This free plugin captures the shrill and squeaky sound of the most irritating musical instrument known to man
Ujam's BeautyFlute Pro is a virtual instrument based on the discordant tones of a poorly-played recorder
Artists
Back in 1983, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop put a modernised musical spin on Dante’s Inferno
At the time, the legendary sound effects unit was celebrating its 25th anniversary
8-year-old musician Lake Anthony challenges Charlie Puth to a ‘perfect pitch battle’
“If I win, I get to open for you, and if you win, you get to open for me”
“John Lennon said that it’s the one song he wished he would have written”: The disco classic that influenced songs by Lennon and ABBA
How the leader of KC And The Sunshine Band created a perfect floor-filler
“Guaranteed to zig when you think he’ll zag every single time”: Bob Dylan is selling his short stories on Patreon for $5
Meanwhile his typed lyrics to I’m Not There could fetch $40,000
“The best birthday gift of my life - to perform for you once again”: Céline Dion to return to the stage this autumn
Singer has been fighting ‘stiff person’ syndrome for years
“You can tell – he feels every word”: Flea talks collabs and a new Chili Peppers album
He admits he cried when he heard Nick Cave’s vocal on his solo album
Paul McCartney on what the Beatles "kind of liked" about their male fans on their first US trip
He played two intimate LA gigs over the weekend
Music Tech
This free plugin captures the shrill and squeaky sound of the most irritating musical instrument known to man
Ujam's BeautyFlute Pro is a virtual instrument based on the discordant tones of a poorly-played recorder
Back in 1983, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop put a modernised musical spin on Dante’s Inferno
At the time, the legendary sound effects unit was celebrating its 25th anniversary
XLN Audio wants to put the fun back in drum processing with DB-30 Drum Butter
Equipped with six effects modules covering compression, saturation, reverb, pitch-shifting and more, DB-30 is built to add punch, character and identity to any drum part
Electro-Harmonix launches six of its most-famous pedals as plugins
Teaming up with MixWave, EHX presents three Big Muffs, the Deluxe Memory Man, Electric Mistress and the Small Clone for your DAW
Cherry Audio unearths an obscure ‘70s Italian synth with DS-2
Following last year’s take on the cult classic Crumar Spirit, Cherry Audio revives a lesser-known synth in the Crumar line-up released several years prior
Best cheap MIDI keyboards 2026: Inexpensive MIDI controllers starting at just £39/$49
Start making music for less with our selection of affordable MIDI keyboards from Arturia, Akai, Nektar, Novation, and more
"It's the musical equivalent of someone whispering in your ear": Max Richter's SRM Sounds releases ASMR Choir
"A palette of choral and string textures that provides a really special colour to add both a purity and ‘humanness’ to your score"
"That’s not how the demo sounded": Bonnie Raitt praises Bruce Hornsby’s contribution to one of her signature songs
According to producer Don Was, though, it wasn’t all plain sailing during recording
I'd made five tracks in 25 years, but after I was prescribed medical cannabis, I made an entire album in six months. So, what’s going on?
Let’s get into the weeds
“A stunningly creative and beautiful sounding synthesizer”: Korg miniKORG 700Sm review
They say great things come in small packages, but is Korg’s new miniaturised analogue synth just another victim of shrinkflation? We grab a microscope to find out
Guitars
JHS Pedals’ turns loose the Coyote – a fuzz pedal tribute to a “lost” cult classic and its maker
A two-knob fuzz that's got three modes – including some octave-up craziness – all at the turn of a dial, the Coyote replicates the circuit of the late Glenn Wylie's unique, brilliant Moonrock Fuzz
Electro-Harmonix launches six of its most-famous pedals as plugins
Teaming up with MixWave, EHX presents three Big Muffs, the Deluxe Memory Man, Electric Mistress and the Small Clone for your DAW
Source Audio’s Pathways is a state-of-the-art reverb and tremolo pedal for vintage enthusiasts and modern tone-seekers alike
Pathways has seven reverb and echo engines, three tremolo types, plus all the digital connectivity to get the configure them just how you need them
Harley Benton takes on the high-performance heavyweights with a Sparkle Burst refresh of its $400 Floyd-equipped S-style
Super-affordable, built for shred, and now available in an array of new colours – and with single and dual-humbucker versions of each
“You can tell – he feels every word”: Flea talks collabs and a new Chili Peppers album
He admits he cried when he heard Nick Cave’s vocal on his solo album
“They describe themselves as a Mantra-Rock Dada Pythago-Cubist Orchestra, and the band name translates to ‘angina of the chest’”: The microtonal music theory behind viral math-rockers Angine de Poitrine
Our resident music professor breaks down the experimental tunings and time signatures behind the costumed Québécois duo breaking the internet
Geddy Lee on the making of Rush’s 1984 classic Grace Under Pressure
How the trio battled cabin fever in the depths of winter in search of a sound that had more of Alex Lifeson's guitar, more cutting-edge synths, "more of everything!"
