Latest articles by Andy Jones
The Great Synth Showdown: Roland JV-1080 hardware vs Roland Cloud JV-1080 software
The next bout in our polyphonic synth shootout pits Roland's original JV-1080 sound module against its modern plugin recreation
The Great Synth Showdown: Sequential Prophet-5 Rev 4 hardware vs Arturia Prophet-5 V
The first round in our polyphonic hardware vs software shoot-out
Are software synths now better than hardware - and does it matter?
Grab your favourite softsynths and let us take you on a journey into their evolution. Learn how to get more out of them and see how they stack up next to the pioneers that inspired them
"It’s not one of my favourite things. It’s stupid because I produced it, but the keyboards just hit me as wrong": Van Halen's Jump is 40 years old. Here's how the most famous keyboard riff of all time was created (and how you can do it, too)
Or the most irritating? You decide…
“They just risk everything – every song starts from a point of absolutely no safety net”: Queens of the Stone Age engineer and producer Robert Adam Stevenson on working with Josh Homme, Jeff Beck, Johnny Depp and recording a very '80s Taylor Hawkins
Interview: Since his own band broke up, Stevenson has taken the producer/engineer route, diving straight into the LA music scene and recording its biggest stars
“An immense sonic force, all under one roof”: UVI Falcon 3 review
This workstation was already chock full of every synthesis and effect type imaginable, so what can v3 possibly add?
"Fine for off-the-cuff sequencer basslines, otherwise you have to plan what you're going to do before even switching it on": Here's what the reviews said when the dance-music-defining Roland TB-303 was released in 1981
Happy TB-303 Day! Grab your time travel machine, because back then it only cost a couple of hundred bucks
"It sounded completely out of place in the chart it was in, and the year it was released": 5 Prophet-5-powered tracks by Radiohead, Gary Numan, Japan and more
We're in Prophet-5 mode, as we celebrate five decades of the first 'proper' polysynth with five – ok six – glorious tracks
The producer's guide to the Teletronix LA-2A: "It's one of the few pieces of vintage gear that can have grown producers weeping into their mixes, such is its ‘magic dust’ reputation"
Our in-depth guide to the classic compressor revered by gearheads and beloved for its warmth, colour and transparent sound
"I heard Portishead’s Dummy on the radio and thought to myself: ‘I can make that'": Air's Moon Safari is 25 years old, but still sounds like it will be made in 25 years' time. Here's the story of the greatest chillout album ever
And why you should see them play the whole album live this year…
How to get a vocal sound like Billie Eilish and FINNEAS
Billie Eilish and FINNEAS have built some of the defining songs of the millennia. Here we break down their approach to vocal production, all thanks to Apple…
"From ’70s punk to ’80s synth pop to ’90s dance and beyond": How New Order became the ultimate musical trendsetters
Always making the most of modern technology but never following an obvious path, this pioneering band remains hugely influential on both guitar-led and electronic music
The very first Prophet-5 review was sweet, spot on and surprisingly prescient: "Think of it as a 5-note Minimoog, and your programs can be stored even when the instrument is turned off!"
"The Prophet-5 will remember 40 different preset sounds, each of which can be easily recalled and also modified. Impressive, eh?"
The Tina Turner smash hit she thought was "throwaway pop", but ended up saving her career: "It was David Bowie who first got Capitol interested in reviving Tina's career"
"Afterwards she told me that it was the hardest vocal she'd ever had to do in her life," said songwriter Terry Britten in a classic 1986 interview
"George Martin knew Robert Moog, and asked him to come to Abbey Road and show us this Moog thing": Paul McCartney on the synth used on the final Beatles album and how its 'noise' created tension in the band
Did the Moog synth speed up the demise of the Beatles?
Back in the '80s Keith Richards correctly predicted how we'd use music technology while discussing the Rolling Stones' battle with it: “We had this big deal called 'stereo' come along in the '60s, and all we did was put mono out of both speakers”
Turns out that success might not be about the gear you use, after all…
The producer's guide to the Roland RE-201 Space Echo: "It can cover everything from simple saturation to wild, out-of-control and bizarre self-oscillation"
Here's how to master one of music's most beloved effects boxes, used by dub producers and experimental electronic composers alike since the early ’70s
“Simply one of the most powerful synths you could imagine”: Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave review
It may be a tribute to the first wavetable synth, but 3rd Wave could well be a landmark in its own right
“People think that Spunk is a lot better than Never Mind The Bollocks, which is very gratifying”: Producer Dave Goodman reveals how he recorded the 'lost' Sex Pistols album, and how it kick-started the punk revolution
Classic interview reveals how his recordings became what some believe is the true Sex Pistols debut album
"One day, Bowie came into my office and asked to play me a demo. I told him it was fantastic. Then he asked me if I'd like to produce it": Unearthed Gus Dudgeon interview reveals how Space Oddity was recorded, and why Tony Visconti turned it down
And who knew that Gus was the first ever producer to use sampling, and did the ‘gnome vocal’ on Bowie’s Laughing Gnome? Us neither…
How to unlock the power of digital synthesis: "We are now at a brilliant point in synth history where analogue and digital are not only living side by side, but joining forces"
Hardware digital synths are back! Four decades after they became popular, renewed interest has led to new machines from both bespoke and bigger developers
"I didn't sit down and think, 'What would be the best drum fill?' I just did it. It could have been anything" : Phil Collins reveals how his iconic In the Air Tonight drum fill was created, and how it became the genesis of '80s gated reverb
A 1985 interview reveals how Phil played 'that' fill, and how the recording created the gated drum sound that defined the '80s and beyond
NAMM 2024: "We've fired up the first complete prototype - what an amazing moment": Behringer delivers updates on some of its biggest synth and drum machine projects
The latest news on Roland, Oberheim and Casio-a-like synths and drum machines from our favourite clone trooper
