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February 2024

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223 articles

February 29
- “It would’ve taken me no time to come up with these two things”: Here’s what happened when a pro film composer tried to use ChatGPT to create an original movie theme
- Get more sounds from your guitar and amp without spending any money
- "It does everything I need it to do – and more": Ed Sheeran reveals two signature 'stadium grade' looper pedals with Headrush… and at very different prices
- Is this Photoshop Firefly for audio? Adobe is working on an AI-powered music generator that can be used to "shape, tweak, and edit" your sounds
- This one-day-only Fender Play deal is the best we’ve ever seen - get a year’s worth of guitar lessons for only $29
- Sidechaining, explained: "Even if you’ve not used it directly in your music-making, you’ll probably have come across it both in the studio and in your daily life"
- Composer Petri Alanko on scoring Alan Wake 2, building his own instruments and his 2000-strong plugin collection: "You start following a tiny lead and it can bring you into this marvellous, different world"
- Moby plays drums, bass, guitar and keys as he re-records the 2002 single you might know best from a famous action movie series
- Is AI coming for your DAW? Google's MusicFX DJ doesn't just generate music - it mixes multiple parts together, too
- "It’s not to do with gear, it’s all to do with the way the brain sends signals to his fingers – that’s what makes Mark so special": the story of the classic Dire Straits song that's often imitated, but rarely mastered
- The 'difficult' Police hit based on a 1980 Casiotone synth preset: "The first song written by AI," reckons Stewart Copeland
- Machine Woman: "Ableton changed my life, but I love using Reason 12, GarageBand and I’m exploring Fruity Loops. They all have their own personality - my sound evolves uniquely in each DAW"
February 28
- "Once we had it all arranged, we all looked at each other and it was one of those hairs-standing-up-on-your-arms moments": the story of the landmark Alter Bridge song that won them a greatest guitar solo award
- "It's mental as much as it is physical for me" – Big Wreck founder Ian Thornley's extensive guitar and vocal warmup routines reveal just how much work can go into being a great live performer
- “Instant breaks”: Could Excite Audio’s new drum plugin mean that your crate digging days are at an end?
- The art of the happy accident: 5 times a mistake in the studio ended up being the best part of a track
- “WTF?”: Mark Ronson shares Paul McCartney’s F-bomb video reaction to being told that Foreigner aren’t in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
- See Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong cover Nirvana in London, as Courtney Love joins him to perform Cheap Trick and Tom Petty classics
- A tech explains how to change your electric guitar strings like a pro: "The method we're demonstrating here is the quickest, best for stability and easiest to de-string when it’s time"
- “Technology’s moved on far too much to sell people things like this anymore”: Back in 1984, Ultravox’s Midge Ure dismissed the Minimoog as an “antique” and was embracing a digital synth future with the PPG Wave
- "Inhumanly fast arpeggios and chords requiring more than ten fingers to play": Kelly Moran duets with a Disklavier and goes beyond the "physical limits" of a human piano player on her new project
February 27
- Sepultura announces drummer Eloy Casagrande’s exit from the band, naming Greyson Nekrutman as his replacement, while Casagrande promises to “See you soon on the road!” as Slipknot rumours ramp up
- Watch Billy F Gibbons jam Jimmy Reed’s Baby What You Want Me To Do on a Vintera II ‘70s Tele Deluxe with Matt Sweeney, Danielle Haim and Tim Montana
- "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
- “It captures this dreamy, otherworldly tone that is really unique”: Orangewood unveils the Juniper, a $395 parlour-sized acoustic with a rail humbucker, rubber bridge and heaps of lo-fi indie mojo
- Turn guitar riffs into ambient soundscapes with this free freeze delay plugin
- “I hate it”: Ariana Grande has nothing positive to say about people recreating her voice with AI, and fumes at the “crooks” who stole her studio recordings and uploaded them to TikTok
- “A harmonious blend of legendary, vintage Uni-Vibe textures and innovative, modern prowess”: SolidGoldFX puts Hendrix and Pink Floyd psych tones on tap with the Aurras Optical Vibraphase
- "It's an AI co-pilot for drums": This AI-powered plugin will improvise like a real drummer and generate beats for you in real-time
- “It offers fans, collectors, and musicians a piece of musical history”: Sheeran By Lowden unveils its first-ever hand-built acoustic, and it is an exact replica of Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour stage guitar
- There’s a reason the custom purple guitar Olivia Rodrigo is playing on her Guts world tour looks familiar
- 8 things I love about Ableton Live (and 2 that I really don't): "Live's greatest strength is that it feels like the DAW itself is an instrument"
- “An authentic replica of the guitar designed by legendary automotive designer Ray Dietrich”: Meet the Epiphone and the Gibson Custom Shop’s latest collaboration, the 1963 Firebird I and V
February 26
- “It gets a little bit suspect”: Calvin Harris explains why he plans to stop DJing when he hits 50 and retire to the studio to make “other people’s records sound good”
- This free plugin uses "psychoacoustic wizardry" to pan any sound in 360 degrees and recreate immersive audio using a stereo monitor set-up
- The cheapest tone upgrade ever or a myth: should you be top-wrapping your guitar bridge like Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Derek Trucks, Zakk Wylde and Joe Bonamassa?
