Ben Rogerson

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

Articles by: Ben Rogerson

Best synthesizers: Modal Electronics Cobalt8

UK synth company Modal Electronics declared insolvent and goes into administration

By Ben Rogerson published

The manufacturer of the Cobalt, Argon and 00 ranges is said to be “restructuring”

Yamaha Montage M

It looks like Yamaha is about to launch the Montage M synth, and there’s speculation that it’ll come with a new AN1x-style virtual analogue engine

By Ben Rogerson published

Is a ‘90s classic about to return in workstation clothing?

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

“He doesn’t do Zoom”: Mick Jagger reflects on how his songwriting partnership with Keith Richards has changed and discusses Paul McCartney’s bass playing on new Rolling Stones album Hackney Diamonds

By Ben Rogerson published

“I wouldn’t even play guitar half the time,” Jagger says of his early collaborations with Richards. “I’d just be writing the toplines for Keith’s chord sequences”

Cindy Blackman Santana

Cindy Blackman Santana tackles the iconic In The Air Tonight drum fill as she joins Chris Stapleton and Snoop Dogg on a new version of the song for ESPN’s Monday Night Football

By Ben Rogerson published

Whether she’s been waiting for this moment for all her life remains unconfirmed

IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik 2 CE

IK Multimedia’s Miroslav Philharmonik 2 CE giveaway means that everyone can have a $150 orchestral plugin for free

By Ben Rogerson published

10GB library includes 733 instruments, effects, a convolution reverb and mastering processors

Soundbetter Butterfly Effect

Soundbetter’s Butterfly Effect plugin is a vibey ambient reverb that can create instant meditative music from your melodic playing

By Ben Rogerson published

That’s the (chaos) theory, anyway

Toybox Thump One

Thump One is a free synth plugin that blends a glitchy wavetable engine with a Roland supersaw-style oscillator

By Ben Rogerson published

Toybox has something new for you to play with

Waves Online Mastering

Can Waves’ new AI Online Mastering service give your music a pro-level polish?

By Ben Rogerson published

You can try it for free, then pay for track exports

Roland JD-800

YouTuber Alex Ball gets his hands on Tony Banks’ old Roland JD-800 synth and finds that it still contains his Genesis tour patches from the ‘90s

By Ben Rogerson published

A Banks preset bank, you might say

Focal Trio6 ST6

Focal’s redesigned Trio6 ST6 has a Dual Focus mode that promises to give you “three different sounding monitors in one”

By Ben Rogerson published

Updated speaker has been tweaked to deliver a “more detailed and transparent sound”

Brainwaves Pink Floyd

How does listening to Pink Floyd in Dolby Atmos affect your brain? New study will visualise 100 fans’ brain waves as they listen to Richard Wright’s The Great Gig In The Sky

By Ben Rogerson published

Immersive art project celebrates 50 years of The Dark Side Of The Moon, with no Brain Damage involved

Amy Winehouse

Watch a young Amy Winehouse covering The Beatles backstage at Glastonbury 2004

By Ben Rogerson published

Rare footage shows the 20-year-old star performing a rearranged version of All My Loving in the year that she shared the bill with Paul McCartney

Amy Winehouse Fender Strat

Here's why Amy Winehouse believed that there are advantages to being a self-taught guitarist: “If you learn how to play guitar off someone, you just kind of learn to play it like them, you know what I mean?”

By Ben Rogerson published

“I need to express myself fully through a guitar and I will be able to do that, please God, in 10 years,” she said in 2004

Black Friday studio monitor deals graphic

Black Friday studio monitor deals 2023: Everything you need to find deals on active speakers of all sizes this Black Friday

By Simon Arblaster published

Come November this page will be you place to find price drops on Mackie, M-Audio, Avantone and more

Native Instruments Kontrol S MK3

Native Instruments’ new Kontrol S-Series MK3 MIDI keyboards arrive with polyphonic aftertouch

By Ben Rogerson published

NI's flagship controllers have been redesigned and enhanced

Tycho gear sale

Tycho is selling 100 pieces of gear on Reverb, including the Eventide H3000 that he purchased after he learned that Eddie Van Halen used one, and an Oberheim FVS-1 synth that he says “has a mind of its own”

By Ben Rogerson published

“I always saw the Eventide in [EVH’s] studio, and I’d think, ‘I got to get that thing’”

Olivia Rodrigo Get Him Back

The video for Olivia Rodrigo’s Get Him Back! was shot entirely on Apple’s new iPhone 15 Pro Max

By Ben Rogerson published

The star has yet to comment on the switch from the Lightning cable to USB-C, though

Taylor Swift VMAs

Taylor Swift wins big at the 2023 MTV VMAs as Olivia Rodrigo, Shakira and a cast of hip-hop legends perform live

By Ben Rogerson published

Fall Out Boy’s reworked cover of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start The Fire also gets an airing

Thundercat

Thundercat mints a fresh new track inspired by mouthwash

By Ben Rogerson published

Bass ace works with Listerine to help close the dentistry diversity gap in the US

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue says she’d still like to release Baby Doll, the track she wrote with Prince: “I would love it one day if his estate would grant me permission to do something with it”

By Ben Rogerson published

“I got some lyrics to him and then I had delivered to me, by his driver, a cassette of Prince,” she recalls

Roland TR-8S and TR-6S CR-78 updates

Roland’s TR-8S and TR-6S drum machines get CR-78 and 808 bass instrument sounds added for free

By Ben Rogerson published

These already excellent beatmaking boxes just got even better

James Blake

James Blake: “I owe more to Intellijel, who make the Metropolix sequencer, than I do to Stevie Wonder on this album”

By Ben Rogerson published

“The machines definitely spoke for me in a lot of this,” the producer tells Zane Lowe

1010music Bluebox Eurorack Edition

1010music brings its Bluebox mixer/recorder to Eurorack

By Ben Rogerson published

Flexible box jumps from the desktop into your modular rack

Four Grammy awards sat on a table

Heart On My Sleeve, the song at the centre of the ‘Fake Drake’ AI storm, has been submitted for two Grammy Awards, but there could be a problem

By Ben Rogerson published

Grammys boss says it’s “absolutely eligible” from a creative standpoint, but that’s not the only consideration

Duolingo music lessons

Music lessons are coming to Duolingo: an easier way to learn to play?

By Ben Rogerson published

Gamified platform will add music theory and keyboard content from next month

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