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Music production, DJing, recording, mixing, mastering, software and the technology shaping modern music.
Native Instruments has introduced Vertikal, a Kontakt piano instrument based on Nils Frahm’s 14.7-foot vertical piano, with Pure and Felt versions plus the updated Particles 2.0 generative engine.
Splice has introduced Create, a macOS DAW beta combining its sample catalogue, virtual instruments, third-party VST support and AI-assisted production tools in one workspace.
Polyend has released Tracker Community Edition 1.0 and shared firmware source code for the Tracker range, enabling users and developers to modify the hardware samplers and build device-specific tools.
Steinberg Cubase 16 adds Instrument Stacks, DrumChain, VocalTouch and updated audio-editing tools, with new workflow features spread across the Pro, Artist and Elements editions.
Behringer has teased the POLYKEYS 61, a $199 MIDI controller with 61 mini keys, polyphonic aftertouch, a ribbon controller and open-source firmware.
Music Tribe has published source code for Behringer IGNITE, a 64-channel hardware sequencer. The project includes its application, audio engine, hardware communication protocol and Linux build tree, although it is not yet installable custom firmware.
SQ8L, the long-dormant Ensoniq SQ-80 software emulation, has returned as an unofficial free 64-bit beta for macOS, Windows and Linux. The rebuild could make the instrument usable again in current DAW setups, but producers should treat it as beta software.
Arturia has released the free AstroLab 2.0 firmware update, adding a Sound Edit system, more than 60 new sounds, new instruments, and performance and workflow improvements.
Applied Acoustics Systems has released AAS Player 2.0, a redesigned free instrument plugin that adds sound-specific editing controls, a new browser and more than 650 starter sounds.
Native Instruments has released Maschine 3.7, a free update for Maschine 3 that adds random note generation, Euclidean sequencing and per-note probability, alongside three new paid Expansions.
Suno has released v6, a new suite of AI music models with section-level editing, mashup and sampling tools, plus image and video inputs. Its licensed-data training claims and retirement of previous models also matter to producers.
SH Labs, SubmitHub’s AI Music Detector, says it analysed more than one million releases in July and classified nearly 40% as showing AI involvement. The figures are detector outputs rather than proof that every flagged track was definitively AI-generated.