- “We have a track count of 316”: The Logic Pro project for Jacob Collier’s acapella version of Bridge Over Troubled Water is a thing of wonder
- Ableton on Live 12's accessibility revolution: "When you say 'accessibility is not on your roadmap', you’re cutting out a lot of musicians from being able to use the tools that you make"
- Chase & Status win Producer of the Year at BRIT Awards 2024: "We couldn’t be more proud - we’ve been flying the flag for British music for a long time"
- Folly Group on recording their debut album Down There!: “I always thought the coolest music was recorded outside of studios - I wanted our records to sound like demos”
- Mesa/Boogie amps are officially back on sale in Europe
- "I ain't Mick Jagger": Billy Joel duets with Sting on The Police’s Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, then manages expectations before covering The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up
February 24
- Rediscover your forgotten sounds with Rando, a simple sampler plugin that lays a random selection across your MIDI keyboard or piano roll
- MGMT on their humble beginnings and return to form: "We demoed Oracular on a Radio Shack mic and a really bad interface with signal bleed. We thought we'd have to redo it, but our producer said there's a character about it we'll never be able to recreate"
- Raül Refree and Pedro Vian: "We mixed the album in analogue with a '70s Trident board. It has no automation, so for me, it was like playing the music all over again... With analogue, you’re trying to give the listener an experience"
February 23
- “Part EQ, part filter, and part overdrive, it’s all there… a 100% analogue, all-in-one solution to crafting your core tone”: Chase Bliss’s Condor HiFi takes flight – is this your next always-on tone-shaper?
- “This is your drive section”: Mythos unveils the heroic Herculean Deluxe Overdrive, offering Dumble-style and modded Blues Breaker drive sounds in one pedal
- "It sounds simple enough, but it's not so simple" – are you cleaning your guitar the right way? Master Luthier Jim DeCola can show you how
- “The orchestra and the sheer scale of the event and venue is something I will never forget”: Experience Joe Bonamassa live with a 40-piece orchestra as he announces release of his 2023 Hollywood Bowl set
- Apple releases free Cory Wong Producer Pack for GarageBand and Logic Pro, bringing funky guitar, bass, drum, keys and horn loops to its DAWs
- Daniel Avery on Drone Logic: “I was taking synthesizers and drum machines and putting them through these effect pedals - it was techno with a shoegaze aesthetic”
- Marcus King: "I've been as inspired by the Wu-Tang Clan as I have by Aretha Franklin or Duane Allman"
- "I do believe there’s been a renaissance of guitar players" – Gibson just affirmed its commitment to new guitarists, and Jimmy Page is backing it
- The Depeche Mode track and album that saw them conquer US stadiums: "It's about the concept of fleeing from reality and the evil awakening afterwards. Any kind of fleeing - drugs, alcohol, or whatever"
- Diplo reveals his favourite soft synths and the "quintessential" Ableton stock plugin that's "fundamental" to his productions: "That's where all my sounds started from"
- Goodbye, Yamaha grand piano: Elton John sells his 1992 C6 model for more than $200,000 at auction
- Brian May has officially teamed up with Gibson – but what will their collaboration involve?
- Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan cover each other’s songs and The Beatles launch mini turntable and 3-inch vinyl for Record Store Day
- “We think of Jimmy as an ambassador emeritus of guitars and a music trailblazer in the birth and evolution of rock!” Gibson and Jimmy Page are teaming up for a “multi-year partnership”
- "From ’70s punk to ’80s synth pop to ’90s dance and beyond": How New Order became the ultimate musical trendsetters
- “It is going to become a hangout place, a destination, and I truly want to make it the most welcoming place in music”: Cesar Gueikian on what guitarists can expect at the Gibson Garage London
February 22
- How producers are making the rowdy and ridiculous pop edits taking over club culture: "The best edits display a genuine love for the source material, even if it’s some terrible cheesy track"
- 10 mistakes every beginner keyboard player makes
- Arturia expands the KeyLab Essential mk3 range with a new 88-note controller keyboard: "A new standard for stripped-back, multi-octave MIDI control"
- Nylon-string vs steel-string acoustic guitars: what's the difference?
- Maya Shenfeld: "The imperfections, how you process sounds and the fact that you’re working with friends is really what makes the music yours"
- GForce’s OB-EZ packs 8 voices of fat Oberheim goodness into a simple plugin instrument, and it’s currently available for a bargain price
- 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!"
- Klevgrand shoots its OneShot! New drum sampler promises to be a “percussion powerhouse” for all your rhythmic requirements
- “Mere clichés”: Nickelback’s Rockstar copyright lawsuit win is confirmed as judges rule that the plaintiff is not the only one who can enjoy “singing about being a rockstar”
- The redcoats are coming: Vox launches "extremely limited" British amp invasion
- IK Multimedia unveils hardware room correction system ARC Studio, promising to "instantly upgrade your studio monitors"
- 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"
February 21
- "The difference is huge": Tool's Justin Chancellor explains why he has no intention of going wireless – or using five-string basses
- "The world's smallest MIDI controller": MIDICard is a MIDI keyboard on a credit card that you can fit in your wallet
- Gretsch's dark horses: Are the new $279.99 Jim Dandy Deltoluxe guitars the most exciting new acoustic/electric hybrids around?
- "Sampling just got ten times quicker": Copy and paste sound from YouTube and Spotify directly into your DAW with this incredibly useful new app
- "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
- Boi-1da on working with Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar, his love of FL Studio and his new AI-powered project: "Through the power of generative AI I was able to be in multiple places working on multiple tracks, simultaneously"
- "Experience beatmaking like never before": Wave Alchemy's Triaz is a drum production powerhouse that comes with a ridiculously huge library of 15,000 samples
- "I have no idea what I'm going to play when I get to that solo" – Brian May reveals the classic Queen song he improvises most live… and the track he takes the opposite approach with
- “Vocals are great, the changes, the tempos”: Ariana Grande gets feedback on her new album from her record label in behind-the-scenes studio playback footage
- Mo Kolours: "For basslines I’d use GarageBand, until I borrowed a microKORG off somebody. Man, I loved it so much - I was cranking out 20/30 beats a day"
- SampleRadar: 403 free minimal percussion samples
- The Oasis song Liam hated because it was "reggae": "I remember Our Kid saying 'Why are you writing reggae songs?' And I was like, there speaks a man that has never heard reggae"
- Issue 332 of Computer Music is on sale now
February 20
- “The neck, pickups, playability, and vibe are pure PRS”: PRS Guitars unveils the $499 SE CE 24 Standard Satin – the most affordable guitar it has ever made
- “The pedal faithfully replicates the tone, distortion, and character of the album”: Misfits launch Earth AD overdrive to mark the 40th anniversary of a punk classic
- Four fab Beatles biopics are on the way: Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr will each get a full Sam Mendes movie
- “Get lost in the music”: RipX DAW for Apple Vision Pro is an immersive music production environment that enables you to step inside your sounds
- Who needs a guitar when you've got Elyra, the multitimbral, polyphonic synthesizer that you can strap on and strum?
- “We felt it was the right time to let someone else get creative enjoyment out of his perfectly kept studio guitars”: Gear from the late Iggy Pop and David Bowie guitarist Ricky Gardiner’s collection goes to auction
- “How the hell are we gonna be able to record this live?”: Oppenheimer composer Ludwig Göransson on how a synth sound was crucial when creating a key moment in the movie’s soundtrack
- "The idea was that the computer would give us more time for creativity, but it was just the opposite...": Kraftwerk's Karl Bartos on how technology curbed the band's creativity
- "We put an offer on the table for an Oasis thing… and he said no" – but is Liam Gallagher now playing the long game with a Noel reunion?
