GEAR + TECH
All the DJ Gear We Wanted to Take Home at NAMM 2022
Road-weathered faces rubbed elbows and tilted hats scratched records in what may be the largest such expo on the continent. Even those in the music industry can tally up the music festivals and the international artist tours, and still there will be few learning experiences as prized as the NAMM Show. It’s here where roadies, live performance artists, back-of-house technicians, production experts and more exchange knowledge with representatives from prestigious tech providers like Pioneer DJ, Harman/JBL, Cerwin Vega, Technics, Guitar Center and AudioTechnica, among many others. Organized by the National Association of Music Merchants, the NAMM Show is the first opportunity for many to see and experiment with all the newest gizmos for live performance and studio recording. From microp...
LALAL.AI’s Stem Separation Technology Opens Up a New World for Music Producers
Want to practice for an audition, learn how to play a song part, or remix your favorite tune? LALAL.AI has got your back. Over the past years, we have seen an influx of AI platforms—particularly online—that aim to streamline music creation processes such as audio mastering or sample selection, allowing musicians and artists to spend more time on honing their craft. Serving millions of DJs, producers, vocalists, dancers and other music pros, audio service LALAL.AI has cemented itself as a leader within the stem separation space. While many AI platforms offer solutions to processes that are being carried out by humans, LALAL.AI is taking things a step further by utilizing artificial intelligence to extract vocals and instrumental stems from audio and video sources. Its multiple us...
Tiësto Makes His Foray Into NFTs With “All Access Eagle” Launch At EDC Las Vegas
Tiësto has revealed his plans to enter the NFT arena, with the superstar producer teasing the beginning of a new line of digital assets. While there’s still much to be revealed regarding Tiësto’s forthcoming collection, the key to accessing his upcoming Genesis NFT launched over the weekend at EDC Las Vegas. The theme of the collection centers around the eagle – a recurring image seen across the “Don’t Be Shy” producer’s album artwork and live visuals. The All Access Eagle NFT represents phase one of his efforts in the space, and grants holders VIP access to purchase his forthcoming Genesis NFT titled “EAGLE.” The All Access Eagle NFT additionally includes the promise of early access to new music, plus additional perks yet to ...
Snapchat Launches Four Augmented Reality Lenses At EDC, Showcasing the Technology’s Long-Term Utility
Snapchat and EDC are affording festival-goers new ways to capture the magic of America’s largest dance music festival. Part of Snap’s recently announced multi-festival partnership with Live Nation, the company has developed and launched a handful of augmented reality lenses curated for EDC Las Vegas and beyond. Attendees who open Snapchat at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be greeted with a slate of new lenses to transform their experience under the electric sky. Bring EDC’s iconic neon owl to life with the Night Owl lens and watch it soar across the sky on your phone in real time. Meanwhile, utilizing the Daisy lens gives users the ability to sprout towering neon flowers from the ground at their feet, creating new digital landmarks and unique opportunities for content ...
A complete travel photography gear guide
We’re often asked about the gear we take on our travels. In response, we have written a detailed and complete travel photography gear guide I have been involved in film or photography throughout the course of my career: initially as a camera operator, video editor and AV engineer, later as a teacher in digital media, and now as a travel writer. I’ve published photography in a range of magazines, newspapers, books and websites including BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, The Telegraph and The Independent among others. I even provided the photography for a recipe book once. I’ve also sold stock images for several years on Shutterstock and iStock by Getty Images, and my photography plays a prominent role throughout our travel blog and social channels, particularly Instagram. ...
The Chainsmokers To Share Stake In Album Royalties With 5,000 Of Their Biggest Fans
The 5,000 biggest fans of The Chainsmokers will soon become part-owners of the duo’s newly released fourth LP – So Far So Good. Partnering with 3LAU‘s NFT marketplace, Royal, The Chainsmokers are turning over 1% of the ownership rights from the album back to their fans. Each token, which will be given away for free on the platform, effectively represents 0.0002% of the ownership interest. Fans who hold these tokens will receive the monetary benefits that come with such ownership, including entitlement to a fractionalized portion of the cash flows for each stream generated. Additionally, the 5,000 NFT holders will earn exclusive perks including access to The Chainsmokers themselves via a private Discord channel and more. “We are also planning giveaways an...
