News archive
November 2024
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288 articles
- November 30
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- Are Gibson guitars expensive? This surprising SG Standard Cyber Weekend deal suggests not always!
- This Behringer synth deal is so good I’m going to buy one myself
- Get a Dream acoustic before Cyber Monday ends: These stunning deals on USA Taylor guitars are lower than I could have expected
- “The closing of the most extraordinary chapter of my life so far”: As Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour comes to an end, here’s how you can get your hands on the celebratory book that every fan is going to want
- “They asked me to bring in my guitar and I was woken up part way through my surgery and played different tunes”: Guitarist plays acoustic… during brain operation
- This is the best plugin deal we've seen this Cyber Weekend - save thousands with these insane bundles of Universal Audio software
- FYI: Black Friday or not, you don’t 'need' a new synth... But if you’re really craving one, I get it – these are the deals I’d go for
- “I have a 15-year Superior Drummer addiction”: with this killer Cyber Week deal from Thomann, you can too - for just £249
- You can vastly improve the sound of your electronic drum kit for just over £100 with this mega Black Friday VST sale from Thomann
- You don't have much time left to grab the best virtual piano available for less cost this weekend. Here's why we think you should
- Is this the best, the best, the best Black Friday deal for Foo Fighters fans? Save a whopping £230 off the newly released Epiphone DG-335 Dave Grohl signature guitar
- I can personally vouch for the sonic brilliance of this do-it-all synth, here's why you shouldn't sleep on this great ROLI Equator2 Black Friday deal while it still stands
- Now might be the best time to buy the Arturia Astrolab because you'll get V Collection X for absolutely free
- November 29
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- 4 of our highest-rated electronic drum sets are still on sale this Black Friday weekend, with reductions of up to $400
- "It's undoubtedly the slickest, most refined ‘DAW-in-a-box’ on the market": Ableton's standalone, MPE-equipped Push 3 is discounted by $499 this Black Friday
- I had mixed feelings about this Korg synth but it's had such a price drop this Black Friday that I’d even consider changing our review score and there are more savings on Korg synths at Sweetwater
- Did the Neural DSP Quad Cortex just hit its lowest-ever price for Black Friday weekend?
- I review guitars for a living - these are my 4 still-available guitar recommendations in the Andertons Black Friday sale - including £700 off a show-stopping Strat
- “A portal to think about history and politics”: New course in Beyoncé studies launched at Yale
- I wish I could have got it this cheap: You can still grab the analogue pedal powerhouse Boss DM-101 Delay Machine for under half the price it was at launch for Cyber Monday
- Ariana Grande loves this looper and it's $100 off at Sweetwater this Black Friday
- If you’ve been waiting for Black Friday to stock up on mixing tools, 25% off FabFilter plugins might be exactly what you need
- “A devastating period for the UK’s festival organisers”: More than 200 UK events have disappeared since Covid
- Get 33% off this superb Ninja Tune-branded software delay which can can build complex, hardware-sounding delays with ease
- With $120 knocked off the Alesis Recital Grand, you're not going to find a better beginner digital piano deal this Black Friday
- "It's a mouth-watering prospect": Arturia's V Collection has every synth you'll ever need - and it's 50% off today
- I've been covering Cyber Monday MacBook deals for 7 years, and these are some of the best I've seen. Shop my pick of music-friendly M3 and M4 Mac laptops, including Air and Pro models
- “If you’re looking for the closest sonic replica of those original ‘K’ pedals then look no further”: Mythos Pedals unveils the 1N34A Mjolnir, a limited edition clone of owner Zach Broyles’ Klon Centaur
- Modalics' MINDst Drums provides one of the fastest routes to building lifelike drum parts, on Black Friday you can pick it up for just $79
- I’m terrible at finishing tracks but Oeksound soothe2 has always been one of my go-to tools for polishing a mix and now it is $70 off at Sweetwater
- Evans’ Sensory Percussion Sound System is a mind-blowing hybrid drumming setup, and you can save $500 on a complete rig right now with Guitar Center's Black Friday deal
- Get 72% off the plugin Jack Antonoff uses on Taylor Swift's vocals this Black Friday - and huge discounts across the whole Soundtoys range
- “The way I use them while listening to music, they don’t sound like hearing aids. They just sound like the ears I used to have”: Session ace Tim Pierce on dealing with hearing loss as a pro musician and how hearing aids changed his life
- “There’s no shortcut to mastering his skill, but there is a shortcut to getting his legendary tone”: Wampler Pedals and master of the Telecaster Brent Mason team up for ReWired overdrive/distortion
- 50% off Fender Play this Black Friday could take your playing to the next level
- "Universal Audio's Dream '65 Fender Deluxe plugin is so good I've started playing through it more than my amp": and it's still more than half-price this Black Friday weekend
- I'm a big fan of this weird and wonderful texture-crafter, and for Black Friday you can pick it up with a massive discount
- Instantly revitalize dull tracks with this free intelligent dynamics plugin from Waves
- “He loved the relaxed environment - and he certainly loved the view. I know he’s relieved he can get back to enjoying one of his favourite places”: A portion of Lemmy’s ashes to return to his favourite London club
- No drummer? No problem. Sweetwater are offering a big saving on Superior Drummer 3, the epic ROMpler we called "magnificent"
- I’ve been reviewing Native Instruments and iZotope gear for over a decade – these are the things worth picking up in their Cyber Season sale
- Some of our favourite Zero-G soundtrack sample libraries and virtual instruments are up to 60% off this Black Friday
- “I’m not a great lyricist or songwriter or producer. It's when you put all these things together — that makes me”: The 5 George Harrison post-Beatles songs you need to hear
- Acon Digital reduce their superlative stock of software to its lowest price ever this Black Friday, with 70% off until December 5th
- Grab a tasty new compressor absolutely free this Black Friday with Minimal Audio's astounding limited-time offer
- “The most versatile and expressive 250 pedal ever made”: DOD celebrates its 50th anniversary with limited edition Overdrive/Preamp 250 – a hand-built 3-in-1 take on the classic drive pedal with mod-friendly components
- Automate mix prep and save hours in the studio with Forte! Import - your new DAW co-pilot
- “There is potential here for the world’s most unlikely mash-up”: It’s Steely Dan versus Megadeth in the Battle of Black Friday!
