As we head into the final weeks of 2023, it’s that time of year again when we revisit our gear highlights of the past 12 months. 2023 has had its ups and downs in the music technology world, including a few brands sadly downsizing or going out of business, but there’s also been a whole heap of exciting new electronic instruments, plugins and production gear.
As ever, we’ve put our heads together with our team of writers and experts to crown the best-of-the-best in a variety of categories. So if you’re on the hunt for a new workhorse synth, a great value interface, some top-quality monitors or the latest plugins to add to your hard drive, our Gear of the Year round-up is here to do the hard work for you.
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Interviews
Vince Clarke – The electronic icon on how Daniel Miller and his newfound love of modular inspired his dark debut solo album
Danny Daze – The Miami producer on why it's taken several attempts to create his full-length debut, and how he's turning it into a fully immersive experience
Fantastic Twins – Based on her dual Fantastic Twins persona, Julienne Dessagne delves into here eerie new album, Two Is Not a Number
Classic Album – British producer Daniel Avery breaks down his much loved debut album Drone Logic
Pioneers – We explore the unique brilliance of Ricardo Villalobos
Technique
Gear of the Year 2023 – The best synths, drum machines, software, studio gear and more revealed
Masterclass: 'alt synths' – We explore the soft synths that take a more unusual route to sound generation
Producer's Guide to Ableton Live 12 – As it arrives in public beta, we break down everything you need to know to get up and running with the latest version of Live
Knowledge – Everything you need to know about reverb
Reviews
Steinberg Cubase 13
Yamaha CK Series
Hexinverter VCNO
1010 Music Nanobox Razzmatazz
Lewitt LCT 440 Pure
Teenage Engineering CM-15
PreSonus Eris 3.5BT
& more
Samples
Real World Atmos – Add some natural textures to your tracks with this pack of backdrops, ambient lines and atmospheres captured from the world around us
Astral Synth Lines – Channel the ethereal synth sounds of spiritual jazz and the LA beat scene with a pack of synth loop and melodic lines
Access the FM sample archive – UPDATE FOR 2024! Download the ‘Archive’ packs and get over 20GB of loops, hits and instruments from our back catalogue of high-quality and royalty-free samples. From vintage synths and drum machines to esoteric instruments and FX – think of it as our best of. All the samples you need to create great music!