- Chester Thompson: 10 albums that define my career - "The funny part is, I actually taught Phil Collins the In The Air Tonight drum fill"
- 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”
- “We want an entire new generation of players to be able to experience the exact same pedal that Cliff used”: Morley salutes late Metallica bass icon Cliff Burton with the Tribute Power Wah Fuzz reissue
- How to use vintage samplers in a modern studio: "You can pick up a classic sampler for a fraction of their original cost, and adding one to your rig opens up a whole new world of sound design possibilities"
February 19
- “I’m just going to play my mandolin, all right?”: Mumford & Sons fan Noah Kahan says he doesn’t care about being cool and weighs in on the Universal Music vs TikTok debate
- TAL's latest plugin emulates the '80s synth behind the classic rave hoover sound, Roland's Alpha Juno 2
- How to work with piano in your DAW
- “A pretty tight little wrecking crew”: St Vincent confirms that her new album will feature Dave Grohl, Cate Le Bon, Josh Freese, and classic analogue synths
- 10 musicians who destroyed their instruments: "For Hendrix, there was something ritualistic about burning a Fender Stratocaster"
- "The one that Johnny gave me in 1994 was always one of my favourite guitars - it carries a lot of history": Gibson and Noel Gallagher reveal strictly-limited run of 20 hand-signed Les Paul Customs
- “An immense logistical hurdle”: here's how much pro audio gear it takes to make the Super Bowl halftime show happen
- The Paul McCartney Beatles song John Lennon hated: "He made us do it a hundred million times. He did everything to make it into a single and it never was, and it never could've been"
- 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"
February 16
- Can a $249 preamp/drive pedal and a few commonly found stompboxes nail the Dumble amp tones of classic SRV, Eric Johnson and John Mayer tracks?
- Manson Guitar Works launches the super-premium MB GEO Mask Edition, “an identical replica of Bellamy’s Will Of The People stage guitar” right down to the Sustainiac and multi-angled metal finish
- “A testament to the enduring legacy of the shred sleds of the 80s, reborn for today’s generation”: Ready Player One! Kramer shows some love for 8-Bit arcade games with the NightSwan Pixel Hearts
- "Love U GarageBand": PinkPantheress responds to being named Producer of the Year at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards
- How Laurie Anderson made the experimental classic O Superman: "The lyrics are a one-sided conversation, like a prayer to God. I wanted it to be like a Greek chorus – not just one voice – so I used a vocoder"
- Aaron Horn: "My dad banned me from all the studios as a little kid. Every kid just wants to hit a load of buttons, don’t they?"
- Fender's Ultra range gets a wild makeover - exclusive to Guitar Center, the new Tiger's Eye finish looks to be a roaring success
- How to master wavetable synthesis: "From the PPG Wave through to hit plugins like Massive and Serum, this is a synthesis method that has stood the test of time "
- “I don’t know why everybody doesn’t make poly aftertouch synths - it’s pretty stupid. In the ‘70s they did it right”: Beyoncé, The Weeknd and Kanye West collaborator Mike Dean cuts loose on his CS-80, Jupiter-8 and Oberheim Four Voice
- “When you hear that rock and roll thing, it really kind of comes from her”: A lost and previously unheard live recording of rock ’n’ roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe is being released for Record Store Day
- How a lightning storm fried Richie Hawtin's gear and created the sound of F.U.S.E.'s Dimension Intrusion: "My equipment glowed and then shut down. After that, there was something wrong with my Wavestation; it was even more distorted"
- Nektar's Panorama CS12 controller lets you get hands-on with Logic Pro: "CS12 is a completely new take on the DAW controller"
- “It is a tribute to the enduring legacy of tube amplifier culture”: Would you buy a $40,000 guitar amp? Because Jens Ritter has just made one and the Encore is a Fender/Dumble inspired work of art
- Billy Joel explains why he wouldn’t ask Paul McCartney to be in his supergroup, but says he would call Sting, Don Henley and John Mayer
- "The verse melody is subtly strange, and it took me a while to figure out why": A music professor breaks down the theory and production behind Tracy Chapman's Fast Car
February 15
- "Incredibly grateful": Paul McCartney has been reunited with his Beatles Höfner bass guitar after over half a century
- "Is our music abstract and weird? To us it's not! Maybe if you've only listened to pop music, then yeah, it's weirder": How Autechre's radically inventive music-making turned experimentation into electronica
- “He thought he was meeting a ‘kid’ and signing an autograph”: Songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler on his potentially awkward first encounter with Billy Joel and how he ended up working with him on new single Turn The Lights Back On
- Is Cort's new KX707 the best value 7-string guitar with an Evertune bridge that you can buy right now?