- November 28
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- Waves just dropped its best value software offer yet for Black Friday - get 3 plugins for $49.99 and save hundreds
- “Updated electronics feature a pair of Kramer USA-made Eruption pickups designed by Gibson Master Luthier Jim DeCola”: Kramer’s 84 HH S-style doubles down on the humbuckers, adds coil-splitting and a killswitch for maximum shred appeal
- “I really didn’t want my song playing while a whole family got whacked!”: Journey singer’s fears about Don’t Stop Believin’
- “I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many”: Ringo Starr wryly suggests that Barry Keoghan is set to play him in Sam Mendes' upcoming Beatles biopics
- “I love taking mine on the road and pushing its boundaries”: Schecter’s headless 7-string Synyster Gates signature model is here – and there’s a $7,499 Nobody version finished in gold chrome
- 3 ways to use Oeksound Bloom in a mix: Why this adaptive tone shaper might be your new go-to effect
- With lifetime free upgrades and 30% off, FL Studio might be the smartest way to spend your money this Cyber Monday – and it’s just gained a cool new looper effect
- “Access to the upper frets means you can fly even higher”: Gibson reimagines its iconic songbird as the Hummingbird gets a cutaway body and LR Baggs electronics as standard
- "I’m not making this up": Billy Corgan thinks that comedian Bill Burr might be his half-brother
- “I know I can bring out something great in you... I hope to bring out the same kind of greatness in all of us”: Newly unearthed Lennon letter to Clapton reveals plans for supergroup
- Cherry Audio's P-10 captures the sound of "one of the most desirable flagship analogue polysynths ever created" - and brings that synth into the 21st century
- “If you had suggested this in 2015, you would have been laughed out of the room”: Music is now reportedly bigger than cinema globally
- “A song puts words into people’s mouths to drunkenly sing and they might not even realise what they’re singing”: Irish legends discuss the controversy around a Christmas classic
- November 27
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- The open-source Minichord looks like a pocket-sized Omnichord, and there’s a chance it might go into production
- "Tackling ableism, inaccessibility and discrimination should be a priority for the entire music industry”: The startling systemic issues facing disabled musicians highlighted in new report
- Nvidia says its new AI tech can create sounds that have never been heard before: "Make a trumpet bark or a saxophone meow"
- “Some of the things that come out of her mouth, you’re like, ‘What? How did you even get there!?’”: Songwriter Julia Michaels on being in the room with Sabrina Carpenter when she comes up with her nonsense lyrics
- Shredders, assemble! Up to $400 off select Charvel models is one of the best offers you'll see this Black Friday
- November 26
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- Significantly boost the vibe in your home studio with up to 41% off Displate metal posters for Black Friday
- “Dance lightly on the strings for a cleaner tone or really dig in to make your guitar, and amp, roar”: Behringer unveils a $69 Klon clone – but is the Centaur Overdrive better than the original?
- “Bono and I are working on some crazy kind of sci-fi Irish folk music”: The Edge confirms new U2 activity, with Larry Mullen Jr back and Brian Eno "involved", is afoot
- “You get to a point where you’ve gotten good enough so that nothing is good enough”: Billy Joel explains to John Mayer why he gave up on songwriting
- "Delay doesn't have to distract": iZotope's Cascadia brings a contemporary twist to vintage-inspired tape delay
- Rod Stewart to “pleasure and titillate” Glastonbury 2025
- Score an impressive $240 off the stunning Forest Green Strat and Tele in Fender's first-ever Player II sale this Black Friday
- “It has been such a long time coming. I’ve wanted to make a Chapman amp for years”: Rob Chapman is branching out into tube amps and promises buttery cleans and “heavy, chewy, saturated gain”
- “An outstanding selection of delay tones in a budget-friendly and space-saving enclosure”: Nobels’ DEL-mini offers three delays and the width of the stereo spread all from a super-compact $99 pedal
- "A campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves": Drake starts legal action against Universal and Spotify over Kendrick diss tracks rumpus
- "When the worst instrumentalist in your group is John Lennon, you’ve got a pretty good group”: Was John Lennon a good guitarist? And does it really matter?
