Latest articles by Matt McCracken
I’ve seen a lot of Black Friday sales, but this one’s next level - Sweetwater just dropped thousands of discounts of up to 80% off guitars, drums, keys, and more
The Black Friday guitar deals start here with one of the biggest sales of the year over at Sweetwater
The early Black Friday guitar deals don't get much better than this sale at Thomann - save up to 69% on two top-rated guitars, a Warm Audio condenser mic, a Behringer synthesizer, and loads more
Thomann’s early sale features some of the biggest savings I’ve seen this year, including some of our most highly rated gear
Best cheap acoustic guitars: Top picks for strummers on a budget
Your guide to the best cheap acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars out there, with amazing value options from Martin, Taylor, Fender, and more
Best Christmas gifts for music producers 2025: 9 affordable ideas they'll actually use
Struggling to decide what to buy the music producer in your life? Here's an in-depth guide to the best gift ideas for producers, written by producers
Waves just made the first move on Black Friday with 3 jaw-dropping offers - and one’s completely free
Grab yourself some monster discounts with these early Black Friday plugin deals over at Waves
Best PCs for music production 2025: Apple Macs and Windows machines for your home studio
Discover the power that a desktop PC or Mac can bring to your music-making, with my expert pick of the best desktops for music production
“For the majority of producers the iMac probably isn’t the right choice”: Apple iMac M4 review
An all-in-one desktop computer that's gorgeous, capable, and just a little conflicted
Best acoustic guitars: Super steel string acoustics for all players and budgets
Our pick of the very best flat tops from Taylor, Martin, Gibson, Fender and loads more
Best Christmas gifts for musicians 2025: 21 affordable festive present ideas for music-makers (which they'll genuinely love)
Shopping for a drummer, guitarist, DJ, producer or content creator? Here’s some Christmas gift inspiration for the muso in your life - including last-minute ideas
Best budget laptops for music production 2025: Affordable laptops for making music
I've got the latest laptops on test that will not only enable you to make music anywhere, but do it without spending a fortune – our top picks start at just $/£300
“Its (mostly) stellar build quality sets it apart from many guitars costing twice the price”: Jet JJ-300 P90 review
Jet Guitars' thoughtfully built offset leaves a lasting impression, but it's not without compromise
Best external hard drives for music production 2025: Back up your music and boost your computer's performance
Store recording sessions, video files, and sample libraries with our expert pick of the best external hard drives for Mac and PC
Buy one $49.99 IK Multimedia plugin and get a whopping 38 free with the best plugin deal of the year so far
Plus, the more musicians register, the more free plugins everyone gets with up to 50 free plugins available
What are the best online guitar lessons in 2026? I review guitar gear for a living and these are my favourite lessons platforms
My pick of the best online guitar courses will get your playing up to speed from the comfort of your own home, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player
With some astonishing discounts of up to $3,500 off, the Sweetwater Recording Sale is the place to pick up studio gear for less this Prime Day
If you want pro-grade recording gear for Prime Day, then this sale at Sweetwater is where it’s at
"The Ridge does something different, which makes it genuinely worthy of praise": Kernom Ridge Overdrive review
A pedal that gives you all your favourite drives in one box, and then some
With plugins starting from just $24 the Universal Audio Rocktober deal is the best place to power up your productions ahead of Prime Day
Get ahead of the Prime Day music deals with this awesome sale over at Universal Audio
“Enough power to keep you in business for at least the next 10 years”: Apple MacBook Air M4 review
Apple's latest lightweight laptop makes a great case to be the centre piece of your studio
Best cheap microphones for recording 2025: Budget microphones for the home studio
Record at home for less with my pick of the best budget recording microphones around
Best electric guitars: Our pick of guitars to suit all budgets
Find the top electric guitar for your budget and playing style, whether you play rock, metal, blues or beyond
9 mistakes producers make when using an audio interface - and how to avoid them
From misused monitoring to phase disasters, here are 9 music-making lessons learned the hard way
How to stress test a laptop for music production in any DAW - and why every producer should do it
Get the most out of your machine and find out how far your laptop can really take your recordings
Thomann's Guitar Days sale just hit up to 70% off with £474 off an Epiphone semi-hollow, £132 off a Death By Audio pedal, plus loads more massive savings
If you're looking for a bargain on guitar gear then the Thomann Guitar Days sale is jam-packed with big discounts
