标签：#music

As audio-focused generative tools and platforms have gotten more sophisticated, the internet has become increasingly filled with AI-generated music whose melodies and vocals are algorithmically derived from the work of human artists. While some of the people pumping out this kind of content immediately own up to using AI, others have denied using the technology […]

SoundCloud has launched a new beta feature that allows artists on the audio streaming platform to sell music directly from their profiles, instead of diverting fans to purchase from third-party services like Bandcamp and Beatport. The feature aims to give listeners a better way to support the musicians behind their favorite songs, because SoundCloud isn't […]

I remember having a Spirograph as a kid and being obsessed with it. Its geometric patterns are hypnotic and gorgeous. I also love generative music composition. So bringing those two things together in a browser tab, I'm hooked. Musical Spirograph is a relatively simple concept. A set of points dash around the screen according to […]

Is Amp Crash a guitar amp or a guitar pedal? Yes. Death By Audio's latest is, in fact, both. While it's in a guitar pedal enclosure, Amp Crash is actually a tiny 3-watt amp hooked up to a 2-inch speaker. You can even connect an external speaker if you want. This isn't a digital re-creation […]

The pianist sits before her instrument. She carefully extends a front paw, pressing gingerly on a key. She presses again, and again. She is composing some soul music, because something terrible has happened to her: The vacuum cleaner has come out of the closet. Yes, my cat is a tortured artist. When Jeeves is moved […]

If you have generated a pure tone in code and played it back, you may have noticed a small click at the start, the end, or both. The tone itself is clean, but the edges are not. That click is not a bug in your sine wave. It is a real and well understood artifact, and the fix is a technique you will reuse in every sound you ever synthesize: an envelope. This piece builds directly on generating a basic tone from scratch . We take a tone that clicks, look at the actual sample values to see why, and apply an envelope to smooth it. Everything is plain C++ with no libraries, and every number here is captured from a real run of the code. Where the click comes from A tone is a list of samples tracing a sine wave. A speaker turns those samples into sound by physically moving: the sample value sets the position of the speaker cone at each instant, where 0 is its resting position and larger values push it further forward or pull it back. Playing the tone moves the cone in and out 44,100 times a second to recreate the wave. When playback starts, the cone is at rest, at position 0. But the first sample of the tone is usually not 0. It is wherever the wave happens to be at that instant, and if that value is far from zero, the cone has to move from rest to that position in a single sample step, about 22 microseconds at this sample rate. That near instant movement is the click. A cone moving gradually pushes the air smoothly and produces a smooth sound. A cone forced to a distant position in one sample makes a sharp, abrupt movement of the air, which your ear hears as a click or pop. You can see it directly in the numbers. Here are the first six samples of a plain 440 Hz tone at half amplitude: n=0 raw=0 n=1 raw=1026 n=2 raw=2048 n=3 raw=3063 n=4 raw=4065 n=5 raw=5051 The wave leaves zero and climbs fast. Between the silence before playback and sample 1, the signal jumps by 1026 in one step. The same thing happens at the end: if the tone stops while the wave is partway through a cy

"Breakups are… tough." It's the opening lines of an interlude towards the end of DOOMED! Called "It Happens in Every Universe." It's also basically the thesis of the entire record. It's no grand revelation, but it's a well-trodden subject that Open Mike Eagle manages to mine for artistic gold. Eagle's subject matter is usually personal, […]

When I'm asked what to buy if you want to get into making electronic music, I often recommend Elektron's budget-minded Model:Samples and Model:Cycles grooveboxes. They don't grab headlines the way Teenage Engineering's gear or the Telepathic Instruments Orchid do, and even compared to the company's higher-end and more niche musical offerings like the Digitakt, Octatrack, […]

As if you needed more reason to love Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" beyond its pop perfection, it is also, according to lore, the genesis for Switched on Pop, one of the best music podcasts out there. Cohosts Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding obsessively dissect pop songs, from the theory behind their musical choices […]