- Sculpt your sounds on a spectral level with Manatee, a multitimbral, MPE-equipped desktop synth from Fred's Lab
- Gibson slaps Trump guitars with a cease and desist order
- “This poses a risk of serious electric shock”: Blackstar Amplification issues urgent product safety recall for Debut 100R combos
- Fender's massive Black Friday sale is here! Bag up to 50% off 75 guitars - these are the 8 we'd pick up today
- Aerosmith out - Muppets in: Disney World rebrand the ‘Rock N’ Roller Coaster’ at their Florida theme park
- November 25
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- Yamaha’s HS Series studio monitors are a modern standard for the affordable studio rig - and they're 25% off for Black Friday
- With a mind-blowing £800 off the Korg Poetry, is this the best piano deal we are likely to see this Black Friday?
- “We were on our way to our Christmas party when Bob Geldof called us and said ‘It’s your turn’”: The story of Band Aid II, the Do They Know It’s Christmas? they tried to forget
- “I will not take this to my grave": Sammy Hagar puts an olive branch out to Alex Van Halen
- Positive Grid's Spark 2 just got its first-ever discount - get up to 50% offthis AI-enabled guitar amp in the Black Friday sale
- “It's about shaking up your creative process”: Tame Impala’s Orchid polysynth is like a hardware chord cheat sheet
- "They were absolutely right about it. You see where it went. They were protecting their art, their intellectual property so that some asshole does not come along and take your art”: Anthrax’s Charlie Benante on why Metallica were right
- The selection may not be huge, but these Harley Benton Black Friday deals are well worth your time - save big on guitars, amps, pedals and more
- “He said - and this is a bit geeky - ‘are those P-90 pickups?’”: James Bay says that Jimmy Fallon knew immediately how to sort out his guitar feedback issue when he performed on his show
- “My arse is shining a light on the problem”: Kate Nash to sell pictures of her bum via OnlyFans account to fund her current UK tour
- “I failed because a term has been created around the type of music I make”: Nils Frahm on struggling within the classical music space and navigating the live world
- November 24
- November 22
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- “It’s kind of scary to go through these…like, ‘Oh I’m going to take that back!’”: Albert Hammond Jr of the Strokes is (reluctantly) selling a heap of his stage-played gear on Reverb, including a Guild acoustic from the Yours To Keep tour
- For sale: one piano played by Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Elton John and Freddie Mercury
- “If industry solutions fall short, we are prepared to call for legislative action”: CEO of Ivors Academy calls for “robust” protections for songwriters and publishers against AI
- “Notes dance rhythmically, almost creating a reverb diffusion. Those notes are held together with tape-style effects”: Keeley Electronics and Andy Timmons unveil the Halo Core – same modulated dual echo magic, simplified controls
- PMT has gone bigger than ever with its early Black Friday sale, offering huge gear discounts up to 70% off
- “PRS has always been an essential part of BAND-MAID’s sound”: PRS breaks out the “Brushstroke Birds” inlays for Kanami Tono’s stunning quilt top Custom 24-08
- “It’s always special when a young artist can connect with so many people so quickly”: Apple Music’s 2024 Artist of the Year is Billie Eilish
- "The 1700-capacity venue was only selling 300 tickets a night. This is not exactly great": Elton John’s musical closes on Broadway after just 5 days
- Sweetwater's mega Shure microphone sale includes big savings on a legendary mic used by the Chili Peppers, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Green Day and more
- Thomann’s huge Cyber Week sale has the biggest Black Friday discounts they’ve ever offered - up to 70% off PRS, Casio, Taylor, Alesis, Harley Benton and more
- “Where is Lana?”: The Weeknd is miffed at Del Rey’s absence from Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars of the Century list
- “It was an immediate no-brainer for Cynthia and I. We both were like, ‘well, of course we’re singing live’”: Ariana Grande says that there was never any doubt that the Wicked movie vocals would be recorded on set
- “I’m blown away by TONEX and all of the things that this set of sounds has”: IK Multimedia teams up with Alex Lifeson for software suite collecting AI-generated models of four of his favourite tube amps
- Our all-time favourite free plugin just got another major update – why aren’t you downloading it right now?
- The BBC sticks its neck out and predicts success next year for... Chappell Roan
- November 21
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- “Eddie Van Halen and Gary Moore were kind of animal players!”: Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith says he never wanted to be a virtuoso
- “Kurt ended up giving me this rad guitar!”: Foo Fighters’ Pat Smear recalls how his ‘good’ guitar wasn’t good enough for Nirvana
- Amazon Music Unlimited is now free for 3 months thanks to this epic Black Friday streaming deal – and subscribers will get access to Audible for nothing, too
- The new SM-5 monitors from Kali Audio are its most advanced and promise unparalleled accuracy, imaging, and translation
- “A sophisticated, detailed design that produces highly expressive tones with immersive depth and dimension”: Boss unveils the Katana-Mini X, a portable $149 10W amp with FX, tuner and Bluetooth
- “Breaking past the familiar”: Bitwig brings the beats with a robust new point update, adding 25 new Roland-inspired drum families, Stepwise sequencer and Windows on ARM support
- “I was very angry at first that this had happened”: Paul Simon talks about his hearing loss
- Up to $124 off JHS Pedals at Sweetwater might just be the best pedal deal of Black Friday so far - and yes, it includes the Colour Box V2
- "No, we do not intend to add four more instrument tracks to Move": Ableton responds to critics of Move's limited track count
- “I have this heart-first attachment to it”: Miley Cyrus on the Pink Floyd classic that served as the unlikely inspiration for her “hypnotising and glamorous” new album
- “These guitars have been manufactured by multiple providers”: Donald Trump’s latest merchandising scheme is a range of guitars with his name on them
- “One of the most important guitars in rock and roll history and formative to The Beatles’ sound, has made history”: George Harrison’s Futurama electric sells for a record $1.27 million at auction
- How Dua Lipa and Charli XCX are reshaping the English Language
- “There is money being made and it’s just being funnelled somewhere. It needs someone to give back out to the people”: Michael Kiwanuka suggests fairer cuts for musicians from big promotions companies
- Watch Hazel Mills recreate the rowdy bass patch and chord stabs from Caribou’s Honey on her UDO Super 8
- This Black Friday is easily the best I've seen for piano and keyboard deals - save big on models from Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Casio and more
- “As mobile as your smartphone”: Is Korg’s NanoKey Fold the most portable MIDI keyboard yet?
