Music Production
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...
From the Blanket to the Booth: Tomorrowland Announces “DJ Bootcamps” for Kids
When Dr. Seuss said, “Adults are just outdated children,” he probably didn’t think they were DJs. Kids can now ditch treasure hunts for turntables thanks to Tomorrowland, who will soon launch a series of bespoke “DJ bootcamps.” The fabled electronic dance music festival brand recently announced the launch of special “Kids Camps” for children aged 8 to 17, who are able to sign up for a weeklong electronic music mentoring experience. They’ll learn how to beat-match, EQ, loop and filter, among many other fundamental DJing techniques. Tomorrowland will also offer a weeklong bootcamp experience for adults. The end goal, according to the festival, is a physical music academy that provides a turnkey solution for aspiring artists to produce...
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...
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...
Listen: Slynk Transformed a Sample Pack Tutorial Into a Glitch Hop Goliath, “Bust It”
Known for his funky electronic sound and Albeton tutorials, Australian DJ and producer Slynk generated his new single “Bust It” by showcasing the versatility of a sample pack. Back in January, Slynk uploaded a video to YouTube called the “Biggest Sample Pack Ever,” where he put Black Octopus Sound’s Leviathan IV bundle to the ultimate test. He decided that the best way to showcase the pack’s 6,500-plus sounds would be to create four songs in four different genres, and then put it all together as one. For this endeavor, Slynk chose to experiment with drum & bass, dubstep, glitch hop and synthwave. Watch him break down his process below. Upon completion, the Vancouver-based tastemaker came to realize that one of the songs he had produced for the ...
New Software Compensates Music Producers When DJs Play Their Songs In Clubs
Unclaimed and unpaid public performance royalties could soon be a demon of the past. DJ and music producer DVS1 recently launched Aslice to help alleviate the issues that come with public performances in clubs and venues around the globe. It operates on a donation-based system, so DJs can pledge a percentage of their gig fee to the songwriters and producers whose music they’re playing. The company recommends 5%, but more can be pledged and the figure won’t be disclosed. Aslice’s beta testing in November 2021 had 100 DJs upload 110 playlists and 5,291 tracks. Of those tracks, 4,339 were accurately identified and matched, a clip of 82%. This equated to 2,213 producers receiving payments averaging $1.40 per song. The money that wasn’t able to be tracked will be do...
ROLI Releases Seaboard RISE 2, a Reimagined MIDI Keyboard for Limitless Artistic Expression
ROLI’s new Seaboard RISE 2 rids any creative limits a typical MIDI keyboard may possess. The Seaboard RISE was first launched by ROLI in 2015 and has received praise from producers, musicians, and composers alike. Its diverse feature set and expansive soundscapes have become paramount to the sounds of TV series like Stranger Things and featured on albums like Drake’s Views and Ed Sheeran’s ÷. The new capabilities in the RISE 2 include a new Keywave2 playing surface, more versatile suite of bundled software, a burnished platinum blue aluminum chassis, and expanded compatibility with other instruments via MIDI port and USB-C. The Equator2 synth, Ableton Live Lite, and ROLI Studio are also included. ROLI’s Seaboard RISE 2. ROLI Scroll to Continue Recomme...
ROLI Releases Seaboard RISE 2, a Reimagined MIDI Keyboard for Limitless Artistic Expression
ROLI’s new Seaboard RISE 2 rids any creative limits a typical MIDI keyboard may possess. The Seaboard RISE was first launched by ROLI in 2015 and has received praise from producers, musicians, and composers alike. Its diverse feature set and expansive soundscapes have become paramount to the sounds of TV series like Stranger Things and featured on albums like Drake’s Views and Ed Sheeran’s ÷. The new capabilities in the RISE 2 include a new Keywave2 playing surface, more versatile suite of bundled software, a burnished platinum blue aluminum chassis, and expanded compatibility with other instruments via MIDI port and USB-C. The Equator2 synth, Ableton Live Lite, and ROLI Studio are also included. ROLI’s Seaboard RISE 2. ROLI Scroll to Continue Recomme...
New PC App Turns Your Nintendo Console Into an 8-Bit Synthesizer
An innovative app developer recently managed to unlock some hidden value in the Nintendo Entertainment System, a console discontinued decades ago. For those who’ve managed to hold onto their consoles, or buy a reissued version, Avicr has a new app that empowers players to turn their classic systems into a functioning synthesizer. Titled SynthNes, the app effectively allows users to control the system’s five dedicated audio channels NES’s with a MIDI instrument of your choosing. The reason why this works on the old-school Nintendo specifically is because the NES was part of an era in videogame history where consoles were sold containing dedicated sound chips. In the 1980s, CPU and storage technology was in its most primitive form, and the way music was produced in vi...
This Software Lets You Design Trippy Visuals of Your Music—Then Mint Them As NFTs
We know—NFT this, metaverse that. But before you grumble at this umpteenth blockchain tech platform, consider its value for music producers. VOID is a Web3-based platform that allows musicians to generate and customize kaleidoscopic visuals with their own songs. Created by Dutch developer Triptcip, the sequencing software essentially takes your music and spits out a trippy, beat-reactive mosaic. Triptcip’s visual synthesizer, VOID. Triptcip VOID, which Triptcip says is the first of its kind, aims to arm music producers with an easily accessible visual synthesis tool. Visual designers have enjoyed the spoils of the digital art revolution, but many musicians have found themselves stuck in a new kind of limbo. Without a budget to join forces with a capable designer or a trusted partner au cou...
Black Artist Database and Ableton Offer Series of Free Masterclasses for Black Music Producers
Black Artist Database is teaming up with Ableton to offer up to 1,200 Black artists a free music production masterclass. Black Artist Database, a crowdfunded platform dedicated to supporting Black artists, labels, and music producers, previously offered free courses in partnership with the popular digital audio workstation company in October 2021. The volunteer-powered organization has scaled to provide coverage across four continents in rapid fashion. Formerly known as Black Bandcamp, Black Artist Database existed merely as a spreadsheet in its earliest form, but has since grown to centralize the work of thousands of Black music industry professionals. In their forthcoming round of artist-led masterclasses, AceMo, Kessler, Suzi Analogue, and Zvrra will be covering a breadth of music...
