Latest articles by Matt Mullen
The best music tech gear of NAMM 2026: Epic polys, acoustic synths, budget samplers, a Behringer Juno and more
MusicRadar's Matt Mullen and Andy Price have been roving the show floor – here are their music technology highlights
NAMM 2026: rolling news from the world's biggest music-making gear show
All the hottest new guitars, synths, drums and other gear from Anaheim 2026
“It’s beyond analogue vs digital – it’s even beyond electronics”: Korg opens pre-orders for experimental Phase8 eight-voice "acoustic synthesizer"
NAMM 2026: The unconventional Phase8 brings together acoustic sound generation with electronic control via synth-style sequencing and modulation
Dubreq wants you to "sample the world" with the Stylophone Voice portable sampler
NAMM 2026: The Stylophone takes another evolutionary leap forward with Stylophone Voice, a pocket-sized sampler equipped with the same style of touch-sensitive, two-octave keyboard as its synthesizer cousins
“No AI, no loops, no MIDI”: Celemony’s Tonalic puts a world-class session player in your DAW that intelligently adapts to your arrangement
NAMM 2026: This hybrid of virtual instrument and session player combines the organic feel of live performance with the flexibility of DAW-based editing
Clavia unveils Nord Electro 7 with fully-fledged synth section, redesigned interface and much more
NAMM 2026: Nord's Electro 7 stage keyboard promises to be the most versatile model in the Electro line to date
Korg Kaoss Pad V reimagines a beloved effects powerhouse with dual-touch control, vocal processing and expanded connectivity
NAMM 2026: This long-overdue update makes the Kaoss Pad an even more powerful tool for creative sound design and live performance
“Our goal was simple: let’s design a mic that creators would reach for every day”: AKG unveils new C-Series condenser mics inspired by studio classics
NAMM 2026: The entry-level C104, C114 and C151 promise to balance professional performance with user-friendly design, flexibility and sustainability
PreSonus Studio One Pro is dead, long live Fender Studio Pro: Fender launches “music production ecosystem” with rebranded DAW, interfaces and new controller
Fender makes the leap from guitar-maker to fully-fledged music tech platform with Fender Studio Pro 8, Motion controllers and Quantum HD and AudioBox Go interfaces
Universal Audio is giving away the new native version of the 610 Tube Preamp and EQ Collection for free
NAMM 2026: The plugin promises to offer music-makers the same "musical tube warmth and character" heard on recordings by Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, and Neil Young
"Steve Lukather said: ‘I can’t stand it.’ He got 90% of the publishing rights, so he can’t have been that mad!": How Roger Sanchez turned an '80s Toto ballad into a 2001 dance anthem
Among the canon of ‘80s-sampling chart hits, few have pulled off a transformation quite like Roger Sanchez’s Another Chance
Roland unveils stylish KF-20 and KF-25 Kiyola "artisan" digital pianos inspired by the "Japanese concept of harmony"
The Kiyola line is a collaboration with Japanese wood furniture-makers Karimoku
“He feels it should be in the hands of people who will put it to good use”: John Paul Jones’ studio gear goes up for auction – including a rare £24,000 Moog Model 15
John Paul Jones’ studio gear goes up for auction – including a rare £24,000 Moog Model 15
Splice partners with UMG on the development of AI-powered tools and virtual instruments
Details are scarce, but the two companies say the tools will enable "UMG artists to bring their own sounds into Splice's AI workflows"
AmenBreak VST is a break-slicing, sample-mangling junglist powerhouse - and there’s a free version
LET'S GO!
Behringer says its $55 Oberheim-inspired UB-1 Micro is the "world's smallest full-featured analogue synth"
"This tiny synth sounds massive"
"You don't need to know music theory – Nopia takes care of that": Two years after going viral, this pastel-coloured, harmony-focused synth has finally broken cover
Official specs and images of this eagerly anticipated instrument have arrived
"He came and said, 'Are you going to pay me for that sample?'": Fatboy Slim on The Rockafeller Skank
"There were four different samples on it we had to clear, and they all wanted 40% or 50%... we were like, 'You can all have 25%', and there was none left for me"
"FL Studio is coming to your browser": Image-Line announces FL Studio Web in bid to "lower the barrier to entry" for new users
"We've taken the iconic FL Studio workflow and streamlined it for the web"
KV331 Audio is giving away SynthMaster One for free until January 4
Usually priced at $49, SynthMaster One is an approachable wavetable synth with an intuitive workflow and some stellar filters
Arturia's MiniFuse 2 OTG promises to make recording and streaming easy for content creators
Dual USB/OTG connectivity and loopback make Arturia's latest audio interface a no-brainer for creators, streamers and producers working with mobile devices
Stuck for ideas in Ableton Live? This free Max for Live device could snap you out of writer's block
Dnksaus's Spawner randomly spawns effects from Live's library of stock devices. Combine it with a parameter randomizer for instant inspiration
Ableton and Arturia reign supreme as Reverb reveals best-selling synths, samplers and drum machines of 2025
Ableton knocks Elektron off its perch as Push 2 tops the best-sellers list, and the Akai MPC makes a storming comeback
"This is our way of saying thank you": Soundtoys is giving away six free plugins this Christmas, starting with Little PrimalTap
Each free Soundtoys plugin will be available for only 48 hours
"What were the skies like when you were young?": How The Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds showed the world that sampling could be an art form
The story of the blissfully psychedelic bricolage that launched The Orb's career, introduced ambient house to the masses and even prompted a lawsuit from Rickie Lee Jones