- November 20
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- “Bono took me aside and asked if I was sure I wanted him to sing this line”: Bob Geldof remembers what the U2 singer said to him before he recorded his vocals on Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?
- “It's equivalent to 12 songs identified for every person on Earth”: Shazam exceeds 100 billion song recognitions
- “Every show is designed for the space, so every show is different”: Max Cooper explains the workings of his unique 3D/AV live shows
- “A musical union that sold more than 220 million records”: The new Fleetwood Mac documentary hailed as “definitive”
- “It came out exciting, almost attacking, which fit the James Bond image”: Vic Flick, who played the Bond theme guitar riff, dies aged 87
- Paul McCartney is joined by Jack White and St Vincent for five-guitar pile-up in Mexico City
- Easy to set up, great to play and beautiful to look at: Here’s why Arturia’s KeyLab Mk3 is the premium MIDI keyboard you need in your life
- November 19
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- “Maybe I’m writing a song and it doesn’t follow the exact rules of songwriting. Or maybe this word doesn’t make sense next to this one, but that’s how I speak”: Beabadoobee says that “missteps” are more important than perfection in songwriting
- “It’s been road-tested, dropped on its head, kicked around, x-rayed, strummed, chicken-picked, and arpeggio swept!”: Fender and Chris Shiflett team up for signature Cleaver Telecaster Deluxe
- “I’d like to win these lyrics because I think it’s about a guy I know a little bit and I’d love to put that on my wall”: Billy Corgan enters auction of handwritten lyrics of Courtney Love’s song... about him
- I didn’t think online guitar lessons were for me until I tried Til - get $20 off your first lesson with a professional guitar player
- "If creators are using these technologies... we should let people listen to them": Spotify co-president says AI-generated music is welcome on the streaming platform
- Did someone say free guitar? Bag a Taylor BT-1 free of charge with this fantastic Black Friday acoustic deal
- “Seeking a well-mannered, affable individual. Flashy chops are wonderful, but groove and the ability to listen, react, and contribute to the musical conversation is a must”: Primus put the call out for potential new drummer
- “We are honoured that our company’s relationship with the legendary guitar player continues to this day”: Dunlop salutes wah pedal pioneer Eric Clapton with a gold-plated signature Cry Baby
- “Teenage Dirtbag has always felt like a bit of a queer anthem to me, even if it wasn’t meant to be - I love that I didn’t have to change a single lyric”: Cat Burns releases “unapologetic” cover of Wheatus’s 2000 hit
- “Back at that time, Rolling Stone was promoting Limp Bizkit and Korn, two overtly misogynist bands”: The Mars Volta tell their story in revealing documentary
- “These amplifiers set a new standard in high-performance amplification”: Blackstar unveils the St James 100, its state-of-the-art flagship tube amp and “world’s lightest” in its class – featuring switchable power tubes, CabRig tech and more
- “The contribution from these shows will keep venues open”: Katy Perry to donate £1 from every ticket sold on her 2025 UK tour to small venues
- “I’m working late, because I’m Santa”: Sabrina Carpenter brings A Nonsense Christmas to Netflix, and Chappell Roan, Tyla, Shania Twain and Kali Uchis are coming along for the ride
- “I'd rather listen to two foxes shagging in the bushes at 5.30 am”: Guess which classic British band Liam Gallagher is talking about?
- “It’s the best guitar in the world”: The Silver Sparkle Gibson Les Paul Florentine that Noel Gallagher played on Be Here Now fetches over $280,000 at auction
- Tame Impala's new instrument company reveals Orchid, a chord-generating keyboard designed to help "songwriters and musicians find what’s on their mind"
- “I feel like I’m not even making a record - I’m just tuning guitars!”: Myles Kennedy and Devin Townsend talk gear ahead of their joint tour
- November 18
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- “Axl did a great job”: But is the Guns N’ Roses singer about to rejoin AC/DC for a 2025 tour?
