Tidal’s popularity in freefall, Image-Line releases FL Studio 12, a brief history of the DJ mixer, and The Man Who Broke The Music Business.
Image-Line releases FL Studio 12. Image-Line has released the latest version of their popular DAW FL Studio. Version 12 features a brand new vectorial interface with “pin-sharp fidelity” on up to 8k high-resolution monitors, a redesigned and resizable mixer, and updates to several of the software’s plugins among other improvements. Watch the promo video above, and find out more here.
The Man Who Broke The Music Business. While working at a PolyGram CD manufacturing plant, Bennie Lydell Glover became a source of many of the 21st century’s first ‘warez’. The New Yorker publishes a fascinating article detailing Glover’s role in bringing about the downfall of the music industry as we knew it pre-filesharing. Read it here.
U-he Preview New Synth: Hive. “Fast and simple”, Hive has been built to be light on CPU, while providing heavyweight sound quality and a streamlined single-screen UI that is easy and flexible to use but also invites tweaking, making for a fluid workflow and lots of creative control in the same synth. It’s now in public beta. Find out more here.
Legendary Elka Synthex Makes a Comeback. A small number of the Elka Synthex were originally produced from 1981 to 1985, but the iconic 8-voice analogue synth was nevertheless used by Jean-Michel Jarre, Duran Duran, Stevie Wonder and others. Generalmusic has announced that a reissued edition is now available to pre-order, via their IndieGoGo campaign. Watch the promo video above.
Sample Magic releases Melodic Deep House. From “moody and melancholic to epic and expansive”, Melodic Deep House is a 1.5 GB collection of loops and hits inspired by the likes of Innervisions, Life & Death, Permanent Vacation and Get Physical. Available now here.
Soundboard Toasting Fabriclive Summer Season. This year’s Fabriclive summer season has been announced, and to toast the announcement a new MC Soundboard is created, which you can try out for yourself here.
Tape Label or Weed Strain?! Tabs Out Cassette Podcast contribute to international weed celebrations on 4/20 with “everyone’s favorite game involving cassettes and cannabis: Tape Label or Weed Strain!! You’re gonna see 15 names. All you have to do is correctly say if they belong to a tape label or a weed strain.” Play this very important quiz here.
Tidal’s Popularity Declines Rapidly. Jay Z’s glitzy music streaming app Tidal has failed to maintain its initial popularity, having become the 27th most downloaded app in the whole of the US on iOS with a celebrity-driven marketing campaign. According to App Annie, it has sunk over 700 places on the US’s most popular iOS apps list, and over 1,000 places on the UK’s. Find out more here.
A Brief History of the DJ Mixer. Medium‘s long-form piece traces the history and evolution of the DJ technology. It features an interview with Mike Fotias of Movement: Detroit Electronic Music Festival, who has been powering parties since the early 80s. Read it here.
Genelec Publish Monitor Setup Guide 2015. Acclaimed Finnish loudspeaker manufacturers Genelec have published the new and revised version of their Genelec Monitor Setup Guide, which covers some essential and fundamental acoustic and electroacoustic theory as well as a set of practical guidelines to install and set up your monitors correctly. Check it out here.