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
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
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
Learn the guitar style of the most expressive and accomplished playing The Beatle would ever commit to tape
How to play guitar like David Gilmour: Bluesy diads, slides, quarter-tone blues curls and more
Tackle the expressive phrasing and minor pentatonic tricks of one of rock's finest guitarists, David Gilmour
Latest Tuition
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
How to replicate the trailblazing pulse of I Feel Love
I Feel Love’s innovative electronic rhythm section set the stage for pretty much everything that followed, and here’s how you can recreate its bewitching energy in your DAW
Improve the impact of your basslines by quickly learning the basics of bass compression
Creating the perfect foundation for your track begins just the right amount of compression for your bass - here’s how to not overdo it!
How Harry Styles brought the sounds of minimal techno to the world of pop with new single, Aperture
The former One Direction star’s latest effort is a far cry from his previous output
How close listening to Chic can teach us about the integral relationship between the kick and bass
If you want to add more punch to your production, start at the foundation of your track, with the kick and bass
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 unquantizing your tracks can make them stand out from the AI-dominated crowd
If your music is sounding a little mechanical, maybe it deserves a sprinkle of organic nurturing. We invite you to un-click the quantize!
Stuck for ideas? Here's how to create fresh basslines and melodies with Ableton Live 12’s MIDI tools
In our latest video tutorial, we explore how to use Live generative MIDI tools and hardware-inspired sequencers to create riffs and patterns
7 great house and techno tips from Don’t Be Afraid label boss Semtek (aka DJ Persuasion)
The producer, DJ and founder of one of the UK's most respected underground labels revisits a 2012 release to explore what he's learned in 15 years of releasing house and techno
Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
With insight from Paul Gilbert, John 5, Adam Dutkiewicz and Marty Friedman on their approaches to the recording process
37 heavyweight bass production tips
More than three dozen priceless nuggets of bass recording and production wisdom
Creating chords for electronic music: 3 ways to generate more interesting progressions in Ableton Live 12
Let’s explore how Live’s MIDI effects can help us write better progressions
25 recording tips and tricks everyone should know
Get better takes in the studio and on the stage, with our essential advice for producers and DIY music-makers
Produce better music with our ultimate compression cheat sheet
Confused about where to start with compressors and dynamics effects? We'll guide you through the essential features and settings
Ever wondered how a microphone really works?
If microphone terminology confuses more than it helps, this guide will illuminate the microphone basics
Latest Reviews
“A stunningly creative and beautiful sounding synthesizer”: Korg miniKORG 700Sm review
They say great things come in small packages, but is Korg’s new miniaturised analogue synth just another victim of shrinkflation? We grab a microscope to find out
“If you are choosing one desktop mic to cover podcasting, streaming and clean home-studio voice capture, the PodMic USB makes a strong case”: Rode PodMic USB review
The flexibility of XLR and the simplicity of USB combine to create a versatile dynamic broadcast contender
“Rode spent the money where it counts, namely the preamp and conversion”: Rode NT-USB+ review
A sensible, well-thought-out USB mic with some clever tricks to elevate it above the competition
“Captures the essence of the U87 design and is ideal for a multitude of recording tasks”: Warm Audio WA-87jr review
A quality condenser is a must-have studio tool. Let’s see if this affordable option can actually deliver
"It's currently the only compact power supply you can count on to power a 3A, 12V amp and effects modeller alongside pedals without buying any extra kit": Walrus Audio Canvas Power HP review
A small pedal power supply with serious juice
“A fantastic one-stop shop of all that you need in a synth”: Knobula Monumatic review
Monumatic promises to be the one synth voice to rule them all and we think Knobula might be underselling itself
Akai MPC Sample review
The MPC range gains a fun, affordable sketchpad with a fair few tricks up its sleeve
“This ease of use is rare in such a small practice amp that covers so much tonal ground, and is the reason the Prism-Mini is worth considering as your desktop companion”: Laney Prism-Mini review
Laney targets the practice amp market with a versatile range of tones and effects, all in an easy-to-use, diminutive package