Suno is releasing Studio 2.0 with significant upgrades that push it closer to an actual digital audio workstation (DAW), rather than a bare-bones audio editor with generative AI features. The biggest addition is undoubtedly MIDI support. Suno says that MIDI was its most requested feature, and it's basically a prerequisite for any modern DAW. Unfortunately, […]

After weeks of controversy and speculation, music company D'Addario has admitted that AI, specifically Suno, was used as part of a recent promotional video. For nearly two weeks, the company has denied the allegations, even as evidence piled up against it. It offered various explanations, from low-quality exports, to combinations of plugins like Autotune introducing […]

Spotify will soon label AI artists and remove their music from your recommendations. The change, which will start rolling out in mid-September, means you'll see an "AI Persona" badge on an artist's profile across the app if they do "not represent a real person." The music streaming platform will allow artists to disclose that they're […]

Originally published on IFEELVOID . Play the song and count the pulse for 15 seconds. Multiply that number by four. If you counted 35 beats, the song is roughly 140 BPM. That is the fastest manual way to find the beat of a song. It is also where the confusion starts. A trap record at 140 BPM can feel like 70. A drumless intro can hide the pulse completely. A sample can drift. And knowing the tempo still does not tell you the musical key you need for bass lines, vocal tuning, remixes, or harmonic mixing. This guide gives you the manual method, the DAW method, and the faster analysis workflow I use when a session cannot stop for guesswork. First: what does “beat” mean? People use “beat” to describe three different things: The pulse: the steady count you nod your head to. The BPM: how many pulses happen in one minute. The instrumental: the drums, melody, bass, and arrangement behind a vocal. If you need the tempo and key so you can work with the audio, keep going. Method 1: count the BPM manually Find the strongest repeating pulse. In most trap and hip-hop records, start with the snare or clap. Count along for 15 seconds, then multiply by four. Start the song at a section where the drums are clear. Tap your foot or nod to the main pulse. Count every pulse for exactly 15 seconds. Multiply the count by four. Repeat once to make sure your count is stable. Twenty beats in 15 seconds is 80 BPM. Thirty beats is 120 BPM. Thirty-five beats is 140 BPM. Watch for half-time and double-time A beat can be represented at two mathematically correct tempos. A dark trap record may read as 70 BPM or 140 BPM depending on whether you count the slow backbeat or the faster production grid. Neither number is automatically wrong. Use the tempo that matches your purpose. Producers usually want the grid that makes drum placement and subdivisions easy. DJs may want the value that matches the rest of their library. Method 2: use tap tempo Most DAWs, DJ applications, and metronome tools include ta

Sadly, there hasn't been a new episode of No Dogs in Space since July of 2024. Part four of the podcast's series on Can wrapped up an abbreviated season three, which focused on experimental rock. Don't get me wrong, I loved seasons one and two, but the show seemed to be gearing up for a […]

Tom Vek burst onto the scene in 2005 with his album We Have Sound, which garnered a solid 7.6 from the tastemakers of the day over at Pitchfork. His undeniably catchy brand of dancy indietronica landed him an appearance on The OC and placement on the Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack. His follow-up, Leisure Seizure, […]

It took long enough, but now LA rapper Fenix Flexin appears to have admitted using AI for the 80s synth pop-themed song "Rubberz." His comments follow the producer Medasin's videos claiming that an AI tool called Treblo (formerly Sonauto) was used to make the song, and the company releasing an AI detector that identifies it […]

Suno plans watermarks and download limits to stop "large-scale abuse."

Suno announced plans to implement a new watermarking technology and download policy to limit the spread of spammy AI tracks and increase transparency. In a lengthy blog post, CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman laid out the company's principles and the next steps for the company as it seeks legitimacy. The company is rolling out new […]

Suno's watermarking feature comes as the company is fighting legal battles on several fronts.

We were pretty sure that Fenix Flexin's "Rubberz" was made using AI, but musician Medasin was confident that it was made using Treblo specifically. Now the company and a new detection tool seem to confirm it. On Monday, the company announced the open-source Treblo AI Music Classifier, which detects when a song was generated using […]