Schecter has something special for the player who likes a squeaky sound and wants to hear some bark
Introducing the The Humbarker and The Chompest, dog toys with off-the-charts playability for the tone hound in your life, all for a good cause
Artists
“They haven’t agreed on anything for 20 years”: How Ice-T got Roger Waters and David Gilmour to concur
More unlikely than his choice of song were the odds of the two warring Floyd members saying yes to it…
The flawed genius of pop's biggest anthems, from Hey Jude to Hey Ya!
Our resident music professor explains why it's the weird, unexpected, and slightly annoying details that turn great songs into timeless classics
Noel Gallagher liked Confidence Man so much he asked them to support him. His fans weren’t so keen
They were not so much mad for it as just mad
Meet the viral 67-year-old producer raving into retirement - and proving that techno has no age limit
The Last DJ has built an audience of hundreds of thousands performing live electronic music at home. We sit down with the sexagenarian Syntakt fan to find out how he did it
Spotify Wrapped reveals top artists' favourites (and which ones love themselves perhaps a little too much)
Sharing your Wrapped playlist is increasingly the way to show your great taste… And perhaps reveal a little too much
John Foxx on his evolving studio setup and the anniversary of the sublime Metamatic
“Digital is obedient, which is useful in certain circumstances, but analogue misbehaves and that wildness is appealing”
"He's a brilliant actor": Bob Dylan has just endorsed Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan impersonation
The oscar-nominated actor has nailed Dylan’s persona in an upcoming biopic. And that’s according to Dylan
Music Tech
Meet the viral 67-year-old producer raving into retirement - and proving that techno has no age limit
The Last DJ has built an audience of hundreds of thousands performing live electronic music at home. We sit down with the sexagenarian Syntakt fan to find out how he did it
Fantastic (free) plugins and how to use them: Vital
Wavetable takes on spectral warping features and more in a wonderfully contemporary synthesizer
"Do we really need another virtual analogue synth? If it sounds this good, the answer is yes": Yum Audio Ember review
Yum Audio's Ember is a "vibe-driven" soft synth that promises analogue warmth, vintage textures and rich, characterful sound - and actually delivers
“This music shop became the world”: See behind the scenes as Thomann turns 70 today
The world’s biggest music gear store just released an eye-popping video that tells their story
The story of Sequential Circuits in 10 synths, sequencers and drum machines
Charting the rise, fall and subsequent resurgence of Sequential, we celebrate 50 years of groundbreaking synthesizers and technical ingenuity from one of the original trailblazers
Meet the dongle nightmare that’ll get your original iPod working with your M4 Mac
Attention hipsters. Still rocking Apple’s first ever 5Gb iPod from 2001? We've got some great news
Is using commercially available samples in a track really that much of a problem?
“There's no such thing as cheating. Just make music you like and stop following rules.”
This "absurd and over-the-top" distortion plugin transforms a glitch into an audio effect - and it's absolutely free
Newfangled Audio's Obliterate started life as a conventional filter before a bug in the code caused some unique-sounding distortion - which the developer packaged into a free plugin
FL Studio gains a new looper effect in its latest update – plus up-to 30% off for Cyber Monday
The 2024.2 update brings a new effect and an assortment of user-requested features to Image-Line’s DAW
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
Plus, save even bigger if you go for an M2 or M1 MacBook
Guitars
Schecter has something special for the player who likes a squeaky sound and wants to hear some bark
Introducing the The Humbarker and The Chompest, dog toys with off-the-charts playability for the tone hound in your life, all for a good cause
Faith launches the all-new Eclipse cutaway acoustics, with Fishman electronics for percussive styles
Upgraded with Fishman's Ink Body pickup and preamp system, the Eclipse series gives players plenty of control over their amplified tone
Soldano’s promise a “complete SLO in a pedal” from its new dual-channel preamp stompbox
Now you can have both channels from the Super Lead Overdrive right there on your pedalboard
Affordable, versatile, modern, the Les Paul Studio Session is a clever update on a Gibson classic
The player-friendly Les Paul Studio Session switches up the Studio format with a figured maple cap, '57 Classic humbuckers and expanded controls
“This music shop became the world”: See behind the scenes as Thomann turns 70 today
The world’s biggest music gear store just released an eye-popping video that tells their story
Shergold unveils Masquerader Standard Series, an affordably priced, imaginatively spec’d S-style
The Masquerader is a jack of many trades with a versatile pickup pairing, lightweight build and locking tuners
“That same, authentic syrupy sound onto your pedalboard without breaking the bank!”: Having unveiled super-affordable Klon and Tone Bender clones, Behringer unveils a $69 take on the Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe
Behringer keeps the classic clones coming with the '69 Vibe, and promises more to come as it takes aim at critics
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
3 ways to supercharge your lead guitar playing like Rory Gallagher
Improve your blues with this lesson on the Irish rocker's style
How to use tried and tested chord progressions when crafting your song
Lets draw some harmonic inspiration and top-tips from the past-masters.
