or later (no Player). The first instrument of the New World Collection, Tambora, is a bass drum of the north coast of Colombia, a region in the Caribbean and South America. We have designed this virtual instrument so that you can play it easily, offering multiple ways to use it. You get in a nutshell: one multisampled Tambora, two mixes of seven mics, loops, MIDI grooves, sound design elements, effects and more. TAMBORA requires the FULL version of Kontakt 5.8.1 or later (no Player). Alegre Summary Content: 1 GB. Round Robins for multi-sampled articulations (blue keys). Different velocity samples. 275 MIDI groove presets organized in 10 categories of traditional Alegre rhythms. 191 loop recordings playing rhythms from beginning to end. 51 sound design elements created from Alegre samples. Loop Editor (Looper): 14 Loop Editors with default Wellencraft presets. 6 categories of traditional rhythms (Bullerengue Sentao, Cumbia Binaria, Cumbia Ternaria, Chalupa, Tambora Tambora, Guacherna). 6 categories of sound design sounds (Hits, Loops, Pulses, Halos, Waves, Wooshes). Auto stretching script for the loop editor, which keeps the sample in time with your DAW. Sequencer (Groover): 7 multi-sample sequencers with editing and beat creation functions. Humanizing timing script with different modes. Mixes: 2 different mixes (Mix A and Mix B) of the Alegre with their respective mix controls. Volume, Pan, Attack, Release, Mute, Link. FX: Independent EQ per mix (three band EQ). Independent Reverb per mix (Wellencraft originals and N.I. factory). Independent Delay per mix (Milliseconds and musical)). Independent Punch per mix (Transient Shaper, Saturation). Pitch Knob. Velocity Response (Performance Tab for adjusting controller behaviour). Info/Support: Wellencraft Alegre User Manual (PDF). Tambora Summary Contents: Tambora (Bass Drum). Multisampled (four articulations). Round Robin. Up to 6x dynamics with crossfade script between them. Two mixes for multisampled articualtions, loops and grooves. Seven Sequencers. 80 Traditional Loops. 41 Sound Design Elements. 158 Grooves. Recorded with 7 microphones. 24-bit and 48 kHz. 300MB. Features: Four independent volume knobs for main mixes and loops. In the seven sequencers you have copy/paste patterns, three edit modes (manual, step and sync), MIDI drag & drop to the DAW, MIDI save to custom folder and ten banks for user presets. UI controls and menus for loops, sound design elements and grooves. Humanize function for MIDI. Stretching for loops and sound design elements. Membrane Pitch adjustment. Curve velocity (4 modes). Independent FX for mixes (convolution, delay, punch and equalization). Attack and release. Pan. Master volume (Modwheel). Requirements: Native Instruments Kontakt 5.8.1 FULL version (not Player) required. 1GB disk space. 4GB RAM (8GB recommended). 2013 or later processor. Audio Demos https://soundcloud.com/wellencraft/sets/wellencraft-alegre https://soundcloud.com/wellencraft/sets/wellencraft-tambora Videos https://youtu.be/dGlksaozNQo?si=EkrWW_unT21NmdSW Read More

Manchester Launches Fund Supporting Grassroots Venues: Could This Work Elsewhere?Manchester City Council's new fund supports small live music venues in the city. Is this a model that could work in other cities?
The post Manchester Launches Fund Supporting Grassroots Venues: Could This Work Elsewhere? appeared first on Hypebot.

iamReverb Audio’s Black Friday Sale iamReverb Audio are running their first ever Black Friday promotion, with a 50% discount now being applied across their product range until 7 December 2025.

WA Production Synthwave Arcade sample pack is FREE for a limited time
W.A. Production offers the Synthwave Arcade sample pack as a free download for a limited time. This one is a straightforward freebie. Use the code WACM8695 at checkout, and you’ll get a collection that covers the classic synthwave sound palette. I’ve checked out plenty of W.A. Production packs over the years, and this one slots [...]
View post: WA Production Synthwave Arcade sample pack is FREE for a limited time

Ticketmaster caps Olivia Dean resales at face valueLast week Olivia Dean called out Ticketmaster and promoters Live Nation and AEG over their handling of ticket sales for her tour. In response, now Ticketmaster caps Olivia Dean resales at face value.
The post Ticketmaster caps Olivia Dean resales at face value appeared first on Hypebot.