- Gibson just quietly unveiled 11 new guitars
- Mixing Night Audio: “I sold my SSL last year. I don’t need to look at gear anymore; I want to look at stuff that’s fun and inspiring and clever and different. That’s the ethos behind our designs”
- The Gretsch Broadkaster party continues with another signature model: this time for Portugal. The Man's John Gourley
- "People are going for the sure shots": Music publishing giants and songwriters score big at Super Bowl 2024, with ad sync fees garnering millions
- Beyoncé releases acapella version of new single Texas Hold ‘Em, which means that countless remixes are probably incoming
February 14
- It’s coming in the air tonight: Cherry Audio releases its first drum machine, a plugin emulation of the Roland CR-78, as used by Phil Collins and Hall & Oates
- “The night before the session she called me up and said, ‘Mark Ronson just called me.’ That happens if you’re Charli XCX, I guess”: Producer Finn Keane on the making of Speed Drive, from the Barbie soundtrack
- "I’ve never heard him play quite like that" – The Dandy Warhols call in Slash, his wah and some AI for new song and video, I’d Like To Help You With Your Problem
- Hannah Thurlow: "Logic has become second nature to me, but Ableton is amazing for manipulating and deconstructing sounds into completely new ideas"
- Four Tet confirms new album, Three, and releases new single, Daydream Repeat
- "No hyperbole, I think this is our best work" – Eddie Vedder claims Pearl Jam raised the bar on new album Dark Matter, but their 2024 tour ticket prices are soaring too
- “I thought it was going to be fine”: PinkPantheress confirms that she lost 80% of the hearing in one of her ears after it was damaged by microphone feedback
- Airhead on working with Brian Eno and James Blake: "The main takeaway from those sessions was that the idea should always take precedence over the technology"
- “The more flavour and colours we have, the merrier!”: Brad Pitt’s revamped Miraval Studios has contemporary and classic Eventide effect processors, including the H9000 and groundbreaking H910
- "People are gonna flip over this!": Moog's new synth, teased in Usher's Super Bowl half-time show, is revealed by Andrew Huang
February 13
- “I imagined a chrome red, I love a good texture”: Fender reveals specs and more details of H.E.R’s custom Super Bowl Stratocaster – and we officially want one
- “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
- Epiphone and the Gibson Custom Shop team up for the exquisite Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom – a Gibson in all but name?
- Roland teams up with streetwear brand Supreme on special editions of JU-06A and TR-8
- “I never liked it, to be honest, the way it was mixed. But I do recognise that it works”: Brian May says Under Pressure sounded like The Who before David Bowie took out the heavy guitar parts
- Roland Cloud is the easy, affordable way to get your hands on classic synths, drum machines and more
- “It is bound to overshadow everything else in sight and be one of the most exciting new releases of the year”: The Gibson SG Supreme makes a glitzy return
- Does it matter if Alicia Keys’ ‘voice crack’ was pitch-corrected out of her Super Bowl performance when it was uploaded to YouTube? Not really
- Matmos on sampling dolphins, satellites, electromagnetic disturbances and the mud-dauber wasp for their latest album: "We don't sit at the guitar and sing 'my pain is real', or whatever real musicians do..."
- "I don’t need some w**k award by some geriatric in a cowboy hat": Liam Gallagher is less than bothered about Oasis' Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination
- Desolate Guitars provides ultra-realistic, timeless guitar sounds, through iconic amps and real, recorded spring reverb
February 12
- “It was the greatest ever”: H.E.R. and Alicia Keys take Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime Show into the red with show-stopping performances on a signature Fender Strat and custom grand piano
- SoundGhost's randomized sampler plugin Jumble is "a heartfelt ode to the limitless possibilities of generative music"
- Donna Summer's estate accuses Kanye West of copyright infringement after denying clearance of I Feel Love sample: "He changed the words, had someone re-sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!"