- "I'm like, I'm freaked out right now. I'm scared. I feel like I'm drowning on stage and I feel like I'm failing”: SZA on that misfiring Glastonbury headline set
- “It sounded so amazing that people said to me, ‘I can hear the bass’, which usually they don’t say to me very often”: U2 bassist Adam Clayton contrasts the live audio mix in the Las Vegas Sphere to “these sports buildings that sound terrible”
- "Even if people think it is ludicrous, it's an entry point. And people were just ready for a bit of fun”: Blossoms explain why they named their album Gary
- “A powerful, semi-autonomous co-creator”: Bastl’s Kastle 2 FX Wizard is a pocket-sized box of patchable effects
- Slate + Ash's Primaries / Strings brings together breathtaking solo strings with a powerful sound design engine
- With up to 80% off, Sweetwater currently has the biggest Black Friday savings musicians will find online right now – and the deals are even better than last year!
- “If I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals”: Ed Sheeran says he didn’t want to be on new Band Aid record
- “I love Bowie, but I was a kleptomaniac. I couldn't help it!": Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones remembers the night he stole David Bowie’s gear
- "Unexpectedly and unceremoniously terminated": Dave Mustaine must pay his ex manager over £1 million
- Here's the Black Friday deal DJs and home producers can't afford to miss - score up to 50% off hardware and software in Native Instruments' epic Cyber Season sale
- “It didn’t even represent what we were doing. Even the guitar solo has no business being in that song”: Gwen Stefani on the No Doubt song that “changed everything” after it became their biggest hit
- “I looked back, and Paul's got one of my guitars, and he's kind of messing around with it, right? And I'm mixing, so I said, 'Well, if you're going to be in here, why don't you help me mix this?'”: Richie Sambora on the day he met Paul McCartney
- “What am I doing there singing a ballad? I’m a rock singer!”: Lou Gramm, the original voice of Foreigner, blasts the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
- November 15
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- “I hope the future guitarists who acquire these items are able to move closer to the genius who played them”: Over 130 of Jeff Beck’s guitars and amps headed to auction, including his Tele-Gib, Yardburst Les Paul and 'Blow By Blow' Oxblood Les Paul
- “When faced with whether to buy food or pay for another month of access to plugins, it’s the plugins that are probably going to suffer”: An alternative pitch to the monthly subscription model for music software
- The history of Korg in 21 synths: Inside Korg's new London museum
- “For players wanting to push boundaries and explore uncharted musical territory, this guitar becomes the perfect partner”: Harley Benton unveils the Nashville Nylon Plus Black – a cutaway nylon-string electro to rival Tim Henson’s Ibanez?
- Korg’s PianoRec gives you a simple way to make high-quality recordings of your digital piano, and the built-in mic means that you can capture your voice, too
- “An affordable entry point for fans of the most iconic electric solidbody design of all time”: Behold the $299 Les Paul, as Epiphone unveils beginner-friendly Tribute and Express versions of three Gibson classic guitars
- “I’d like to think that there's a big studio in the sky”: Shel Talmy, legendary producer of The Who and The Kinks, dies aged 87
- Calling all recording fanatics, you don't want to miss this epic Black Friday interface deal - bag up to $800 off select Universal Audio devices from Apollo to Volt
- “He’s on my turf, he’s going for Mick... I caught him with that Telecaster. Wallop! It was a good shot”: When Keith Richards took down a fan on stage
- Thomann just got Black Friday moving with their early Cyberweek sale - save up to 70% on select gear
- November 14
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- “Honestly I’d never even heard of Klons prior to a year-and-a-half ago”: KEN Mode’s Jesse Matthewson on the greatest reverb/delay ever made and the noise-rock essentials on his fly-in pedalboard
- “A wealth of features not seen before in a Klon-style pedal”: Walrus Audio’s Voyager MKII overdrive/preamp takes Centaur stage – equipped with footswitchable parametric mids, it promising “mythical magic” and absolute clarity
- “What we are after is not perfection. You’re looking for the flaws… the noise… earth hum. You’re looking for the arm-tight playing… the human aspect”: Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt on inspirations, intuition, shred, and the problem with modern metal
- “They were the first white group that I’d ever heard in my life who said ‘yeah we grew up listening to black music”: Smokey Robinson and others describe huge cultural impact of the Beatles' first visit to America
- “Male bowerbirds spend the majority of the day creating elaborate and beautiful nests... in music, we can build a sonic ‘nest’ to capture ourselves”: Brian Eno to share creative ‘avant gardening’ tips in new online workshop
- “With proper playing dynamics, this creates a very cool effect that can sound like an exploding amp coming in and out of life”: EarthQuaker Devices and Lee Kiernan of IDLES introduce Gary, a drive/fuzz wildcard for maverick tone-seekers
- “Jim took the melody from Rita’s song and didn’t give her credit for writing it”: The piano that was used to record the famous coda from Derek & The Dominos' Layla is up for sale, but the writing credit for it remains controversial
- All aboard: New documentary charts the rise, fall and rise again of yacht rock
- “The Gretsch allowed me to create, what I think is the most important thing for any guitar player, and that is to find your own sound and your style”: Gretsch and Billy Duffy’s collaboration takes flight with a signature Falcon for the Cult guitarist
