Latest articles by Matt Mullen
“Like having a seasoned engineer in a classic analogue studio”: Universal Audio unveils new vocal production plugin Topline Vocal Suite
Billed as an “all-in-one vocal chain”, Topline Vocal Suite fuses UA’s classic analogue emulation with contemporary vocal tuning
“Built for the stars, ready for your studio”: Universal Audio launches the next generation of Apollo X audio interfaces with auto-gain and onboard monitor correction
The Apollo X Gen 2 range promises to make recording and monitoring easier and more accurate with assistive features, while building on the stellar sound UA is known for
Jack Antonoff reveals plans to make public recording studios available to those who can't afford them
The Public Studios initiative will fund the building of studio spaces in LGBTQ+ youth shelters
How a Prophet-5, a kalimba and a prog rock sample inspired the genesis of Bonobo’s biggest track
Bonobo appeared on the Tape Notes podcast to discuss the making of new single Expander and fan favourites from Black Sands and The North Borders
Rising producer Yunè Pinku on DAWs, Madonna and shaking off the cobwebs of lockdown
The Irish-Malaysian producer and songwriter talks "trash" vocals, '90s influences and her love of arpeggiators
Spike AI puts an AI chatbot based on chart-topping mix engineer Spike Stent inside your DAW
Tell Spike AI how you want your track to sound and it'll respond by adjusting the mix in real-time
“She thought anything could be pop“: Sophie’s brother and studio engineer Ben Long on the release of her final album
We sit down with Ben Long to talk through the making of Sophie's posthumous final project and gain a rare insight into the creative process of a generational talent
Behringer's Grind is a hybrid semi-modular synth that borrows oscillators from a beloved Mutable Instruments module
Bringing together a variety of digital oscillators with an analogue ladder filter and 34-point patchbay, Grind joins Edge, Crave and Spice in Behringer's Producer series
"I'm not having my fans and myself be ripped off": James Blake on the "heist" that’s seen artists robbed of their data
Speaking to BBC News, Blake described his difficulties promoting shows via social media as an independent artist without relying on data collected by promoters and ticketing companies
UJam is giving a fantastic reverb plugin away for free
Equipped with 10 different reverb types and a comprehensive multi-effects section, UFX Reverb is free until 31st October
Native Instruments launches Komplete 15 and Kontakt 8 with its "biggest update ever"
NI updates its flagship mega-bundle of music software with a broad variety of new instruments, effects and sounds and an upgraded version of Kontakt
Kiviak Instruments WoFi, a "modern take" on classic keyboard samplers, is now available to preorder
After smashing its target on Kickstarter, this sampling keyboard gets an official launch
Soma Laboratory teases new product that will "change your perception of radio"
Soma Laboratory says that a new product due to arrive on Saturday
IK Multimedia promises studio-grade sound in a portable package with the iLoud Micro Monitor Pros
Doubling the power of Micro Monitor, the Pros take advantage of IK's advanced DSP and calibration software to facilitate accurate mixing in small studios and on-the-go set-ups
Helios mixing console used to record Bob Marley's No Woman, No Cry goes on sale - and you won't believe how much it costs
An "undeniable piece of recording history", the Helios HJ-1 Dub Station was used to record Burning Spear, Horace Andy, King Tubby and many more reggae artists
This free synth and sampler plugin comes with over 2GB of samples from "the world's rarest synthesizers"
Wavea Flite's free version is packed with samples from Yamaha CS-80, Roland Juno 106, Jupiter 8, SH-101, Oberheim OB-8, Prophet 5, Korg Monopoly and more
Watch Four Tet jam on the drum machine given to him by Floating Points and Caribou
The pair generously gifted the Coachella-headlining producer and DJ a Soma Laboratory Pulsar-23 percussion synth
Full Bucket Music drops free plugin emulation of Sequential Circuits DrumTraks
DrumTraqs is said to be "a faithful recreation of the original hardware with all its limitations and only a few extensions"
iZotope releases Plasma, the "world's first" intelligent tube saturation plugin
Plasma applies dynamic and adaptive saturation to your tracks, using the effect "precisely where and when its needed"
Modalics' Plugin Buddy is a free plugin host and utility that lets you run VST3s in Pro Tools - and much more
Use Plugin Buddy to create complex chains of MIDI effects, audio effects and instruments that can be run inside a single plugin or standalone app
"Double the take and poof... it makes total sense”: Jack Antonoff on the power of vocal production techniques
Antonoff opens up on the studio techniques heard on The 1975's Part of the Band in a new video from Mix with the Masters
"Winona was made 100% in-the-box": DJ Boring on the making of his breakout lo-fi house hit
We visited the Australian-born DJ/producer in the studio to talk DJ-Kicks, production techniques and the synth he considers his "first child"
"She works really really fast": Charli XCX producers Finn Keane and AG Cook on her "relentless" creative process
"We did Speed Drive and Von Dutch in one day. It was quite a chill session too, probably about four hours"
10 of the greatest Roland TR-909 moments in musical history
In celebration of 909 Day, here are 9 of the drum machine's most memorable appearances in music
Goodhertz releases DC19, a delay plugin you can play like an instrument: "Where a standard delay gives you a button, DC19 gives you a slider"
Offering fine-grained, slider-based control over parameters that would conventionally be tweaked with an on/off button, DC19 is an ideal partner for hardware controllers