Sophie Lloyd pays tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with a shred cover of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid
The Machine Gun Kelly guitarist and YouTube superstar marks the first anniversary of Ozzy's death by giving a Sabbath classic the full-shred treatment
Artists
Sophie Lloyd pays tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with a shred cover of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid
The Machine Gun Kelly guitarist and YouTube superstar marks the first anniversary of Ozzy's death by giving a Sabbath classic the full-shred treatment
Jay Weinberg on the Bruce Springsteen test that left him “deathly afraid” when sitting in with the E Street Band
It's one of the great rock stories. E Street Drummer Max Weinberg couldn't make a Springsteen tour. His teenage son replaces him
Razorlight’s biggest song was originally intended for another artist, says Johnny Borrell
He also wanted it to borrow the drum beat from a Billy Joel song
“I don’t know, but never say never": Dave Davies isn't ruling out a Kinks reunion
The Davies brothers are collaborating on an art exhibition in London
Could a 'new' George Michael and Elton John duet be heading for release?
The pair previously had a hit with their version of Elton's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
"As Ozzy would say...": Sharon Osbourne remembers her husband, a year on from his death
Birmingham is celebrating the man today on Ozzy Day
The origins and slick musicology of TLC’s most iconic hit
The pseudo-biographical No Scrubs provided TLC with their biggest hit to date. We dig into its structure and sweet jazz harmonies
Music Tech
SampleRadar: 493 free Moog synth samples
Everything from arpeggiated loops and filtered beats to experimental FX and acid-tinged multi-samples, all made with a Moog
Best MIDI keyboards 2026: Find your perfect match for the home studio
My expert guide to the best MIDI keyboards of all sizes and budgets to integrate with your home studio
Musik Hack launches HyFi, an online mastering platform powered by the “world-class DSP” behind Master Plan
Promising “clear, loud and subtly saturated” masters, HyFi's drag-and-drop mastering service costs as little as $0.99 a track with no subscription – and new signups get 10 free credits
“We’ll be in a room with multi-million-dollar speakers and he'll be sitting on the floor with the worst quality headphones and his laptop doing his thing”: Rogét Chahayed on the genius behind Skrillex's production
“He's one of the most enormous talents in the world – and one of the only people who treats the computer like an instrument”
Best budget audio interfaces 2026: Cheap USB interfaces for home recording, streaming, podcasting, and more
I’ve tested more than 20 options to bring you my expert pick of the best affordable audio interfaces for great quality recording on a budget
Best earplugs for musicians 2026: my fully-tested pick of hearing protection, for the practice room to your next gig
I road-tested a range of the best musician-friendly earplugs, from Alpine, ACS, Minuendo and more - these are my recommendations from budget to moulded
"He was an absolute hero”: Howard Jones on the synth legend who inspired him
“I saw the classical music as my way to get good at playing the pop and rock stuff,” he says
Chase Bliss discontinues the Chompi sampler: "At this specific moment we are not working on or planning any new Chompi products"
There are fewer than 250 units remaining, so if you want a Chompi, now's your chance
"If I was going away on a trip and could only bring one keyboard, I’d bring that one": Rogét Chahayed on the stage keyboard he can't live without
“I have two walls of keyboards with about 30 or 40 synths, a Steinway and a Fender Rhodes - but this is my number one"
Leading music industry bodies unite to create labelling program for generative AI in recorded music
Organisations like the RIAA, the IFPI and the Grammys are all involved in the project
Guitars
Sophie Lloyd pays tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with a shred cover of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid
The Machine Gun Kelly guitarist and YouTube superstar marks the first anniversary of Ozzy's death by giving a Sabbath classic the full-shred treatment
“What sets it apart is access to a humongous range of amp captures”: Blackstar Beam Mini review
Blackstar expands its Beam series with a feature‑packed ultra-compact amp
Harley Benton throws a big ol' T party and you are all invited, as it debuts the Fusion-T II series
High-performance builds, roasted flame maple necks as standard, the choice of Tesla humbuckers or EMGs, and Babicz hardtail bridges or 2-point tremolos... It's all going on
Remembering Wayne Charvel, visionary luthier and Superstrat pioneer
The Charvel founder and legendary custom builder for guitar's biggest names has died, aged 85
Best pedalboards 2026: top choice 'boards for guitarists
Organise your guitar effects pedal collection with one of the best pedalboards available from Pedaltrain, D'Addario, Gator and more
Dirty Boy teams up with Warm Audio for affordable versions of its boutique stompbox classics
The Junior Series presents Dirty Boy fuzz, overdrive and boost circuits in a compact stompbox, priced just 169 bucks
Pete Townshend on how Stevie Wonder's producer inspired him to smash guitars
We revisit the pivotal moment when the young Who guitarist watched Malcolm Cecil take a saw to a bass guitar
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Get almost $1k of guitar tuition from our number one online platform for only $99 with this epic Summer Black Friday deal – over 11,000 lessons, plus bonus gifts
And if you’re a beginner, the bundled beginner’s guide will get you off on the right foot
Confused by guitar tabs and notation? Use this complete guide to reading music for guitar
Learn to play acoustic and electric guitar in record time with our guide to easy-to-read notation
"Don't play scales just to get faster. Speed is a happy by-product of playing more accurately": Beginner Guitar Lessons - nailing scales
The A major pentatonic, A minor pentatonic and Mixolydian are great places to start and we'll show you how
"There isn't one correct answer": 6 things you need you need know about how to clean and condition your guitar fretboard
A string change is the ideal opportunity to get your 'board back to its best
What are the best online guitar lessons in 2026? I’m a professional guitar gear reviewer and these are my highest-rated lessons platforms