- With up to 50% off everything from guitars to drums, PA systems to keyboards, the Guitar Center Black Friday sale is one your whole band can shop
- Lots go crazy: An Oberheim OB-8 synth from the Purple Rain sessions and the Amek mixing board that Prince used to record Dirty Mind in his home studio are both up for auction
- “It was playing when I first met Priscilla at a college party, so every year we listen to it on our dating anniversary”: Mark Zuckerberg has made and released an acoustic cover of a hip-hop record, as a romantic gesture
- “An ultra-rare, Golden Era signature model, now available for everyone”: Gibson celebrates one of its original guitar icons with the Mary Ford Les Paul Standard – a stunning Goldtop with vintage Cherry back, floral armrest and pickguard
- “More music is being released today (in a single day) than was released in the calendar year of 1989”: How the music production industry has taken note of the huge number of self-releasing artists
- “I used it to build harmonic drones to start my live set, which then evolved into songs like Across the River”: Peter Gabriel on the classic ‘80s digital reverb that’s just landed as part of Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 and Logic Pro for iPad 2.1
- Teenage Engineering's OP-XY is a hybrid of OP-Z and OP-1... and costs more than the two of them combined
- “Yes, we’re aware that an overdrive pedal this tiny is a bit ridiculous”: Olinthus has just made the world’s smallest stompbox and it’s a $99 TS clone that fits in the palm of your hand
- "Biggest ever show": Coldplay to play the world’s biggest stadium in January
- November 13
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- “I was totally floored!”: Myles Kennedy hails the “genius” of his touring buddy Devin Townsend
- “The human manifestation of the word ‘hip’... Always in the moment, always in this time, eternal and classic and at the same time totally nonchalant about it”: Jazz legend Roy Haynes dies aged 99
- SampleRadar: 139 free dream pop samples
- “Cliff was the strongest of the four of us emotionally”: Lars Ulrich on how Metallica recovered from the death of bassist Cliff Burton
- Zildjian at Recording Week 2024: Introducing the ALL-NEW lineup of Zildjian ALCHEM-E Series electronic drum kits
- “The bass solo in My Generation is one of the classic bass things of all time. And John Entwistle said it was the bane of his life”: Rick Wakeman explains the problem with recording a classic solo, and how he experienced it with Yes’s Close To The Edge
- "I'd rather have my immortality while I'm alive. I don't care if it lasts beyond me at all. I'd just as soon it didn't.": But Jerry Garcia Foundation teams up with AI company to create Garcia voice model
- “The music industry is directly responsible for 540,000 tons of carbon emissions each year”: AIR Studios set an example by embracing climate sustainability
- “The true identities behind Sleep Token are immaterial”: How these masked men became the biggest cult band in the world
- IK Multimedia’s revered amp-modelling stomps are getting a Black Friday boost: Score 100 FREE metal-ready patches when you purchase a Tonex pedal
- "Still stands as a rebuke to that period in which it was first heard": Bob Geldof announces new remixed version of Do They Know It’s Christmas for single’s 40th anniversary
- TIDAL will "part ways with a number of folks" and needs to operate “like a start-up again” as parent firm announces it will “scale back” investment
- November 12
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- “That guy was hitting wrong notes with such authority that I just fell in love with it!”: Devin Townsend gives a troubled singer a much-needed boost
- Spitfire Audio’s Cells captures the beauty and unpredictability of Ólafur Arnalds' music in your DAW
- “It’s a beautiful instrument that suits many different styles of playing”: Lerxst celebrates 40 years of Rush’s Grace Under Pressure by unveiling Grace – a limited edition replica of Alex Lifeson’s Hentor Sportscaster
- "For me (it’s) the last, most egregious oversight in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”: Tom Morello says he’ll “chew” his leg off to get this band in
- IK Multimedia have gone mad with amp modeling discounts this Black Friday - get 75% off the Amplitube 5/Tonex bundle
- “Capture the sound, feel and quirks of one of history’s favourite combos”: Origin Effects promises ‘50s Fender amp tones for your 'board with the Deluxe55 Tweed Recreation
- “I get paid, so why not?": Sting says he’s fine with other artists interpolating and sampling his music, and that Every Breath You Take hasn’t been “tainted” for him
- “Even on our bad day we’ll still wipe the floor with majority of bands out there”: Oasis still have it, claims Liam Gallagher
- “It gives people an opportunity to feel what it's like to hold a Golden Era 000-45”: Martin brings a unicorn vintage acoustic back to life with stunning $19,999 recreation of Joe Bonamassa’s 1941 000-45
- Wave Alchemy's Magic7 emulates a $4,000 Bricasti M7 reverb - and it's giving the plugin away for free
- “He said, ‘Simon, Duran Duran are the last of the great British R&B bands.’ ‘R&B?’ I said. He said ’yes, you know what I mean - like, Beatles, Rolling Stones”: Simon Le Bon thinks that the “golden era” of the band is over
- “Good thing the custom shops are up high!”: Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks flooded after car ploughs into fire hydrant
- “We’d all heard the myth of Miles Davis – the scary Miles Davis. But he liked us skinny little white boys!”: How the jazz legend ended up on a Toto record
- “In 5 minutes, I could write you something that would sound like a song that would’ve been a Siamese Dream song in ‘92”: Billy Corgan on how he could write old Pumpkins' songs any time, if he wanted
- Roland’s new AI ‘technology preview’ claims it can “freshen ideas, remove writer’s block, and discover the undiscovered” – and you can try it right now
