Latest articles by Andy Jones
“Version 8 puts Kontakt right up there front and centre as a performance tool and ideas generator”: Native Instruments Kontakt 8 review
Kontakt 8 turns the iconic sampler into a more creative and inspiring performance tool, with a brand new interface, great-sounding new instrument and lots of composition features
“All the music software you need… but for the price of a mid-level Apple Mac”: Native Instruments Komplete 15 review
Komplete 15 really is everything you ever wanted in music production software, but is it now just too big in both size and price?
Want to get those unfinished projects finished? Let us help in this guide to finalising your tracks and songs
Completing a track in your DAW can be a surprisingly difficult task, but in this feature we'll guide you through the final stages
Why Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is a modern masterpiece
Billie's debut was recorded using mostly Logic stock plugins and a cheap set of Yamaha monitors
"This particular 808 is arguably the single most important drum machine in history"
The origin of house music in 5 key tracks
How a small group of Chicago producers invented house and changed music forever
“I’ve got the 303 but I don’t know how to work it - it’s making all these crazy sounds!”
New to working with loops? Start here
"Those looped dance music breakdowns and drops have been done a million times before - so tweak them a little!"
Cyber Monday MacBook deals 2024: Last-minute MacBook deals
The sales are over now but you can still pick up some great deals
“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
How the breakbeat genre took over the music world
“It was the B-side that became one of the most important pieces of music ever - certainly one of the most sampled”
“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
New to making tracks? Start here
Want to make a track from scratch but don't know where to begin? We'll show you
New to DAWs? Start here
A DAW allows anyone to make music regardless of their abilities
“An easy door into film score creation, and a wealth of creative possibilities”: Sonuscore The Score review
The Score comes up with a film soundtrack based on your stylistic choices, but that’s just the start of it. We score The Score
Unpacking the dark, sample-based sound of trip-hop
It's this genre that set a blueprint for today's down-tempo sounds
“Will breathe some vintage life into any sterile DAW and has some quality components all wrapped up in a tidy and easy workflow”: Harrison/SSL 32Classic Channel Strip review
An emulation of a classic channel strip from a console used by many music business legends, you say? Don’t mind if we do
“You only live 26,000 days, and I'm telling you, I'm gonna wear all of them out. They're gonna know we came through here”: The life and legacy of Quincy Jones
Jones might have put Michael Jackson on the map, but over a 70+ year career he worked with just about every other great American recording artist...
“A great value phaser plugin with movement, powerful peaks, dirt and drama”: Minimal Audio Ripple Phaser review
Minimal Audio brings its distinctive power and ease of use philosophy to the world of swirling frequencies. Set your phasers to stunning
“With the polyphony and effects it has effectively ‘crossed the line’ into all-new polyphonic Brute territory”: Arturia MiniBrute V review
After going from soft to hard synths, Arturia is going soft again, with its first analogue synth getting a virtual version. It’s a Brute
"There are few producers who haven’t employed or lusted after it": Why does everyone love the UREI/UA 1176 compressor?
Here’s why the 1176 has made such an impact in the recording world
The scariest places music has been recorded
Here's where you might NOT want to record your next album…
“It’s dreamy, evocative and incredibly emotive, but there’s so much you can do to sounds as well”: Sonora Cinematic Panorama Guitars review
Panorama Guitars will have you crying into your DAWs as you create emotive shoegaze and post rock atmosphere
11 tips for software guitar that sounds like the real thing
Some quick tips to achieve guitar-god greatness... without a guitar
“She didn't move from the sofa and she sang two takes of Rolling in the Deep and that's what we used”: Adele, Daft Punk and Taylor Swift are among our picks for the best recorded albums of the 21st century
For your Recording Week pleasure, these are the are the most notable albums of the last 24 years…
