Latest articles by Adam Douglas
Few pieces of production gear are as influential as Akai’s MPC series. We trace the MPC's journey through its phoenix-like birth from the ashes of the LinnDrum 9000 to the latest apex-hitting incarnation
Free yourself from the unrealistic expectation that you have to always be finishing songs and embrace all the different ways there are to be a musician and producer
Why has the synth has become a key navigational aid for those seeking deeper truths?
How military conflict has fuelled the development of technology that’s now essential in modern music production
It's out with hardware replication and in with simplification, with a considerable heap of AI on the side - we ask the experts to foresee the plugin experience of tomorrow
“I think the dislike of subscriptions is almost universal”
AI is pushing us to cut corners, but the evidence is very clear: playing and making music is a powerfully healthy activity, one that humans evolved to do
Though the 2020 COVID pandemic had many negative effects on the music industry, an underreported aspect is how Long COVID has left some professional musicians unable to continue with their careers
Many of the biggest players in the genesis of modern music-making hailed from California, but just what made the state such fertile ground for the synth pioneers to flourish?
Beloved by artists from Aphex Twin to Deadmau5, trackers swap the trusty piano roll for a text-based, vertically-scrolling interface that looks like something out of The Matrix. Let's find out how deep the tracker rabbit hole goes
This isn’t sci-fi. We look at five areas where the future of music production might evolve based on very real technology
“When used correctly, a good reverb can lift a song into the stratosphere”
This is the dawning of the AI age - but it doesn’t have to be the death knell for humans. Here’s why we believe music production will always be a human-led pursuit
Gatekeepers will tell you to sell your synths if you’re not using them “enough” - but isn’t your personal relationship with them sufficient reason to keep them around?
MicroKits’ Synth-a-Sette is a tiny synthesizer in a cassette-like form factor. So is Dubreq's Stylosette. Is it a copycat or a coincidence?
“When used correctly, a good reverb can lift a song into the stratosphere”
Attending a music production school could give you the skills to succeed in the industry. But is it really worth the money?
Teenage Engineering provoked the wrath of the synth community with the release of its $2299 OP-XY. We take a look at why people are so enraged, why the device is priced so highly, and whether it's actually worth the cash
“There's no such thing as cheating. Just make music you like and stop following rules.”
For many of us, video games were a potent point of introduction to the world of music production. We take a look back at the games and consoles that have inspired music-makers over the years