- “It’s about more than just a guitar – this is about giving players a platform to express their individuality”: Fender celebrates 50 years of Hello Kitty with super-kawaii Squier Strat, fuzz pedal and collectible accessories
- November 11
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- Are you a sampling genius? Win $10,000 and have your track released on Ninja Tune with Tracklib's Sample Breakdown competition
- "I fell in love with the Squier Paranormal Jazzmaster XII when I reviewed it, so much so I bought it": Grab your own for 20% less in Fender's Early Black Friday sale
- “There was some madman running around inside the hall with a meat cleaver, chopping into people!”: How Angus Young remembered AC/DC’s scariest gig
- “Gonna make sure the block gets lifted man, hit my squad up early this am”: Tyler, The Creator gets copyright strikes lifted so fans can discuss new album
- “Somebody needs to occasionally slap Rick Rubin”: Pete Townshend criticises producer’s mixed messages about creativity
- “The first time we played together it was stunning!”: The words of John Bonham in the forthcoming Led Zeppelin documentary
- Capture the sound of renowned composer Max Richter's piano with SRM Sounds' free Dark Mode instrument
- “I asked him if he played air guitar. He said, ‘Why would I when I can play real guitar?’”: Eric Clapton had a perfectly logical response when comedian Frank Skinner asked him if he ever plays air guitar
- Say goodbye to buyer's remorse this Cyber Weekend with the Andertons Black Friday Price Promise
- Taylor Swift, Tyla big winners at the MTV Europe Awards in Manchester
- “I bought a serial killer’s record collection!”: North Carolina YouTuber reveals its lurid contents…
- “One of my kids comes up to me years later and showed me a picture of me – I think at a Knebworth concert – with a great big joint in my hand”: How David Gilmour was caught out over his claim he never smoked
- November 8
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- “I made him an offer of about half of what it was really worth”: The million-dollar guitar that George Benson bought for peanuts!
- “There’s warmth and there’s grit, it’s really quite incredible… and I actually recorded with this amp. I love it”: Orianthi and Orange Amps join forces for the White Crush 20RT – a 20W solid-state combo with onboard tuner
- “I made this pedal because I wanted it in my own rig, but I'm betting you'll love its range and usability too”: Wampler Pedals unveils Catacombs, a programmable pedal packing 11 delay/reverb sounds to “redefine your relationship with time-based effects”
- “I had moments where I thought, ‘I am in a great place. I can make music… then somehow, everything would fall apart. That’s what the song was about”: Brian May on how The Night Comes Down was born of depression – and the desire to prove people wrong
- "The crown jewel of grand pianos": Native Instruments' Claire captures the sound of the world's largest grand piano in production
- “I know we’re making twice as much money as Metallica, but can you please put ’em on after us, because they’re killing us?”: How a hair metal band’s dream gig turned into a nightmare
- “If you’re looking for deep, low-end growling in a sleek, no-nonsense design…”: Harley Benton expands Agufish series with two high-performance single-cuts and a 28” scale baritone for monster riffs
- “Kids are definitely going to do this at school and get beat up”: Fortnite introduces Snoop Dogg as a new non-player character
- “To be honest, when Bruno first sent me the demo I thought it was kind of cheesy. But he just knew, and he said - in the nicest possible way - ‘It’s this way or the highway’, and he was completely right”: Mark Ronson on the making of Uptown Funk
- “It just dropped down and my skin fell down with it. People would vomit when they saw it”: Slipknot’s Shawn Crahan on his ‘worst’ injury
- “A company built on industrial-scale copyright infringement”: Universal Music sue digital distributors to the tune of $500 million
- November 7
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- “That was the first time that I knew that I recorded the song incorrectly. Because I remember, when she said that, I wanted to crawl into a hole”: Luke Combs on being told by Tracy Chapman that he’d made a mistake in his cover of Fast Car
- Across the Spooniverse: Meet Hunter and Abby, the Spoon Man and Spoon Lady at the forefront of the spoons revival
- “I was leaving the studio, but they were like, ‘we’re doing country, man!’ and I was just like, ‘that’s different, let’s go.’ We did one country idea, then we started Texas Hold ’Em”: Killah K on the making of a lead single from Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter
- “This is like Buddy Rich saying Ringo couldn’t drum. Because, coming from Buddy Rich’s sensibility, Ringo can’t drum”: What Paul McCartney said about that beef with Quincy Jones
- Waves is teasing a free plugin to be dropped on Black Friday - sign up today to be first in line
- November 6
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- “That’s a part of the story that suckers some young people in, you know... Dying young is good for the record company, but what’s in it for you?”: Springsteen on the pressures of fame
- “He’d be like, ‘Let’s throw Lukather in there.’ The next thing I knew, I’m in a room with Stevie Wonder and all these guys. It was like a childhood dream come true”: Steve Lukather on Quincy Jones’ ability to create “magic” in the studio
- Found! The artists behind ‘the most mysterious song on the Internet’ revealed at last
- "Make composing, producing and mixing more inspirational than ever": Steinberg launches Cubase 14 with new pattern editor, drum machine, effects, modulators and more
- The long and winding history of Rhodes: New Anthology plugin leads classic electric pianos to your DAW
- “He gets up on a high horse on that part... He rides the horse!”: What Green Day would sound like without guitars and Jon Batiste on piano