SOUNDRAW Launches Black Friday Sale with up to 80% OFF
SOUNDRAW is running its Black Friday promotion, offering discounts on all monthly and annual subscription plans until December 1st, 2025 (20:00 EST). The annual plans are discounted by 80%, while the monthly plans get a 50% price cut. The discount is applied automatically at checkout, with no coupon codes needed. SOUNDRAW is an AI music [...]
View post: SOUNDRAW Launches Black Friday Sale with up to 80% OFF

Telepathic Instruments is opening its store for “one last run of Orchids” instead of a Black Friday sale – then it’s going to figure out ways to improve itTelepathic Instruments is opting out of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday chaos, and is instead choosing to open its store for one last run of its Orchid synth – for now, at least.
The brand’s website declares the drop as its final run of Orchids for the year, noting that it will be your last chance to grab one until April 2026. It’s not yet certain what it has up its sleeve for the synth, though it does say it’s looking to improve it.

READ MORE: ASM puts the power of its widely renowned Hydrasynth in new Diosynth wind synthesizer

In a statement shared via email, Telepathic Instruments writes, “This BFCM we’re not going to run any flash sales, dynamic pricing or fever-dream discounting tactics. Instead, we’re opening the store for a few days. Then we’re going to take a beat. We’re going to spend time in the Garden, listening to our customers. Building a community. Improving our firmware. Looking for collaborators, not just customers.”
It adds, “Rather than spending our time thinking about how to tell new people about Orchid, we’re going to figure out ways we can improve it. It might not be great for our quarterly earnings, but we think it’ll be better in the long-run.”
As Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals will soon begin to wreak havoc across the internet, TI is opening its store prior to the madness. Early access opens for its international community from 10am GMT / 11am CET on 26 November. It says we can “stay tuned” for further details.

The Orchid was first launched by TI – founded by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker – back in January this year. Its first drop was limited to just 1,000 units, and sold out in under three minutes. A further 3,000 were released in May, and a global launch kicked off in October.
Though the brand is still in its infancy, Parker conceived the idea for Orchid over 10 years ago, with a mission to create an instrument for songwriters to “find what’s on their mind”. The synth received a 9/10 in our review, and its primary feature is its intuitive chord-generating ability.
In a cover interview with MusicTech, Parker revealed how a Casio keyboard he owned as a child and into adulthood was a key inspiration for the creation of Orchid. It featured a collection of tiny buttons that let users punch in sequences of chords to create backing tracks.
“When I first signed a record deal, [our label] sent us touring, fucking non-stop. I used to love sitting on the aeroplane with a pair of headphones and this Casio keyboard, just writing songs with chords that were different to the chords I’d usually write on guitar,” he said.
“By that time, I’d gotten so good at guitar that the muscle memory part was automatic. And that’s what I’ve always loved about the idea of a chord generator: that you can land on chords that your fingers otherwise wouldn’t want to do. In the back of my mind, I always thought, ‘Man, I would love something that only did this.’ If I ever made something, it would be this sort of crazy songwriting tool.”
To find out more, head over to the Telepathic Instruments website. You can enter your contact details to be alerted when the drop goes live. 
The post Telepathic Instruments is opening its store for “one last run of Orchids” instead of a Black Friday sale – then it’s going to figure out ways to improve it appeared first on MusicTech.

Get FREE plugins from MeldaProduction, United Plugins, and W.A. Production
The BPB Community discovered an epic Black Friday deal that lets you grab three premium plugins for FREE with code WRUBF25. United Plugins, W.A. Production, and MeldaProduction have a fantastic Black Friday surprise: you can pick up three paid plugins for free just by using the code WRUBF25 at checkout. There are no hoops to [...]
View post: Get FREE plugins from MeldaProduction, United Plugins, and W.A. Production

Here’s what happened in crypto todayNeed to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.