Ben Rogerson

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Group Content Manager for MusicRadar, specialising in all things tech. 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, 20 of which I’ve also spent writing about music technology. 

Articles by: Ben Rogerson

Soundation Beatmaker

Online DAW Soundation gets a free beatmaking tool that supports realtime remote collaboration

By Ben Rogerson published

Get your groove on anywhere, and with multiple creative partners

Minimoog

Man celebrates the 50th anniversary of owning his Minimoog, which he bought in 1972

By Ben Rogerson published

A golden moment for a classic synth and its proud keeper

Sugar Bytes Graindad

Sugar Bytes’ Graindad plugin could be a realtime granular FX processor to cherish

By Ben Rogerson published

Is it a case of ‘Graindad, we love you’?

Teenage Engineering and Love Hulten CHD-4

Teenage Engineering and Love Hultèn’s CHD-4 ‘heartbeat drum machine’ has a very special purpose

By Ben Rogerson published

It’s one of a kind in every conceivable way

Lewitt Connect 6

Lewitt offers a step-change with new dual-USB Connect 6 audio interface that offers computer and mobile integration

By Ben Rogerson published

It’s fair to say that it looks like nothing else on the market

James Blake Rhodes

James Blake signs on as the first Rhodes ambassador for the new MK8 electric piano

By Ben Rogerson published

“Rhodes is honoured to become a facilitator of James' incredible musical journey”

Ikea OBEGRÄNSAD

Swedish House Mafia want you to hack their new IKEA range: “It’s going to be nice to see if someone takes our hacks and makes their own hacks”

By Ben Rogerson published

OBEGRÄNSAD collection features a music production desk, remixed KALLAX storage unit and more

Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim still thinks that everybody needs a 303… but not a clone

By Ben Rogerson published

“The clones are good, but they're not a 303”

Hans Zimmer

New BBC documentary celebrates the life and work of “Hollywood Rebel” Hans Zimmer

By Ben Rogerson published

“It was a dream job to sit and film him at the keyboard in his studio,” says director Francis Hanly

Jacob Collier

Jacob Collier on his live album of improvised piano covers: “I set myself the challenge of playing a spontaneous rendition of a different song every night on tour”

By Ben Rogerson published

New record features reimagined versions of songs by Queen, ABBA, The Bee Gees, The Beatles and more

Cherry Audio new synth

Cherry Audio warns that there are “dangerous curves ahead” as it teases an “original and sensational synthesizer”

By Ben Rogerson published

It’s coming later this week

Korg SQ-64

Korg’s flexible SQ-64 sequencer is currently on sale for just $199.99 in the US

By Ben Rogerson published

Save 40% on this polyphonic powerhouse

Serato DJ Pro

Serato brings stem separation to its DJ software: “I'm telling you, my brain is on fire” says DJ Jazzy Jeff

By Ben Rogerson published

We’ve seen this feature before, but Serato says that its “one-of-a-kind” algorithm will deliver “unbeatable” results

Steven Slate

Slate Digital acquired by SSL owner Audiotonix: “I’m so proud of what our team has been able to achieve over the past decade,” says Steven Slate

By Ben Rogerson published

"I believe our loyal Slate Digital customers will be thrilled at what is to come," he adds.

80 best piano intros

Here are the 80 greatest piano intros, played one after the other and recorded in one take

By Ben Rogerson published

David Bennett takes you on a 17-minute tour through piano introduction history - how many of these songs can you recognise?

Akai LPK25 Mk2

Akai Pro releases more playable and responsive LPK25 and LPD8 Mk2 mini MIDI controllers

By Ben Rogerson published

Oh, and they look a bit nicer, too

PreSonus Studio One 6

PreSonus launches Studio One 6: DAW update includes smart recording templates, a customisable interface and lyric support

By Ben Rogerson published

New features for beginners and power users

Teenage Engineering PO-80

Teenage Engineering’s PO-80 is a $149 lo-fi vinyl cutting machine with “ultra-analogue sound quality”

By Ben Rogerson published

Well, that’s one way of putting it

Bob Clearmountain, 2010

Mixing engineer Bob Clearmountain: “I shouldn’t say this, probably, but I think in a couple of years Dolby Atmos is going to go away”

By Ben Rogerson published

“I think people will say, ‘OK, the headphone thing doesn’t really do anything, I can’t afford to put an Atmos system in my home, and stereo’s fine’”

Digitakt Song Mode

Elektron finally adds a Song Mode to the Digitakt, Syntakt and Digitone

By Ben Rogerson published

You can now stitch patterns together to create complete tracks

Pro Tools Intro

Pro Tools Intro: new free DAW opens up the industry-standard music production software to everyone

By Ben Rogerson last updated

Plus, 2022.9 update adds ARA 2 Melodyne support and Aux I/O for easy audio routing to and from other software and hardware

Native Instruments Komplete 14

NI Komplete 14 released: Kontakt 7, iZotope Ozone 10 and Plugin Alliance products join music software mega-bundle

By Ben Rogerson published

Is it still the essential upgrade it once was, though?

Trombone Champ

Trombone Champ is the super-sliding musical rhythm game taking the internet by storm

By Ben Rogerson published

Because Guitar Hero is so 2005

UA UAD Spark Windows

Universal Audio UAD Spark now runs on PC: native VST versions of UA’s plugins for your Windows DAW

By Ben Rogerson published

$20 a month gets you classic Moog, Neve, API, Lexicon and Studer gear with no need for additional UA hardware

Songs in the key of life

Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life track-by-track - "I challenged myself to cover as many topics as I could"

By Ben Rogerson last updated

Classic albums: A deep dive through this 1976 masterpiece

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