- Waves just launched 3 massive early Black Friday software offers - and you can get your hands on one of them for absolutely nothing
- “It was very, very warm and wonderful. I was crying at a certain point because I felt that I had hurt him”: Simon and Garfunkel have patched up their old friendship
- November 5
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- “As soon as he is in the studio, he hears his voicing come back at him through the speakers and says, ‘No, I don’t like that’”: Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor on how “manic goat” Freddie Mercury found his voice and became rock’s greatest frontman
- “You can actually play something like a digital horn, for example”: Archive BBC footage reveals the wonders of MIDI music making in 1990
- “For guitarists and bassists looking for a portable solution to bring along on their travels…”: Meet the JAMster series, the $42 desktop guitar and bass amps from Harley Benton you can take anywhere
- “You have these silly lists that come out about the greatest guitar players; I usually don’t even make them... or they’ll put me behind somebody who I could play circles around”: Billy Corgan feels he’s underrated as a guitarist
- Dreadbox unveils Artemis, a 6-voice analogue poly inspired by the Typhon monosynth
- “I did a demo. I had Sheila E playing on it and Michael sang on it. I played it for Quincy and he said, ‘No.’”: Greg Phillinganes on the Michael Jackson song arrangement that Quincy Jones rejected because it wasn't "sexy" enough
- “Limited mentally – a megalomaniac, narcissistic. I can’t stand him”: The late Quincy Jones on Donald Trump
- “Using this pedal is like adding a new and ultra-flexible distortion channel to your favorite clean amplifier”: JHS Pedals and Lari Basilio join forces for Violet, a versatile overdrive/distortion with a powerful EQ
- Online fraudsters scamming 100s of Oasis fans: Lloyds Bank reveals £1,000s are being stolen via fake ads and social media posts
- November 4
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- Black Friday is fast approaching, but we think the best deals are happening right now - get $700 off a Gibson Les Paul at Guitar Center
- “I am about to delve into P-90 world pretty hard... whenever I pick up a guitar with P-90s in it I get some inspiration”: Warren Haynes says he has been working with Gibson on two prototype signature guitars and one is a Firebird with three P-90s
- “Carefully designed to add masterfully crafted saturation, distortion, and tone”: Supercool Pedals unveils The Barstow Bat, a deluxe Rat-inspired distortion with 3-band EQ and switchable silicon/LED clipping
- “You only live 26,000 days, and I'm telling you, I'm gonna wear all of them out. They're gonna know we came through here”: The life and legacy of Quincy Jones
- “We went back to the dressing room. He said, ‘Yeah, it stays in tune great! But if you could make it a little slinkier’”: Gibson’s master luthier Jim DeCola reveals the Leo Fender-inspired mods he made to Randy Rhoads’ guitar just hours before showtime
- Teenage Engineering's OP-XY is on the way - but what could this OP-Z successor look like?
- “We've taken the iconic pedal to new heights with hand-wired craftsmanship, premium components, and a boosted output”: Ibanez rolls out the upgrades on its flagship overdrive pedal for the launch of the TS808HW V2 Tube Screamer
- "There will never be another like him": Quincy Jones, titan of pop, jazz and film music, dies aged 91
- 5 Quincy Jones songs producers need to hear
- November 2
- November 1
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- "If you're not joining in, you're out… I got my P45”: How the Bee Gees, Burt Bacharach and coke derailed the first attempt at recording Oasis's Definitely Maybe
- “Attentively crafted in Japan and exquisite in style”: Charvel expands its high-end MJ series with a trio of stunning S-styles with wenge necks and primo features
- “Michael Stipe said it was his favourite dance album – he used to put it on and then write his lyrics for REM to it”: Rave icons Utah Saints on their legacy, sampling Kate Bush, and the challenges of making their debut album
- “All of these things that I do on record using a few guitars, I've all got it in the one guitar that I can carry around with me”: Martin unveils 7-string Johnny Marr signature acoustic with an octave G string for added jangle
- "It takes time to learn how to DJ in a club and how to work - how to read a dance floor is a real skill": DJ and label boss Hannah Holland on improving music production, and the similarities between DJing and soundtracking
- “It breaks up in the perfect place, it’s got more room if you need to push it and need more of a statement”: Supro teams up with Tyler Bryant for signature Black Magick tube amp – a 35W combo with reverb, tremolo and “military-grade” components
- “Add some gain and it’s got this weird kind of chainsaw distortion that I love... of course I feel in love with it”: Kirk Hammett has a second Les Paul that was previously owned by Gary Moore – and Moore said it sounded even better than Greeny
- “There's a reason they call it playing music; you should be encouraged to play with the tools at your disposal”: Take a tour of Public Service Broadcasting’s studio
- Positive Grid has jumped the Black Friday gun by offering up to 50% off a range of amps and software in their Black November Sale – including the Spark 40 back to its lowest price ever
- MusicRadar deals of the week: The pre-Black Friday sales are rolling in – save hundreds off a new Yamaha piano, a Fender Strat and more
- “Us, Richard Ashcroft and Oasis – talk about Northern Soul! That’s some line-up”: Cast confirmed as Oasis support
- Is Teenage Engineering about to release a new product to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kraftwerk's Autobahn?
- Grimes: "Sound design is my favourite part of the recording process"