How to understand and use suspended chords
"Sometimes you don't want to be overtly happy or sad and a suspended chord strikes that perfect balance"
Don't be afraid of your electric and acoustic guitar's truss rod – we'll show you how to adjust it
Changing your neck curvature is not some mystic art, but it can make a lot of difference to your guitar and how playable its neck is
Ditch the University of YouTube and unlock your musical potential with Guitar Tricks’ $800 off annual subscription Black Friday bundle
Get a year of premium lessons, exclusive resources and beginner essentials for just $99 - perfect for players of all levels
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
Get a big discount on your first private guitar lesson with a professional guitar tutor in this exclusive deal for MusicRadar readers
How to become a master of melodies
"It's what the overwhelming majority of us listen to first and foremost"
“There are so many hurdles guitar players get into that are attributed to knowing 30% of the neck. Just map it out - it takes a week”: Julian Lage unlocks the secret of mastering guitar
The virtuoso guitarist explains his approach to music theory and the wider scope a little knowledge can bring
Latest Tuition
Fantastic (free) plugins and how to use them: Vital
Wavetable takes on spectral warping features and more in a wonderfully contemporary synthesizer
3 ways to supercharge your lead guitar playing like Rory Gallagher
Improve your blues with this lesson on the Irish rocker's style
How to make supersized hyperpop vocals
How to get that hyperpop chipmunk vocal effect whilst keeping your tempo in check - and artefacts to a minimum.
How to use tried and tested chord progressions when crafting your song
Lets draw some harmonic inspiration and top-tips from the past-masters.
How to understand and use suspended chords
"Sometimes you don't want to be overtly happy or sad and a suspended chord strikes that perfect balance"
How to make a trip-hop bass part
"A simple programmed sub bass synth sound simply won’t cut it"
"These chords are used on everything from The Beatles to Billie Eilish": How to learn triad theory
The triad is one of the cornerstones of music theory, and vital for creating harmony. We examine the three points of the chord.
Don't be afraid of your electric and acoustic guitar's truss rod – we'll show you how to adjust it
Changing your neck curvature is not some mystic art, but it can make a lot of difference to your guitar and how playable its neck is
Ditch the loops and build your own trip-hop beat
If you’re after crispness and definition, processing loops has its limitations
How to understand key signatures
“The way that sharps and flats are organised is far from random or chaotic”
"The importance of scales cannot be understated": How to easily grasp scale theory
How to get a handle on scale theory
How to create satisfying lo-fi chords and progressions
Think smart and consider the underlying theory of your lo-fi arrangement
How to understand rhythm when reading music
Establishing rhythm in your sheet music is just as important as dictating pitch
“What you’re about to play should be influenced by what you just played”: Greg Koch's tips for better solos
He says: “The main things I work on are vibrato, bends and phrasing”
10 ways to create lo-fi sounds in your DAW
Sure-fire methods for adding some soothing space and vintage texture to your lo-fi tracks
The quick guide to reading music
We go back to basics and make a pitch for reading music. Here's the first part of a new series
How to easily make a unique lo-fi beat
Stop relying on samples and loops, and build it from scratch in your DAW
10 common electronic drum set issues and how to troubleshoot them
Don’t let annoying gremlins spoil your playing. From no sound to too much noise, most problems can be solved with some simple settings or affordable upgrades - here’s how
Latest reviews
"The engineers at Pianote have done a great job replicating the feel of an acoustic piano": Pianote Prima digital piano review
On Black Friday, online learning platform Pianote drops its first digital piano for beginners. But can it hold its own against the leading players?
"Warm, round, with a chewy mid-range that simply begs to be fed pentatonic licks, this amp sounds fantastic": Fender Tone Master '59 Bassman amp
A Fender classic gets a digital makeover, but how does it compare to the real thing?
“A wonderful blend of multitimbral synth hardware with clip style sequencing, wrapped up in a solid, performance-based module”: Mayer EMI MD850 Vibes review
Vibes is a multitimbral hardware synth with Ableton-style sequencing. It's hardware imitating software imitating hardware, and we like it a lot
"A great beginner keyboard, and a potential gateway into electronic music making in general": Roland Go Keys 3 and 5 review
The beginner keyboard market gets a couple of fresh contenders that offer more than you might think
“Launchkeys are a reminder that sometimes a keyboard is still what you need, even with Ableton Live”: Novation Launchkey MK4 25 and 37 review
We examine Novation’s Launchkey MK4 synth-action keyboards, available in 25- and 37-key versions
“With the room calibration and support software, it's the most flexible mini monitor we’ve tried”: IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitor Pro review
Small monitors usually struggle to deliver convincing low end, but this latest design has different ideas
"This might be the most affordable guitar from Strandberg, but you wouldn’t notice": Strandberg Boden Essential review
Want to get into the headless game but are wary of spending big? Strandberg just might have the gateway drug for you
“A well-priced synth workstation – just don't expect a 1980s Juno”: Roland Juno-D7 review
Roland's entry-level synth workstation is easy, light, and cheap, but has depth if you want it
“I think that a specific drawback of this guitar could make it unsuitable for regular live use, but it’s still an inspiring acoustic for the home”: Yamaha TransAcoustic TAG3 C review
The second generation of Yamaha’s TransAcoustic flagship debuts looping, delay and Bluetooth features – but is something undermining the practicality for the stage?