- Eric Clapton on Robert Johnson: "When I was younger, Hellhound used to frighten me when I listened to it. The idea that he was really singing about being pursued by demons was too much for me – for a while I really couldn’t deal with it"
- Beyoncé goes country on new songs Texas Hold ‘Em and 16 Carriages, and one track features acclaimed musician Rhiannon Giddens on banjo and viola
- How to use FM synthesis to design sounds you'll actually use in your music: "Shift your thinking from a subtractive mindset to an FM one and its potential for unique sound design will open up"
- Usher pays tribute to late drummer Aaron Spears during Super Bowl Halftime show
- 9 'alternative' synth plugins that you need to try: "These synths tread their own path, offering a completely different experience that was never expected to be a mainstream phenomenon"
February 10
- How Radiohead redefined the role of guitar on their landmark album Kid A: "It's scary – everyone feels insecure. I'm a guitarist and suddenly it's like, well, there are no guitars on this track, or drums"
- "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
- Looking for a MIDI guitar with a built-in NES-style chiptune synth? You might want to give Love Hultén a call
- 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"
February 9
- Blammo Electronics’ new Skronk Machine is a more user-friendly Zonk Machine for a new generation of vintage fuzz freaks
- Duesenberg’s Julietta is the German high-end guitar brand’s most-affordable model yet – and there’s a 28” baritone version “capable of shaking the foundations of everything you came to believe”
- Gibson Master Luthier Jim DeCola has made a brilliant, simple tool to help set up an acoustic guitar – and you can make one too
- “He approached life with a gusto, intensity, a wicked sense of humour”: 12-string acoustic maestro and prolific guitar designer Paul Brett has died, aged 76
- Taylor Swift confirms that The Eras Tour Concert Film (Taylor’s Version) is coming to Disney Plus with four additional acoustic songs
- “It just has this resonance to it that I saw someone describe as an angry piano”: Watch Idles’ Mark Bowen give a guided tour of his top three electric guitars
- Issue 406 of Future Music is out now
- It looks like the Access Virus TI 2 has been discontinued: is this the end of the line for one of the greatest synths of the 21st century?
February 8
- “24 hours only”: HoRNet takes the sting out of buying a new new reverb plugin by letting you download SpringVerb for free, but not for much longer
- "It is an interesting instrument because nobody agrees on it" – Pat Metheny explains the fundamental way the guitar is unique in music
- Do you need to learn music theory to be a great musician?
- "I think what we’ve had is an embarrassment of riches, really" – Mark Knopfler announces all-star charity band with over 60 members with Gilmour, Ringo, Jeff Beck, Sting, Clapton and Brian May all onboard
- “He was a lot more comfortable when he went into film...”: How Trevor Horn almost talked Hans Zimmer into rapping on The Buggles’ Video Killed the Radio Star
- "Immaculate condition for its age": There’s an original Linn LM-1 drum machine for sale on Reverb, but if you want it, you might have to pay around $35,000
- Lament bass, varispeed and Eric Clapton: A music professor breaks down the key theory, playing and production ingredients of The Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- "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
February 7
- Watch Julian Lage tease magic from his Collings OM acoustic as he performs new single Nothing Happens Here live in San Francisco with his ensemble
- “This incredible box dishes out delicious tones unlike those of any pedal ever made”: Danelectro unearths long-lost Steve Ridinger fuzz design from the ‘60s and releases it as the Nichols 66
- Aaron Rash has taken his Nirvana gear journey to a whole new level: he's built the 'Frankenamp' Kurt Cobain used that's the final part in the In Utero tone puzzle
- Windows vs macOS for music production: Which is right for you?
- "All of that other stuff – the outboard gear, the electronics – can continue to evolve but the thing that you hold close to your body, that becomes part of you… you don’t have to keep evolving that" – Fender's Justin Norvell on heritage and progression
- Donner's BackBeat brings together innovation with playability as the only electronic drum kit on the market with customizable LED lighting
- Gibson launches the Les Paul Studio Modern, revamping the classic single-cut with “no-nonsense” stripped-down aesthetics, high-performance specs
- East Coast vs West Coast synthesis: what's the difference?