Beatport Launches New Genre, Amapiano
Digital music marketplace Beatport has added a new genre to its platform, amapiano. Amapiano is a South African-born genre that has risen to prominence over the past few years by way of artists like DBN Gogo, Focalisti, and Major League DJz, as well as labels such as Jozi Entertainment, Thupa Industry, and PianoHub. Previously, the amapiano genre was categorized under other genres on Beatport’s platform. These included Afro House, Deep House and Dance/Electro Pop. This new categorization will allow Beatport to properly promote these genres through banners, playlists and more. The increase in promotional power will enable fans to more easily discover the sounds and artists of amapiano and amplify exposure for its artists. South Africa has been a rich cultural...
Roland’s AIRA Compact Synthesizers Are Pocket-Sized, Powerful Hardware for Beginners
Everything is getting smaller and more portable, including synths. Roland‘s new AIRA Compact devices utilize Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) instead of resistors and capacitors to make sounds. While you won’t exactly get the tried-and-true analog sound, you’ll receive powerful modern processors that closely resemble that of their analog counterparts. Additionally, you’ll also get the same amount of tweaking and manipulation. The AIRA Compact line includes the T-8 Beat Machine, J-6 Chord Synthesizer, and E-4 Voice Tweaker. The T-8 Beat Machine features classic Roland drum machines like the TR-808, TR-909, TR-606, and TB-303. The J-6 Chord Synthesizer is modeled after Roland’s JUNO-60 synth. And the E-4 Voice Tweaker features a microphone input for art...
Win a Pair of Pioneer DJ’s Sleek, Ergonomic HDJ-CX Headphones
If you can count on Pioneer DJ for one thing, it’s innovation. The leading DJ equipment and music production tools company has now launched the HDJ-CX, a brand new pair of headphones engineered for agile performance mixing. The on-ear headphones were built to deliver comfort, a high level of sound insulation and, perhaps most of all, durability. But how strong are they really? The HDJ-CX model passed the U.S. Military’s MIL-STD-810H, a shock testing standard used to evaluate any given piece of equipment’s lifecycle and response to environmental stress. Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles Durability aside, the model was conceptualized with comfort in mind. According to Pioneer DJ, the HDJ-CX can be worn for hours “with artists hardly feeling the headpho...
A Pioneering Nightlife Brand Wants to Turn Ibiza Into “The NFT Island”
They say money can’t buy happiness—but it can buy an NFT with exclusive access to Ibiza’s top nightclubs. According to a press release shared with EDM.com, pioneering nightlife brand The Night League has plans to turn Ibiza into “The NFT Island” amid its longest clubbing season in history. They’ve partnered with the Party Degenerates NFT collective on the ambitious venture, which aims to “paint Ibiza’s streets and venues with the finest in digital art.” Starting May 7th, holders of Party Degenerates NFTs will have unprecedented access to all events throughout the season at Ushuaïa and Hï Ibiza, two of the world’s most iconic nightlife destinations. The NFT’s utilities enable owners to unlock special experiences at the clubs, which will ...
Splice’s New AI-Powered Musical Sketch Pad Could Upend the Sound Discovery Process
Discovering sounds on Splice will never be the same. Splice’s new AI-powered technology, CoSo, is completely changing how music producers and sound designers discover and harness audio. Designed to provide creatives with a simple, effective way to discover new sounds for their work, the intelligent surface for music creation was developed by Splice’s in-house ML&Audio Science Innovation Team. CoSo is straightforward to use. Since it pairs Complementary Sounds technology with Splice’s massive sounds catalog, there are billions of possible tonal combinations for producers to discover. To get started, users can choose a “style” before CoSo spits out a unique “stack” of loops. Similarly to Tinder, users can swipe right for a new sound, left t...
Innovative Music Performance Allows Audience to See Real-Time Brain Activity of Dancers
There’s a perennial sense of fascination with what goes through the mind of a gifted performer. At professor Anthony Brandt’s innovative dance show “LiveWire,” attendees needed not wonder. That’s because in this particular show, the performers wore EEG caps, which monitored their brain waves throughout the performance and even incorporated their neural activity into the visual elements of the show. Presented by Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the show, which the university has called the first of its kind, took place at the 2022 International Workshop on the Neural and Social Bases of the Creative Movement. The performers danced to music written by Brandt as part of the “creative experiment.” Anthony Brandt’s LiveWire answer...
