Roland offer summer internships, SoundCloud announces rights agreement with NMPA, Thomas Cox talks Pittsburgh, and Prince shares Dance Rally 4 Peace recording.
Goldie’s Guardian Webchat. The drum and bass pioneer and Metalheadz boss joined the Guardian to answer questions in a live webchat, where he covered everything from why drum and bass is shit these days to being the “Dorian Gray of breakbeat”. Read it here.
Thomas Cox talks Pittsburgh. CDR interviews Attack columnist and member of the production trio Pittsburgh Track Authority Thomas Cox. In his interview, Cox discusses the development of the city’s dance music scene, from 90s raves through to the present day. Read it here.
James Murphy Opens Wine Bar. Co-founder of DFA Records and former frontman of LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy announces plans to open a new wine bar in Brooklyn this June: “I need something with really low margins, high risk, brutal hours and which I have no experience at,” he explains in his New York Times interview.
Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operator Project Competition. “Submit your ideas, videos or designs for the Pocket Operators to win a package of great prizes!” One project will be selected to win a PO-12, PO-14, PO-16 and three t-shirts. Download the official measurements and CAD files for the Pocket Operator, and send them your contributions using the hashtags here.
Prince Shares Dance Rally 4 Peace Recording. Prince shares a full 41-minute soundboard recording of his live performance with 3rdEyeGirl at Paisley Park on May 2nd, titled Dance Rally 4 Peace, where he asked attending fans to wear grey in honour of Freddie Gray and closed the set by saying “it doesn’t matter the colour, we are all family”. Stream above.
Waves run $49 sale. Plugin experts Waves are offering a range of their award-winning plugins at a reduced price of just $49. Check out the full offering here.
Bob Williams Leaves Analogue Systems. Amazona.de reports that Bob Williams, the man behind one of the most successful British synth manufacturers, Analogue Systems, is retiring from his company. Known for their variety of electronic instruments, including the Integrator semi-modular synthesiser system and several stand-alone synthesisers, Analogue Systems will continue thanks to Andreas Schneider of Schneidersbüro of Berlin.
Novation launches Giorgio Moroder signature synth. The MoroderNova is a special edition of the MiniNova with presets based on Moroder’s classic productions. Only 500 will be produced. Check out the full details here.
EMS Founder Releases Early Synth Experiments. British engineer and inventor Peter Zinovieff, noted for his EMS company that made the famous VCS3 synthesiser in the late 1960s, is releasing a compilation of his earliest experiments. The synthesiser was used by the likes of Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and David Bowie. Trained as a mathematician and atomic physicist, Zinovieff was turned on to electronic music in the 1960s by a pre-Radiophonic Workshop Daphne Oram. Find out more here.
Designer Readies Synthex 2. Mario Maggi, the Italian synth designer who conceived and developed the original Elka Synthex – a polyphonic hybrid synth produced from 1981 to 1985 and used by Jean-Michel Jarre and Stevie Wonder – is working on a new hybrid synth that is currently being referred to as the Synthex 2 in these forum posts. Find out more and check out its features here.
Roland Offer Summer Internships. Roland Corporation is currently recruiting for paid summer college internships in the US, designed to help train future leaders in the musical instrument industry by offering real-world experience in a variety of business areas. The internships are available for college sophomores or juniors in the LA area looking to learn more about marketing, sales, finance or operations, as they pertain to the music industry. Students working toward a bachelor’s degree are encouraged to apply. The ability to play a musical instrument is a bonus. Interested candidates can submit a resume to employment@rolandus.com
SoundCloud announces rights agreement with NMPA. SoundCloud and The National Music Publishers’ Association have announced the negotiation of a Rights Agreement. “This agreement ensures that when SoundCloud succeeds financially, so do the songwriters whose content draws so many users to their site,” said the NMPA’s president and CEO. “I am thrilled that we could agree on terms that will benefit both creators and the SoundCloud platform that has brought online music access and creativity to a new level.” More info here. But not everyone’s convinced. Blogger Adam Marx is sceptical, positing that the agreement fails to address that “SoundCloud is fast becoming an obsolete option for independents, because it doesn’t address the real problem of independent artists: the problem of competition and exposure.” Read more here.