- “These guitars represent the pinnacle of excellence, blending innovation with the rich heritage of Fender”: The 2024 Custom Collection is a tour de force of high-end guitar design from the Big F Custom Shop
- The beginner's guide to sampling from vinyl: "If you make sample-based music and you’ve never dropped the needle on a record, you’re missing out on a world of inspiration"
- “In a heartbeat, absolutely," says Lindsey Buckingham about whether he'd return to Fleetwood Mac to 'close' their story
- 14 essential piano production tips
February 6
- "I could have been a way better guitar player if I'd just practiced and hadn't put the time into making videos, but nobody would have noticed because no one would have seen me" – YouTuber Paul Davids picks his 3 essential pieces of gear
- Akai Pro’s MPC Key 37 is a standalone synth and sampling keyboard that promises to blend portability with power
- Why an electric piano might be a better choice than an acoustic
- “It weighs less than a Fender Strat”: The M-solo is “the lightest and most compact” portable organ that Hammond has ever produced
- How to choose the right piano sound for your track
- The Dirtywave M8 handheld hardware tracker is getting in shape for summer with a new Model:02 version that offers several physical improvements
- How SOPHIE and her Elektron Monomachine changed the sound of contemporary pop music: "Every single thing you hear should feel like something you've never heard before"
- A 639-year-long musical performance just changed chords for the first time in two years - and it's not set to finish until 2640: "It's a way of trying to slow down our hectic lives"
- “This is just a first step”: Audacity gets free AI plugins for music separation, generation and remixing (oh, and automatic text transcription, too)
February 5
- "Phil picked up my second guitar and went up to the microphone and just started singing all these silly songs" – Eric Bell on the unlikely success story of Thin Lizzy's version of Whisky In The Jar
- “Success is something that you attract, not something that you try to chase or catch”: Skrillex offers advice to young music makers as he accepts the Best Dance/Electronic Recording Grammy for Rumble, with Fred Again and Flowdan
- Kerry King: "Lombardo is dead to me"
- "Thank you for the immaculate craftsmanship, thank you for the lessons" – Flea leads musician tributes after the passing of Bob Marley & The Wailers bassist and MD Aston 'Family Man' Barrett
- "The countless lives he’s touched, healed, helped and saved will continue his spirit and legacy" – musicians praise the life and legacy of MC5 guitarist and activist Wayne Kramer
- Animoog Galaxy: Moog’s new synth is an Apple Vision Pro exclusive, and promises to be “an immersive experience unlike any other”
- “All I want to do is keep doing this”: Taylor Swift makes Grammys history, as female-dominated awards also honour Boygenius, Miley Cyrus, SZA and Billie Eilish
February 3
- “I’m afraid of ghosts! I’m not the guy who’s gonna do anything to a ghost”: Ray Parker Jr shares the story of how he had just three days to write the Ghostbusters theme with $50,000 on the line
- "Brother Wayne Kramer was the best man I’ve ever known": Tributes for MC5 co-founder Wayne Kramer, who has died aged 75
February 2
- “We need guitar music that makes those people feel something”: Marty Friedman wishes “slow and painful death” upon the traditional guitar solo and has some ideas on what should replace it
- “I’m told they’re working on it, it’s coming out of the locker”: Daft Punk drummer raises hopes that a new album could be on the way
- “Here’s something special the geniuses at Ernie Ball Music Man have worked up”: Tosin Abasi teases incredible aged metal finish for the Kaizen that’s like nothing we have seen on a guitar before
- “It smears out the sound like ketchup on a mayo sandwich”: move over, Sausage Fattener, because Dada Life is now serving its Secret Sauce bundle
- Jeff Beck: "Cozy Powell and I played for about a minute and you could see all the other drummers packing up their kits - he was my John Bonham"
- “A new chapter in the evolution of DJing”: Algoriddim brings a reimagined version of djay to Apple Vision Pro, and all versions of the software can now stream and mix songs from Apple Music
- “Jimmy Page once said to me, ‘Have Gibson not been onto you?’ And I said, ‘No, maybe I play too many Strats…’” – John Squire on the signature guitar that never was and why he's going on tour with a Kemper
- Show your gear some love this Valentine's Day and win a €250 thomann voucher
February 1
- We Are The World’s vocal arranger offers his take on why Prince didn’t appear on the USA for Africa single, and suggests that he may have been “afraid” of Michael Jackson
- “More than just Auto-Tune on steroids”: researchers claim to have come up with a new AI-powered method of pitch correction that “surpasses previous tools”
- Mark Knopfler's Brother In Arms Les Paul is the most valuable sale in his guitar auction that raised over $11 million
- “We want to be a guiding star for modern musical instruments”: Ableton and Teenage Engineering veterans launch new company, Forever 89, and tease first product