My expert pick of the best online guitar courses will supercharge your playing wherever you are, and whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player
How Tom Morello used his guitar to drill into the off-limits domain of the turntablist
The Rage Against the Machine axe-man’s most memorable moment saw him emulate a DJ scratch breakdown using a trick that few have fully mastered
With a massive 89% discount, $99 for a year's worth of Guitar Tricks online lessons is the best way to upgrade your guitar playing this Black Friday
Guitar Tricks is our number one online tuition platform for guitar players
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
With over 84,000 lessons at your disposal, this is one of the best value guitar tuition subscriptions online right now
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
Uneven frets are a common issue with our guitars, but MusicNomad has come up with different ways to empower players to deal with it themselves
Latest Tuition
The difference between distortion and saturation and how to effectively get a gnarly sound
Adding small or even large amounts of saturation doesn’t have to be bad for you, as we explore how to singe your sonics
How to use reverb to build impressive-sounding filters, reverses, risers and pads
Create your own reverb effects with our step-by-step tutorial
How to get Radiohead’s resonant National Anthem vocal effect in software
On Kid A, Radiohead went resonant with some severe vocal processing - although complex at the time, the incredible results can now be easily achieved in software
Build your own expressive talkbox with plugins
If you love the sound of the talkbox, but grapple with the practicality of the hardware, we have some top tips for recreating the classic sound with plugins
How to get recognisable pop sounds and effects using only Logic’s stock plugins
If you’ve got Logic, you’re already more than capable of recreating Skrillex’s manipulated reverb, Billie Eilish’s formant shifting and much more…
How to emulate one of Jon Hopkins' signature sonic techniques with plugins
We get creative with an effects chain inspired by Jon Hopkins, and a heavy dose of felt piano
Exploring how Harry Styles brought the sounds of minimal techno to pop with Aperture
Aperture heralded a new approach for Styles, but its sounds clearly cribbed from the minimal techno playbook
Do you want to remix faster and better? Here's 6 essential remix skills every producer should know
Get the technical know-how required to make great remixes with these essential techniques
Confused by guitar tabs and notation? Use this complete guide to reading music for guitar
Learn to play acoustic and electric guitar in record time with our guide to easy-to-read notation
I’m so obsessed with Olivia Rodrigo’s Drop Dead trance bass sound that I remade it in my DAW
We create our own transient-heavy synth bass with leanings towards the trance-heavy sounds of the 90s. ‘Drop Dead’ you exclaim? No way! We were Born Slippy!
How to emulate the sound of Gary Numan’s synth-pop classic Cars
We lift the bonnet on a foundational piece of synth genius, and demonstrate how you can achieve its distinctive sound yourself in your DAW
How to master virtually any software synth
Don't let your software arsenal overwhelm you - sometimes the best route to creative success is to mine just one instrument
"Don't play scales just to get faster. Speed is a happy by-product of playing more accurately": Beginner Guitar Lessons - nailing scales
The A major pentatonic, A minor pentatonic and Mixolydian are great places to start and we'll show you how
"Record everything all the time – and keep it all": 8 pro techno producers explain how they create their tracks
We delve into our In The Studio archive to compile the techno secrets behind releases on esteemed labels including Drumcode, Cocoon, Dekmantel, Second State and more
"There isn't one correct answer": 6 things you need you need know about how to clean and condition your guitar fretboard
A string change is the ideal opportunity to get your 'board back to its best
How to pan like a pro and spread your mix across the stereo image
We help you broaden your mixing horizons with some useful tips for panning perfection
The difference between distortion and saturation and how to effectively get a gnarly sound
Adding small or even large amounts of saturation doesn’t have to be bad for you, as we explore how to singe your sonics
How to conjure the spirit of early techno and trigger your own retro zaps in software
How a sound design approach originally deployed for television effects became an electronic music staple - and how to make it yourself
Latest Reviews
“What sets it apart is access to a humongous range of amp captures”: Blackstar Beam Mini review
Blackstar expands its Beam series with a feature‑packed ultra-compact amp
Beyerdynamic DT 30 IE review
In-ear monitoring is becoming more affordable, with many entry-level options on the market. The DT30 IE from Beyerdynamic could be the perfect beginner in-ears, or even a decent backup for more seasoned users
“It's extremely easy to use, but only once you’ve got to grips with what is quite an esoteric control interface”: Donner DBM-100 metronome review
The Donner DBM-100 looks and feels like a handheld games console - but is it just as much fun to use as it looks?
"Transcription Studio promises to turn audio into notated transcriptions, lead sheets and guitar tabs – but does it actually work?": Klang.io Transcription Studio review
AI-powered transcription tools like Klang.io's Transcription Studio are rapidly advancing in sophistication, but they won't be replacing humans anytime soon
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi 2 Dual Op-Amp Fuzz review
Long-lost circuitry featuring two op-amps is resurrected for the latest iteration of the classic Electro-Harmonix pedal
“A strong update overall that introduces many features to boost your creativity and streamline your workflow”: Steinberg Cubase 15 review
Steinberg brings a host of tweaks and additions to Cubase 15, but will they satisfy new and existing users alike?
Baum Guitars Verve review
Distinctive looks and a buttery-smooth neck profile with this T-style, but some QC issues hold it back
"A compelling and well-rounded entry-level piano that prioritises accessibility and sound quality over features": Kawai CX102 digital piano review
I find out if the new replacement for Kawai’s KDP-75 is a simple rebrand or a step forward
